West Midlands rail franchise
Seeks the views of the public and stakeholders on rail services that run in the West Midlands franchise area.
The Department for Transport (DfT) and West Midlands Rail are seeking feedback on rail services, station and supporting services running in the West Midlands franchise area. We welcome views from:
- passengers
- communities
- businesses
- rail groups
- local authorities
- local enterprise partnerships
- unions
- rail employees
- other organisations
We are currently considering what we want the next West Midlands franchise operator to deliver. We welcome your feedback to ensure the franchise meets the needs of the people, businesses and areas it serves and caters for high levels of passenger growth.
For this consultation, DfT has worked in partnership with West Midlands Rail which represents the 14 West Midlands local authorities. This reflects DfT’s ongoing work to increase local input when deciding how local rail networks run.
Background on the West Midlands rail franchiseLondon Midland currently operate this franchise under an agreement which is due to end in October 2017. It provides over 1,300 services a day and serve 170 stations (directly managing 145). These services include local West Midlands services, long distance services between Liverpool, Crewe, Stafford, Milton Keynes and London and shorter distance services from Northampton into London. There are also branch lines from Bletchley to Bedford and Watford to St Albans Abbey.
Consultation eventsWe have organised a series of public events during January, February and March for people to come along to speak to the project team about the consultation and ask any questions to help inform their response.
Separate events have also been arranged so that stakeholders can meet, express views and discuss the consultation ahead of submitting formal responses. The stakeholder events are aimed at:
- local authorities
- local enterprise partnerships
- local business and commerce representatives
- local transport groups, rail groups and partnerships
These will be held in Birmingham, Crewe, Liverpool, London, Milton Keynes, Stafford, Watford, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
Details of dates, times and locations are available for stakeholders (PDF, 75KB) and the public (PDF, 69KB).
For more information or to register your interest in attending an event, please email westmidsconsultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk, placing ‘event’ in the subject line.
Related West Midlands franchise documents