The Scottish Government’s decision to end Serco’s Caledonian Sleeper franchise on 25 June has been praised by some, but criticised by others.
Scottish transport minister Jenny Gilruth told the Scottish Parliament yesterday afternoon that Serco’s contract, which began in 2015, was being terminated, because the company had tried to renegotiate the deal on new terms which the government said ‘did not represent the best value for money’.
She also said the decision not to continue the Serco franchise was ‘in no way a reflection on the quality of the product that has been developed, nor on the commitment of the staff who deliver this service every day’, and promised that the rights of the Sleeper employees would be protected when they moved to a new government-owned ‘arms-length’ company.
Serco said it was ‘disappointed’. The managing director of its transport business John Whitehurst said a renewed award would have ‘allowed Scotland to benefit from the expertise of our Serco Transport senior management team who understand this complex and unique hospitality-focused train operation like no-one else, while also enabling Scottish ministers to be in complete control of the contract’.
He continued: ‘Most importantly, this would have allowed the Scottish government to compare the price of such an award with that of their arm’s length operator of last resort company.’
He went to claim that Serco’s management had brought ‘massive improvements to every aspect of the service for our employees, our passengers and for Scotland, despite having made significant losses on the contract’.
Scottish Conservatives were also critical, pointing to the deft recovery Caledonian Sleeper had made since the pandemic. Their spokesman Graham Simpson concluded: ‘There can be no conclusion other than that this is an ideological decision. Jenny Gilruth said nothing about how this world class service can be improved under the Scottish Government.’
Rail unions are in favour of the change. The RMT said it would provide an opportunity to ‘ensure this sustainable, low carbon route between Scotland and London can be run for passengers' interests, not private profit’.
The drivers’ union ASLEF also supported the move but regretted that the Sleeper had not been recombined with ScotRail, which has already been nationalised since April last year.
The Caledonian Sleeper was also the last privatised rail operating contract in Britain to be described as a ‘franchise’. When Grant Shapps was transport secretary he formally abolished all the English franchises in September 2020, replacing them with alternative contracts.