Plan would end franchises for bad rail operators
Ferry Online Travel News 12/02/2009
Under a Tory plan, a rail passenger regulator would have the power to sanction underperforming train operators.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) would be overhauled and take on the responsibilities should the Conservatives win in the next election.
According to the Tory blueprint, the ORR be a rail passenger’s "one stop shop" for problems with rail operators, and its contact information would be printed on tickets and posted at train stations.
Passenger Focus, the current watchdog, would be responsible for research and lobbying conducted on behalf of Britain’s travelling public.
The task of the ORR would be to hear passenger complaints about service quality and to act on them. Complaints that could be involved include frequent service cancellations, overcrowding, dirty trains and punctuality issues, among others.
As a last resort, an operator’s franchise could be removed, if all other attempts at correcting problems fail.
Theresa Villiers, the party transport spokesperson, said the ORR would at first "knock heads together" to deal with problems. When initial attempts are unsuccessful, the regulator would set a compulsory "performance improvement plan" for the operator, before resorting to the final sanction of terminating the company’s contract.
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