§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evaluation he has made of the adequacy of services on the west coast main line; what plans there are for improvements; and over what time scale. [14221]
§ Mr. WattsI expect that InterCity west coast rail services will be franchised in the near future. The franchising director and the chairman of Railtrack signed an infrastructure investment agreement which will give the successful bidder for the franchise the opportunity to run tilting trains and increase maximum speed to 125 mph on all principal InterCity west coast routes by 2002.
Proposals to build on the existing franchises are being made by prospective franchisees and as the competition for the franchise is in progress, I cannot comment on these. I expect the franchisee to achieve sustained improvements in services soon after taking over, as has happened elsewhere.
Consultation on service levels has been carried out by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and the finalised passenger service requirement for these services will also be published this week.