UK: FirstGroup has published Moving Forward Together: Why open access is essential for a better railway, a report setting out its case for retaining a ‘thriving’ open access sector as part of the restructured railway.
The company argues that privately-funded services without government contracts can drive growth across all operators including those to be controlled by Great British Railways.
The report was launched at a gathering of political and industry figures in Westminster on January 21. It makes four recommendations for the industry and government which FirstGroup believes could grow the rail sector by getting people out of cars and aircraft.
Acknowledging that ‘some people are sceptical’ about open access, First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery said the report is FirstGroup’s ‘contribution to the discussion’ and he believes ‘it is really important we don’t forget the wider benefits’ of the model.
While the government’s plans for GBR do allow for open access, Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander wrote to regulator the Office of Rail & Road on January 6 saying ‘we need to be mindful’ of revenue abstraction from contracted services and pressures on network capacity.
Andy Bagnall, Chief Executive of train operator owning company association Rail Partners, said this was ‘a worrying signal as it suggests that the bar for new open access applications is being made harder to clear’.
Four recommendations
FirstGroup’s report argues that ’under the new Labour government’s reforms, the mixed economy can and should continue, and the independent Office of Rail & Road should be properly empowered to continue granting access to the network where value and capacity allows’.
Its four recommendations to ensure ‘a bright future for open access’ are:
- retention of a strong independent regulator able to adjudicate on access, economics and performance and ensure fair treatment for ‘the 25% of the [passenger] rail market that will sit outside of GBR’, including open access and Scottish and Welsh services;
- reducing the time needed to secure track access rights, which can take up to five years; Montgomery stressed the amount of planning that goes into applications; saying ‘we don’t just throw a dart at a map’;
- ensuring that open access is a key component of the planned rail reform bill;
- the UK should study the results of rail liberalisation elsewhere in Europe to maximise the opportunity for open access. Montgomery commented that ‘as we move to nationalisation, Europe moves to liberalisation’.
Montgomery said ‘data demonstrates open access grows the railway overall. By offering competitive fares at alternative times and stopping at under-served destinations, open access inspires more people to use trains rather than cars and planes.’
FirstGroup owns open access operators Hull Trains and Lumo, and it also operates the Heathrow Express airport shuttle on behalf of Heathrow Airport Ltd. It says Lumo has helped generate 6·2 million additional journeys on the East Coast Main Line since it launched its London – Edinburgh services in 2021, with only 3·9 million of these carried on Lumo trains.
Lumo is ‘not there to compete with LNER’, said Montgomery. ‘Lumo is about taking business from airlines’ and ‘we have done that very successfully’.
FirstGroup has rights to launch new London – Carmarthen and London – Stirling services, and has applied to launch London – Paignton, London – Manchester – Rochdale and London – Worksop – Sheffield services.
Montgomery said open access operators ‘are not filling up the network, we are using space that is available’. He said the network is overall ‘almost a fixed cost’, and while access charges have a complex history, operators do contribute. ‘Some people we think we live off the back of other operators; we don’t’, he said.
Industry responses
Virgin Group has also applied for open access paths on the West Coast Main Line from London Euston to Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow, and Rochdale via Manchester.
Commenting on the launch of FirstGroup’s report, Virgin said ‘the case for open access is strong — where healthy competition exists on long distance routes, significant growth has been delivered by offering choice, additional capacity and value for money, which benefits customers and taxpayers alike. Virgin wants genuine open access operators to be supported to inject new life into the lines which need it most.’
Providing an international perspective, Aurélie Csizmazia from the Brussels-based AllRail association of new entrants to the European rail market said, ‘open access rail operators across Europe have delivered economic growth, jobs and higher passenger numbers. We need more of these types of services.’
