Directly Operated Railways Ltd. (DOR) was a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

set up by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom in July 2009 to operate rail franchises should it become necessary to bring them into public ownership. From November 2015, its function was taken over by the Department for Transport, who set up DfT OLR Holdings Limited to carry out that function. A partnership of

Arup Group Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment ...

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

and

SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit (Interfleet Technology until 2015) is an international rail consultancy company headquartered in Derby, England. It was founded in 1994. In October 2011 the company was acquired by SNC-Lavalin. In January 2016 the com ...

were appointed temporarily to support them in that function.

East Coast Main Line Company

Subsidiary East Coast Main Line Company trading as East Coast, took over the running of services on the InterCity East Coast franchise from 13 November 2009 following the government assuming control of the franchise from

National Express East Coast National Express East Coast (NXEC) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, owned by National Express, that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, North East England and ...

after it defaulted on its contract. East Coast ceased operating on 28 February 2015, with the franchise passing to

Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the N ...

the following day; however, on 16 May 2018 the government announced that rail services on the East Coast Main Line would be brought back under government control with an

operator of last resort An operator of last resort is a business in the United Kingdom that operates a railway franchise, on behalf of the government, when a train operating company is no longer able to do so. , there are five such operators in England, Wales and Scotl ...

appointed.

West Coast Main Line Company

In September 2012, with the potential that the Department for Transport would not be able to enter into a contract with its preferred bidder for the InterCity West Coast franchise (

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Virgin Rail Group Virgin Rail Group was formed by the Virgin Group to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail in the late 1990s. United Kingdom operations Origins Virgin bid for a number of franchises, inclu ...

seeking a judicial review, it was suggested that subsidiary West Coast Main Line Company would take over running of the franchise from December 2012 pending a resolution. In October 2012 the competition for the franchise was cancelled following the discovery of technical flaws in the franchise process. The Secretary of State for Transport announced that an investigation would be conducted, with the running of the West Coast line likely to be passed into the hands of West Coast Main Line Company to ensure that train services continued uninterrupted. Directly Operated Railways confirmed that it had been asked in mid-September 2012 to prepare to mobilise for temporary transfer of the InterCity West Coast franchise in December. With the announcement the Department for Transport was opening negotiations with Virgin Rail Group about operating the franchise on a short-term basis, Directly Operated Railways stepped back from mobilising, but remained on standby.

Demise

In November 2015, the Department for Transport took the operator of last resort function back in-house, and appointed a partnership of

and

on a two year contract, extendable to three years, to support them to deliver that. The operator of last resort function is delivered through

DfT OLR Holdings DfT OLR Holdings (DOHL) is a holding company established by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom to act as operator of last resort for rail franchises that are Nationalization, nationalised. History DfT OLR Holdings was establishe ...

.DfT OLR Holdings Limited
/ref>

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Department for Transport Government-owned companies of the United Kingdom Post-privatisation British railway companies 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom 2015 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Operators of last resort

East Coast Main Line Company

West Coast Main Line Company

Demise

See also

References

External links