Trains -
Connex
Connex
- one of Britain's biggest rail operators - is to
lose its franchise to run services in Kent and
Sussex because it has failed to improve
performance. The financially troubled company
were given £58million of public money last
December, but the Strategic Rail Authority today
announced the company's franchise to run services
will cease at the end of the year. In March
Connex were fined £1.65million for providing
poor service during January. One in five trains
are currently late on the service.
SRA chairman Richard Bowker said, "This is
not a question of the operational competence of
Connex, but there has been a serious loss of
confidence that we have in the ability of the
company to run the business in its widest sense.
We set Connex some very serious and very tough
targets last year. They have not met those and we
decided to take some very firm and decisive
action." The authority stress services will
not be affected as an interim company will run
the existing services from December until a new
private operator is found.
Connex and First Group are the contenders bidding
to take control of the trans-Pennine franchise,
which is up for renewal. The route which connects
Yorkshire cities Leeds, Hull, Sheffield and York
with Liverpool and Manchester, is currently
operated by Arriva Trains Northern. French-owned
Connex was stripped of its South East franchise
by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) on Friday
due to poor performance and financial
mismanagement. Arriva has a temporary franchise
to operate the trans-Pennine route until
September 2004 when the re-organisation of rail
services is due to be completed.
The winner of the new franchise will be announced
later this year. A spokeswoman for the SRA
confirmed to the BBC that Connex was still in the
running for the franchise despite losing the
right to run services in Kent and Sussex from the
end of 2003. She said it would be unfair to
compare the Connex bid with the performance of
its other operations and care must be taken not
to prejudice the decision.
Connex
is cutting 40 services in order to improve its
punctuality. Forty of the company's 1,700
services will be cut but the company has denied
suggestions it will cause chaos. It says the
changes will provide recovery time in the
schedules and will lead to a 5% improvement in
performance. A spokesman said, "We realise
no-one likes to see fewer trains, but the new
timetable allows more 'breathing space' for us to
improve the performance and punctuality of the
service." More changes are likely once the
first phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link opens
in the autumn and Eurostar trains move onto the
new line during off-peak hours. Connex said this
will improve journey times to Folkestone and
Ashford. Routes to London's Victoria and
Blackfriars stations will also need to be
adjusted to accommodate Eurostar on the new
route. Connex is the latest in a line of train
companies to cut services to try to make trains
run on time.
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