It has be drawn to my attention that a maximum of 4 rail operators are bidding for the rights to operate rail links from Shropshire to London. These companies are First Group, Virgin, Abellio and Keolis.
Has anybody heard or got anymore info on this supposed bidding war or is it just smoke in mirrors as per usual?
The new WC franchise is for essentially the same as the present VT service, except that Wrexham (and Carstairs) are optional.
To get new services from Shropshire to London, the winning bidder has to:
a) come up with the best price for operating the current service
and b) come up with options for new services that DfT feels it wants to buy
Bids by the four groups are in preparation, due in by May, DfT decision in August, startup in December.
As others have said, don't hold your breath that Shropshire will figure in the final shoot-out.
On top of that, Open Access operators can bid to operate services at any time (if there are paths available).
Nobody is bidding for OA services to Shropshire.
Alliance (DB/Arriva) is bidding for OA services from Euston to Blackpool/Barrow/Bradford/Leeds.