Claire Perry
I want to be clear with the market that any new trains on the existing franchised network will be bought in the market, by the market. Meeting demand affordably will be key to the future success of the railway and the market based approach is important in efficiently doing so. I am pleased that industry is moving away from guarantees for new orders, this is a sign of a mature market working in the interests of its customers rather than merely seeking to shelter risk at the expense of taxpayers. And we look to industry to take the lead, making the most of the opportunities that exist and meeting customer expectations and the issues that arise
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Sounds like 'we are backing off and wont underwrite new trains, the franchises will have to do it themselves.'
Document goes on to claim they will no longer specify stock that a franchise should use and it will be up to bidders to arrange stock to meet franchise requirements (sounds a bit like how Northern was done, specify service requirement and leave it to bidders to find stock apart from trying to avoid a conflict with TPE bidders). No more Thameslink/Crossrail/IEP government procurement apart from HS2.
Says there may well be a requirement for brand new stock that shares HS2 tracks to connect Northern cities. Northern requires at least 120 new trains, TPE new trains could be ordered to meet the increased capacity specification, East Anglia bidders will have to show how they can reduce journey times, West Coast has a modern fleet but could be improved by bidders, may also be demand for new and/or refurbished fleets on east and west midlands franchises.
Otherwise document is just a stock take of current national fleet and outline minimum specifications for each role, oh they seem to have renamed 'Suburban' as 'Metropolitan'.
