Following the confusion yesterday over whether the Island Line trainline will be included in the 2017 franchise bid, this clarification in from the council. Ed
The Isle of Wight Council has confirmed that it has been left confused and frustrated by the latest statements by the Department of Transport (DfT) about the place of Island Line, in the soon-to-be-let South West Trains franchise.
Retention refuted
Following a meeting with officials from DfT on Tuesday this week, council officers understood that Island Line would be retained within the wider franchise, but on terms to be developed following a public consultation exercise.
This has since been refuted by the DfT, which claims to have given repeated messages that nothing has yet been agreed for the franchise.
Nothing in writing
The council confirms that it has received no formal communication from the DfT about Island Line. As a key stakeholder, the council has not been engaged in any formal dialogue since the recent announcements that the DfT would not be extending the existing franchise by two years, to 2019.
Tuesday’s meeting was arranged at the request of the council in order to clarify the DfT’s position.
Clear statement requested
A spokesman said,
“We have asked for the DfT to make a clear statement about its intentions for Island Line so that we, and the Island, can prepare an appropriate response to make sure that this important service is retained for the benefit of the Island.
“We were led to believe by the DfT that we would have until 2019 to properly consider models for the delivery of Island Line, because the DfT was concluding the negotiations for an extension of the existing franchise until that date.
“The failure to deliver an extension to the existing franchise means that an invitation to tender will have to be issued in the spring of 2016 for a new franchisee to be in place in 2017. We, therefore, have ridiculously short time scales to make any meaningful response to whatever the DfT may be thinking or for anything more innovative than an updated version of the existing franchise arrangements to be delivered.
“We remain even more unclear now about what we are responding to, and from the DfT’s statement we have to assume that all options, including the closure of or improvements to the line, are being considered. The council is not a transport authority, and therefore has no direct control over what happens to Island Line. Therefore, we would ask that the Department of Transport makes a clear and unequivocal statement about its intentions for Island Line at the earliest possible moment.”
