West Midlands Franchise
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The West Midlands Franchise is a new National Rail franchise formed by the Department for Transport to operate passenger rail services in the West Midlands. The franchise will be formed through the amalgamation of part of the Silverlink franchise (Silverlink County), which operates regional services from London Euston to Northampton, together with services in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, with elements of Central Trains. The franchise is due to begin operating in November 2007.
[edit] Routes
The new franchise will be responsible for the existing Silverlink County services, together with the following Central Trains routes:
- Birmingham - Liverpool / Preston
- Birmingham - Coventry / Northampton
- Birmingham - Leicester
- Birmingham - Wolverhampton
- Birmingham - Shrewsbury
- Coventry - Nuneaton
- Walsall - Wolverhampton - Wellington
- Lichfield - Redditch
- Stafford - Rugeley - Walsall - Birmingham
- Stafford - Stoke-on-Trent
- Stafford - Nuneaton
Routes between Stratford-upon-Avon and Great Malvern, utilising Birmingham Snow Hill, may be transferred to Chiltern Railways should it prove to be greater value for money to do so.
[edit] Bids
The Department for Transport announced on 19 September 2006 that three parties had pre-qualified for the new West Midlands franchise[1].
- London & Birmingham Railway Limited (Govia)
- MTR Corporation (UK) Limited (MTR Corporation of Hong Kong)
- Serco NedRailways West Midlands Limited (a Joint Venture between Serco and NedRailways)
In November 2006, MTR announced that they had withdrawn their bid for the franchise.
[edit] External links
| Domestic: | Arriva Trains Wales - c2c - Central Trains - Chiltern Railways - First Capital Connect First Great Western - First ScotRail - Grand Central1 - GNER - Heathrow Connect Hull Trains - Island Line2 - Merseyrail - Midland Mainline - Northern Rail Northern Ireland Railways3 - 'one' - Silverlink - Southeastern - Southern South West Trains2 - TransPennine Express - Virgin Trains |
|---|---|
| International: | Enterprise3 - Eurostar |
| Airport Link: | Gatwick Express - Heathrow Express - Stansted Express4 |
| Sleeper: | Caledonian Sleeper5 - Night Riviera6 |
| 1 Starts 20 May 2007 - 2 To be replaced by the South Western franchise in February 2007 3 Operated on the Irish railway network - 4 Operated by 'one' - 5 Operated by First ScotRail 6 Operated by First Great Western | |
| Future passenger train operators in Great Britain | |
|---|---|
| New Franchises: | Cross Country1 - East Midlands1 - London Overground1 - South Western2 West Midlands1 |
| Proposed open-access operators: | Grand Union3 - Wrexham & Shropshire4 |
| 1 Starts November 2007 - 2 Starts February 2007 - 3 Proposed - 4 Awaiting Approval | |
