Transform Scotland - For Sustainable Transport

17 December 2014

Lots to look forward to in new ScotRail franchise

Transform Scotland rail campaigner Paul Tetlaw sets out his views on next year's new ScotRail franchise


The new franchise for the Scotrail network has been awarded to Abellio. It commences on 1 April 2015 and will run for a maximum of 10 years. We were heavily involved in the process through meeting with key staff at Transport Scotland, responding in writing to the consultation and meeting with each of the five bidders. In our response to the consultation and at the many meetings we attended we emphasised the key outputs that we believe should be delivered during the period of the new franchise. The key areas for improvement that we called for were:

• New and appropriate trains for the inter-city routes from the Central Belt to Aberdeen and Inverness and between the latter two cities.
• A renewed focus on our world famous rural routes through imaginative marketing, working with others in the tourist industry and the use of appropriate trains.
• Commuter and inter-urban services to be served by suitable trains.
• Infrastructure improvements to reduce journey times and add capacity to the network plus new services through re-opening routes and stations.
• The development of Community Rail Partnerships.
• The creation of a Scotland wide public transport smartcard and greater co-ordination of the public transport network.
• The promotion of active travel by improving routes to stations, secure cycle parking at stations and adequate cycle carriage on trains.

Following the formal announcement, press releases and media coverage we have held further meetings with Transport Scotland and now have a pretty clear picture of what the new franchise should deliver. I’m pleased to say that very many of the key improvements that we called for are being promised by Abellio in their winning bid. Looking at the different elements of the new franchise here is what we can expect over the coming years.

Inter-city routes

Twenty seven Inter-city 125 trains as currently used on the East Coast and Great Western routes are to be re-furbished and re-formed into four and five car trains. These trains will be used on the routes from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Aberdeen and Inverness and the between Inverness and Aberdeen. There is scope to add extra carriages as patronage builds. These trains will not be available until the delivery of new IEP trains and so their introduction into the Scotrail fleet is likely to be late 2018.

Rural routes

A  ‘Great Scenic Railways of Scotland‘ offering is promised for rural routes aimed at much better promotion of the routes by working with others in the tourism industry. Trains are to be refurbished with seats aligning with windows and more space for luggage, cycles and skis. A Tourist Ambassador will travel on the trains and on board catering will be improved and showcase local Scottish produce. Class 158 trains will be used on the Far North, Kyle, Borders and West Highland lines while 156 trains will be used on the Stranraer and Dumfries/Carlisle  lines. In addition Abellio aim to run tourist trains with heritage rolling stock and steam locomotives. Full details of these are yet to emerge but the market for such trains is well proven by the highly successful Jacobite train which now runs twice daily in the summer season from Fort William to Mallaig and contributes significantly to the local economy. What it does not do is integrate well with the existing Scotrail network – more on this later.

Commuter and Inter-Urban Routes  and New Electric Trains

The electrification currently underway on the Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street line and the lines to Stirling, Alloa and Dunblane will require new trains and a fleet of 70 new AT200 trains is to be ordered from Hitachi. These trains will be built at a new factory at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham – as will the new IEP trains for the East Coast and Great Western lines. They will first enter service in 2017 but the full enhanced timetable will not commence until 2018. Further electrification is taking place in Central Scotland, including the Shotts line, and this will then lead to a cascade of existing diesel trains and it is possible that 170 trains may be used on the Dumfries/Carlisle and Stranraer lines with the 156 trains being released for use elsewhere in the UK.

Community Rail Partnerships

We have long promoted the benefits that Community Rail Partnerships could bring to Scotland but at the time of our submission to the franchise consultation in February 2012 there was no formal backing in Scotland for the promotion and funding of such Partnerships. We were pleased when this position changed and the Government contracted with ACoRP to provide two staff to develop the concept in Scotland.  Such has been the progress that five Partnerships have now been designated with more to follow. The new franchise promises an annual funding package of close to £1m to further develop and fund these Partnerships as well as the existing Station Adoption Scheme and the Community Regeneration fund. Abellio are to create a new post of Head of Community Rail with a team of Community Rail Managers and Ambassadors.  

Public Transport Smartcard and Integration

The winning bid from Abellio promises a rollout of smart ticketing for all train ticket types by April 2019. Readers are currently being installed on stations across the network and they will all be in place by March 2015. Whilst welcome this does not provide a smart ticket valid across all modes of public transport. We now look to Transport Scotland and the Government to use their powers and influence to ensure that all operators co-operate to make smart ticketing across the public transport network a reality.

Smart ticketing will not in itself deliver true integration of the public transport network. For this to happen we need to see trains integrating with buses, ferries and trams. Some of this is around timetabling but the other key area is the physical presence of one mode adjacent to the other at a convenient interchange point.  There are examples of good practice at some ferry ports on the islands where buses wait to meet the ferries and the new Edinburgh tram network contains easy interchange at Edinburgh Park and Haymarket stations – with the latter having real time information within the station on tram services. However, considerable progress is still to be made on integration and again we look to the Scottish Government, local government and Regional Transport Partnerships to use their powers and influence to bring about radical improvements on integration.

The railway industry itself must also play its part, earlier reference to the Jacobite steam train highlights the need for better co-operation across the industry. The steam trains conveniently interchange with Scotrail day and sleeper trains at Fort William but there is no through ticketing and so the vast majority of passenger drive to Fort William to take the trip to Mallaig – a huge missed opportunity.

Promotion of Active Travel

There can be little doubting that Dutch based Abellio understands the benefits of cycling, the need for adequate cycle provision at stations and good quality active travel routes to stations. The winning bid contains a commitment to at least 3500 additional bike parking spaces at stations and Bike and Go hire schemes in at last 10 stations. The amount of cycle carriage on trains is still not clear but there is a commitment to continue to carry bikes free of charge. Given that new trains are to be ordered and a considerable programme of refurbishment is to be undertaken there is still some scope to influence the degree of bike carriage on trains. Abellio have also indicated that they will take a pragmatic approach to how many bikes can be handled on any particular train.

What the franchise itself cannot deliver is high quality active travel routes to stations and once again this is where governments at all levels must use their powers and influence to ensure we see significant improvements.

Infrastructure Improvements, New Routes and Services

The bidders were asked to give priced options for the provision of train services that will allow stations to be re-opened at Reston, East Linton, Robroyston and Winchburgh. In some instances local authorities have committed funding towards these stations and in others the funding will come from developers. Whilst it is not yet confirmed that any of these new stations and train services will materialise there is good reason to be optimistic. Other very worthwhile re-openings such as the line to Levenmouth are not part of the franchise agreement. However, there is no reason why these should not come to fruition during the period of the franchise –as has been the case with lines such as Airdrie to Bathgate and stations such as Laurencekirk.

As regards infrastructure improvements to the existing network then we now look to the Government to show the same level of ambition that they clearly show for the road network. Nowhere is this more evident than on the inter-city routes to the north. There is little point in providing more powerful inter-city 125 trains if they are to be confined to single track railway lines and forced to wait in passing loops for trains coming in the opposite direction. Six billion pounds has been promised to dual both the A9 and A96 roads and if the railway is to be able to compete on these routes between our cities then much more than the current plans for the railway is required. Members can be assured that we will be continuing our campaigning in this area to ensure that statements in the Government’s NPF3 planning document are turned into action and the train is truly is able to compete with the car.

Final Thoughts

The new franchise promises to deliver significant improvements in many of the areas that we highlighted and we have good reason to be pleased with the outcome. Indeed we have written to the Minster and senior civil servants at Transport Scotland expressing these views. However the franchise alone cannot deliver in the key areas of integration and infrastructure upgrades and we now look to government at all levels to bring forward schemes to ensure that we have railway that integrates well with other modes and offers a real alternative to the car.

Postscript: New East Coast franchise also now awarded:

On 27 November it was announced that the East Coast franchise has been awarded to a joint venture between Stagecoach and Virgin. Trains will operate under the ' Virgin Trains East Coast ' brand but actual ownership is 90% Stagecoach and 10% Virgin. The franchise commences in March 2015 and will run until 31 March 2023.

We'll provide further details in our next newsletter but we are pleased to note that it is now planned to start one London train from Stirling and that faster journey times to London are promised. We called for both of these improvements in our response to the consultation.