A NORTH-EAST rail and train company is to receive subsidies totalling £1.63bn to run the new Wales and Borders rail franchise over the next 15 years, it was announced yesterday.
Transport company Arriva has beaten its rivals to run the franchise, which it will take over in December and will run as Arriva Trains Wales.
It will receive subsidies of more than £100m for each of the full financial years it will operate the franchise, which ends in 2019.
The creation of the franchise brings all Welsh services under the control of one company. Arriva is committed to maintaining service levels and will bring in seven diesel multiple unit trains from the end of next year.
Other commitments include a better compensation scheme for passengers, including full refunds if customers are delayed by more than 60 minutes, integrated train/bus ticket schemes, and station car park improvements.
"Today marks a step change in the way the railway delivers for the people of Wales," said Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) chairman Richard Bowker. "For the very first time, Wales will have a unified railway under a single operational management structure."
Arriva chief executive Bob Davies said: "Our focus will be to ensure we deliver a safe railway with improved performance, reliability and punctuality for existing and new customers."
The SRA announced in August that Arriva was the preferred bidder for the franchise, which includes all local and regional passenger rail services in Wales, as well as services from Cardiff to Hereford, Shrewsbury and Manchester and those from Wales to Birmingham, the North-West and the West Country.
An interim Wales and Borders franchise was created in October 2001 from services previously operated by Wales and West, Valley Lines and Central Trains.
The news will soften the blow for Arriva which lost out in its bid to retain the Transpennine Express franchise linking Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds with the North-East.
Its successor, FGK, is also being subsidised by £637m - a figure condemned as outrageous by rail union the RMT.
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