1. Bombardier wins Virgin Trains maintenance contract
A £103m deal has been struck to continue maintaining part of Virgin Trains' West Coast Main Line fleet in Staffordshire.
Bombardier has maintained Virgin's 20 Super Voyager trains in
Burton upon Trent for a number of years and has now agreed a new deal
until March 2019.
The firm said it would safeguard some 340 jobs at the depot.
Des McKeon, commercial director UK for Bombardier
Transportation, said by the end of the contract the firm will have
maintained trains for Virgin for almost 20 years.
On Thursday, Virgin announced it would spend £35m to update
trains and £20m to modernise stations along the West Coast Main Line.
In February, Derby-based Bombardier signed a £1bn deal to provide trains for London's Crossrail scheme.
2. West Coast line: Branson to bid again in two years
Sir
Richard Branson has told the BBC that he will bid again for the West
Coast Main Line contract, despite the botched franchise process in 2012.
Two years ago Virgin challenged a decision to award the rail franchise to First Group, saying it was mishandled.
The government has now awarded Virgin a contract to continue operating the route from London to Glasgow.
"In two years' time when this temporary contract comes to an end, we will be in there bidding," the Virgin boss said.
Virgin will invest a further £35m to update trains and provide an extra 5,500 standard-class seats each day.
It will also invest more than £20m to modernise stations and improve waiting rooms, seats and shelters.
Sir Richard said: "[Customers] will see some extra services,
they will see a lot of extra seats. From the taxpayer point of view,
they will get a lot of extra money."
The train operator will now also "start work to secure new
direct services between Shrewsbury, Blackpool and London from December,"
the Department of Transport (DfT) said.
At the start of the year, Virgin scrapped a plan to provide direct services to Shrewsbury from London.
Virgin had planned to start the service in May, but said proposed time slots were not "economically viable".
In order to provide the additional standard-class seats, Virgin is converting 21 first-class carriages to standard class,
Free wi-fi will be offered at stations and improved coverage provided across the entire fleet.
Virgin will also invest £2.5m to improve the interiors of its Pendolino trains and £2.75m on improving catering facilities.
The train operator will pay more than £430m to run the franchise.
Legal challenge
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "This deal will
provide thousands more seats and better journeys for the tens of
thousands of passengers who use these services every day.
"The West Coast provides a vital artery between London and
Scotland and it is crucial we do everything we can to improve services
on this much-used route."
The franchise award comes two years after Virgin launched a legal challenge to the decision by the DfT to award a 13-year franchise for the West Coast Main Line to First Group.
The government eventually scrapped the award claiming there
were "significant technical flaws" in the bidding process because of
mistakes by DfT staff. Three civil servants were suspended.
Transport correspondent Richard Westcott writes:
This deal is part of a much bigger process to avoid a repeat of the West Coast franchise catastrophe in 2012.
That deal collapsed because a swamped Department for Transport got its figures wrong and didn't follow the rules.
The timetable for handing out other deals looked like it might overrun the government and they can't afford another mess.
So they're using short-term deals and extensions to stagger the whole process out.
When I spoke to Richard Branson a couple of years ago, just
after he thought he'd lost the West Coast deal, he told me he was so
disillusioned he might leave the railway business for good.
Now, his company will be running that same line until at least the spring of 2017.
Virgin has operated trains services on the West Coast Main Line since 1997.
Patrick McCall, Virgin Trains' executive co-chairman, said:
"We're delighted to have reached a deal after some tough negotiations
with the DfT. It puts the problems of 2012 firmly behind us and shows
the clear benefits of a well-run franchise system.
"This deal is great news for passengers and taxpayers, with
significant benefits for our customers, as well as a big increase in the
money we pay to government."
