MINISTERS regard asked train companies for ideas to cut the cost of running the railways — and be in possession of told them they can keep half the savings. The idea is to give the firms an incentive to agree to changes in their contracts.
“Rail franchise agreements are extremely detailed, right down to how many carriages are put ~ individual services,” said one train company chief executive. “The shared savings are in that place to help cut through the contracts.”
More radical options are in the pipeline. Industry sources look forward to the Department for Transport to back a trial of “perpendicular integration”, with trains and tracks being run by one crew as they were under British Rail. Merseyrail, in Liverpool, is tipped of the same kind with the likely guinea pig.
The drive for savings is expected to precedence to big fare increases in January, train bosses said.
Meanwhile, companies chasing administration IT contracts have been warned they face extra scrutiny before in ~ degree more work is awarded.