Agenda Item No. 11 Transport Delivery Committee Date 6 th March 2016 Report title Accountable Director Accountable Employee Virgin Trains Partnership Agreement Update Pete Bond, Director of Transport Services Email pete.bond@tfwm.org.uk Tel 0121 214 7388 Babs Coombes, Rail Partnerships Manager Email babs.coombes@tfwm.org.uk Tel 0121 214 7266 Report to be/has been considered by Councillor Roger Horton Lead Member Rail and Metro Recommendation(s) for action or decision: The Transport Delivery Committee is recommended to: Note the content of the report Approve TfWM entering into a partnership agreement with Virgin Trains 1.0 Purpose 1.1 To provide an update on the creation of a partnership agreement between Virgin Trains and Transport for West Midlands and provide a summary of the agreement. 2.0 Section A Background 2.1 Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) currently has successful partnership agreements with rail operators London Midland and Chiltern Railways, providing a formal mechanism to work with these companies to improve rail services for passengers, communities and businesses in the West Midlands. 2.2 Building on this success, TfWM has been working to establish and develop a formal partnership agreement with the operator of the InterCity West Coast franchise, Virgin Trains. The company operates 8% of services in the WMCA area, including key long distance Page 1 of 3
[PUBLIC] services to and through the region, catering for local and national journeys. It also manages a number of major stations including Birmingham International, Coventry, the gate lines at Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton (until April 2018). 2.3 Both parties have been developing this in consultation with the Lead Member for Rail Group and are working to sign off and launch the agreement by the end of March 2017 to ensure there is sufficient time to deliver improvements within the current franchise. The agreement will cover the period up to when Virgin Trains ceases operation of the InterCity West Coast franchise, currently anticipated to be until April 2019. 3.0 Section B Aim and Objectives 3.1 The aim of the partnership agreement is to provide a formal arrangement through which TfWM and Virgin Trains will work together to deliver a better passenger experience and a more accessible railway for customers within the West Midlands region. 3.2 The agreement will develop a better railway for passengers through effective partnership working, delivering the following objectives: Driving improvements in service delivery and customer satisfaction Creating the best overall outcomes for customers Collaborating over schemes which bring benefits to all parties Improving accessibility for everyone Improving integration with other forms of transport Improving safety and security Increasing patronage and revenue Managing the resilience of public transport services in the region including improvements to the provision of capacity. 3.3 The agreement also provides an important step towards TfWM s aspirations to work with West Midlands Rail to establish a Rail Alliance for the West Midlands region involving all operators and Network Rail. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity for a greater insight into the operation of the InterCity West Coast Franchise to inform TfWM s input and involvement in the letting of the new West Coast Partnership Franchise (incorporating InterCity West Coast services and the development and introduction of High Speed Services between London and the West Midlands). 4.0 Section C Delivery 4.1 The TfWM and Virgin Trains partnership agreement will be overseen by a Partnership Board made up of senior management from both organisations and elected members. The Partnership Board will meet quarterly. An officer level Steering Group will also be established and meet regularly to ensure agreed outcomes and commitments are delivered. 4.2 Key high level deliverables within the agreement include: Sharing of franchise performance data on punctuality, reliability, service level commitments and customer satisfaction; Managing disruption and providing resilience e.g. for major events or to minimise impacts of wider transport infrastructure works; Improving interchange with Metro at New Street; Page 2 of 3
[PUBLIC] Managing change within Birmingham City Centre; Improving customer experience at Virgin managed stations including through the major schemes being undertaken at Coventry, Birmingham International and Wolverhampton; Delivering minor works to improve accessibility; Supporting major rail scheme and strategy development e.g. Midlands Connect; Supporting West Midlands Rail developments e.g. for a Single Network Vision and Station Alliance; Providing a joint communication and marketing strategy including promotion of Swift; Working alongside Prince s Trust to develop vocational skills training and work experience; Staff schemes/secondments between TfWM and Virgin Trains to share skills and knowledge; Improving safety and security through assisting delivery of the Local Transport Policing Plan and working alongside the Safer Travel team; Developing a regional access advisory group to improve accessibility to the railway; and Working jointly to understand the impacts and maximise the opportunities of HS2. 4.3 An implementation plan will be created consisting of a series of focused actions and responsibilities for each party in order to ensure that each high level deliverable is met. This will be developed and monitored by the officer Steering Group, with regular update reports to the partnership board. 5.0 Section D Financial Implications 5.1 There are no direct financial implications as a result of the recommendations within this report. The majority of the obligations falling to TfWM as a part of this agreement will be undertaken within existing staff resources. Should there be any financial implications for TfWM arising from the published implementation / action plans which are to be developed, these costs will need to be met from existing TfWM operational budgets. 6.0 Section E Legal Implications 6.1 There are no immediate legal implications flowing from the contents of this report. WMCA legal services will provide legal support in relation to the drafting of any Partnership Agreements 7.0 Section F Equalities Implications 7.1 A positive impact is envisaged through measures to improve accessibility and to engage more widely with the local communities and local equality/disability groups 6.0 Other implications Not applicable 7.0 Schedule of background papers Virgin Trains and TfWM Partnership Agreement 1 Page 3 of 3
Foreword Transport for West Midlands is building closer working relationships with all train companies providing services within the West Midlands. West Coast Trains Limited (trading as Virgin Trains) provides good quality and fast train services for customers travelling to and from national destinations including London and the North, and within the West Midlands. Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and Virgin Trains have entered into a formal stakeholder relationship by way of this Partnership Agreement. This agreement will cover the period over which Virgin Trains operates the InterCIty West Coast franchise, currently anticipated to be until March 2019. Much of the financial investment has been committed into Virgin Trains contract with the Department for Transport (DfT). However the parties are keen to maximise the customer benefits through developing joint working to ensure that any commitments or investment gets true synergy from each of our organisations individual business activities and joint partnership approach. The parties expectation is that by jointly implementing the improvements set out within this agreement we will deliver a better passenger experience and a more accessible railway for customers within the West Midlands region. The partnership will be overseen by a Partnership Board involving senior management from both organisations and elected members. This agreement has been entered into on a voluntary basis. Our Objectives We have a shared objective to develop a better railway for passengers in the West Midlands region through effective partnership working. We will seek the following outcomes: Driving improvements in service delivery and customer satisfaction; Create the best overall outcomes for customers; Collaborate over schemes which bring benefits to all parties; Improved accessibility for everyone; Improved integration with other forms of transport; Improved safety and security; Increased patronage and revenue; and Page 1 of 7
Manage the resilience of public transport services in the region including improvements to the provision of capacity. Page 2 of 7
Performance 1. Virgin Trains will provide periodic performance reports showing how they are meeting their franchise targets agreed with the DfT. 2. Virgin Trains will deliver the Service Level Commitments as agreed with the DfT as part of their franchise agreement. 3. Both Virgin Trains and TfWM will work together to develop resilience action plans to improve the operations at stations during disruption where Virgin Trains is the Station Facility Owner. Virgin Trains will also provide assurance on how it is meeting its PIDD (Passenger Information During Disruption) commitments. 4. Virgin Trains will support TfWM s multimodal public transport resilience group. The Group s aim is to manage public transport for major events, significant service disruption, public safety or security and contingency planning for infrastructure works affecting road or rail within the West Midlands. 5. Virgin Trains will give TfWM at least 12 weeks notice in advance of any major timetable change. Page 3 of 7
Customer experience and better stations 6. Both parties will develop joint action plans based on the results of Virgin Trains Net Advocacy Scores (NAS) and in those areas of the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) where TfWM has lead responsibility for delivery (mainly car parks). The plans will be aimed at supporting VT s overall responsibility for delivering its targets for NAS and NRPS results. 7. Virgin Trains and TfWM will work together (and with other interested parties) to develop actions to maximise the passenger benefits of the full integration of the Metro at Birmingham New Street station. 8. Both parties will continue to work with Network Rail and other TOCs at Birmingham New Street and other stations where VT is the SFO, to maximise the customer experience provided including the management of the Automatic Ticket Gates during peak times. 9. TfWM will keep Virgin Trains informed of the likely impact of changes to the Birmingham City Centre landscape as and when they emerge including progress of the new Metro extensions and on emerging HS2 schemes. 10. Both parties will continue to work together, including with other relevant partners, to develop and deliver improvements at stations including through major station redevelopments (Coventry, Birmingham International and Wolverhampton), under the National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP), the Cycle-Rail Fund and the Access for All Programme and take advantage of other suitable funding opportunities that become available. 11. Virgin Trains will continue to invest a share of 300k per annum on minor works to aid accessibility and to involve Transport for West Midlands in the process of identifying and selecting future schemes. 12. Both parties will work together to jointly influence and support the proposed redevelopment of Wolverhampton Station Interchange to maximise the benefit to all stakeholders of this major investment. Virgin Trains will also support activities and plans for the transfer of the station to the West Midlands franchise. 13. Both Virgin Trains and TfWM will work jointly to support the delivery of the outputs in Network Rail s business plan and Midlands Connect. 14. Virgin Trains will support West Midlands Rail s development of a Single Network Vision for the West Midlands, including how it might be applied to the wider network of services. 15. Virgin Trains will be invited to join the Station Alliance on a station by station basis. The Station Alliance is an investment and development partnership between West Midlands Rail and Network Rail. 16. Virgin Trains will support TfWM s marketing and customer communications strategy for the West Midlands. Page 4 of 7
People 17. Both parties will develop opportunities to engage with the Prince s Trust for the provision of short vocational skills training and work experience courses which offers potential employment to successful participants. 18. Both parties will develop opportunities to introduce a buddy programme aimed at facilitating short term secondments between Transport for West Midlands and Virgin Trains. 19. Both Parties will develop opportunities to introduce a staff scheme aimed at facilitating a better understanding of the services provided by each organisation. The scheme will be developed to support training and inductions based on reciprocal travel and cost. Safety, Security and Environment 20. Both parties will work together to improve the safety of services and support the delivery of the Local Transport Policing Plan, including regular attendance of Safer Travel tasking meetings. 21. Virgin Trains will deliver environmental benefits to meet the sustainability agenda in line with TfWM s environmental strategy. Page 5 of 7
Stakeholder Management and Community Engagement 22. TfWM will work to establish a regional access advisory group to include a representative from both the Equalities and Rail Partnerships team with attendance from TOCs including Virgin Trains, and Network Rail. 23. Virgin Trains and TfWM will work towards the development of local support and community involvement in the West Midlands rail network. 24. Both parties will continue to build relationships between Virgin Trains colleagues, and the Transport Delivery Committee and West Midlands Combined Authority members including attending committee meetings where appropriate. Working towards the Future 25. Both parties will take every precaution to ensure that any action taken as part of this Partnership Agreement does not in any way prejudice the interests of a successor franchisee. 26. Both parties will ensure that the impacts and opportunities of HS2 are understood and maximised to the benefit of the West Midlands region. 27. Subject to DfT approval and funding both parties will promote the Transport for West Midlands Direct Debit scheme via Swift and other new retailing methods to maximise revenue and patronage through making travel by rail more seamless. Page 6 of 7
Making it Work Virgin Trains and TfWM will introduce and maintain a structure of quarterly Partnership Board meetings and regular officer level Steering Group meetings as required. The deliverables will form the basis of an implementation plan, to be developed and monitored by the Steering Group with regular update reports to the Partnership Board. The progress of the Partnership will be shared with the wider members of both organisations to acknowledge their contribution to the success of the Partnership. Opportunities will be identified to promote the Partnership Agreement including supporting joint nominations for awards. Page 7 of 7