10 months, 3 years, 4 +1 years or 10 years?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

There are some improvements in the pipeline, with ^700 million being invested in infrastructure, including electrification of the Great Western line, but it will be a long time before benefits are felt by rail customers. There is also uncertainty over the future of the Great Western franchise, which is due for renewal in 2015. It looks likely to be retained by First Great Western for another ten years as part of a so-called "sweetheart deal".

Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/rail-services-fair-comfortable-need-radical/story-22789107-detail/story.html

My understanding was that from September 2015, we're looking at 10 months, 3 years, or 4 years +1 as a probable direct award.    The June consultation was based on those three possible periods, although no statement was made as to which would be most likely and there wasn't a consultation question asking for inputs as to which stakeholders / passengers would favour.

Where has "another ten years" come from?   Have I missed something?

[bobm]

Have I missed something?  I thought the whole reason we have the current short award is because it was the maximum allowed under EU^» (European Union - about) law.  How would a 10 year one sit with that?

[grahame]

The current (less than 2 years) award is an "emergency" one and my understanding is that the 2 year limit is there because the intention to make a direct or non-competed award wasn't notified in an appropriate way 12 months before the award was made.

With notification made to the EU^» (European Union - about) in March 2014 that a direct award was (probably?) to be made to follow on from September 2015, that award contract will be able to be made from March 2015, for a maximum period of 5 years.    The "4 years + 1 statement" is that it would in practise be just short of 5 years - 4 years plus a number (12?) railway accounting periods.   And although the award can't be made until march, all the consultation, bidding, fine tuning etc can be.

I am baffled as to where the 10 year comment this morning came from in the Bristol Post.   I wonder if it's as simple as someone reading "10 months, 3 years or 5 years" as "10 years, 3 years or 5 years" ... or whether there's some other explanation.

[Electric train]

Could it be changing from a franchise to a concession