Trains row threatens to derail office return plan

Linda J. Dodson

Operators are understood to be frustrated by officials’ focus on franchises’ financial rather than operating record.

For instance, Greater Anglia, run by Dutch state-owned firm Abellio, and c2c, operated by Italian counterpart Trenitalia, have been pushed into the red by what firms call a “flawed” mechanism, linking payments to operate the lines to London employment figures.

It is understood that Trenitalia is particularly aggrieved by officials overlooking the fact that c2c is the country’s most punctual network. Trenitalia may now follow through on a previously reported threat to withdraw from the UK, industry sources said. Such a retrenchment could have serious repercussions for the Government’s £106bn HS2 project.

The Italian firm was selected for its high-speed capabilities alongside FirstGroup to run the west coast main line – the franchise on which some HS2 services will initially operate.

The slow progress of the secret talks has also angered rail bosses, which have seen the bus industry handed a new deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds ahead of them.

Some operators fear they will be left with just days to decide whether or not to agree to the new deals before the Sept 20 deadline.

Meanwhile, residual anger remains over government guidance on public transport during the crisis.

At the start of lockdown, the public were urged to stay off buses and trains unless absolutely necessary.

Despite the guidance being dropped, experts say widespread fear persists over the safety of public transport.

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