New Cross Country Franchise Specification Issued

31 October 2006

Virgin Rail Group (VRG) today welcomed the Department for Transport’s (DfT) publication of the specification against which bids will be assessed for the New Cross Country rail franchise.

The DfT has provided shortlisted bidders for the franchise with the formal Invitation to Tender (ITT) that contains the final details of how the new franchise will be structured and where it will operate. Following a consultation programme with stakeholders, the DfT have made some changes and clarifications to the draft specification published in June, including:

· The hourly Leicester - Birmingham local service will now be operated by New Cross Country rather than the West Midlands franchise;
Guildford will be served by at least one train per day and bidders are able to propose continuing services to Brighton if they can develop an acceptable business case;
· Glasgow Central will be served by at least two trains per day (from the East Coast Main Line);
· Paignton will be served by three trains per day;
· Weston-super-Mare will be served by at least one train per day;
· Saturday and Sunday afternoon services follow the Monday to Friday Specification; and
· A summer Saturdays/Sundays service to Newquay, as currently operated, will be specified.

Virgin Rail Group is one of four shortlisted bidders for the new franchise and will be submitting its bid built on the strengths and successes achieved during the last nine years of operating the Virgin CrossCountry franchise. These include achieving significant growth in passenger numbers (rising from 12 million journeys each year in 1997 to over 20 million currently), constantly improving customer service and performance and, most noticeably, the introduction of a new fleet of high speed trains across the CrossCountry network with 21st century standards of quality and onboard service.

Bidders will have until 2 March 2007 to prepare their submission for DfT and the winner is expected to be announced in the early summer. The New Cross Country franchise will begin on 11 November 2007.

Commenting, VRG Chief Executive Tony Collins said: “For many months we have been developing our plans. Our priority is to ensure our bid fully realises the potential of the new franchise in addressing the needs and aspirations of the diverse markets it will serve.

“When we submit our bid it will include exciting and innovative proposals that will deliver the DfT’s expectations and those of the franchise’s customers. To achieve this, we are consulting widely with stakeholders from across the regions the new franchise will operate, learning their views to ensure we are able to reflect as much as possible the opinions of the people who will depend on its services. Using this knowledge, combined with our skills and experience in delivering continuous improvements in growth, performance and customer service, we will submit our bid to the DfT, building on the achievements we have already delivered and focused on establishing New Cross Country as one of Britain’s premier rail businesses.”


Virgin Trains Media Information

· VRG currently operates the Virgin CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast franchises under contracts with the DfT. Both companies trade under a single brand, Virgin Trains.
· In October 2005 the DfT announced its intention to end the Virgin CrossCountry franchise in 2007 to coincide with its proposals for the future of Central Trains. This included the establishment of three new franchises - East Midlands, West Midlands and New Cross Country - each incorporating some element of the Central Trains services, together with services operated by Virgin CrossCountry, Silverlink and Midland Mainline.
· In September 2006, the DfT announced that Virgin Rail Group had been shortlisted to bid for the New Cross Country rail franchise.
· From November 2007 the majority of the current Virgin CrossCountry franchise will be combined with a number of Central Trains ‘City Link’ services, creating New Cross Country. This new franchise will build on the successes of Virgin CrossCountry and continue its unique position as Britain’s only truly ‘national’ passenger rail service. It will deliver high quality, high speed services between Scotland and the North East through the Midlands to the South and South West, together with the inter-regional services from Birmingham to Cardiff, Nottingham and Stansted Airport.