West Midlands franchise – consultation response from Transport Focus

31 March 2016

When new franchise deals are let we want to see passenger views at the heart of the decisions about their services.

The West Midlands franchise, currently operated by Govia as London Midland, ends in October 2017. The Department for Transport (DfT), with West Midlands Rail, is running a competition to find the next operator. This document sets out many important issues that should be addressed in the franchise specification and by bidders before the contract is let.

We suggest that the top level priorities for the next West Midlands franchise to address are:

•  value for money
• punctuality and reliability
• capacity and frequency
• effective management of any disruption, especially through the information provided to passengers.

Attention should also be given to cleanliness inside trains, provision of accurate and timely information and, to build trust further, clear and open communication.