Northern Invitation to Tender Issued

The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the new Northern franchise has been issued by the Department for Transport and can be seen on the DfT website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/northern-franchise-2015-invitation-to-tender.

The three preferred bidders for the franchise are:

Abellio Northern Ltd.

Arriva Rail North Ltd.

Govia Northern Ltd.

The headlines from the ITT are:

increased support for community rail throughout the Northern franchise area;

investment in stations;

investment in new rolling stock – at least 120 new-build carriages;

more capacity on trains through strengthening;

more trains on weekdays and Saturdays;

more trains on Sundays to more places;

free wi-fi on all trains by 2020.

To read a full briefing document issued by Rail North please click HERE.