RAIL FRANCHISING
MPs to hold inquiry on East Coast franchise failure
Digital editor Molly Dyson compiles the latest news from
buyingbusinesstravel.com
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS transport committee has announced it will launch an inquiry into the decision to end the East Coast Mainline rail franchise early. Transport secretary Chris Grayling said Stagecoach and Virgin
would have to withdraw from the franchise agreement “within months” after the companies revealed that operating the line would cost them “hundreds of millions of pounds”. Previously, Grayling announced that the government would
RAIL
Eurostar finally launches London- Amsterdam service
allow Stagecoach and Virgin to leave the franchise in 2020, three years earlier than agreed, but later said the situation was “more urgent than originally thought”. Transport committee chair Lilian Greenwood said: “There are
serious questions to be asked of the train operator, Network Rail and ministers, and the transport committee intends to ask them. “The failure of the East Coast franchise has wider implications for rail franchising and the competitiveness of the current system. Lessons need to be learned by all concerned. “In the meantime, the Department for Transport must take the right steps to protect passengers and taxpayers.” Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, rail minister Jo
Johnson said Stagecoach and Virgin had “overbid” for the franchise. In future, the Department for Transport would “ensure there aren’t any incentives for bidders to overbid”. He added that risks were unavoidable and it was “unrealistic to expect the government to eliminate that altogether”. The National Audit Office has said it will also launch an inquiry into the government’s decision. n See UK rail update, p95
TECHNOLOGY BCD releases new product platform
EUROSTAR HAS ANNOUNCED a new direct train route from London to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, which will launch on 4 April.
Tickets for the service are already on sale. The route starts
at St Pancras station from where trains will travel direct to Amsterdam and Rotterdam in less than four hours. There will be two trains per day departing at 0831 and 1731 hours. Eurostar says the new route, first announced in 2013, is the result of “extensive investment” of £1 billion in high- speed rail on both sides of the English Channel. During the initial period, return journeys will connect
through Brussels on a Thalys service, where passport control and security screening will be carried out. However, Eurostar says this will be a temporary process while the governments of the UK and the Netherlands negotiate an agreement to enable passport checks to be carried out in the Netherlands. Both governments have committed to completing this process by the end of 2019.
8 BBT March/April 2018
BCD TRAVEL HAS unveiled Solutionsource, a product platform that offers access to partner technology solutions. With Solutionsource, BCD says travel buyers gain access to expensive technologies in key categories including risk management, price assurance, flight disruption, programme optimisation and more. Freebird, Rocketrip, Fairfly and Yapta are among the initial partners available on the platform. BCD says it will
continue to add partnerships throughout 2018. Yannis Karmis, senior vice-
president of product planning and development at BCD Travel, said: “By building an open platform, Solutionsource opens the door to emerging technologies for our clients. Our open ecosystem allows technology providers to integrate with our proprietary platforms to create a seamless travel management experience.”
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Norwegian Air CEO Bjorn Kjos on low-cost, long-haul flights
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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