Latest news with #DepartmentForTransport
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Train ticket website sues Transport Secretary after making claims about 'secret' £32million agreement involving state-owned firm
Trainline has sued Labour's Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander over allegations she snubbed them by offering a £32million contract elsewhere. State-owned London North Eastern Railway (LNER), which has been run by the Department for Transport (DfT) since 2018, was said to have recently extended a ticketing sales platform contract. But the company did not offer rivals like Trainline the chance to bid for the 10-year-deal, it is claimed. Trainline has alleged the failure to seek alternative bids means due process was ignored - as were the best interests of passengers and the taxpayer. LNER reportedly awarded the contract for the central booking engine that supports its digital ticket sales to Australia's Vix Technology. Trainline also alleges the publication of the award on the Government's website on December 23 was too opaque as it buried the news during Christmas week, limiting the ability of other parties to respond. It comes as Trainline, who would have expected to compete for the work, has its own rival division which provides a similar 'white label' service to train operators. The company is understood to be claiming that a direct award of the contract was not permissible under procurement law because the terms were varied in scope, duration and beneficiaries. Given the terms of the award, the ticketing platform used by LNER, which operates between London Kings Cross and Scotland via Leeds and Newcastle, could be extended across the rail network. However, both LNER and the DfT have denied a new contract exists saying the allegations are 'categorically untrue'. Rail Unions have previously raised concerns about third party ticket operators like Trainline, accusing the company of being engaged in 'relentless profiteering'. Despite the government's plans for simplification through the nationalisation of its railway, it has maintained there would still be a need for 'an innovative and competitive third-party retail market'. Labour also ruled out establishing a national website and app to promote to promote cheaper fares in competition with the firm. But in guidance from January it said a plan to bring together ticket websites of individual operators was now in the pipeline. An LNER spokesman said of Trainline's allegations: 'This is unequivocally untrue. No such contract exists. Trainline is aware this is the case as we explicitly advised them as much earlier this month.' A DfT spokesman added: 'This is completely and categorically untrue – not least because no such contract exists, which Trainline is well aware after being explicitly told as much by LNER earlier this month. 'The Department has been clear we are working industry to simplify ticketing for customers, as part of the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation.' Trainline has suggested it is challenging the lack of opportunity for alternative providers to bid, regardless of whether a contract has been entered into at this point in time. The company has filed a claim at the Technology and Construction Court.
Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour orders Khan to raise Tube fares every year until 2030
'Once again, Labour has forced inflation-busting fare rises on Londoners, humiliating Mayor Khan by yet again removing his fare-setting power,' he said. 'All while he pretends they're on our side and supporting devolution – ridiculous.' The retail price index (RPI) measure of inflation stood at 4.3 per cent in May. The Government prefers referring to the lower CPI measure of inflation, which economists say is a more reliable measure of inflation. Yet RPI is widely used across the public and private sectors alike to maximise financial returns from things, such as rental contracts. 'Offers no comfort to Londoners' Sir Sadiq increased most TfL fares – including for the Elizabeth line and London Overground – by about 4.6pc in March, but froze bus fares at £1.75. Main line rail fares are set by the Department for Transport (DfT), which has traditionally used RPI-plus-1 per cent. Last year that increase was also 4.6pc. The next TfL fare increase is not due until March 2026, but may be announced before Christmas, the London Standard reported. London TravelWatch chief executive Michael Roberts said the above-inflation rises 'offers no comfort to Londoners who continue to feel the pinch of the ongoing cost of living crisis and some of the most expensive public transport fares in Europe.' He added: 'In previous years, the blow has been softened by freezing London bus fares. We look forward to seeing how TfL plans to keep fares affordable for those who need it most while ensuring at the same time that there is enough investment to maintain and renew the capital's existing transport network.' 'More complex than expected' In a second blow for London commuters on Friday, TfL also announced that new trains for the Piccadilly Line will not enter service for another year. Air-conditioned 2024 stock units were meant to be rolled out later this year, but will now not do so until the second half of 2026. TfL said that tests of the Austrian-made prototype train in London had proved 'more complex than expected', adding that 'mitigations or design alterations' might result. Stuart Harvey, TfL's Chief Capital Officer, said: 'It will obviously be disappointing for customers that they will have to wait a bit longer for the new trains, and I regret that. 'But I would like to assure Londoners and visitors to our city that we are working extremely closely with Siemens to ensure that the new trains can be introduced as soon as possible in the second half of next year.' Sambit Banerjee, the joint chief executive of Siemens Mobility, which is building the new trains, said: 'Any project like this is complicated – we're bringing state-of-the-art, air-conditioned, walk-through trains into tunnels that were built 120 years ago.' Sir Sadiq's spokesman said: 'The Mayor will confirm plans for future fares in due course. However, the Government has been clear that the funding settlement assumes TfL fares will increase each year by RPI+1 for each year of the settlement.'
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Free Leicester city centre bus service extended after new funding
A free electric bus service that carries passengers around Leicester city centre will continue to run into 2026 after securing more government funding. Leicester City Council said more than a million trips had been taken on Hop! buses since they were launched in Thursday, the authority said it had been awarded £9.3m from the Department for Transport (DfT) to invest in bus said part of the funding would allow the £426,000-a-year service to run until at least March. Hop! buses run every ten minutes in a loop, largely around the city's inner ring road, with stops at Haymarket Bus Station, Highcross shopping centre, Jubilee Square, Leicester Royal Infirmary, the railway station and the market. The DfT cash will also be used to buy 48 new electric buses to serve other routes in the council said it hoped all buses in Leicester would be electric-run by 2030 in a move intended to cut added it had also received £12.6m to spend on other transport projects in the next 12 include major planned resurfacing and maintenance schemes on Melton Road and Aylestone council said a new maintenance programme, to replace street lighting columns and illuminated street signs, would also get under addition, it plans a neighbourhood improvement fund to support local projects to improve public spaces around the council has been further informed it will get £59m to spend on transport projects between 2026 and 2030 though it has yet to allocate the money to specific schemes.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
‘I was forced to sell my land for HS2 leg days before it was axed. Now I fear I'll never get it back'
A father left feeling 'bereaved' by the forced sale of a quarter of his dairy farm for the axed HS2 northern line fears he'll never be able to afford to buy back the land. Edward Cavenagh-Mainwaring lost around 250 acres of land his family had farmed for more than 900 years in Staffordshire when the Department for Transport (DFT) bought it through a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the high-speed rail line in October 2023. Just five days later, former prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the route, from Birmingham to Manchester, would not go ahead. In total, the DfT spent £592m on buying land and properties along the axed Phase 2a and 2b routes, The Independent can reveal. The cash was spent on 1,001 properties, as well as 6.5 square miles of land. At least 710 homes are now rented out by HS2, making almost £9m a year, according to a report by the i paper in December. Yet despite the decision to scrap phase 2 of the line almost two years ago, there has been no start to the sale of surplus land and properties, including in the Staffordshire villages of Madeley and Whitmore, where dozens of homes were bought. Last year, a transport minister said no land would be sold until the government had decided on an alternative 50-mile railway line. The Independent understands detailed future plans for phase 2 land will be released in the summer by the DfT. Surplus land will then be sold, with previous owners getting the first chance to buy - but at the current market value, instead of what they sold it for. However, Mr Cavenagh-Mainwaring said that the below-market sale of his land under CPO in 2023, combined with a rise in prices since then, means he won't be able to afford it. He said: 'Having gone through the difficult process of what effectively felt like a bereavement to me. Losing that area of the farm I love and going from the one day, I can walk on the land, to the next day I'm trespassing. 'To then find out the line wasn't going to be built was a shock, and also a relief. 'I would now like to get the land back at fair price. It was my family legacy to look after it, but I worry I won't be able to buy it.' Under the CPO, a final agreement for the price of the land purchased from Mr Cavenagh-Mainwaring has still not been reached, but he has received 90 per cent of the DfT's offer of around £11,000 an acre. Mr Cavenagh-Mainwaring believes he'd be charged £15,000 an acre if he were to buy it back now. 'It's really a scandal,' he said. 'People have not been treated properly, and a lot of people have been left mentally hurt.' Speaking in The Commons on Wednesday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander labelled the HS2 project 'an appalling mess', as she revealed it would not meet a target for the opening of the first phase of the line - London to Birmingham - by 2033. The issue of people facing difficulties buying back properties was raised in the House of Lords last year, when Lord Cromwell sought assurance on reports that people were being offered land back at considerably higher prices. In the National Audit Office's latest report on the cancellation of HS2, it said the DfT and HS2 would look to achieve value for money for the taxpayer when drawing up plans for the disposal of land and property. Ten properties on the Phase 1 leg have been sold as part of a pilot project for the disposal scheme, The Independent understands. The DfT bought property and land under various schemes during the planning of phases 2a and 2b, including through CPOs, voluntary purchase and need-to-sell schemes. In total, for Phase 2a, from Birmingham to Crewe, £224m was spent on 251 homes, for Phase 2b west to Manchester, £205m was spent on 195 homes, and for Phase 2b east to Leeds, £164m was spent on 555 homes. The purchases hit communities where families and friends who had lived together for generations were split apart. In the Staffordshire hamlet of Whitmore Heath, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Phill Dann was forced to sell his dream home, equipped with four bedrooms, a landscaped garden and a private bar, for the axed line. When contacted by The Independent, he doubted anyone would want to buy back a home after their 'lives had been wrecked and upheaved'. In the adjacent village of Whitmore, resident Steve Colclough said the landscape of the community changed, with long-standing businessmen and women moving away and their families, replaced with new residents moving in to rent. 'Not only has it been a complete waste of time and money,' he said. 'But it has torn communities apart. I doubt many who lost their homes will be able to now come back with prices going up.' A HS2 spokesperson said: 'HS2 will sell properties that are no longer needed for the railway, in line with government policy. 'Properties will only be sold once confirmed as surplus, and sales will follow a structured process, including compliance with the Crichel Down Rules and market valuation requirements.' A DfT spokesperson said: 'As the Transport Secretary said, this government is delivering HS2 from Birmingham to London after years of mismanagement, flawed reporting and ineffective oversight 'We will set out detailed plans for the land and property no longer required for the project later this summer – ensuring any sales deliver value for money and do not disrupt local property markets.'
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
HS2 has devastated my constituency. And for what?
For years we have been asking 'when? When will HS2 finally be completed?' But this misses the point. We should have questioned not the deadline, but the justification and purpose of the costly, benighted vanity project. We should have demanded to know why taxpayers are being forced to bankroll this failure. Why are we allowing the civil servants who have overseen this woeful tale of waste and incompetence to remain in their posts? Why have no heads rolled, as a consequence of this national embarrassment? The most painful aspect to this sorry affair is the knowledge that, even at the outset, when it was a twinkle in Lord Adonis's eye under the previous Labour government, it lacked a business case. Not one private sector investor was willing to risk a penny piece on it. Over a decade later, it has inflicted unnecessary misery on my constituents. And now we discover that the opening of HS2 will be delayed, with the Transport Secretary announcing that the remaining section of the line will not be completed by 2033. This is hardly the first time the project has come off the tracks. First the eastern leg to Leeds was scrapped. Then the Manchester leg was curtailed. For a time, it looked as though it would terminate at Old Oak Common in West London, not even making it to Euston despite the money piled into the station's revamp. Commuting times would then have more than offset any savings from HS2's much lauded speed. That truncation has since been abandoned. The Department for Transport (DfT) has faced accusations of insufficient oversight. Leadership at HS2 Ltd, a public company owned by the DfT, has been a merry-go-round. And all of this is before you get to the £100 million tunnel to protect bats in my county, or HS2's 52-page annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion statement For the residents of Wendover, daily life has been fundamentally changed by HS2. The impact on local amenities – on churches and cricket clubs – cannot be overstated. The brazen attempts to send HGVs down narrow residential streets have been destructive. Landowners and community organisations have been abandoned by project managers. While they face the degrading financial uncertainty that comes with losing their land, the construction companies are raking in millions thanks to the DfT's cost-plus contract model, which guarantees a profit at the expense of the taxpayer whilst reimbursing firms' costs. This is why the project's real price tag has exceeded £200 billion, with one of the worst benefit-cost ratios of any major project, all to, in the words said to me by a former Minister of State for Transport a few years back, prop up Britain's construction industry. Last month it was revealed by RAIL Magazine, through a Freedom of Information request, that not only will the final cost of Phase One reach over £100 billion, with £81 billion (at 2019 prices) attributed to constructing as far as Old Oak Common, but also that it will be 2036 at the earliest until this section is finished. It's a slap in the face for those who've experienced compulsory land purchases, land which may have provided a source of income. There is effectively no spending control mechanism. It is a project which, by its very design, benefits the contractors at the expense of hard working taxpayers who are currently seeing no benefit from HS2 and likely never will, given its reduced scope. When asked, HS2 contractor Balfour Beatty Group's former Chief Executive Leo Quinn answered 'no' to a question on the efficacy of restructuring HS2's major works contracts in the interests of the taxpayer; his suggestion that 'no contractor in the UK could actually have a balance sheet to deliver something of that [HS2's] size' is highly alarming. Not only does this bring into doubt the Department's ability to renegotiate its own contracts – it also casts significant doubt on whether the project could ever be delivered in full at all when, as Mr Quinn suggests, the private sector does not have the capital resources required to facilitate a project like this. The utter failure of HS2 is a vivid example of British decline. That so much money has been spent on something which has so miserably failed to come about does not augur well for other future infrastructure projects. We need to learn from this. HS2 ruins the lives of everyone it touches and, if it's not reigned in soon, we as a country will suffer immensely, just as my constituents have.
