West Coast Main Line decision scrapped
Shropshire’s direct rail link to London faced new delays today after the Government scrapped its decision to award the West Coast Main Line to operator First Group.
FirstGroup beat Virgin Trains to win the 13-year contract to run the West Coast service from London to Scotland in August – and immediately pledged to reinstate a direct link from Shrewsbury and Telford to the capital by 2016.
Both Virgin and First Group had promised to provide a direct rail service from Shropshire to the capital should they have ended up with the franchise.
Today, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the competition to run trains on the West Coast Main Line has been cancelled following the discovery of significant technical flaws in the way the franchise process was conducted.
The decision is set to cost the taxpayer £40m as the Government reopens the West Coast franchise bidding process. The decision to take the franchise from current operator Virgin Trains had been hugely controversial, with Sir Richard Branson’s company launching a High Court challenge against the move.
Today the DfT said it would be no longer contesting the judicial review.
Mr McLoughlin has also ordered two independent reviews into the competition process. An announcement is expected to be made later today about the suspension of government staff.
Comments for: "West Coast Main Line decision scrapped"
Colin Dodd.
Another classic example of the condem's incompetence. If Branson had not launched his objection, the takeover would have gone ahead. As it stands, this new inquiry is going to cost the taxpayer £40 million. How can they be trusted to run a country when they can't even handle a relatively simple thing like this.
What a bunch of clowns,,,very costly clowns.
Bill
Colin, do somehow you think that ministers actually get involved in these processes? It would be like the headteacher of a major comprehensive having to mark every piece of work by every pupil. You need some lessons in how Government operates!
You can't blame the Ministers of whatever party for a flawed process that yes, was set up by City advisers under Thatcher and Major but then wholly endorsed by the Blair/Brown coalition.
This is a problem that stems not from Parliament but from incompetent management by Whitehall civil servants.
Devilschair
I thought it somewhat interesting that the night/day before this broke that Ministers were complaining that civil servants were getting in the way or or stopping projects going through.
Perhaps its a good job someone spoke up - or this dogmatically driven damned laissez-faire bunch will have cost the country far more than it will ever have saved in the (hopefully) brief time they're running the place with aid of back of fag packet policy development.
Its too easy to blame Whitehall civil servants when they're being asked to do the terminally stupid and unworkable.
Roger
Yet another complete farce from this incompetent, u turning disorganised government.
I think it is now fair to say that everything is now back to where we started and all of the time and energy of the direct service campaigners is wasted. Millions have been wasted getting back to where we started.
We now need to ensure that the Shrewsbury direct link is included in any of the future options. If like the East Coast Main line the West Coast goes into nationalised operating company it can not be to stand still. The development of services, including the Shrewsbury service, needs to carry on regardless of who the operator is.
Bluntly I think it would be better if all of the franchises lapsed and were put into the nationalised company so the all of the money can go into the passengers benefit and we stop wasting millions on deciding who is in control of the profits. The operation will be the same staff running the same trains from the same stations without the commercial costs.
Please let British Rail return to rescue us from this debacle.
Liam
Oh dear, the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham was very vocal about this, especially in regard to Virgin challenging the decision in court. All would have been revealed in court, so thats why the government scrapped their decision. £40m it will cost us, and I am quite sure Daniel Kawczynski will try and keep his head down for a bit. I hope the Shropshire Star have some comments/excuses from him today.
Colin Case
Well said, Liam. Let's see some local accountability.
And let's see some heads roll in Whitehall and Westminster. Justine Greening, for example. And even Patrick McLoughlin told the Transport Select Committee on the 12th September "I am satisfied that due diligence was done by the department and therefore the intention is to go ahead with the contract when we can."
Unless he was very sure he should have said "I am reviewing that, having only just got the job"
Such arrogance.
Bill
As a minister new in the job he would only say what his senior civil servants had told him! The fact all was not well would have been kept from the Minister until it became impossible not to own up. 'Yes Minister' was nearer the mark than the public realises....
Again, I repeat, ministers (and councillors) will only state officially what their officials have told them. They can have their supicions, but unless they have categoric, provable information to the contrary what the officials say is what they will report.
Perhaps somebody in the Department 'blew the whistle' on this particular train before it hit the buffers. And it chimes with Francis Maude's comments about civil service attitudes. Beware rolling heads now.....
Mark
Fair comment Bill, but should we not look at the bigger picture here instead of holding Whitehall 100% responsible?
Three Ministers for transport since this lamentable shower took over in May 2010, and cut after cut made to public services. Might it therefore be possible that such an atmosphere of uncertainty leads to the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing? The Minister(s) should know what's going on, it's their job, but it's always been the way of government to devolve responsibility and then wash their hands of the issue when the excrement hits the fan.
Bill
So can we look forward to the Star publishing apologies from certain local Tory MPs who gave effusive statements to you and other local papers praising First Group, rubbishing Sir Richard Branson and claiming all sorts of problems would result for rail passengers if the contract was to be awarded to Virgin?
Sadly, anybody with a calculator and half a business brain could see that something was wrong when the firm that has been running the line for all that time and knew the issues best was so dramatically outbid by a firm that had recently been forced to surrender a franchise early.
Either the bid was in error, the process was in error or the evaluation was in error, and it has turned out to be both the second and third of those - although not through any fault of ministers.
The whole rail operating franchise system, together with the rolling stock leasing business, was a fundamental miscalculation in organisation by advisers to a long-gone Tory government that now costs the taxpayer and the passenger at least twice as much as direct management. The sooner we see a 'not for profit' national operating organisation in the same form as Network Rail, the infrastructure manager, the better. One line, East Coast, already runs that way and West Coast could now be the same by December.
Bigcat 178
Come on guys admit it Sir Richard and his advisors got it right they smealt a big rat! Firsts figures did not add up. All I will say about the direct rail link to London from Shropshire as I have before its a dead duck and not worth the hastle. Wrexham and Shropshire tried and failed. Its about time that all local MP's admitted it. Unless a company are prepared to run it at a loss and are prepared to blow £2.8 in 18 months. The franchiase procedure is very complicated and I don't think civil servants should be allowed in the bidding process leave it to the professionals. Imagine what would have happened if things had been allowed to go through. 2 years down the line First get into trouble and ask the government to run things as what happened with the East Coast main line.
john
Daniel Kawczynski should apologise to Richard Branson over this fiasco.He made unsubstantiated claims against Branson.Also I believe First Group would not even contemplate having a direct rail link from Shrewsbury to London -flying the kite I believe is the phrase.
Jezebel
John, there will never be apology from our MP because of his blinkered approach to the whole episode, He surely must be on the payroll from First Group because of his outlandish statements against Mr Branson.
As so many of the above comments say that there was not the slightest likelihood of a direct link ever getting set up because of the non cost effectiveness of it, most lines run at a loss as it is and they would not want another that was a whole lot worse
BrummieShrew
Perhaps the open letter to Richard Branson from Shrewbury's beloved MP, will now be followed by something similar containing a public apology?
CDC
It was pie in the sky to even contemplate a direct link to London. The last franchise failed miserably and there was no waythis new company would have made any success on this route, not enough passengers.
Victor
To all who are putting the boot in for the direct rail link to london, yes Wrexham & Shropshire failed, but, the restrictions put on that company, not being able to pickup/setdown at some major stations en-route to London, plus route access which made the journey a little longer.
And a Virgin trains service from Wrexham Via Chester to London.
So lets have a lot of support for a direct service again.
nick
A few points to add - I am disgusted as a tax payers to have to refund around £50 million to the four bidding companies! And probably additional expenses to pay the First group for losses incurred in preparing to take over the franchise.
Secondly where is the political accountability - the transport minister, Justine Greening seems to have walked away without any disciplinary measures having 'overseen' such a shambles!
However, it does give campaigners the chance to lobby the government to make sure a Shropshire-London (calling at Shresbury/Wellington/Telford) service is formally included in the new west coast franchise.
However, it does show the total failure of the rail privatisation process.