Post by Burnside on Dec 9, 2015 1:33:33 GMT 1
Rumour has it that the anouncements of who will be winning the next Northern and Transpennine Express franchises will be at 7am this morning (9 December).
Northern Rail is currently run by a joint venture between Abellio (the Dutch state railway) and Servo, while Transpennine Express is a joint venture between First and Keolis of France.
The shortlisted bidders are:
NORTHERN:
Abellio
Arriva
Govia (joint venture between Go Ahead group and Keolis)
TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS:
First
Go Ahead and Keolis joint bid (maybe in different proportions hence not being listed as Govia)
Stagecoach
It appears the folly of the last time Northern was franchised has been learned with the winning bidder expected to procure a minimum of 120 New diesel carriages, compared with the current franchise being on a 'No growth' basis. Other tidbits from the Northern tender process being the withdrawal of all Pavers and the refurbishment of all other stock to 'as new' condition. In addition, 50% of services must be converted to Driver Only or Driver Controlled Operation, which is sure to lead to conflict between management and staff/unions.
As for TPE, they will have to work towards electrification and introduction of replacement stock.
Interestingly, it has emerged very recently that the remaining Class 170's that were subleased back to TPE after the owner signed an agreement to lease them to Chiltern will not be subleased for longer than planned, leaving TPE facing a stock shortage. They already hire 6 156's from Northern to cover duties between Manchester Airport and Blackpool.
Northern Rail is currently run by a joint venture between Abellio (the Dutch state railway) and Servo, while Transpennine Express is a joint venture between First and Keolis of France.
The shortlisted bidders are:
NORTHERN:
Abellio
Arriva
Govia (joint venture between Go Ahead group and Keolis)
TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS:
First
Go Ahead and Keolis joint bid (maybe in different proportions hence not being listed as Govia)
Stagecoach
It appears the folly of the last time Northern was franchised has been learned with the winning bidder expected to procure a minimum of 120 New diesel carriages, compared with the current franchise being on a 'No growth' basis. Other tidbits from the Northern tender process being the withdrawal of all Pavers and the refurbishment of all other stock to 'as new' condition. In addition, 50% of services must be converted to Driver Only or Driver Controlled Operation, which is sure to lead to conflict between management and staff/unions.
As for TPE, they will have to work towards electrification and introduction of replacement stock.
Interestingly, it has emerged very recently that the remaining Class 170's that were subleased back to TPE after the owner signed an agreement to lease them to Chiltern will not be subleased for longer than planned, leaving TPE facing a stock shortage. They already hire 6 156's from Northern to cover duties between Manchester Airport and Blackpool.