national rail contract business plan commitments

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• Rail franchising
• Rail franchise public register

Public register of rail passenger contracts

Contract documents for passenger railway services in England and details of how to request contract information.

Applies to England

Rail passenger contracts.

Rail passenger contracts are legally binding contracts between the Secretary of State for Transport and train operating companies.

The rail contracts published on the public register may not be the most current documents held by the Department for Transport ( DfT ).

Rail contracts and ancillary legal agreements

• Abellio East Anglia Limited 2021 rail contract
• Abellio East Midlands Limited 2022 rail contract
• Chiltern Railway Company Limited 2021 rail contract
• First MTR South Western Trains Limited 2021 rail contract
• London North Eastern Railway 2020 OLR rail services contract
• Northern Railway 2022 OLR rail services contract
• South Eastern Railways 2021 OLR rail services contract
• Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern 2022 rail contract
• TransPennine Express Railways 2023 OLR rail services contract
• Trenitalia c2c Limited 2021 rail contract
• West Coast Partnership 2023 rail contract
• West Midlands Trains Limited 2021 rail contract
• XC Trains Limited 2023 rail contract

Rail passenger contract publication scheme

This publication scheme specifies the categories of rail contract information published and explains how to get that information. It expands on the DfT publication scheme .

Rail contracts are published as required by Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Classes of information we do not publish

Rail contracts are redacted to remove commercial, personal and security information.

We do not publish:

• information legally protected from disclosure
• information exempt under the Freedom of Information Act
• draft information
• information that is no longer readily available
• National Rail Contract Business Plans – the majority will be published on passenger rail train operator websites in a summary format

Classes of information we publish

We publish:

• National Rail Contracts – updates published annually if legally or commercially significant
• Rail Services Contracts – updates published annually if legally or commercially significant
• Business Plan Commitments ( BPCs ) – updates published annually if legally or commercially significant

Train Service Requirement ( TSR ) – updates published annually

• Contravention Notices or Breach Notices – published on an ad hoc basis subject to legal advice

Publishing schedule

National rail contracts.

Published annually. Includes significant updates to the rail contract, BPCs and TSR . Applies to:

• East Anglia Railway
• Essex Thameside Railway
• South Western Railway
• West Midlands Railway
• East Midlands Railway
• Chiltern Railway
• Great Western Railway
• TSGN Railway
• West Coast Partnership
• Cross Country Railway

Services Contracts (Public Sector Train Operators)

Published annually. Includes significant updates to the rail contract and TSR . Applies to:

• London North Eastern Railway
• Northern Railway
• South Eastern Railway
• TransPennine Railway

How to request information about rail passenger contracts

You can make a Freedom of Information request for rail contract information.

Read how to make an FOI request .

We are unable to make some of our contractual and legal documents compliant due to their complexity. See our accessible documents policy .

Other rail passenger contracts and regulatory documents

• DFT OLR Holdings Limited ( DOHL ) publication scheme
• London North Eastern Railway ( LNER ) publication scheme (PDF, 58.6KB)*
• South Eastern Railways publication scheme
• Northern Railway Freedom of Information
• Office of Rail and Road ( ORR ) public register
• Transport Scotland’s projects, strategies and franchises for rail travel
• Transport for Wales
• Wales and Borders rail franchise 2018: devolution agreements
• High Speed 1 ( HS1 ) regulatory documents
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• Enforcement policy: rail franchise agreements and closures
• Rail procurement
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• DfT  payments to passenger rail operators under emergency agreements

You can write to us at:

Contract Changes Team Passenger Services Department for Transport Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road London SW1P 4DR

Alternatively, email [email protected] .

TransPennine Express Railways 2023 OLR rail services contract added.

Abellio East Midlands Limited 2022 rail contract added.

First Greater Western 2022 and Northern Railway 2022 OLR rail contracts added.

Northern Railway 2022 OLR rail contract added.

Added Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern 2022 rail contract.

Abellio East Midlands Limited 2019 rail contract added.

Chiltern Railway Company Limited 2021 rail contract added.

Added South Eastern Railways 2021 OLR rail contract.

Added West Midlands Trains Limited 2021 rail contract.

Added Abellio East Anglia Limited 2021 rail contract.

XC Trains Limited 2020 rail contract published.

Trenitalia c2c Limited 2021: rail contract added.

'First TransPennine Express Limited 2021 rail contract' published.

First published.

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South Western Railway sets out key business plans

• South Western Railway (SWR) has published its new business plan, which sets out the company’s commitments for the year.
• Planned customer improvements range from new live train occupancy information through to a package of station improvements.
• With customer numbers still below pre-pandemic levels, SWR has also announced that it is deferring its planned December 2022 timetable changes

South Western Railway (SWR) has today published its business plan for 2022/23, setting out how the company will meet post-pandemic demands while still delivering improvements for customers.

The plan sets out in detail what the company expects to achieve this year in eight key areas: customer and communities, accessibility, train service operation, environment and sustainability, leadership, management and resourcing, collaboration, people and workforce, and revenue.  

Notable commitments set out in SWR’s 2022/3 business plan include:

• Rolling out live train occupancy information on the class 444, 450 and 15X fleets
• Boosting Wi-Fi provision across the fleet, introducing superfast connections in some locations
• Delivering a comprehensive package of station improvements, including toilets, waiting rooms, benches and anti-trespass measures
• A package of station accessibility improvements including installing induction loops, accessible toilet and additional wide aisle gatelines
• Developing plans to achieve net zero
• Signing up to the Armed Forces Covenant
• Appointing a fraud investigation team to crack down on digital, electronic or systemic fraud

Under its National Rail Contract, SWR receives a fixed fee from the Department for Transport to deliver an annual business plan against an agreed annual budget. The operator has the opportunity to earn additional fees based on stretching targets that incentivise excellent performance for customers and the taxpayer.

SWR’s business plan comes at a challenging time for the rail industry, with customer numbers still below pre-Covid levels and the taxpayer continuing to heavily subsidise the railway to provide vital connections for customers and communities.

Over the past twelve weeks, SWR has seen its overall customer journeys stabilise at 70% of pre-Covid levels. While off peak travel has returned strongly to 100% of pre-Covid trips, commuters have been slower to return making just 53% of the peak journeys they did before the pandemic.

In light of these figures and the ongoing cost challenge facing the rail industry, SWR, Network Rail and the Department for Transport have decided to defer the timetable changes set out in the December 2022 consultation.

Instead, SWR will continue with its current service levels in December, with a limited number of targeted interventions to optimise services where demand has returned quickest. SWR and Network Rail will continue to monitor customer behaviour and act with agility to meet increased demand, subject to funding being agreed with the Department for Transport.

Commenting, SWR’s Managing Director, Claire Mann said:

“The Covid pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we work, play and travel, and the long-term future of the railway depends on it adapting to the new normal.

“Our new business plan does just this, striking the right balance between reducing the cost to taxpayers, who have subsidised the railway to the tune of £16 billion since the start of the pandemic, and delivering the improvements our customers want to see.

“Alongside our business plan, we have made the joint decision with the Department for Transport and Network Rail to defer our planned December 2022 timetable changes. While we know this will come as a disappointment to some of our customers, we cannot justify spending taxpayers’ money on a further timetable uplift while the number of commuter journeys sit at around 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels.” SWR’s business plan can be found here  and we have also  recently published our Stakeholder Annual Report, which is available to read here .  

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