WMT franchise at risk as well?

[achmelvic]

I'm not sure if there's already a topic for this? Sorry if there is!

The PM has let slip that WMT is also on the watch list
https://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2020/01/09-franchising-crisis-deepens-as-west.html

 

[6Gman]

I'm not sure if there's already a topic for this? Sorry if there is!

The PM has let slip that WMT is also on the watch list
https://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2020/01/09-franchising-crisis-deepens-as-west.html

Not sure the PM has let anything "slip".

More that - not for the first time - what comes out of his mouth might not be the end-product of reasoned thought.

 

[DarloRich]

Interesting. I wonder if these actions are being implemented ahead of the Williams review to allow the government to set a new course once that report is published?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Interesting. I wonder if these actions are being implemented ahead of the Williams review to allow the government to set a new course once that report is published?

It doesn't however tally with having issued Avanti a classic franchise on the WCML...

 

[Mathew S]

It doesn't however tally with having issued Avanti a classic franchise on the WCML...

It's only really a "classic" franchise for the first few years though isn't it. The real purpose of it is to shepherd in HS2, so it's a very different situation.

 

[3141]

Not sure the PM has let anything "slip".

More that - not for the first time - what comes out of his mouth might not be the end-product of reasoned thought.

The Conservatives gained seats in areas served by WMT/LNR as well as in the area served by Northern. So this may be an attempt to reassure Midlands people - or Midlands MPs, at least - that they're not being forgotten.

(Dammit, I'm catching the cynicism bug from some of the other posters on here!)

 

[mde]

The Conservatives gained seats in areas served by WMT/LNR as well as in the area served by Northern. So this may be an attempt to reassure Midlands people - or Midlands MPs, at least - that they're not being forgotten.

(Dammit, I'm catching the cynicism bug from some of the other posters on here!)

Isn't there a Mayoral election this year?

 

[Mathew S]

Isn't there a Mayoral election this year?

Yep. The Tories really, really want to unseat one of the incumbent Labour metro-mayors, and I'd expect announcements re: rail franchising to be part of that campaign.

 

[DarloRich]

Yep. The Tories really, really want to unseat one of the incumbent Labour metro-mayors, and I'd expect announcements re: rail franchising to be part of that campaign.

Agreed. All political

 

[Sheddyone]

Yep. The Tories really, really want to unseat one of the incumbent Labour metro-mayors, and I'd expect announcements re: rail franchising to be part of that campaign.

Except the West Midlands mayor is already a Tory; Andy Street.

 

[Mathew S]

Except the West Midlands mayor is already a Tory; Andy Street.

True, but remember the Tories won the last election in WM by a miniscule 0.8%, or less than 4,000 votes out of 523,000+ cast. No point unseating, e.g., Andy Burnham, if they lose in the West Midlands.

 

[CentralTrainer]

Since he made his ultimatum to WMT, Street has never responded to public requests for more detail on what exactly constituted an improvement. Without a clear bench mark or defined measurement tools it felt like his words were a bit of a PR exercise.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

This has been posted today on DofT site West Midlands Trains must invest £20 million after poor performance and delays

The additional £20 million funding will be used for a variety of measures including:

• compensating passengers for the poor service by offering a 3% discount on season ticket renewals and offering a 10% reduction in off peak fares during July and August 2020
• series of timetable improvements, with wide-ranging changes planned for May 2020 and December 2020
• recruitment of additional drivers and senior conductors to combat staffing shortages
• investment in day to day operations, to make services more reliable

Reads as though they have a stay of execution from quotes from Andy Street

Since I issued my ultimatum in December of improve or lose the franchise, WMT has got better and performance is statistically on the up. But I still have very serious concerns and, alongside the DfT, will be keeping the firm under strict review. I will not hesitate to ask for the franchise to be stripped if performance slips again

 

[Bletchleyite]

To be fair the issue with WMT is purely one of an overambitious timetable, the reversal of which will solve the problem. There doesn't seem to be anything else fundamentally wrong with the TOC unlike Northern, for instance it's not about to financially collapse.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I think the DfT is very reluctant to pull the plug on a franchise contract unless it is failing in a financial sense (like VTEC, and now Northern).
Financial failure means it will impact DfT and rail finances and threaten to pull the whole system down, so action must be taken.
The whole OLR/rebid cycle is horrendously disruptive and expensive, and just now the DfT has much bigger tasks like reorganising the whole industry.

Bad performance is seemingly a case of demanding recovery plans, imposing penalties and securing "passenger benefits" with threats of termination, as for WMT.
Their predecessors London Midland went through several phases like that too.
The media and unions don't seem to be able to distinguish between "failure" in a financial and in a performance sense, just demanding enstripment for both.
TOCs can't win - if they make money it's "fat cats" (possibly foreign to boot), and if they lose money they are "incompetent".

 

[HH]

Why do you think WMT just replaced most of their directors?

 

[DarloRich]

To be fair the issue with WMT is purely one of an overambitious timetable, the reversal of which will solve the problem. There doesn't seem to be anything else fundamentally wrong with the TOC unlike Northern, for instance it's not about to financially collapse.

Staff morale is fairly low I am told. That is also an issue

 

[AgentGemini]

Staff morale is fairly low I am told. That is also an issue

Can confirm this. They have a high rate of sickness for traincrew from stress and other issues plus rest day working not as actively taken up as used to be.

Staff turnover also surprisingly fluid for the industry. GWR and XC majorly take staff looking to leave WMT, especially train managers.