HC Deb 31 October 1996 vol 284 cc233-5W
Mr. Andrew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of(a) the restructuring costs and (b) other costs relating to the letting of the west coast main line rail franchise. [1371]

Mr. Watts

The costs incurred by the franchising director to date on letting the InterCity West Coast franchise are £2.2 million. Any restructuring of the business will be the responsibility of the franchisee.

Mr. Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates have been made of(a) the total costs of consultants, (b) the costs of lawyers' fees, (c) the costs of accountants' fees, (d) the costs of management consultants' fees and (e) the costs of publicity, in the letting of the west coast main line rail franchise. [1370]

Mr. Watts

The costs of consultants' fees incurred by the franchising director on letting the InterCity West Coast franchise are:

  • Lawyers: £0.33 million
  • Accountants: £1.23 million
  • Management consultants: £0.28 million
  • Total consultants costs: £2.20 million

Apart from costs incurred at the time a franchise is awarded, costs on publicity are incurred for franchising generally and cannot be attributed to individual franchise sales.

Mr. Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what costs have been incurred to date on the bidding process in preparation for letting the west coast main line rail franchise, broken down by category. [1369]

Mr. Watts

The costs incurred to date by the franchising director on letting the InterCity West Coast franchise are:

£ million
Legal 0.33
Financial adviser 0.23
Accountant 1.23
Management consultants 0.28
Engineering 0.13
Total 2.20

Mr. Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the value of liabilities to be written off as part of the letting of the west coast mainline rail franchise. [1372]

Mr. Watts

The franchising director has written off no liabilities as part of franchising InterCity West Coast

Mr. Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the expenditure on operation of the west coast mainline(a) in each year since 1993–94, (b) in the year up to the issuing of the first pre-qualification document by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and (c) in the time since preparation for letting the franchise began. [1373]

Mr. Watts

In 1993–94, the InterCity West Coast business was part of the InterCity division of BR and it is not possible to identify the operating costs of InterCity West Coast separately.

On 1 April 1994 the InterCity division was split in preparation for franchising and InterCity West Coast established as a separate business. From that dale, responsibility for funding BR passenger operations has been the responsibility of the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising. Since then, BR has received support for passenger rail services to cover those costs of running the business that are not met from passenger revenue or other income. Opraf has paid the following sums to BR to cover the budgeted deficits of InterCity West Coast.

£ million
1994–95 99.05
1995–96 84.69
1996–971 92.53
Total 276.27
1 Annual total.

In 1994–95, BR received £67 million of the support for InterCity West Coast by 14 December 1994 when the first pre-qualification document was issued.

From 1 April 1994 to date, Opraf has paid BR £233 million in respect of InterCity West Coast.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of services projected in the passenger service requirement for InterCity West Coast between Watford junction and Milton Keynes. [1468]

Mr. Watts

There is no requirement for services to call at Watford or Milton Keynes in the InterCity West Coast draft passenger service requirement. The draft passenger service requirement for North London Railways includes a specification safeguarding regular services between London, Watford, Milton Keynes and stations on the route to Birmingham. In drawing up the draft passenger service requirement for InterCity West Coast, the franchising director has taken the view that the operator should have the commercial flexibility to determine the number of InterCity services calling at these stations. The consultation period on the draft passenger service requirement for InterCity West Coast ends on 20 November.

Mr. Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the cost of consultants' fees relating to the preparation for letting the west coast main line franchise(a) for each year since 1993 and (b) to date. [1368]

Mr. Watts

The costs of consultants' fees incurred by the franchising director on letting the InterCity West Coast franchise are:

  • 1993–94 £0.00 million
  • 1994–95 £0.26 million
  • 1995–96 £0.30 million
  • 1996–97 £1.64 million
  • Total £2.20 million

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the projected number of services listed in the passenger service requirement for the InterCity west coast main line for services between London Euston and Crewe. [1519]

Mr. Watts

The draft passenger service requirement for InterCity West Coast specifies that the operator must provide an hourly service in each direction Mondays to Saturdays. On Sundays there must be an hourly service between Crewe and London Euston, and 14 trains between London Euston and Crewe. The consultation period on the draft passenger service requirement ends on 20 November.