Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers, today welcomed a new two-year deal for East Coast rail passengers announced by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA). He said:
"Today's Strategic Rail Authority announcement is good news, bringing early improvements for passengers on the East Coast Main Line. The extra trains and coaches will help relieve some of the overcrowding and provide an enhanced service to Leeds from June."
Stephen Byers particularly welcomed the inclusion of performance and passenger's charter regimes in the extended franchise, commenting:
"The system set up at privatisation placed no performance requirements on long distance operators. Today GNER becomes the first inter-city operator to contract to a new generation of performance payment and passenger charter compensation regimes. The Strategic Rail Authority will place such a requirement on other long distance franchises as they are replaced or extended."
The SRA's Strategic Plan, published yesterday, reiterated its commitment to developing the proposed infrastructure upgrade for the East Coast Main Line. The SRA is continuing to drive this forward, working very closely with Railtrack. Commenting on the importance of maintaining this longer-term perspective Mr Byers said:
"This two year extension means passengers will not have to wait years before they see any benefits. The East Coast infrastructure upgrade is still under development and it was right not to make decisions about a long-term franchise, or the type of new trains required for the line last July. In the last six months it has become clearer what infrastructure work is required to achieve the frequent services I want to see"
