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Operator Of Last Resort
An operator of last resort is a business in the United Kingdom that operates a Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, railway franchise on behalf of the government when a train operating company (TOC) is no longer able to do so, and it is nationalised on an interim basis. Since the last appointment in June 2023, there are now six such operators of seven rail services in England, Wales and Scotland. In December 2024, following new legislation in November, it was announced that the first of the remaining contracted TOCs would be taken back into public ownership in May 2025. Purpose Under the Railways Act 1993, which Privatisation of British Rail, privatised passenger operations in the United Kingdom, the Government of the United Kingdom, government is required to maintain continuity of passenger rail services if a franchise is terminated. In some instances, the government has negotiated for the existing franchisee to continue to operate the franchise on a management contract ...
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Passenger Rail Franchising In Great Britain
Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain was the system of contracting the operation of the passenger rail, passenger services on the Rail transport in Great Britain, railways of Great Britain to private companies, which was in effect from 1996 before being greatly altered in 2020, and effectively abolished in May 2021. In 2024 rail franchising was formally abolished, with rail contracts set to enter government control at the expiration of their contracts from 2025 onwards. The system was created as part of the privatisation of British Rail, the former state-owned railway operator, and involved franchises being awarded by the government to train operating company, train operating companies (TOCs) through a process of competitive tendering. Franchises usually lasted for a minimum of seven years and covered a defined geographic area or service type; by design, franchises were not awarded on an exclusive basis, and day-to-day competition with other franchises and open access ope ...
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Directly Operated Railways
Directly Operated Railways Ltd. (DOR) was a holding company set up by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom in July 2009 to operate rail franchises should it become necessary to bring them into public ownership. From November 2015, its function was taken over by the Department for Transport, who set up DfT OLR Holdings Limited to carry out that function. A partnership of Arup Group, Ernst & Young and SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit were appointed temporarily to support them in that function. East Coast Main Line Company Subsidiary East Coast Main Line Company trading as East Coast, took over the running of services on the InterCity East Coast franchise from 13 November 2009 following the government assuming control of the franchise from National Express East Coast after it defaulted on its contract. East Coast ceased operating on 28 February 2015, with the franchise passing to Virgin Trains East Coast the following day; however, on 16 May 2018 the government announce ...
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COVID-19 Pandemic In The United Kingdom
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirmed cases, and is associated with deaths up to 26 January 2025. The virus began circulating in the country in early 2020, arriving primarily from travel elsewhere in Europe. Various sectors responded, with more widespread public health measures incrementally introduced from March 2020. The first wave was at the time one of the world's largest outbreaks. By mid-April the peak had been passed and restrictions were gradually eased. A second wave, with a new variant that originated in the UK becoming dominant, began in the autumn and peaked in mid-January 2021, and was deadlier than the first. The UK started a COVID-19 vaccination programme in early December 2020. Generalised restrictions were gradually lifted and were mostly ended by Augus ...
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KeolisAmey Wales
Keolis Amey Operations (), Full legal name is bilingual including the Welsh name, as "Keolis Amey Operations / Gweithrediadau Keolis Amey Limited". trading as Transport for Wales Rail Services (TfW Rail Services) was a Welsh train operating company owned by Keolis (64%) and Amey plc, Amey (36%) that operated the Wales & Borders franchise between October 2018 and February 2021. The Welsh Government body Transport for Wales awarded the contract for the Wales and Borders franchise to KeolisAmey in 2018 which commenced rail operations on 14 October 2018. KeolisAmey used the brand names Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), which are owned by the Welsh Government, for day-to-day operations. The Welsh Government nationalised the franchise on 7 February 2021, transferring operations to Transport for Wales Rail, although Amey continues to provide an infrastructural role in the franchise, particularly on the South Wales Metro. History In October 2016 four bids were shortlisted ...
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Transport For Wales Rail
Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of the day to day services of the Wales & Borders franchise on 7 February 2021, as an operator of last resort, succeeding KeolisAmey Wales. Transport for Wales Rail manages 248 National Rail stations, including all 223 in Wales, and operates all passenger Transport in Wales#Railways, mainline services wholly within Wales, and services along the England–Wales border, many of which run into or through England. History During May 2018, the Wales & Borders franchise was awarded by Transport for Wales to KeolisAmey Wales. Operations commenced in October 2018; at this point, the franchise was scheduled to run for 15 years. Within two years, the franchisee had experienced a collapse in revenues and a ...
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Arriva Rail North
Arriva Rail North Limited, branded as Northern by Arriva, was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operator Northern Rail. A subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains, Northern was the largest train franchise in the United Kingdom in terms of the size of the network and the number of weekly services run. Its trains called at 528 stations, about a quarter of all stations in the country; of these stations 476 were operated by Northern. On 1 March 2020, Arriva Rail North Limited ceased to operate and all operations were handed to HM Government's Operator of last resort, Operator of Last Resort. During the Northern Rail, preceding Northern Rail franchise passenger numbers increased from 73million to 97million between 2004 and 2016 and as a result the new franchise was tendered on a growth basis, allowing for a £500million investment in 101 new-built trains: the Diesel multiple unit, die ...
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Northern Trains
Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail North had its franchise terminated at the end of February 2020. The company commenced operating the Northern franchise on 1 March 2020, taking over from Arriva Rail North. The prior operator had its franchise terminated early by the DfT in January 2020 amid widespread dissatisfaction over its performance, particularly in respect of poorly implemented timetable changes. The DfT had opted to hand the operation of the franchise over to the operator of last resort. At the commencement of operations, Northern publicly stated that its immediate aims were to improve service reliability and to proceed with the introduction of new rolling stock. For the latter, both the British Ra ...
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BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. The service has over 5,500 journalists working across its output including in 50 foreign news bureaus where more than 250 foreign correspondents are stationed. Deborah Turness has been the CEO of news and current affairs since September 2022. In 2019, it was reported in an Ofcom report that the BBC spent £136m on news during the period April 2018 to March 2019. BBC News' domestic, global and online news divisions are housed within the largest live newsroom in Europe, in Broadcasting House in central London. Parliamentary coverage is produced and broadcast from studios in London. Through BBC English Regions, th ...
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Virgin Trains East Coast
Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East England, North East and Scotland. It commenced operations on 1 March 2015, taking over from East Coast (train operating company), East Coast as a joint venture between Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach (90%) and Virgin Group (10%). It was originally intended to run until 2023 and return £3.3 billion to the government in the form of franchise premiums, but, due to the line performing below VTEC's expectations, it was announced in May 2018 that the contract would be terminated early by the government; VTEC ceased operating on 23 June 2018, when operations passed to the government-owned operator, London North Eastern Railway. While the operation itself was profitable, VTEC placed part of the blame for the under-performance with respect ...
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London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company which operates most services on the East Coast Main Line. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four railway companies which operated between 1923 and 1948. During June 2018, LNER took over from the InterCity East Coast franchise, after the previous privately owned operator Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) returned it to the government following sustained financial difficulties. The DfT intended for the company to operate the franchise until a new public–private partnership could be established during 2020. However, in July 2019, it was announced that LNER had been given a direct-award to run these services beyond 28 June 2020, up until 25 June 2023, making it the longest franchise on the East Coast Main Line since Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). ...
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Open-access Operators
In rail transport, an open-access operator is an operator that takes full commercial risk, running on infrastructure owned by a third party and buying paths on a chosen route and, in countries where rail services run under franchises, are not subject to franchising. Passenger open-access operators by country Austria * RegioJet * WESTbahn In development * Silverstar Railways Czech Republic * LEO Express * RegioJet Belgium * Eurostar * European Sleeper France * Eurostar * Trenitalia France * Renfe In development * Le Train * Proxima * Kevin Speed Former operators * Izy Germany * Eurostar * FlixTrain * Harz-Berlin-Express * Nightjet * WESTbahn * European Sleeper Former operators * Hamburg-Köln-Express taken over by Flixtrain * Locomore Stuttgart-Berlin route taken over by Leo Express Hungary * RegioJet Italy * DB/ÖBB Italia * Nightjet * NTV (Italo) * Arenaways Netherlands * European Sleeper * Arriva night services In development * GoVo ...
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The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. ''The Independent'' won the Brand of the Year Award in The Drum Awards for Online Media 2023. History 1980s Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in broadsheet format.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330. It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at ''The Daily Telegraph'' who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwell' ...
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