DfT 'incompetent' on rail franchise

Oct 4 2012

Transport minister Keith Brown has hit out at the "shambolic" handling of the West Coast rail franchise and for the confusion he says it sparked among passengers.

Mr Brown said the UK Department for Transport (DfT) is incompetent for the way it cancelled the award to Aberdeen-based FirstGroup, which was due to take over the cross-border route from Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Rail.

The Scottish Government was given no notice of the decision which emerged early on Wednesday morning and cost taxpayers about £40 million.

The SNP minister compared the tendering process on either side of the border, complaining that he is still waiting for information on other changes affecting Scotland with the TransPennine and East Coast mainline franchises.

In a statement at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, he said: "The department's handling of the procurement process has been incompetent and shambolic. Most importantly, it has caused a great deal of confusion and speculation about arrangements for West Coast services after the franchise handover date of December 9.

"Neither Scottish ministers nor officials were made aware of the decision in advance of the announcement.

"I have still to see the detail of DfT's contingency plan and it is still not clear who will be operating train services in December.

"However, after finally managing to speak to the UK rail minister, I have his assurance that services will run to timetable, using the same trains and staff, and that tickets and bookings will be valid."

Scottish officials will keep a close eye on the assurances, he said.

The West Coast franchise covers key routes linking Glasgow and Edinburgh with London. FirstGroup already runs ScotRail, which covers most services in Scotland. The DfT said the West Coast cancellation is wholly and squarely a Whitehall fault. Two independent inquiries have been ordered into what went wrong.