UK Inquiry Tracker

Rail Franchising in the UK inquiry

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 7 Feb 2018 Closed: 7 Feb 2018 Parliament page

Rail Franchising in the UK The Public Accounts Committee will hold an evidence session looking at two of the UK’s 15 rail franchises. East Coast In November 2014, the East Coast railway franchise running from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh was awarded to Virgin Trains East Coast, a joint venture … Read more Rail Franchising in the UK The Public Accounts Committee will hold an evidence session looking at two of the UK’s 15 rail franchises. East Coast In November 2014, the East Coast railway franchise running from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh was awarded to Virgin Trains East Coast, a joint venture between Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin (10%). In June 2017 Stagecoach reported losses on the line, and entered talks with the Department of Transport. In November 2017, the Transport Secretary announced that the franchise would become a public-private railway and that the franchise would terminate in 2020 to enable this change. However, by February 2018 the end of the franchise had been brought forward to sometime within the year The Committee will ask witnesses from Virgin and Stagecoach whether the original bidding process was appropriately managed, whether there are particular problems with the East Coast franchise, and about the future of the line. Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern The largest of the Department for Transport’s 15 rail franchises, the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern Routes have been operated by Govia Thameslink since 2014. In 2016–17, passengers made 321 million journeys on the franchise. According to a recent National Audit Office (NAO) report, 7.7% of services on this franchise were cancelled or delayed by more than 30 minutes between July 2015 and March 2017. The average for the rest of the UK network was 2.8%. Of these cancellations, the NAO estimate that 60% were a result of crew shortages and industrial action. Govia Thameslink and the Department for Transport have agreed a £13.4 million settlement to improve service on the line. The Committee will take evidence from the Department for Transport, Network Rail and Govia Thameslink on the performance of the franchise, about the department’s approach to awarding franchises, and about the condition of the rail network in the South East. Show less

1 Report

1 Oral session

2 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 5 events

12 Feb
2019

Correspondence

Letter from Bernadette Kelly CB to Chair regarding Government's response to Committee's report Rail Franchising in the UK - dated 28.09.18

16 May
2018

Correspondence

Correspondence with the National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers, dated 27 March

27 Apr
2018

Report published

35th Report - Rail franchising in the UK

26 Feb
2018

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

26 Feb
2018

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

26 Feb 2018

View on parliament.uk

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
35th Report - Rail franchising in the UK	HC 689	27 Apr 2018	0

Correspondence 2 letters

12 Feb 2019 To committee Letter from Bernadette Kelly CB to Chair regarding Government's response to Committee's report Rail Franchising in the UK - dated 28.09.18

Parliament page

16 May 2018 Correspondence with the National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers, dated 27 March

Parliament page