Awarding of the West Midlands franchise – Transport Focus response

10 August 2017

Commenting on the announcement of the West Midlands franchise being awarded to a partnership of Abellio, East Japan Railway and Mitsui, Transport Focus director, David Sidebottom, said:

“It is good to see the new franchise putting passengers’ interest at the heart by providing longer carriages, with more seats which should reduce overcrowding. It is also good news that Delay Repay compensation will kick in at 15 minutes (rather than 30) and better ticket deals for part-time workers to help improve value for money.  We’ll be watching for closer partnership working between track and train carefully to check they do deliver on promises to improve performance.

“Passengers across this network, which stretches across the North West, Midlands and London, told us that their key priorities for improvement are better value for money services and the ability to get a seat on frequent, punctual services. We pressed for these passenger issues to be addressed in the new franchise.”