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Abellio Scotrail Franchise to end early in March 2022

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ScotsRail

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Allowing the same people who appointed Abellio to appoint the next franchisee may not be a good idea.

With the Scottish Govt having got it wrong the last time surely it should be an independent decision by people who know about the rails this time round.
 

Esker-pades

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The current failures of ScotRail are well documented. But, I have notes of caution:
  • How much of it was actually Abellio's fault?
  • Given the above, what would have been different if another entity (private or public) had been in charge?
  • How bad is it? Comparatively, I find ScotRail to be better than other UK franchises.
Things have been bad. I just don't think changing the franchise holder is going to do much.
 

Bantamzen

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Allowing the same people who appointed Abellio to appoint the next franchisee may not be a good idea.

With the Scottish Govt having got it wrong the last time surely it should be an independent decision by people who know about the rails this time round.

Any suggestions as to who, given that the Scottish government own the franchise?
 

Djgr

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It not getting Franchised again.. Its going in house.

Can we just all agree, North or South of the Border, left or right wing zealot, within the industry or a customer, that franchising (at least in its current guise) is essentially pants?
 

380101

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It not getting Franchised again.. Its going in house.

Its not. The Scottish government must put it back put to commercial tender as per the legislation. However, a publicly owned company can bid for the franchise on the same terms as any private company. Having it run "in house" won't change anything really despite what certain politicians and unions think.
 

d9009alycidon

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Some stuff coming live from the Scottish Parliament includes "Mr Matheson confirms work has already been undertaken to examine the options open to ministers when the current contract comes to an end. Those options include the public sector running the franchise the transport secretary adds.

Mr Matheson hopes the Williams Review could mean this could be the end of franchising, allowing fundamental change in the way rail services are looked at.
The transport secretary says the regulatory function of the ORR is too slow in addressing issues and should be more passenger focused.

He calls for more alignment between infrastructure and passenger services.

He hopes the UK government takes forward the Williams Review recommendations to allow the service to be much more passenger focused and he says he will work with the parliament to achieve this if the powers necessary are devolved to Holyrood
 

Bletchleyite

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So things not going well for Abellio, Arriva, First, Stagecoach are dipping out.... Any operating groups left not having issues?

The franchising system could well be the issue. Stagecoach were certainly competent and were right to refuse to take on the pension liabilities, as to do so would in my view have been negligent to their shareholders.
 

Deltic1961

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So many issues that make the railway unreliable.

Staff shortage - Abellio
Train faults - Abellio
Signal failures - Network Rail
People jumping in front of trains
Trespassers
Lineside fires
Power failures

Lots of reasons for delays and cancellation
 

Mingulay

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Its not. The Scottish government must put it back put to commercial tender as per the legislation. However, a publicly owned company can bid for the franchise on the same terms as any private company. Having it run "in house" won't change anything really despite what certain politicians and unions think.


As one would expect the Scottish Government will air brush out their part in the selection and subsequent failure to deliver the promised improvements on time , Both are responsible , but they will of course fob off Government failure and pin the blame elsewhere

Same story too on the ferries they ordered . All politics and deflecting responsibility away from them.

But I do welcome the termination . Abellio were at best accident prone at worst incompetent .
 

duesselmartin

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Being in a Glasgow to Aberdeen service after a gap of ten years, I can confirm its a lot worse than 10 years ago. Clapped out HSTs, some still in FGW fitting. The refurbished once were OK but nog near a 170(?) standard.
 

hkstudent

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Its not. The Scottish government must put it back put to commercial tender as per the legislation. However, a publicly owned company can bid for the franchise on the same terms as any private company. Having it run "in house" won't change anything really despite what certain politicians and unions think.
How much of legislation is required for changing the franchise model to a concession one?
 

ScotTrains

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Whoever gets to run the franchise next, I just hope they commit to improving the seating on the trains. The new seats on the 156s 385s etc are truly awful, thin hard and upright.
How can they expect people to suffer for hours on some of the worlds most scenic lines sitting on an ironing board!
 

380101

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How much of legislation is required for changing the franchise model to a concession one?

Thats reserved to Westminster, and given the current government's love of privatising everything I doubt they'll change it to allow a true "public" ownership. Best we could hope for is a publicly owned company running it on a not for profit basis, which the Scotland Act 2016 allows for as part of the devolution settlement after the Indyref in 2014.
 

pdeaves

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Just to clarify, the statement refers to using a contract break point that was already there. Thus, it's not being confiscated but, in a sense, being 'unrewarded' for the final three years.
 

Mingulay

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Whoever gets to run the franchise next, I just hope they commit to improving the seating on the trains. The new seats on the 156s 385s etc are truly awful, thin hard and upright.
How can they expect people to suffer for hours on some of the worlds most scenic lines sitting on an ironing board!


Of all the issues that need attention , the perfectly adequate seats would be at the bottom of the list I would suggest

TS will need to raise their game over the remaining term to ensure that the demotivated exiting management team don't let the mediocre standards fall yet further in the remaining 2 years

The 385s are already dirty and poorly cleaned , stations knee deep in weeds
 

d9009alycidon

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So many issues that make the railway unreliable.

Staff shortage - Abellio
Train faults - Abellio
Signal failures - Network Rail
People jumping in front of trains
Trespassers
Lineside fires
Power failures

Lots of reasons for delays and cancellation

The Weather - God
Making sure the network is weather resilient - Network Rail
Stopping services when the weather is really bad (but would have continued in the "good old days") - ??
 

LNW-GW Joint

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As I understand it, the Abellio franchise was due to expire in 2022 anyway, with a 3-year optional extension possible if both parties agreed.
So all Transport Scotland is doing is not exercising the extension, as is its right.
The franchise is not terminating "early" or being taken from Abellio as some sort of penalty or sanction.

TS, unlike DfT franchises, has the option to invite public as well as private sector bids.
But as it stands, the franchise must be tendered in the usual way.
A concession, like London Overground or Merseyrail, would still mean a competition for the operating contract, but policy/fares/financial risk would transfer to SG.
Unless the wider law changes, TS cannot take the franchise "in house".
It can have a period of temporary public ownership, as applies to LNER at the moment.
Williams might establish new rules, of course, but it takes time to change the law.

And if Scotland secedes from the UK and rejoins the EU, it will face the Fourth Railway Package which mandates the periodic tendering of rail services (but not necessarily to the private sector).

Some debate on the BBC web site now:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50841814
Aslef's view:
Kevin Lindsay, organiser for the train drivers' trade union Aslef in Scotland, claimed Abellio had let down passengers and staff.
He added: "Those of us on the front line - ScotRail train drivers and other railway staff - can see every day how the company comes up short.
"We are disappointed that the SNP government has not grasped the real problem - and the solution to that problem - and simply taken this opportunity to bring Scotland's railway back into public ownership.
"The truth is that the franchise model is a broken business model. It hasn't worked, it doesn't work and it will not work. Everyone on the railway understands that."

I suspect a somewhat similar announcement about Northern is taking shape at DfT.
 
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mrcheek

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A blessed relief for Abellio/Dutch government to be shot of it earlier than expected?

I'm wondering if Abellio had threatened to walk away in 2022, and the Scottish government decided to push them before they jumped. This way, it makes it look to the public like the Scottish government is decisive and in control, whilst most people here will be aware that they are more than partly responsible for the failings of the franchise!
 

option

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They've activated a break clause, & now have 2 years to work out how to operate it.


Thats reserved to Westminster, and given the current government's love of privatising everything I doubt they'll change it to allow a true "public" ownership. Best we could hope for is a publicly owned company running it on a not for profit basis, which the Scotland Act 2016 allows for as part of the devolution settlement after the Indyref in 2014.

from wikipedia
The act gives extra powers to the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government, most notably:
  • The ability to amend sections of the Scotland Act 1998 which relate to the operation of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government within the United Kingdom including control of its electoral system (subject to a two-thirds majority within the parliament for any proposed change).
  • The ability to use such amendment to devolve powers to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Ministers over areas such as abortion, welfare foods, onshore oil and gas activity, rail franchising, energy efficiency, and advice

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-36353498
"On transport, we'll allow public sector operators to bid for future rail franchises and integrate the British Transport Police into Police Scotland, while retaining the specialisms that are highly valued by the rail industry and passengers."
 
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