19th April 2013
- ORR: East Coast ‘most efficient TOC, least reliant on taxpayer funding’
- Two infrastructure companies on shortlist to run Docklands Light Railway
- High Speed 2 plans to demolish Euston scrapped
Main stories this week
State-run East Coast has emerged as the most efficiently run rail franchise in terms of its reliance on taxpayer funding, raising questions about a recent government decision to privatise the operation. [Financial Times]
- A short [press release] from ATOC responding to the report from the Office of Rail Regulation makes no mention of the East Coast angle carried in the press.
- Meanwhile, the ORR has also published its business plan for the forthcoming year, when it will determine how much money Network Rail is allowed to spend in Control Period 5. [Transport Briefing]
Docklands Light Railway operator Serco is competing against three other bidders for the contract to run DLR services beyond September 2014. [Transport Briefing]
- [The Times] writes the shortlisting of Colas Rail, bidding with Go-Ahead, and Amey, bidding with Keolis, signals infrastructure companies are becoming increasingly interested in franchises on the national rail network.
- The fourth shortlisted company is Stagecoach. [The Herald]
High Speed 2 have dropped plans to demolish and rebuild Euston, the UK’s sixth busiest railway station, as part of the high-speed project. [BBC News]
- [Railway Eye] reports ATOC’s public affairs head Andy Taylor has been poached by High Speed 2.
New services
A battle between Virgin Trains and Arriva to run direct high-speed rail services between London and Blackpool for the first time in more than a decade is creating a political headache at the Department for Transport. [The Times]
Midland Metro‘s line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham has reopened after a two-week revamp. [BBC News]
Construction of the new Borders Railway has got under way at a site in Edinburgh. [BBC News]
Other news
Almost two thirds of Londoners think it is too easy for Tube workers to go on strike and half want to outlaw industrial action altogether, according to a new poll for the [Evening Standard]
The number of cable theft incidents on the rail network more than halved in 2012-13 compared with the previous year. [Transport Briefing]
Flights from Scotland to London are nearly always cheaper than travelling by train, a survey by [The Herald] has found.
Victoria, Earls Court, Gloucester Road and Knightsbridge London Underground stations were closed on Wednesday afternoon following a power failure. [BBC News]
Company news and sharecheck
Promotional campaigns helped Eurostar to report a 1% rise in revenues during the first three months of this year. [BBC News]
