10th Jul 2007 07:01
Department For Transport10 July 2007 For immediate release: 10 July 2007 NEW RAIL FRANCHISE TO INCREASE CAPACITY BETWEEN MAJOR CITIES The Department for Transport (DfT) today announced that Arriva plc has beenawarded the contract to run the New Cross Country rail franchise. It combines the majority of the existing Cross Country franchise servicescurrently operated by Virgin Cross Country and the Nottingham - Cardiff andBirmingham - Stansted Airport services currently operated by Central Trains. The new franchise will begin on 11th November 2007 and end on 1st April 2016. DfT has the right to terminate the franchise after six years if the operatorfails to meet agreed performance targets. Over the life of the franchise (eight years and four months) DfT will pay asubsidy of £1.056 bn (NPV) to Arriva. The contract will deliver increased capacity, better performance and improvedcustomer services. Passengers will benefit from: * 40 extra train carriages for operation on long distance services, using HighSpeed Trains (HSTs), refurbished to the standard of the existing Voyager Trains.This, together with internal changes to the current fleet of Voyager trains,will provide nearly 3,000 more seats each day on the busiest routes at thebusiest times. Internal changes on the Voyager trains will also provide for a20-25% increase in luggage storage space; * Increased staff visibility with the busiest long distance services having atleast three members of staff passing through the train; * A new web-based ticketing system which will be introduced from December 2009; * Refurbished Class 170 units on Birmingham - Stansted and Cardiff - Nottinghamservices including extra seats, and first class on all trains; * Help and advice for passengers who need to change trains. The Government will continue to limit annual rises of regulated fares in linewith national policy, which is currently RPI+1%. As with all franchises, unregulated fares will be the responsibility of theoperator. Arriva have indicated that they may wish to raise unregulated fares byan average of 3.4% above inflation each year. Passengers will benefit from new arrangements to be compensated for delays andpoor performance. Notes to Editors 1. The subsidy profile for the New Cross Country franchise is: Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Year ending Notes 31-Mar-08 31-Mar-09 31-Mar-10 31-Mar-11 31-Mar-12 31-Mar-13 31-Mar-14 31-Mar-15 31-Mar-1631st March All the figures arein £'000 Franchise payments 1 98,320 245,092 222,156 190,168 156,152 113,911 77,691 44,346 5,649 1,153,486(from FA) Nominal franchise 2 98,320 251,796 234,380 206,143 173,960 130,515 91,763 54,367 8,144 1,249,389payments PV of nominal 3 97,177 238,538 208,890 172,845 137,223 96,856 64,065 35,709 5,032 1,056,335franchise payments Note: 1 Franchise Payments are taken directly from the Franchise Agreement and represent the sum of the fixed, RPI and AEI related payment elements in 2007/08 prices. 2 Nominal Franchise Payments are determined by applying DfT's forecast of RPI and AEI to the Franchise Payments in the Franchise Agreement. 3 The Present Value (PV) of Nominal Franchise Payments are calculated using HM Treasury's real discount rate (3.5%) adjusted for inflation. 2 Revenue share arrangements are as follows: if actual revenue out-turns between102% and 106% of target revenue, then 50% of the excess between 102% and 106%will be shared with DfT. If it out-turns above 106%, then 80% of the furtherexcess will be shared with DfT. Revenue support arrangements are as follows: if actual revenue out-turns between94% and 98% of target revenue, then DfT will provide support equivalent to 50%of the shortfall between 98% and 94%. If it out-turns below 94%, then DfT willprovide support equivalent to 80% of the further shortfall. Revenue supportarrangements only apply after the first four years of the franchise. 3. The current operator of the Cross Country Franchise is CrossCountry TrainsLimited, a subsidiary of Virgin Rail Group Limited. The current operator of theCentral Franchise is Central Trains Limited, a subsidiary of National ExpressGroup plc. 4. The parties invited to submit bids for the New Cross Country franchise wereArriva Trains Cross Country Limited (Arriva plc), First Cross Country Limited(First Group plc), NXC Trains Limited (National Express Group plc); VirginVoyager Trains Limited (Virgin Rail Group Limited). 5. Performance - Arriva is committed to a 25% reduction in delay minutesattributed to the TOC by the end of the franchise 6. The new passenger refund system, Delay/Repay, will compensate season ticketholders for delays to journeys they have actually taken, not on the basis ofoverall performance. This is the same compensation system as currently operatesfor single, return and weekly ticket holders. Refunds will be on the basis ofthe proportional daily cost of season tickets, with a 50% single refund fordelays of 30-59 minutes, 100% single refund for delays of 60-119 minutes, and100% return refund for delays of 120 minutes+. This system will be rolled outnationally during the term of each new franchise. 7. More details are available on the Department for Transport website atwww.dft.gov.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Aviva