HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : £29m Benefits Package Secured for South West Trains Passengers [July 2002]

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 1 July 2002.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today announced a £29m package that will enable continued progress with major improvements on the country’s largest rail franchise, South West Trains.

Specific commitments from South West Trains include:

• Commissioning and introduction of new ‘Desiro’ trains, driver training, and leasing and modification of depots for maintenance of the new fleet;
• Introduction of extra capacity on rush hour services from Winter 2002, including those from Alton, Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Woking and Eastleigh;
• Additional Sunday services both ways on the Waterloo to Reading, Chessington, Windsor and Hampton Court routes, and additional evening services from Portsmouth and Poole to Waterloo – as introduced in this Summer’s timetable;
• Further development work on the extension of platforms to accommodate longer trains, and continued progress on funding mechanisms for these and other station improvements;
• Preparatory work for increasing services on the Windsor Lines.

In April 2001 the SRA announced it had signed ‘Heads of Terms’ with Stagecoach Group as Preferred Counterparty for a new South West Trains franchise. The company has started implementation of these and other early improvements included in the Heads of Terms, and the Deed of Amendment announced today provides firm contractual commitments to their delivery whilst negotiations continue towards the long-term franchise.

The Deed of Amendment provides for increased SRA franchise payments to the company totalling £29 million to February 2003.

Nick Newton, Chief Operating Officer at the SRA, said:

“Today’s agreement is of real importance to travellers on the very busy South West Trains network. With the company’s continued commitment to getting 785 new carriages into service, ongoing planning for longer platforms, and introduction of more services and capacity, passengers will shortly start to see tangible improvements. Meanwhile the SRA will continue detailed negotiations with Stagecoach Group on a new long-term franchise.”

Graham Eccles, Chairman of South West Trains, said:

“Both the SRA and Stagecoach are committed to putting the needs of the passengers first. We are working closely with the SRA to ensure that our network is ready for the new trains and to improve services to passengers in the meantime. There is no need to delay these improvements while the fine details of the franchise are still being discussed.”