TWO new passenger rail franchises are being launched in Manchester today, in a ceremony which marks the biggest change for train services in the north of England for more than a decade.
Arriva has taken over Northern from Abellio and Serco, while FirstGroup has taken sole charge of Transpennine Express, having run the previous franchise in partnership with Keolis.
Both the new contracts are groundbreaking in various ways. The previous Northern franchise was let with no provision for growth in demand, and as this forecast proved to be wrong its trains have become increasingly overcrowded. The new Arriva contract includes 98 new trains to be built by CAF, which should allow the withdrawal of the unpopular Pacer fleets within the next three years or so.
FirstGroup has also just signed a contract for 19 new trains for Transpennine Express, which will be built by Hitachi. More are set to follow, bringing the total of new trains to 44. First said the procurement 'is expected to be finalised soon'.
The franchises mark a major step in devolution of railways to the English regions, because they are being managed jointly by the Department for Transport and Rail North Limited, which is a consortium of 29 local authorities.
The government said the additional rolling stock will provide the equivalent of 40,000 extra seats a day, while facilities will also be upgraded at hundreds of stations.
Rail minister Andrew Jones said: "Arriva Rail North and First Transpennine Express have ambitious plans to deliver a world class rail service that will make a real difference to customers, bringing faster and more frequent services and connecting up northern cities and towns.
"Our new joint management of the franchises with Rail North, coupled with our commitment to spend a record £13 billion on transport in the North by 2020, will bring the Northern Powerhouse to life and help the region to realise its full economic potential."
However, unions fear that jobs will be at risk if some routes lose their conductor guards by being converted to driver only operation. They are also critical of the fact that the Northern contract has been awarded to Arriva, a formerly English group which is now a subsidiary of the state-owned German operator Deutsche Bahn.
Protests have already been staged in the north, and today's launch in Manchester is being met by more demonstrations.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “This rotten Tory government, opposed to British public ownership of our railways, have now awarded the Northern franchise to the German state railway company giving them the opportunity to bleed away millions in profits to subsidise their domestic operations.
"Since 2007 Northern Rail has sucked passengers dry to pay £179 million in dividends to the previous franchise owners Serco and the Dutch state railway.
“That is nothing short of a national scandal and according to Rail North’s own estimates passenger demand for the North’s railway will soar by 50 per cent over the next fifteen years opening the door to even greater profiteering while at the same time threatening to axe safety-critical guards from 50 per cent of the Northern routes."