The UK government announced a new rail franchise which will combine the current InterCity West Coast services with the development and introduction of High Speed 2 services. The new franchise – the West Coast Partnership – will be responsible for services on both the West Coast Main Line from 2019 and designing and running the initial high speed services from 2026. The franchise will run for the first 3 to 5 years of operation of HS2.
The new West Coast Partnership franchise will provide a strong private sector partner to work with the government, a partner who must combine experience of delivering both conventional and high speed railway operations, transforming customer service through the use of cutting-edge technology.
The partnership approach means the winning bidder will collaborate with HS2 Ltd to design, launch and operate the initial HS2 services and deliver the transition of the timetable on the West Coast Main Line as it is revised to take advantage of the extra capacity provided by HS2.
The formal expression of interest (EoI) for the West Coast Partnership is due to be published in December 2016, followed by the invitation to tender (ITT) in October or November 2017, with the new franchise scheduled to start 1 April 2019.
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