MPs in call over railway line fiasco
MPs from the region have called for assurances that the fiasco that has engulfed the busiest rail line in the country will not be repeated.
Wolverhampton North East MP Emma Reynolds said the Government needed to protect taxpayers by ensuring that any future West Coast Main Line franchise agreement will not allow bidders to pay the majority of the cost of the franchise in the final years of any agreement.
The franchise was due to be awarded to FirstGroup, having been run by Virgin Trains for 15 years. But it was torn up after mistakes were found in the calculations of civil servants, and Virgin has been asked to continue to run the line for another year. A new franchise will be awarded after that but only for two years, not the 13 originally given to FirstGroup. Miss Reynolds asked the secretary of state for transport Patrick McLoughlin to give such a guarantee in order to stop companies breaking their contract with the Government and leaving taxpayers out of pocket.
In the House of Commons she said: "Will he reassure me that the review he has announced will consider that significant and unacceptable risks were being taken by allowing one of the bidders to backload most of the premium to the end of the franchise? Will he put in place measures to ensure that franchisees cannot simply walk away from a franchise before they make substantial payments?"
Mr McLoughlin replied: "My predecessor, like me, was given firm assurances at the department that the competition was sound. That proved not to be the case. Once I knew and had the full facts, I made the statement that I made."
Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy said: "Those bidding for the franchise offered a number of improvements that were welcome to my Stafford constituents, including fare reductions." He asked if it was possible to introduce some improvements in the interim period, along with a cap on rail fares.
Mr McLoughlin said: "There will be a two-year franchise that will be negotiated some time next year, and I hope that some of the benefits that were initially to come from a longer-term franchise agreement can be replicated in it." Lichfield Tory MP Michael Fabricant asked for assurances that services will not be damaged by the changes and that stations in need of improvements will not have new works delayed. Mr McLoughlin replied: "I hope we see no delays in investments as a result, and I am always grateful to my honourable friend who is always trying to be helpful."
