Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
and
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
West of England
West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan ...
main lines. In 2007, the franchise was combined with the smaller franchise for the
Island Line Island Line or Island line may refer to:
* Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong
* Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England
** Island Line (brand)
Island Line is a brand of the ...
on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
.
History
South West Trains
In December 1995, the
Director of Passenger Rail Franchising
The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising was a statutory office in the United Kingdom created in 1993 by the Railways Act 1993 and usually called the Franchising Director. It lasted from 5 November 1993 until 31 January 2001 when it was sup ...
awarded the franchise to South West Trains, a subsidiary of Stagecoach. Operations started on 4 February 1996.
In April 2001, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) awarded Stagecoach a new franchise after it beat bids from
FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.NedRailways and
Sea Containers
Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two main business areas: transport and container leasing. It filed for bankruptcy on 16 October 2006. In 2009 its maritime container interests were transferred to a new company SeaC ...
. The 2001 franchises awarded were (as
promulgated
Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect.
After a new law ...
) to run for 20 years, but in 2002 the SRA reduced the duration of franchises and South West Trains was awarded a three-year franchise starting on 1 February 2004.
In December 2005, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that
Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.MTR/Sea Containers,
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to tender for the new South Western franchise, which combined the South West Trains and Island Line Trains franchises, both being operated by Stagecoach. National Express and MTR/Sea Containers later withdrew. In September 2006, the DfT awarded the franchise to Stagecoach commencing on 4 February 2007 for a period of ten years.
In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the DfT were in talks with Stagecoach to extend the franchise until April 2019. However, after failing to negotiate an extension, in July 2015 the DfT announced the franchise would be relet.
South Western Railway
In February 2016, the DfT announced FirstGroup and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise. In June 2016, MTR took a 30% shareholding in the FirstGroup bid.
In July 2016, the DfT issued the Invitation to Tender. In March 2017, the DfT awarded the franchise to First/MTR owned South Western Railway to commence on 20 August 2017. It will run until at least August 2024, with an option for the DfT to extend for a further year.First MTR joint venture wins South Western franchise ''Railway Gazette International'' 27 March 2017