A week on from the ORR’s decision on Temple Mills, what have we learnt?
A week has elapsed since the ORR’s decision to allocate the space capacity in the Temple Mills to Virgin Trains Europe. Virgin won out over Eurostar and three other operators vying to launch a rival cross-Channel train service. What have we learnt from this much-discussed event?
The biggest news remains the choice of a rival, any rival, over Eurostar itself. Eurostar had announced the purchase of new trains just ahead of the decision, together with its intention to stable all of them at Temple Mills. In an interview on the Green Signals podcast, they also suggested making a deal on some land they own near the London depot in exchange for full control of Temple Mills.
These late statements and vague promises only earned them a rebuke from the ORR. It chose the operator most likely to be able to muster competition to Eurostar for the first time in the 30-year history of the route. This is in line with the Rail Minister’s stated hopes and recommendations.
Eurostar’s response
Eurostar have not taken the announcement lying down. Even before the decision, their communications with the ORR contained veiled threats of legal action should the regulator overstep its remit. It job was to allocate space at the depot, and not to mandate anything more such as the serving of extra stations.
And now Eurostar are said to be taking legal advice on whether there are grounds for a High Court review of the ORR’s decision. Virgin have not yet placed their order for rolling stock with Alstom, and will probably not do so until all legal threats are removed.
This has led the rail commentator Jon Worth to wonder whether not being allocated the Temple Mills space might turn out to be “a blessing in disguise”. Two of the other applicants have indicated that they are still in the game, unencumbered by legal entanglements with Eurostar. Gemini said they still hoped to run a cross-Channel service and Trenitalia have told BBET that they plan to make a significant announcement within two weeks.
Even if it doesn’t succeed, Eurostar’s legal sabre-rattling will buy them time. But it will also sour the relationship with the company with whom they will almost certainly need to work on sharing Temple Mills. There may yet be more adjudicating for the ORR to do.
Kent stations
Virgin have their eyes on long-distance travel. On the Green Signals podcast released on 3rd November following the ORR’s decision, Virgin’s Phil Whittingham assured his interviewer Richard Bowker that their new trains will be equipped to enter Germany and Switzerland.
So what, Whittingham was asked, about Ashford and Ebbsfleet? Virgin, he said cautiously, was prepared to stop at those stations if they were open. This means, in plain English, that they don’t want the expense of the re-opening but that they were not against the idea of stopping there.
This lukewarm approach to Kent has sent some hearts sinking. Even if Virgin are agreeable, their service is still a long five years away, and how do we keep hope alive in the mean time?
On the same Green Signals podcast, BBET’s spokesman Cllr Diccon Spain sets out exactly why we should be optimistic.
Monopoly behaviour
Cllr Spain expressed the view that Eurostar were exhibiting behaviour that is typical of a monopoly, in trying to maximise its profits to the detriment of all other priorities. They are restricting the number of trains on the line in order to fill them up and keep prices high. They have cut the intermediate stations because these don’t suit their business model.
Interviewed later on the same podcast, Jon Worth confirmed that this behaviour is typical of SNCF as a whole – but that the policy has come back to bite Eurostar. The ORR’s decision demonstrates that nobody believes Eurostar’s promises to increase train and passenger numbers, because their recent actions don’t match their rhetoric. Thus competition will force Eurostar to either improve its offering or suffer the consequences of falling behind. The podcast is well worth a listen!
The sustained interest demonstrated by Gemini and Trenitalia are more reasons to be hopeful.
Bring Back Euro Trains still campaigning
BBET continues to monitor, discuss and negotiate behind the scenes. The recent publicity surrounding our campaign has been noted in the places where it matters.
Under the heading of “stakeholder interest”, our demands have been quoted by the Rail Minister, by the ORR, and by specialised media outlets such as Green Signals and commentators like Jon Worth, as well as the mainstream media. If you, reading this, responded to our appeal to write to the ORR, thank you.
I sign off with a wonderful quote from Jon Worth on Green Signals: “Of all the stations I have seen that might accommodate cross-Channel trains, Ashford is the best by a country mile.” Jon should know, because he has spent the past year researching these stations all over Europe. He has written a report which he will be launching on November 17th in Brussels and also online. Anyone interested can register to attend.
Category: BBET Campaign
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