InterCity West Coast rail franchise – a summary of Passenger Focus research and recommendations to Government

10 October 2011

The InterCity West Coast franchise – currently operated by Virgin Trains – is to be refranchised, with the new operation beginning in December 2012. Passenger Focus has been actively engaged in developments on the InterCity West Coast franchise and continues to work to influence the outcome for passenger benefit. In early 2011, following research with passengers we produced a detailed submission to Government making recommendations on priorities for the new franchise. A response to the recent consultation on the train service was submitted in August. This document now brings together the three strands of our work on the InterCity West Coast franchise and includes: Part 1: A synopsis of the initial Passenger Focus recommendations to Government Part 2: A summary of the research conducted with 4503 passengers using West Coast train services Part 3: The Passenger Focus response to the consultation on the draft Invitation to Tender