RMT sadly colluding with Labour here to demand the impossible. RIC made the same mistake last night. The spend £30m+ and wait on more powers argument only works if youre certain those powers are coming, and coming soon - which nobody with half a brain is. heraldscotland/news/home-news/abellio-promises-an-improved-service-and-easyjet-style-fare-structure-aft.1412769276 The Dutch company appointed to run Scotlands trains has promised an improved service with an EasyJet or Ryanair style fare structure. Abellio has pledged inter-city fares from £5 and cut-price travel for jobseekers, the newly-employed and over-50s. Transport minister Keith Brown said Abellio pitched the least expensive but most cost-effective bid to take over ScotRail from Aberdeen-based FirstGroup. The decision has provoked anger from Labour and the unions, who insisted it should have been shelved until after the Smith Commission on devolution which could permit Holyrood to appoint a public-sector bidder. But Mr Brown said this would have cost the Scottish Government millions and could have brought trains to a standstill. He has been a vocal critic of the Westminster franchise system which permits bids from foreign state-owned companies like Abellio but not domestic public companies. He also said members of his own party, who he is relying on in his bid to become deputy leader of the SNP, will understand that he was prevented from favouring Scottish-based companies. Dominic Booth, managing director of Abellio UK, insisted there will be a meaningful number of £5 fares. Its a bit like the equivalent of EasyJet or Ryanair where there will be a certain number of £5 fares on trains that have got lots of free seats, then when they are used up it will go to £6 and then £7, he said at a press conference at Edinburgh Waverley station. If youve only got a quota of one or two £5 fares there will be reputational damage, so youve got to have a meaningful number, but obviously you have got them on trains where there is lots of spare capacity. If youve got a quota thats tiny you end getting bad publicity, so it has got to be accessible. Passengers will also receive free wifi, bike hire, 23% more carriages, high speed inter-city diesel trains with a third more seats, a great scenic railway scheme bringing more tourists to the north, the south west and the Borders, and major shopping developments at the stations at Aberdeen and Inverness. Staff have a commitment of no compulsory redundancies, at least the living wage, 100 apprenticeships and protection of pension and travel rights. Mr Brown said: Theres a huge range of evaluation criteria and one of them was cost. It was the least expensive, that is true, but it was also the one that was the most cost-effective. FirstGroup said it is disappointed that it will not be able to implement its plan for even greater levels of service and growth. Praising FirstGroups tenure, Mr Brown said: My feelings go with them and their employees. Of course we want to see Scottish companies prosper but we dont have the power to guarantee that. Mick Cash, general secretary of transport union RMT, described the deal as scandalous. He said: The continued privatisation of Scotlands railways has been bulldozed through, with the SNP colluding with the political elite in Westminster to deny the opportunity for this franchise to be brought back into public ownership. There is no question that this whole franchising process could and should have been halted, pending the ratification of the post-referendum devolution settlement. Scottish Labours infrastructure spokesman James Kelly said: Keith Brown has decided that the profits from Scotlands railways should be used to invest in lower fares and better services in Holland rather than here at home. Keith Brown should have welcomed calls by transport unions and Scottish Labour to suspend the franchise process so further devolution could allow public bids. Mr Brown said he has not seen RMT legal advice which it claims to confirm that this process could have been suspended, but said his own lawyers have left him in no doubt this would have cost money and caused chaos and uncertainty. I have written to three separate secretaries of state for transport asking them to change the rules on franchising so that it would allow us to accept public-sector bids, he said. Its no surprise that the trade unions want to see that happen. What is a surprise is that the Labour Party, which laid the tracks for this franchise process, has at the very last minute decided that it is on the wrong side of the tracks and now wants to jump across the tracks and say No, lets not go ahead with this franchising process. So, my view on that is that it would be hugely expensive, we would have to compensate each of the bidders for the costs that theyve had - around £30 million and possibly legal costs on top of that. We couldnt guarantee to be running trains after April next year if we didnt go ahead with this franchise. Jeff Hoogesteger, chief executive of Abellio Group, said: Our head office will be based here in Scotland for the UK portfolio activities. Im very proud to say that all of the Abellio activities are profitable. We intend to invest our profits into the Scottish rail network. Liz Cameron, director and chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said Abellio comes with a strong track record in the industry, both within the UK and internationally. Transform Scotland spokesman Paul Tetlaw welcomed Abellios award. He said: We are pleased to see that many of the improvements that we had called for are specified in the new franchise. However, there will need to be serious investment in the inter-city routes and it is imperative that the Scottish Government now comes forward with detailed plans for infrastructure enhancements. Ross Martin, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI), said: We warmly welcome Abellios plans for faster, more frequent services on the inter-city network, particularly the introduction of proper inter-city trains for the key Aberdeen and Inverness to Central Scotland services, and to transform stations such as Aberdeen. Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Alex Johnstone said: As a North East MSP, I am sad to hear that an Aberdeen-based company has lost out in this process. Its no coincidence that their tenure has seen a dramatic reversal in the decline of rail passenger numbers in Scotland. But the competitive nature of the franchising mechanism has played a key role in reviving rail transport across the UK and I believe that this decision will further strengthen that recovery. Green co-convener Patrick Harvie said Abellio has made a strong set of promises for improving services, particularly welcoming its commitment to Dutch-style Bike and Go schemes.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:23:15 +0000