News
British government issues revised franchising schedule B
Keith Barrow Associate editor
RITAIN’s secretary of state for transport Mr
Patrick McLoughlin unveiled a revised timetable on March 26 for rail franchises, which sets out how and when contracts will be tendered over the next eight years.
The government has also confirmed that the Inter-City East Coast (ICEC) franchise, currently operated by the Department for Transport (DfT) through Directly Operated Railways as a management contract, will return to the private sector by 2015, shortly before the next general election.
The new schedule is being issued in response to the franchising review led by Eurostar chairman Mr Richard Brown, which uncovered serious failings in the DfT’s franchise procurement processes following the Inter- City West Coast fiasco.
Financial problems stall Venezuelan line
C
ONSTRUCTION has been suspended on a 468km
railway in Venezuela because the government has failed to pay the Chinese contractor for work already carried out on the project.
China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) formed a joint venture with Venezuelan State Railways (IFE) in 2009 to build the 468km line from Tinaco, 150km west of Caracas to Anaco in Anzoategui state. At around $US 7.5bn it is one of Venezuela’s largest projects. However, the South China Morning Postlast month quoted China Railway Group chairman Mr Li Changjin as saying that the government owes the company between $US 400m and $US 500m, and that work has stopped. The electrified double-track line was originally scheduled for completion in mid-2012, and was expected to carry 5.8 million passengers and 9.8 million tonnes of freight in the first year of operation.
8
The DfT describes the new timetable as “more sustainable,” with a maximum of three to four franchises being tendered each year and staggering of the two principal long-distance franchises, East Coast and West Coast, so they will not be let at the same point in the economic cycle. This means a number of franchises will need to be extended to spread the start dates of the new franchises. The government says it will award six-month extensions to First Capital Connect and Southeastern, exercising options within the existing contracts. The DfT is also negotiating an interim franchise agreement with FirstGroup for the Great Western franchise. According to the DfT, franchise duration will be determined by the circumstances and size of each franchise, and it will adopt the Brown Review’s recommendation of a 7-10 year
initial term for most franchises with an option for a three to five year extension, based on performance during the initial term.
The DfT will publish a franchising competition process guide on June 25 which will set out in detail the procurement process and the governance structure adopted by the DfT for franchising. A new Rail Group has been established within the DfT, which will be responsible for all rail activities, and within this group a Rail Franchising Directorate has been set up which will oversee the franchising process. Overall, the DfT’s franchising director will be accountable for the correct implementation of franchising, while project directors will be responsible for managing the procurement of individual franchises.
McLoughlin also confirmed
that procurement has resumed on two franchises which have
already passed the prequalification stage. An updated invitation to tender for the Essex Thameside franchise will be issued in July with the aim of awarding a contract by April 2014. An invitation to tender will be issued for the combined Thameslink, Southern, and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise in September and a contract is due to be signed by May 2014.
This will be a management contract because the winning bidder will have to contend with significant operation upheaval during the latter stages of the Thameslink project. Likewise, the Great Western franchise, which is due to be awarded in 2016, will also be a management contract due to the upgrading of the route.
ICEC will be the first franchise to be tendered under the new procurement timetable, with an invitation to tender expected next February.
Unified control for European Corridor 2
T
HREE national infrastructures managers,
ProRail (Netherlands), Infrabel (Belgium) and French Rail Network (RFF), together with Luxembourg Railways (CFL) and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), have set up a unified structure to manage European Corridor 2 to provide a one- stop shop for freight operators. Corridor 2 will start operating under a single management structure on November 10. Corridor 2 links the ports of
EBA approval for Gravita 15L: The German Federal Railway Agency (EBA) has granted unrestricted series approval for the operation of the 15L BB variant of Voith’s Gravita diesel-hydraulic shunting and trip freight locomotive on the German network. Voith says it has demonstrated to the EBA that the 1.8MW locomotives will not suffer overheating in the axle shafts, and following the delivery of further technical evidence by the manufacturer, the EBA has lifted the restriction which limited their use to 70,000km per year. Eleven Gravita 15L BB locomotives, classified class 265, have been supplied to DB Schenker for operation on freight services in the Ruhr area, while Hohenzollern Railways (HzL) took delivery of one locomotive (pictured) in January, which will be used on Holcim shale oil trains from Dotternhausen in Baden- Württemberg to Eclépens and Untervaz in Switzerland.
Rotterdam and Antwerp with Lille, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Basle, Nancy, Dijon, Lyon and Ambérieu-en-Bugey in southern France. It carries 30,000 freight trains a year which transport more than 20 million tonnes of freight internationally.
The objective is to improve the level of service to customers by allocating capacity along the entire length of the corridor rather than nationally to enable rail to win traffic from road.
IRJ May 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60