Avanti arrival adds to trend of disappearing UK rail firms
New figures show the proportion of UK train services under foreign ownership has more than doubled during the past decade – as services through the West Midlands are taken on by an Italian firm.
Analysis released today revealed that 61 per cent of journeys are with franchises owned by overseas companies or governments, compared with 29 per cent when current records began in 2011.
The Labour Party claimed the figures show passengers are helping to fund foreign states’ railways, describing the situation as “perverse”.
It comes as rail fares yesterday increased by an average of 2.7 per cent across Britain.
Franchises under full or partial overseas control on routes that were completely in domestic ownership at the start of the previous decade include the new Avanti West Coast, which recently replaced Virgin services through the West Midlands. Avanti West Coast is a joint venture by Aberdeen-based transport company FirstGroup and Italian firm Trenitalia and took over running services on the route in early December after British company Virgin and partner Stagecoach was prevented from bidding to renew its franchise in a row over a pension fund.
Avanti is vowing to significantly improve the carriages used with a £117 million refurbishment of the Pendolinos and replacing Super Voyagers with new trains. It is one of a number of lines now operated by companies with foreign involvement, including East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, ScotRail and South Western Railway.
The number of different countries with a stake in Britain’s train operation has also increased, from five to eight over the last 10 years. This is due to Italy, Japan and Spain joining incumbents France, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and Hong Kong.
Paul Plummer, chief executive of industry body the Rail Delivery Group, said competition to run services brings “innovation and unprecedented investment” which results in better services.
Shift
He went on: “Regardless of who owns the business, the railway is creating jobs and exports for people working in Britain, benefiting passengers, communities and the wider economy.
“At the same time, British-based rail companies are successfully operating overseas.”
But Labour’s shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the railways should be run “under public ownership and in the public interest”.
He continued: “The Tories clearly have no problem with public ownership of rail as long as those contracts are owned by other countries.
“German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn, for instance, earns so much from the UK, including the Queen’s train, that it is proposing a 10 per cent reduction in fares in Germany to encourage a shift from car to rail in response to the climate crisis.”
Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said it is “nothing short of a scandal” that the latest fare increase will be “siphoned off in profits by overseas operators to subsidise their domestic operations”.
Stagecoach’s loss of all its franchises has driven a large part of the reduction in UK ownership. Its involvement in the operation of UK trains ended when Avanti West Coast took over from Virgin Trains last month. It held a 49 per cent share in the franchise with Virgin holding 51 per cent.
Analysis of Office of Rail and Road data found that 272 million journeys between July and September were on services owned by foreign firms or states, out of a total of 449 million.
This is compared with 101 million journeys out of 346 million between April and June 2011.
For franchises formed by partnerships, the proportion of overseas ownership was taken into account when making the calculations.
The 101 million figure is approximate, as the split of journeys between Southern and First Capital Connect is not available.
