Contract for West Coast Partnership rail services. Currently operated by First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Limited

A Contract Addendum Notice
by DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT

Source
OJEU
Type
Contract (Services)
Duration
6 year (est.)
Value
___
Sector
TRANSPORT
Published
24 Mar 2023
Delivery
01 Apr 2022 to 23 Mar 2029 (est.)
Deadline
n/a

Concepts

Location

London

Geochart for 1 buyers and 0 suppliers

1 buyer

Description

Contract for provision of long distance rail services on the UK conventional mainline rail system. They serve the key cities of London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It is envisaged the services would run between: (a) London Euston to Lichfield Trent Valley, Crewe, Preston and Glasgow Central; (b) Lichfield Trent Valley to Macclesfield and Manchester Piccadilly; (c) Crewe to Wilmslow and Manchester Piccadilly; (d) Crewe to Chester, Wrexham General and Holyhead; (e) Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street; (f) Preston to Blackpool North; (g) Carlisle to Edinburgh; (h) London Euston to Coventry, Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury; (i) Wolverhampton to Stafford; and (j) Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe and Glasgow or Edinburgh There is a mixture of leisure, business and commuter travel. These services would be similar to those currently operated on the West Coast Partnership Franchise. In addition the contract may also include provisions to support the planning and preparation of services and works for HS2, for example to minimise disruption to passengers.

Ammendments to Previous Notice

2. II.2.7 Envisaged start date and the duration of the contract

72 120 months

3. VI.1

It This notice is anticipated that the contract will have published as a duration in the region of 4 to 6 years in total and this is likely to include a core period of at least 4 years with an optional additional period or periods exercisable at the sole discretion rectification of the previous prior information notice (corrigendum) related to the West Coast Partnership Direct Award, which was published on the contracting authority. authority's website on 7 October 2022. The precise future contractual arrangements will be different to what was envisaged in that notice. The current contractual arrangements for the West Coast Partnership are a franchise agreement entered into by the Secretary of State for Transport and the Operator on 28 August 2019, as varied by the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement entered into by the parties on 19 September 2020. The Secretary of State made a first interim direct award of a public services contract to the Operator, which took effect on 16 October 2022, and had the effect of extending the duration of the current arrangements from 16 October 2022 until 1 April 2023. On expiry of the first interim direct award, the Secretary of State is making a second interim direct award of a public services contract, which again takes the form of an extension to the duration of the current arrangements. This will extend the expiry date from 1 April 2023 to 15 October 2023. The decision by the Secretary of State to grant the second interim award (by way of an extension on the current terms) constitutes the direct award of a public service contract for the purposes of Article 5(6) of Regulation 1370/2007, being a legally binding act confirming the agreement between the Secretary of State and the Operator to entrust to the Operator the continuing management and operation of public transport services for the relevant period subject to public service obligations. It is currently envisaged that following the expiry of the second interim award, a new successor direct award will be entered into with the Operator for a duration expiring no later than 17 October 2032. The duration of the successor direct award may be made up of a core term and one or more optional periods with the option(s) exercisable by the Secretary of State. The envisaged total cumulative duration of the two interim awards (first and second) plus the successor direct award will not exceed 10 years, consistent with the position described in the previous notice (and the envisaged duration stated in II.2.7 of this notice therefore remains unchanged). The contracting authority reserves the right not to proceed with the Direct Award second interim direct award and / or the successor direct award as envisaged or to use an alternative method to procure an operator for the contract. Without limiting that, it is currently anticipated that the grant of any Direct Award as envisaged in this notice will follow on from the completion of certain termination arrangements in respect of the extant franchise agreement entered into by the contracting authority and First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Ltd on 28 August 2019 (the ‘Franchise Agreement’). The Franchise Agreement has been substantially varied by the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement (‘ERMA’) entered into by the parties on 19 September 2020. Under the ERMA, First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Ltd must have completed the termination arrangements by 14 December 2020. If those arrangements are not completed by that date, the Secretary of State may terminate the ERMA. If the ERMA is terminated, the variations to the Franchise Agreement will fall away and the parties will revert to the underlying terms of the Franchise Agreement. In those circumstances, it is currently anticipated that the Direct Award as envisaged in this notice will not be made. operator.

4. II.2.7 Envisaged start date and the duration of the contract

2022-04-01 2022-10-16

CPV Codes

  • 60200000 - Railway transport services
  • 60210000 - Public transport services by railways

Indicators

Other Information

See also Corrigenda Notices 2021/S 065-170107, 2021/S 065-170108, 2021/S 164-432124, and 2022/S 197-561084. Email address changed to railprocurement@dft.gov.uk

Reference

Domains