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 A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating Passenger Trains, passenger trains on the Rail transport in Great Britain, railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the Privatisation ...

is no longer able to do so. , there are five such operators in England, Wales and Scotland.

Purpose

Under the Railways Act 1993, which privatised passenger operations in the United Kingdom, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

is required to maintain continuity of passenger rail services if a franchise is terminated. In some instances, the government has been able to negotiate for the existing franchisee to continue to operate the franchise on a management contract until it can be relet, as happened when GNER defaulted on the InterCity East Coast franchise in 2007. Should this not be possible, the Department for Transport (DfT) in England (through DfT OLR Holdings), or the Scottish Government for the ScotRail franchise in Scotland, and the Welsh Government for the Wales & Borders franchise in Wales, is required to step in as the operator of last resort.

Structure

In July 2009, the DfT established Directly Operated Railways (DOR) as its operator of last resort for England. In November 2015, the DfT wound up DOR and appointed a partnership of Arup Group,

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

and SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit.

Utilisation

Since privatisation in the mid-1990s there have been seven occasions when an operator of last resort has been appointed.

Current

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four ...

has operated the InterCity East Coast franchise since 2018, after Virgin Trains East Coast defaulted. * Northern Trains has operated the Northern franchise since 1 March 2020, after the Arriva Rail North franchise was terminated by the Department for Transport. * Transport for Wales Rail has been the Welsh Government's operator of last resort since 7 February 2021, after the Wales & Borders franchise operated by KeolisAmey Wales became unviable as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. *

SE Trains SE Trains Limited, trading as Southeastern, is a train operator, owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport, that took over operating the South Eastern franchise in South East England from privately owned London & South Ea ...

has operated the South Eastern franchise since 17 October 2021, after the previous Govia-owned operator Southeastern (legally London & South Eastern Railway) was stripped of the franchise for not declaring £25 million of revenue. The new operator has continued to use the Southeastern brand. *

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise a ...

controlled by Transport Scotland has run the ScotRail franchise since 1 April 2022, after the previous operator Abellio ScotRail 7 year contract ended.

Past

* South Eastern Trains operated the South Eastern franchise from 2003 until 2006, after the Connex South Eastern franchise was terminated by the

Strategic Rail Authority The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for Rail transport in the United Kingdom, the railway industry. Its motto was 'Brita ...

. * East Coast operated the InterCity East Coast franchise from 2009 until 2015, after National Express East Coast defaulted.

References

{{Reflist Department for Transport Nationalisation in the United Kingdom Post-privatisation British railway companies Privatisation of British Rail Railway companies of the United Kingdom