Notice

Prior information notice (PIN) for direct award of West Coast Partnership contract (rectification)

Published 20 March 2023

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

United Kingdom – London: railway transport

Prior information notice for a public service contract

Form for notification under Article 7(2) of Regulation 1370/2007, as amended by the Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 (Public Service Obligations in Transport) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, to be published one year before the launch of the invitation to tender procedure or direct award on the Department’s website.

Competent authorities may decide not to publish this information where a public service contract concerns an annual provision of less than 50 000 kilometres of public passenger transport services.

Section I: competent authority

I.1 Name and addresses

Department for Transport
Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR
United Kingdom

Contact person:
Email: railprocurement@dft.gov.uk
NUTS code: UKI32 Westminster
Internet address(es):
Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport

I.2 Contract award on behalf of other competent authorities

I.3 Communication

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address.

I.4 Type of competent authority

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions.

Section II: object

II.1 Scope of the procurement

II.1.1 Title

Contract for West Coast Partnership Rail Services. Currently operated by First Trenitalia West Coast Rail Limited (the “Operator”).

II.1.2 Main CPV code

60200000 Railway transport services

II.1.3 Type of contract

Services

Areas covered by the public transport services:

Rail transport services

II.2 Description

II.2.2 Additional CPV code(s)

60210000 Public transport services by railways

II.2.3 Place of performance

NUTS code: UKI LONDON
NUTS code: UKD NORTH WEST (ENGLAND)
NUTS code: UKG WEST MIDLANDS (ENGLAND)
NUTS code: UKM SCOTLAND
NUTS code: UKL WALES
NUTS code: UK UNITED KINGDOM
NUTS code: UKJ SOUTH EAST (ENGLAND)

Main site or place of performance:

West Coast Partnership rail services link London Euston, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland.

II.2.4 Description of the procurement

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. It is envisaged that the contract would also encompass the provision of rail services on HS2 (initially between Old Oak Common in London and Curzon Street in Birmingham and potentially between London Euston and Crewe), and will also include the performance of services in relation to the planning and preparation of HS2 rail services.

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

Start: 16/10/2022
Duration in months: 120

Section IV: procedure

IV.1 Type of procedure

Direct awards for railway transport (article 5(6) of Regulation 1370/2007).

Section VI: complementary information

V1.1 Additional information

This notice is published as a rectification of the previous prior information notice (corrigendum) related to the West Coast Partnership Direct Award, which was published on the contracting 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 second interim direct award and / or the successor direct award as envisaged or to use an alternative method to procure an operator.

V1.4 Date of dispatch of this notice

20 March 2023