New West Coast operator urged to honour pledge on services
BUSINESS leaders in the West Midlands have urged the new operator of the vital West Coast Mainline to commit to new investment in services.
The Department for Transport has confirmed that FirstGroup will replace Virgin Rail as the new operator of the Mainline service from December.
In response to the announcement, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group said there was an urgent need for increased rail capacity between the UK’s major cities.
Birmingham Chamber President Mike Ward said: “High quality rail services and improved connectivity are increasingly important ‘musts’ for our cities businesses, especially in terms of access to London and Manchester, and vital for inward investment.
“We look forward to welcoming First Group to Greater Birmingham and to engage with them as they develop their new service.”
The chamber has consistently called for an increase in capacity on the key routes to help businesses access markets and provide a medium term solution to the Mainline capacity constraints.
“While HS2 will deliver an enormous boost in capacity between our largest cities it is still a long way off. It is vital that in the short to medium term we continue to add more seats and services to the West Coast Mainline, where demand has rocketed in recent years,” added Mr Ward.
“Rail travel is becoming ever more important to business users who are looking for cost-effective and time-efficient ways to access their clients across the UK and internationally. We must see journey times between London and Birmingham continue to fall.”
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said the consensus among businesses in her area was that Virgin had done a good job as WCML operator and there had been no immediate concern about the change or whether it would affect prices and the level of service.
“That said, FirstGroup has vowed to invest in the service and we will seek to meet with representatives from the group as early as possible to discuss their plans for the line,” she said.
“Connectivity will be a major factor in Coventry and Warwickshire’s future success so it is absolutely vital that our services are at least maintained and, better still, improved.”
She said mention had been made about improving connectivity in Nuneaton, which was welcome.
Likewise, members of the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership welcomed the pledge about the restoration of a direct rail link to London from Telford and Shrewsbury.
The LEP has been working with the Shropshire, Telford and the Marches Rail Group to lobby for the restoration of the link throughout the tender process.
The business-led organisation, which is tasked with revitalising the economy of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford, had written to all four potential franchisees requesting the direct link be included in their bids.
Marches LEP chairman Dr Geoffrey Davies said: “We had met with FirstGroup to share our concerns with the company on the unmet demand for a direct service from Shropshire to London and on the longer term aspirations for rail service provision in our area.
“We also pressed home the need for better connectivity, as the only county without a direct rail link, to (Communities Secretary Eric) Pickles and was encouraged by his response.
“I’m delighted to see that FirstGroup included this commitment for a direct link to London from Telford and Shrewsbury from 2016 in its winning bid, which will be a real boost not only for our visitor economy but also for the businesses which are based here.”
Shropshire has been without a direct rail link to London since the closure of the Wrexham & Shropshire service in January last year after owner DB Schenker – which also owns Chiltern Railways – made a £2.8m loss.
Although popular with its regular passengers, the Wrexham & Shropshire service was hampered by the fact it could not run through Birmingham, meaning the journey took about three hours.
Elsewhere in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Council also welcomed the pledge about new services.
Council leader Kuldip Sahota said: “We are obviously delighted that FirstGroup have included services from London to Telford in their package of measures. The council is looking forward to working with FirstGroup to help develop this service up to 2016 and beyond.”
Rob Brighouse, managing director at Chiltern Railways, whose Mainline service operates in competition to the WCML between Birmingham and London, said: “West Coast passengers will be glad to see that FirstGroup have learnt from Chiltern Railways the importance of focusing on passengers’ priorities.
“Investment in capacity, affordable flexible fares and excellence in customer service are at the core of the Chiltern Railways approach which is currently delivering record growth between Birmingham and London Marylebone.
“In the current climate, FirstGroup will need to deliver a high quality customer experience that also makes business sense.”
