Anger at key rail franchise award to Anglo-Hong Kong consortium

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The current holder of the South Western rail franchise, Stagecoach, has demanded “detailed feedback” from the Department for Transport about why it lost out to Anglo-Hong Kong consortium First MTR to run the network from Britain’s busiest railway station, London Waterloo.

The Stagecoach subsidiary, South West Trains, has doubled passenger numbers since privatisation.

Stagecoach Group’s Chief Executive Martin Griffiths said: “We are proud to have operated the network under the South West Trains brand for more than 20 years and we are disappointed that we have been unsuccessful in our bid for the new franchise.

“Over the past two decades, we have delivered real improvements for our customers right across the network. That success has been built on fantastic people, detailed knowledge of the business and strong relationships with our stakeholders and railway partners. But we have never thought our job was finished.

“We believe we submitted a strong bid for the new South Western franchise. It offered a transformation in the travel experience for our customers, more investment to help the railway support the communities and economy of the South West, as well as a substantial and deliverable financial benefit to taxpayers to help fund better public services.

“We will be seeking detailed feedback from the Department for Transport on the various elements of our bid.”

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, had earlier said: “First MTR South Western Trains Limited will deliver the improvements that people tell us they want right across the South Western franchise area.”

Jeremy Long, Chief Executive of European Business for the MTR Corporation said: “MTR is known across the world for the excellent quality of its rail services, and we look forward to working with FirstGroup to provide a best-in-class travel experience for passengers in London and the South West.

“Together we will deliver a major programme of upgrades, including improvements to both rail services and customer experience, for passengers travelling across the South Western network.”

Yet many of the benefits promised from the new franchise, including a fleet of 90 new trains, and tens of thousands of extra rush-hour seats on key commuter lines, were already planned.

Stagecoach Group will oversee the first half of the biggest upgrade in the history of Waterloo station this summer, when many of the platforms will be extended to take longer trains.

The work will cause serious disruption from 5 to 28 August. With fewer trains running, rush-hour services will be busier than usual. Passengers have been warned to expect longer journeys, some station closures and “queuing systems outside some stations”.

In the middle of the project, on 20 August, Stagecoach Group will relinquish the franchise and First MTR will take it over. A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “First MTR South Western will deliver the improvements that people tell us they want and upgrade work at Waterloo will help us provide more and longer trains that will benefit passengers.

“We have announced First MTR as winners of the South Western route as early as possible to give them maximum time to prepare for the changeover on August 20.

“We have experience managing a smooth changeover in recent years on other train routes – including on East Anglia and Northern.”

Meanwhile the RMT union, whose members are involved in multiple disputes across the rail industry, has slammed the franchise award.

The RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash, said: “Once again the Government have refused to consider the public sector option for a major rail franchise and instead it’s a foreign state operator, in this case the Chinese state, which is set to make a killing at the British taxpayers’ expense.

“The nonsense is that with the Government triggering Article 50 this week they would be free to ignore EU rail directives that slam a block on public ownership. It is frankly ludicrous that the Tories are continuing with the ‘any state but the British state’ policy which has plundered our railways for over two decades.”