Bradford
Chamber of
BRADFORD
Commerce
Rail franchise awarded
The Government has awarded the East
Coast Main Line franchise to a consortium
involving Virgin and Stagecoach. The
operation will commence in March and run
for eight years.
Virgin and Stagecoach already operate the
West Coast main line and have promised
improved services on East Coast.
The terms of the franchise include:
■■ 23 new services from London to key
destinations, with 75 more station
calls a day
■■ More direct trains to London from
Bradford, Shipley, Harrogate, Leeds,
York and Newcastle
■■ Plans for direct links to Huddersfield,
Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Dewsbury
and Thornaby
■■ 3,100 extra seats for the morning peak
time by 2020
■■ 12,200 more seats across the train fleet
- a 50% increase
■■ 65 state-of-the-art express trains by
2018, totalling 500 new carriages
■■ London-Leeds journey time reduced
by 14 minutes, and London-Edinburgh
by 13 minutes
■■ A £140 million investment package
to improve trains and stations
Over the next eight years Inter City Railways
will pay the Government around £3.3 billion
to operate the franchise.
12
NEWS
Mike Cartwright of West & North Yorkshire
Chamber of Commerce said:
“It seems a good deal on the
face of it and will end a period
of uncertainty. With passenger
demand likely to continue
to increase, it’s good to see
a commitment to additional
Bradford-London services, and
more seats and reduced travel
times on others. In addition,
the investment in stations
and infrastructure is welcome
although long overdue. We still
want to see better quality transPennine services but in terms
of the East Coast franchise, this
announcement should bring
more stability.”
Other bidders for the franchise included
Eurotunnel/Keolis and First Group, which
recently lost its First Capital Connect and
ScotRail franchises. The new East Coast
company will be called Inter City Railways.
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