Rosalba O’Brien London
Britain has announced a shake-up in the way it awards rail franchises, as it battles to restore confidence in a privatised network that has been dogged by financial problems at rail companies and costly errors in the bidding process.
The government said yesterday that it would implement the recommendations of an independent review set up after mistakes in the bidding process forced it to tear up the West Coast mainline contract last year.
The recommendations include staggering the award of franchises and creating a new advisory panel.
Britain’s railways have faced a string of problems since they were privatised in the 1990s, including fatal crashes as well as financial problems at rail companies, which led the government to bring the East Coast mainline back into public hands in 2009.
The Department of Transport said it would immediately start work to return the East Coast service to the private sector, and gave a schedule for other franchises.
“The new programme will provide long-term certainty to the market and support the delivery of the government’s £9.4 billion (R133bn) rail investment strategy,” Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said.
Virgin Trains, which was to lose the West Coast service before flaws in the award process led the government to ask it to stay on, gave a cautious welcome to the new proposals.
However trade unions, which oppose the privatisation, said the East Coast line had “flourished” under state control. – Reuters