The Government has today announced the names of companies in the frame to take over running regional rail services in the West Midlands from November next year.

The new company, or consortium, will take over from National Express-owned Central Trains - which has not been shortlisted.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange this morning the Department for Transport listed the pre-qualified bidders as Govia, MTR Corporation of Hong Kong and a joint venture between Serco and NedRailways.

"These are all experienced operators and we will be very interested to see what improvements they can offer passengers in the West Midlands," commented Cllr gary Clarke, chairman of regional transport body Centro-PTA.  "Whichever company is chosen, and no matter where their parent company is based, we will be looking for a very clear business focus on operations within the West Midlands and a strong desire to see service improvements."

In the Birmingham area more than one in five commuters travel to work by train and investment in public transport is considered critical to tackle congestion across the region.

Although Centro-PTA has continually pressed for improvements from the current operator Central Trains, it has acknowledged that services have been getting better lately.  There is a fear however that reduced local involvement in the franchise process could be a backward step.

"We want the Secretary of State to keep a locally-accountable body such as Centro-PTA as a co-signatory to the franchise," adds Cllr Clarke.  "It is through PTA involvement across the country in recent decades that we have seen significant growth in passenger numbers and in the West Midlands we have been able to control fares and service levels and work towards turn-up-and-go frequencies on key routes."

Link: DfT statement