HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Keen Interest in New Merseyrail Agreement [May 2002]
The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 14 May 2002.
The Strategic Rail Authority and Merseytravel have pre-qualified six parties as bidders for the new Merseyrail Electrics Agreement, to operate local passenger rail services in the Merseyside area following the expiry of the current Arriva Trains Merseyside franchise in February 2003.
The parties are:
- Arriva Trains Limited (incumbent franchisee)
- Connex Transport UK Ltd
- Serco Limited
- TRANSDEV plc jointly with RATP International
- NS/Dutch Railways
- Keolis SA
All six bidders are required to submit initial proposals for the contract by 28 June 2002. A Parliamentary Order is being taken forward for the Merseyrail Electrics services to be exempt from the SRA’s franchise responsibilities, allowing Merseytravel to let the services as a local concession. The SRA and Merseytravel are jointly running a competition to select an operator for the Merseyrail Electrics services.
SRA Chairman Richard Bowker said:
“I am very pleased with the level of interest, including overseas operators, in this important urban rail operation. The SRA will be working closely with Merseytravel to assess the proposals put forward by the six bidders, with a view to developing standards of service and performance on the Merseyrail Electrics network.”
Chair of Merseytravel, Mark Dowd said:
“We’re delighted with the progress we’re making with the SRA on the future of the Merseyrail Electrics network which is so important to many thousands of people in our region.”
