'Alstom follows a specific process in assessing potential business opportunities, based on financial and technical input', a spokesman told Railway Gazette International. 'After a complete analysis of the invitation to tender document it has been decided to withdraw from the IEP competition and to focus instead on other major opportunities in the UK rail market for rolling stock, signalling and maintenance, where experience gained from existing, successful product lines can be maximised for the benefit of our customers.'

The decision not to submit a bid in response to the November 16 invitation to tender was supported by Alstom-Barclays Rail Group, the consortium formed with Barclays Private Equity. Alstom 'will actively pursue future opportunities' in partnership with the consortium 'where appropriate for both companies'.

IEP is being procured as a 30 to 35-year public-private partnership for a package to include manufacturing, maintenance and financing. The remaining bidders on the shortlist announced on August 16 2007 are Hitachi Europe Ltd and the Express Rail Alliance of Bombardier, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown.

Proposals for the electric, 'self-powered' (in practice diesel) and bi-mode (electro-diesel) trains are due to be submitted to DfT by May 6, with a contract expected to be signed by April 1 2009. Trials of five and 10-car pre-series trainsets on the East Coast Main Line are scheduled to begin in May 2012, with the replacement of existing inter-city rolling stock on the East Coast and Great Western main lines to follow from 2015. DfT anticipates a total fleet of approximately 1 500 vehicles if all IEP route options are taken up.

See also:

UK calls bids for Intercity Express

Railway Gazette: 16 Nov 2007

BRITAIN'S Department for Transport issued three shortlisted bidders with invitations to tender for the supply of a fleet of high speed trains under the government's Intercity Express Programme on November 16. The trains are required to be 'lighter, greener and carry up to 70% more passengers' than the IC125 diesel-powered HSTs and the electric IC225 stock they will replace.

DfT had announced the shortlisted bidding consortia on August 16, naming Alstom-Barclays Rail Group, Hitachi Europe Ltd, and the Express Rail Alliance of Bombardier, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown.

Proposals will be received from bidders in summer 2008, with the contract to be awarded in winter 2008-09. The first of the trains will begin trials in 2012, before replacing existing inter-city trains on the East Coast and Great Western main lines from 2015.

It will be up to the bidders to decide how many carriages they need to supply to meet the government's service requirements, a figure DfT says is indicated to be around 850 in the first phase, 'possibly rising to approximately 1 500 if options to extend IEP to other routes are taken up.'

Previously known as HST2, the IEP trains will be supplied in both 25 kV electric and 'self-powered' versions. The electric versions are required to be at least 27% and up to 40% more energy efficient than the trains they replace, while the 'self-powered' version must offer improvements of between 10% and 35%.

Overall, the trains must 'optimise value for money, taking a long term whole-system approach,' and 'sustainable construction and maintenance' techniques are specified. The trains are required to be lighter, to help increase energy efficiency and reduce wear and tear on tracks, and must 'meet all present and future safety standards.'

DfT requires 'the flexibility to operate on inter-urban and commuter routes as well as long-distance journeys and be adaptable enough for different train operators to fit them out according to their needs.' Increased capacity and the ability to run longer and more frequent services will give a 15% to 70% increase in seats on the initial routes.

Rail Minister Tom Harris said 'We're demanding high standards of capacity, environmental performance and flexibility from these new trains because they will benefit passengers for decades to come. But it's for the bidders to decide exactly how they will meet those standards - we've set the bar and they have to clear it.'

See also:

Limited vision in white paper's growth plans

Railway Gazette: 24 Aug 2007

'IT IS THE most ambitious strategy for growth on the railways in over 50 years', claimed UK Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly, when she launched the white paper Delivering a Sustainable Railway on July 24.

Together with an accompanying Rail Technical Strategy, the white paper outlines the government's view of how the rail network should develop over the next 30 years. It sets out the longer-term vision supporting the High Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available which the government was required to provide to the Office of Rail Regulation by July 31 under the terms of the Railways Act 2005. ORR is currently reviewing Network Rail's income and expenditure projections in order to determine the structure of track access charges for Control Period 4 covering the five years from April 1 2009 (RG 2.07 p77).

The HLOS and SoFA published on July 24 relate to railway operations in England and Wales; the Scottish Ministers had already issued their equivalent statements earlier in the month (RG 8.07 p477). As well as setting targets for improved safety and better performance, the England and Wales HLOS looks at each of Network Rail's 23 routes to identify where capacity enhancement is needed. Growth of 22·5% is expected to add 180 million passenger-journeys a year by 2013-14.

The Department for Transport's Rail Group anticipates that increased revenue from growth and higher fares - recovered from train operators by reduced subsidies or higher franchise premium payments - plus efficiency improvements at Network Rail will reduce the amount of taxpayer's money being spent on the railway to around £3bn a year. This is intended to create a 'headroom' of £2·9bn, which with further borrowing by NR would fund capital investment totalling £9bn over the five-year period (Table I).

Specific projects identified in the HLOS are the upgrade of the Thameslink cross-city line in London, originally announced in 1994 at a cost of £650m, which is now expected to be completed by 2015 for a total of £5·5bn. A further £425m is allocated towards a £600m remodelling and grade-separation scheme at Reading to ease a long-standing bottleneck on the Great Western Main Line, and £128m will be provided towards the reconstruction of Birmingham New Street station.

With growing concern about overcrowding levels and the projected 22·5% growth in passenger traffic, Kelly announced that DfT Rail now plans to procure directly up to 1 300 additional coaches, to 'reduce average load factors'. Giving a 'net increase' in the fleet of around 10%, these vehicles will be allocated to key routes by negotiation with the franchise operators; around 900 vehicles for London & South East services, 300 for provincial cities and 100 for inter-city routes.

In addition, the government will permit Network Rail to invest up to £200m 'to enable work to start on a strategic freight network to accommodate freight growth'. DfT Rail has accepted projections of a 30% increase in tonnes lifted by 2013-14.

Long-term perspective
Looking beyond CP4, the white paper suggests that 'if the investment committed in this HLOS is maintained through future control periods … the measures described would be sufficient to meet growth on all routes until about 2030'.

DfT Rail is confident that 'cab-based signalling will be implemented on a greater proportion of the network' from the middle of the next decade, which 'will increase capacity by allowing a higher frequency of train services'. Train lengths will also be increased from eight or 10 cars to 12 or 16 where the infrastructure permits. So the white paper sees no need to start planning for any new lines.

The technical strategy also comes out against the construction of dedicated high speed lines or freight corridors, suggesting that future uncertainty favours mixed traffic railways to maximise flexibility. 'At present the balance of advantage would appear to favour new services running at conventional speeds', says the white paper.

And although the report insists that 'sustainability is at the heart of the government's commitments', there is no support for main line electrification. 'The right long-term solution will be the one that minimises the carbon footprint and energy bill', it says, adding that this could be influenced by the future mix of electricity generation 'and the rate at which options become available for low-carbon self-powered trains'.

DfT Rail is already taking the lead on the Intercity Express Programme to develop the next generation of 200 km/h trainsets for long-distance services, for which pre-series builds are scheduled to start testing on the East Coast and Great Western main lines in 2012. IEP is to be built in electric, diesel and dual-mode versions, and the white paper envisages that the trains 'will enter full passenger service from 2015'.

A cross-industry consultation is also to be launched for a new-generation of 'go-anywhere' diesel and electric multiple-units, which DfT Rail expects will be lighter and more environmentally-friendly than current designs.

On August 16 DfT Rail announced that three applicants had been shortlisted for IEP. They are the Alstom-Barclays Rail Group, the Express Rail Alliance comprising Bombardier Transportation, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown, and Hitachi Europe Ltd. A formal Invitation to Tender is to be issued later this year, with proposals to be returned in mid-2008; the award of the contract is expected at the end of next year or in early 2009.

Table I. Funding for railway activities in England and Wales, 2009-14, £bn

2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
Total

Passenger revenue
6·7
7·3
7·8
8·4
9·0
39·2

SoFA
3·2
3·0
3·1
3·0
3·0
15·3

Other
0·7
0·8
0·8
0·8
0·8
3·1

Total income
10·6
11·0
11·7
12·2
12·8
57·6

Cost of passenger services
5·0
5·2
5·3
5·6
5·7
26·8

NR baseline OMR costs
4·3
4·1
4·1
3·9
3·8
20·2

NR financing payments
1·6
1·6
1·7
1·7
1·8
8·4

Total expenditure
10·8
10·9
11·1
11·2
11·4
55·4

Headroom
(0·2)
0·1
0·6
1·0
1·4
2·9

Additional borrowing
1·6
1·7
1·5
0·7
0·5
6·1

Total cash of HLOS
1·5
1·9
2·1
1·7
1·9
9·0

Infrastructureenhancements
1·2
1·5
1·6
1·2
1·4
7·0

Additional rolling stock
0·2
0·2
0·3
0·3
0·3
1·2

Financing costs
0·1
0·1
0·2
0·2
0·3
0·6