News - First group
| Contact the news and picture editor. |
|
Themes ScotRail RMT Network Rail Strike Cancellations Flooding Inverness Caledonian MacBrayne Weather West Coast Main Line Perth Arran Carstairs Strikes Avanti West Coast Glasgow District Subway ASLEF Gourock Glasgow Queen Street Carlisle Land Access Ben Alder Level Crossing Landslip Dalwhinnie
|
First Group will run the Great Western Railway franchise until at least June 2021 under the Emergency Measures Agreement.
(Permalink) First Great Western First Group |
|
Trenitalia and First Group have joined forces to bid for two British passenger rail franchises - East Midlands and West Coast Partnership - which are due to be awarded in 2018.
The duo has submitted an expression of interest to the Department for Transport (DfT) for East Midlands as First Trenitalia East Midlands Rail in which First Group has a 70% holding and Trenitalia the remaining 30%. The East Midlands franchise, which is currently operated by Stagecoach, comprises inter-city services linking London St Pancras with Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield as well regional services to towns including Skegness, Grimsby, Worksop and Crewe, plus the Norwich - Liverpool route. (Permalink) First Group Trenitalia |
|
TRANSPORT bosses have been urged to come clean about overcrowding on Scotland's failing railways. Labour warned passengers were being kept in the dark over the scale of jammed ScotRail services.
It challenged Dutch-owned operator Abellio and quango Transport Scotland to publish statistics on clogged routes. Under the £6 billion franchise ScotRail has to compile capacity reports on the flagship Glasgow-Edinburgh line every four weeks and audit passenger numbers across the network twice a year. But the data is not released to the fare-paying public, unlike south of the Border where the 10 most overcrowded peak services are regularly published. It comes amid a growing political row over the deal with Abellio making £1 million a month from the franchise since taking over from First Group last year. ScotRail trains on a third of routes are late more often than they are on time, despite rising fares. (Permalink) Abellio First Group ScotRail |
|
A new budget rail service between Edinburgh and London has been given the green light by the Rail Regulator.
First Group will run five services a day, with stops at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth, from no later than 2021. It claimed average fares would be less than £25 and there will be only one class of carriage as First Group looks to compete with budget airlines. Stagecoach, which operates Virgin Trains East Coast on the same rails, has warned its revenue will be harmed. The open access agreement is due to last for 10 years. (Permalink) First Group Virgin Trains |
|
First Group has announced plans for a new open access intercity rail service between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh. The operator has submitted a track access rights application to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) to run a new service on the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh, via Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth.
First Group, which already runs open access services through First Hull Trains, hopes to introduce its new offering from 2018 and has said the service will be served by a fleet of new trains. [From Richard Buckby] (Permalink) First Group  Peterborough: A Kings Cross - Hull express service speeding north through Peterborough station on 11 August 2011, formed by First Hull Trains unit 180111.  Kings Cross: First Hull Trains Adelante unit 180113 alongside an HST at Kings Cross on 30 July 2014.  Hull: A Hull Trains class 222 DMU glides into its home station on 23 April 2009 with the mid-morning service from Kings Cross. |
|
Serco has been awarded the contract to run the Caledonian sleeper train service between Scotland and London.
The company will take over the franchise from Aberdeen-based First Group. (Permalink) Caledonian Sleeper First Group  Inverkeithing: The Aberdeen portion of the Caledonian Sleeper calls at Inverkeithing at 00.12 on 25 May on its way to Edinburgh Waverley, where it will combine with the Inverness and Fort William portions for the on ...  Preston: The northbound Highland Sleeper pauses at Preston platform 4 on 21 April 2009 with First ScotRail liveried 90024 at the helm. The departure from Preston is scheduled for 0052 hrs and the train ...  Dulnain Viaduct [Carrbridge]: The Inverness portion of the Caledonian Sleeper catches the morning sun as it crosses Carrbridge Viaduct over the River Dulnain on 12 September 2004. |
|
It sounded too good to be true, and perhaps we have now had confirmation it was. First Group appeared to have won the West Coast Main Line franchise by offering the government much more than any firm had paid before for a service. The deal would have seen the company pay back more than five times as much as Virgin paid for the previous deal. It was an offer then that came in the middle of a recession to a government in need of every penny. The fall-out from today now suggests it was as unrealistic as it was tempting.
(Permalink) First Group |
|
The rail network north of Perth is 'unfit for purpose', according to Scotland's Chambers of Commerce.
The business group was responding to the Scottish government's consultation on the next railway franchise. It said links to the Highlands and north-east should be improved, including direct services across the border without having to change trains at Edinburgh. The current First Scotrail franchise ends in November 2014. First Group has operated all domestic rail services in Scotland and sleeper services to London since 2004. (Permalink) First Group ScotRail |
|
SCOTRAIL could be “shut down” on Sundays as a dispute over train driver shortages escalates.
Aslef – the union which represents nearly 1000 ScotRail drivers – said it expected to ballot for industrial action amid mounting frustration with the way the company had handled an ongoing row which, it says, has left staff having to work around 10 additional shifts a year. Kevin Lindsay, the union’s officer for Scotland, said that, if members voted in favour, drivers could refuse to work Sunday shifts as early as mid-January, leading to widespread train cancellations. Mr Lindsay said the action was being considered to try to force ScotRail back round the table. The union last week announced that drivers were refusing to work additional shifts, an action which saw dozens of trains cancelled on Sunday. If there was a ballot, it would mean drivers not doing any Sunday shifts “At the moment drivers are not volunteering to work additional Sundays. But if there was a ballot, it would mean drivers not doing any Sunday shifts. It would see ScotRail shut down on a Sunday. It’s not the route we want to go down. We want to talk to them,” Mr Lindsay said. “I anticipate that, following tonight’s meeting, a ballot will be put in place and ScotRail will be given formal notice of that in December. That would mean any industrial action taking place by mid-January or early February.” However, the company reacted angrily to the claims, insisting an offer of talks to the union 10 days ago had not been received no response, and that phone calls to union officials had also brought no reply. A spokesman said the “door was open” for talks. The dispute centres on a deal struck in 2008 which increased the number of days off for train drivers, who are paid £37,700 a year, effectively ensuring they work a four-day week, plus one in every three Sundays. Aslef claims this left ScotRail, which is operated by First Group, with around 50 fewer drivers than it needed and that the company had been relying on “institutionalised overtime” to make up the shortfall. The claims have been rejected by ScotRail, which says it has only 27 current vacancies and is training 77 drivers. A spokesman said: “It is disappointing that Aslef has withdrawn from a rest day working agreement. “It is also disappointing that the union has not even responded to our letter of a week ago or answered our telephone calls – yet took unofficial action on Sunday. “We are at a loss as to why we are in this position.” (Permalink) First Group ScotRail |
|
The head of First Group's bus and rail divisions Mary Grant (nee Dickson) is stepping down in the first big managerial shake-up by the public transport operator since the arrival of new chief executive Tim O'Toole.
(Permalink) First Group  Haymarket MPD: Transport Minister Tavish Scott unveils a commemorative plaque marking the official opening of new facilities at Haymarket depot on 13 February 2007. First ScotRail's Managing Director Mary Dickson lo ... |
|
A Scottish-based transport firm has said the recent severe weather has cost it £7m.
(Permalink) First Group  Bathgate: The terminating 12.48 ex-Edinburgh Waverley runs into platform 1 at Bathgate on 14 December 2010.  Hairmyres: Winter scene near Hairmyres on the morning of December 2nd 2010 as 156439 heads towards Thorntonhall. |
|
UK - FRANCE – Europorte, a wholly owned subsidiary of Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel, have purchased First GBRf, formerly GB Railfreight and the third largest rail freight company in the country, from previous owners First Group plc.
(Permalink) First Group GB Railfreight  Dalgety Bay: GBRf 66726 with Aberdeen - Harwich tanks passing through Dalgety Bay on 11 June 2008. This can best be described as an occasional service.  Cardross: GBRf 66728 and a practise load of two class 325 mail trains returning east towards Glasgow along the banks of the Clyde having been on a driver training run to Fort William.  Wansbeck Viaduct: GBRf 66714 Cromer Lifeboat takes a southbound freight over the Wansbeck Viaduct on the Blyth & Tyne between North Seaton and Marchey's House on 2 September 2009.
|
|
First Group, seeking to pay down debt, has appointed KPMG to look for buyers for GB Railfreight, the company's freight operating unit. First Group acquired GBRf in 2003 as part of its takeover of GB Railways, but the freight unit remains an anomaly in the company's otherwise passenger-only portfolio. Freightliner, French state railway SNCF and Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel have all been touted as potential buyers. [Modern Railways]
(Permalink) First Group GB Railfreight  Woodhorn Junction: GBRf 66714 Cromer Lifeboat with a freight ex-Lynemouth heading towards Ashington on the Blyth & Tyne. Photographed near Woodhorn on 2 September 2009.  Rhu: GBRf Class 66 No 66714 Cromer Lifeboat takes Alcan tanks north at Rhu on the West Highland Line on 9 April 2010. It will shortly pass the returning southbound tanks at Garelochhead around 19.30 ...  Camden Road: Westbound containers from Felixstowe destined for the Midlands rumble across the bridge spanning the A503 and through Camden Road station in July 2005. The route is part of the heavily used inter-regi ... |
|
Concern over East Coast rail services grew last night as it emerged that station improvements and catering could be dropped by a new operator.
The Government yesterday announced new trains will be tested on the East Coast Main Line - linking the region with Scotland and London - in 2012 and be fully introduced two years later. But the future of catering services and station improvements are unclear. A Department for Transport (DfT) blueprint for the new East Coast franchise, drawn up after GNER handed its contract back last year, reveals that it will be up to the new operator to decide whether to carry on with planned upgrades. Transport companies First Group, National Express, Sunderland-based Arriva, and a joint bid between Stagecoach and Virgin are in the running to replace GNER by the end of the year. It will be up to the winner to decide whether to continue with the station investments that were part of GNER's old franchise. (Permalink) First Group  Newcastle Central: A GNER Kings Cross - Glasgow Central service rounds the sweeping curve off the King Edward Bridge to enter the west end of Newcastle Central in the summer of 2004.  Newcastle Central: 67008 at the rear of a UK Railtours excursion just arrived at Newcastle after a visit to the former Blyth and Tyne Railway on 7th April 2018. The tour went to the North Blyth freight branch but not, a ...  Newcastle Central: 31300 at Newcastle Central, with a brake van, in the Spring of 1983 |
|
Scotland's Railways in 2004, the year in review;
January : commissioning of Waverley interlocking February : Larkhall sodcutting March : Bowker visits completed platform extension at Bathgate April : National Railway Museum succeed in bid for Flying Scotsman May : start of locohauling to North Berwick June : First Group named preferred bidder for ScotRail July : Bowker to leave, SRA to be abolished in Government's Rail Review August : deliveries of suburban Turbostars start for SPT September : Virgin start tilting south of Crewe October : Launch of First ScotRail November : Royal Mail return to rail with GBRf at Shieldmuir December : new traincare depot at Glasgow Eastfield goes live (Permalink) First Group ScotRail |
|
EDINBURGH bus operator First Group was today given the green light to press ahead with its bid for the ScotRail franchise.
(Permalink) First Group ScotRail |
|
The transport operator First Group is given the green light to press ahead with its bid for ScotRail.
(Permalink) First Group ScotRail |
|
The four companies are:
- Arriva Trains Ltd - First Group PLC - National Express Group PLC (Present franchise holder) - Serco Rail/Netherlands Railways (Permalink) First Group ScotRail |
KML version
