| | 
Archive
2002-11-06 SRA-002
Strategic Rail Authority
SRA announces new approach for South West Trains
keywords: click to search
 franchising
*SWT1
*SWT2
Words in [single square brackets] included hyperlinks in the original document
Words in [[double square brackets]] are editorial additions or corrections
Words in [[[triple square brackets]]] indicate embedded images or graphics in the original document. (These are not usually archived unless they contain significant additional information.)
< operators’ contracts index
| | |
Press release
Strategic Rail Authority
SRA announces new approach for South West Trains
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today announced a way forward to 2007
for the South West Trains franchise. This involves a one-year extension to
February 2004 and agreement of key principles with Stagecoach Holdings plc
for a new franchise extending beyond then to 2007.
The extension ensures the introduction of new trains and extra services. The
agreement focuses strongly on performance and includes:
Replacement of Mark 1 (slam door) Trains
The details of a new performance plan
Introduction of additional Sunday and evening services
Completion of design studies for extending suburban platforms to
increase capacity
SRA Chairman, Richard Bowker, says:
"This agreement enables South West Trains to focus on what matters to
passengers - recovering performance to a level that passengers deserve and
expect and the replacement of slam-door trains with the biggest new train
order in the UK. Taken together these will help to deliver a better, more
reliable service for its passengers, which is the ultimate goal for any train
operating company."
Notes to Editors
1. The SRA and Stagecoach Holdings plc signed Heads of Terms for a
20-year franchise in March 2001. The SRA today confirmed that the
competition for this long-term franchise was at an end.
2. The one-year extension to the current SWT franchise will expire in
February 2004. The SRA and Stagecoach Holdings plc have agreed
main principles for a three year franchise to run from February 2004 to
February 2007.
3. The Railway Safety Regulations 1999 require all Mark 1 and slam-door
rolling stock to be withdrawn by the end of 2004. More than half of
South West Train's fleet must be replaced. In April 2001 Stagecoach
agreed Britain's biggest rolling stock deal to acquire 785 Siemens
Desiro carriages.
4. The SRA today announced plans for all domestic services into
Waterloo to be operated by SWT as part of their objective of having a
single operator at each major London termini.
5. Stagecoach Holdings plc operates the existing South West Trains
franchise, serving a mixture of long and short distance journeys, with a
high percentage of commuters. Services run from Waterloo via Greater
London's southwest suburbs to Woking, Basingstoke, Guildford,
Weymouth, Portsmouth, Reading and Exeter.
Railnews Archive ::: 2002-11-06 SRA-002
| | | |
| | |
