The Department for Transport’s consultation into Great British Railways closes tonight, and FirstGroup has made a final plea for open access services to continue.

First will lose its former franchises South Western Railway, Great Western Railway and Avanti West Coast under the government’s renationalisation plans, with South Western set to be the first to return to public ownership next month.

First also owns the open access operators Hull Trains and Lumo, and has acquired the licences for new open access services between London and Carmarthen and also between London and Stirling.

There are further applications being considered by the Office of Rail and Road, both from First and other operators, including a suite of new services which Virgin has proposed from London Euston to various places in the Midlands and North West.

But transport secretary Heidi Alexander sounded a cautionary note when she wrote to the ORR in January expressing doubts about the fairness of open access operators who gain from publicly-funded railway infrastructure and who occupy train paths in congested areas.

She said she was not yet amending her official guidance to the ORR, but that changes were possible.

The DfT then told the ORR that it was not supporting any of the nine outstanding open access applications, with the possible exception of services between London and Wrexham which have been proposed by Alstom. One of the applications, from Alliance Rail for a route between Cardiff and Edinburgh, has since been withdrawn while Alliance reconsiders its rolling stock.plans.

The Department was particularly doubtful by the Virgin application, saying it had ‘significant concerns’. If Virgin’s proposals were granted in full, they would result in around 35 more departures a day from Euston, all of which would need paths on the already overloaded West Coast Main Line south of Rugby.

With the DfT’s GBR consultation closing at one minute to midnight tonight, First has argued that if renationalisation will be better for passengers, then the government must not prejudice the independent status of the ORR, which makes the final decision about open access applications, and that it should be allowed to ‘adjudicate fairly and impartially’ and make ‘fair, transparent’ decisions.

First Rail managing director Steve Montgomery said: ‘Enhancing rail connections is critical to boosting economic growth in the UK. We have long called for reform of the railway sector, and we are keen to see new arrangements introduced which consider the customer and commercial elements of rail, alongside measures on infrastructure.

‘Delivered effectively, reform will ensure the industry can grow passenger numbers, generate greater revenues and develop the value of rail in a customer focused, dynamic and efficient environment. To do so, it is essential the Government considers the need for appropriate protections and controls through independent regulation of GBR, private sector investment and open access operations.

‘This will ensure open access operators can deliver customer benefits and drive modal shift, while playing a role in ensuring the wider railway offers best value for the taxpayer.

‘Across Europe, we see private sector operators co-existing with state-owned services. Such competition is healthy, necessary and in the interests of passengers. It is proven to grow the overall rail market, and it is vital the GBR model allows for the same in the UK.’

*You can hear Steve Montgomery discuss open access in the latest Railnews podcast. Listen here 

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