Serco and the Caledonian Sleeper franchise

[whole diary]

[chrisr_75]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-27599963

Serco was been awarded the contract to run the Caledonian sleeper train service between Scotland and London.

Transport Scotland announced the company would take over the franchise from Aberdeen-based First Group.

Serco already offers luxury sleeper services in Australia. The new 15-year franchise will start in April 2015.

The Caledonian franchise connects Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow to London.

Serco will be responsible for operating all aspects of the Caledonian Sleeper including marketing, sales, passenger services, station facilities and fleet maintenance.

More than ^100m will be invested in new rolling stock by the summer of 2018, part-funded by a ^60m grant from the Scottish government.

Serco is promising improvements including en-suite berths, "pod flatbeds" and a brasserie-style club car.

The rolling stock will be built by CAF, which also built Edinburgh's new trams.

'Iconic' service

Chief executive Rupert Soames said: "Serco has a strong track record of providing high quality and efficient rail services around the world, as well as experience in managing large-scale tourism-focused transport services.

"I am delighted that we can use this unique blend of expertise to transform the iconic Caledonian Sleeper into a modern, high quality hospitality service to make Scotland proud."

The company said customers would also benefit from being able to book through a new website with a much broader range of fares and earlier boarding.

Total revenue to Serco over the 15-year period is estimated at up to ^800m, of which approximately ^180m will be in the form of franchise payments.

Three companies bid for the contract; Serco, Arriva Night Trains and First Group which runs the service currently as part of the ScotRail franchise.

The ScotRail franchise is also up for renewal with an announcement due in the autumn.

[Worcester_Passenger]

The longer text on the main BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) site, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-27599963, says that there will be 72 new coaches, formed into four trains.

Those are long trains - or are there a lot of spares?

[ChrisB]

Maybe two spares - one in each country?

Passport checks likely? :-)

[JayMac]

Another loss for FirstGroup. That's two Franchise awards they've missed out on in less than a week.

The longer text on the main BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) site, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-27599963, says that there will be 72 new coaches, formed into four trains.

Those are long trains - or are there a lot of spares?

I imagine that includes spares. There are 75 carriages in the current fleet.

The maximum utilisation set-up sees each of the four Caledonian Sleepers as 16 carriages long made up of 2x 8-coach half-sets. Each half-set consists of 6 sleeper coaches, the Lounge Car and the seated coach. One half-set goes to/comes from each of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. Two sleeper carriages are detached/attached from/to the Aberdeen half-set at Edinburgh and joined to a seated carriage and a buffet carriage for the journey from and to Fort William.

[stuving]

Maybe two spares - one in each country?

Passport checks likely? :-)

The ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) includes a full explanation of the current operational pattern:

4.1.1.2 Background
The Caledonian Sleeper Services currently utilise loco-hauled stock, employing Class 67 (diesel)
and Class 90 (electric) locomotives leased from DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) Schenker Rail UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Limited. For sleeping
accommodation, Porterbrook Leasing Company Limited supplies 53 Mk3 Sleeper coaches, which
are approximately 30 years old. Three types of vehicle make up this fleet, with all types used for first
or standard accommodation:

^ SLE ^ 13 cabins with two retention toilets;
^ SLEP ^ 12 cabins with two retention toilets and a pantry;
^ SLED ^ 12 cabins, one of which is equipped for disabled customers, and a retention toilet.

For seated and bar accommodation, Eversholt Rail (UK) Limited supplies a fleet of 22 Mk2^▸ (Mark 2 coach) coaches,
of which 11 are lounge / brake carriages and 11 are seated carriages, with seated carriages having a
capacity of 31 passengers. These vehicles are almost 40 years old.

These carriages are organised into 10 sets (9 x 8 carriage sets and 1 x 2 carriage set) of rolling
stock, with two sets serving each of the five Scottish destinations. For the Lowlander service, a
Glasgow set is joined to an Edinburgh set, making a total length of 16 carriages. The Highlander
service is made up of the Inverness and Aberdeen sets, coupled to two Mk3 coaches bound for
Fort William. Two Mk2 coaches are joined to the Fort William portion in Edinburgh with passengers
often having to change carriage. This ensures that the formation does not exceed 16 coaches at
Euston station.

On each train, accessible berths are available, with one dedicated cabin in a first-class carriage
within each section of the train. Standard class cabins and first class cabins have exactly the same
specification in terms of their interior, the only difference being that in first class, the second bed is
folded away to provide a private room. In standard accommodation passengers are either kept with
members of their group, or share with a same-sex passenger.

Whilst the current rolling stock is approaching the end of its expected service life, refurbishment
may be a viable option to extend the service life and upgrade the passenger accommodation.

Bidders will be required to demonstrate how they plan to spend up to ^50 million capital
contribution for investment in rolling stock enhancements in accordance with the rules set out in
Appendix 2 (Rules for Spending of ^50m Capital Contribution) of this ITT

So there are four 16-carriage trains, two each night ex Euston, split in half on arrival. Presumably something similar is proposed.

[CJB666]

Another loss for FirstGroup. That's two Franchise awards they've missed out on in less than a week.

Wiki on Serco is at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serco_Group

Interesting quote under Tagging:

Serco, as well as its rival G4S, was accused of having overcharged the Ministry of Justice on its contract to tag offenders. It is now under criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office over the contract, where the Ministry was allegedly invoiced for tagging work that was never carried out.

In May 2014 a Survation poll for campaign group We Own It, found that 63% of respondents thought Serco should be banned from bidding for any new public contracts after the firm was investigated for overcharging on government contracts. We Own It held a protest outside the company's Annual General Meeting on 8 May called 'Sick of Serco'. The group brought sick bags and proposed a Public Service Users Bill that would provide better, more transparently run services.

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Seems like the award for the Sleeper services was a bit of a stitch up. Maybe sick bags will be required on the sleepers too.

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[JayMac]

Press release from Serco:

Serco selected for new Caledonian Sleeper rail franchise

Date : 28 May 2014

Serco Group plc, the international service company, has been selected by Transport Scotland to manage the new 15-year franchise for the Caledonian Sleeper service which is to be operated separately from the main ScotRail franchise.  From April 2015, Serco will be responsible for operating all aspects of the Caledonian Sleeper including marketing, sales, passenger services, station facilities and fleet maintenance.  To meet Transport Scotland's aim of transforming the service, over ^100m will be invested in new rolling stock which, together with many other innovative changes, will give a dramatically improved customer experience.  The Sleeper service provides a vital connection between London and Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Fort William, Glasgow, Inverness and many other of Scotland's main towns and cities.

Total revenue to Serco over the 15-year franchise period is estimated at up to ^800m, of which approximately ^180m will be in the form of franchise payments.  A gain share agreement is included to incentivise performance improvements.

The new fleet, representing an investment of over ^100m, is expected to be introduced by the summer of 2018.  Reflecting their aspirations for the service, this is part-funded by a ^60m capital grant from Scottish Ministers.  The fleet, to be built by leading rolling stock manufacturer CAF, will be leased to Serco by Beacon Rail.  Significant improvements include en-suite berths, Pod Flatbeds used for the first time in rail, and a brasserie-style Club Car.  Customers will also benefit from being able to book through a new website with a much broader range of fares, earlier boarding of the trains, the ability to manage their journey virtually and use of many other new service features.

The new Caledonian Sleeper franchise is centred on creating an outstanding hospitality service that is emblematic of the best of Scotland.  Serco will improve significantly the guest service using our extensive transport and tourism experience, together with that of our partners including leading Scottish hotel business Inverlochy Castle Management International (ICMI) and the Michelin-starred chef Albert Roux OBE KFO.  Serco also plans to promote and support Scottish enterprise by sourcing local products and produce from small and medium-sized businesses.  These changes, combined with the new sales and reservation system and other improvements in marketing, are anticipated to provide greater market penetration and growth in passenger numbers from UK^▸ (United Kingdom) residents travelling on business or leisure, as well as international tourists.

Rupert Soames, Serco Group Chief Executive Officer, said: "Serco has a strong track record of providing high quality and efficient rail services around the world, as well as experience in managing large-scale tourism-focussed transport services.  I am delighted that we can use this unique blend of expertise to transform the iconic Caledonian Sleeper into a modern, high quality hospitality service to make Scotland proud.  Serco has a very constructive relationship with many parts of Scottish Government and already operates essential public transport and many other services.  With 3,000 Serco employees living and working in Scotland, we are tremendously excited to be delivering these new developments and meeting the vision of Transport Scotland."

[JayMac]

Seems like the award for the Sleeper services was a bit of a stitch up.

Would you care to qualify that statement?

[CJB666]

Seems like the award for the Sleeper services was a bit of a stitch up.

Would you care to qualify that statement?

I said 'seems' ...

After all Serco is not squeaky clean - from Wiki again:

"The Union of Christmas Island Workers highlighted the systemic failure by Serco to manage the Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. The centre detains a large number of refugees including 1,000 children. Under Serco, there has been an increase of deaths in custody, self-harm, and of Serco staff beating prisoners. As well, there has been a deterioration of facilities leading to the decline of the physical and the mental health of detainees and of staff."

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NOT a nice company to do business with ...

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[ChrisB]

Not everything on WIKI is true, you know.....

[caliwag]

Not to mention the NHS pathology lab. missed targets...Cornish GP out-of-hours service failings and asylum seekers housing failures...!

At least they have a positive CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) in Rupert Soames...we shall see.

[JayMac]

I said 'seems' ...

After all Serco is not squeaky clean

So because of some issues in the past with this global company, you think that Serco and Transport Scotland somehow 'stitched up' the Caledonian Sleeper franchise award? If that's the case then I'm sure Arriva and FirstGroup will be heading to the courts sometime soon.

As it only 'seems' to be so, then I'd suggest your idea of 'stitch up' is totally without foundation.

I'm no fan of these large global outsourcing companies who are jack of all trades but masters of none. And I'm also well aware that Serco aren't squeaky clean. I'm also not a great fan of the franchising model we have in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) for rail services. However, those opinions I have don't lead me to believe that there has been a 'stitch-up' here. If anything, it's surprising that Transport Scotland haven't favoured a company headquartered in Scotland. But then, had they done that I suppose the accusations flying around would be of nationalist favouritism.

No. A franchise tendering process has been completed and the award has gone to the company who made the best bid measured against the required criteria.

[stuving]

The Scottish Government news items is here.

The transport activities that Serco mention here are DLR^▸ (Docklands Light Railway) and, in Scotland, North Link Ferries. Maybe those, and their overseas railways, are what they were judged on.

Incidentally, Transport Scotland still list this award as due to be announced in August. Being early can be a good thing in railways, though not always, and especially not for a sleeper ...

[JayMac]

Serco are also partners with Abellio in the Merseyrail and Northern Rail franchises.

[the void]

Serco also operate a global call centre business, providing Customer Services for the likes of National Rail Enquiries and, er, First Great Western.