99-668: First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup . It operated the ScotRail franchise between October 2004 and March 2015. On 17 October 2004, First ScotRail took over operations from the incumbent franchisee, National Express . First ScotRail operated most commuter and long-distance services within Scotland, and some services to northern England, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper to London. Of FirstGroup's four train operating companies, ScotRail
198-420: A Driving Van Trailer . In late 2005, five Class 322s were transferred from One to replace these. Following an refurbishment performed by Hunslet-Barclay of Kilmarnock between 2006 and 2007, all Class 322s had their capacity increased from 252 passengers to 293. During January 2007, public calls were made for the refurbishments of First ScotRail's Class 158 diesel multiple units, particularly in regards to
297-666: A Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Refugee Council showed that Serco had been charged nearly £3 million by the Home Office for repeatedly breaching its contract to house asylum seekers in Glasgow and Northern Ireland. Serco provide facilities management services at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital , Leicester Royal Infirmary , and Wishaw General Hospital . The company held
396-570: A "history of problems, failures, fatal errors and overcharging". During 2013, then-chairman Alastair Lyons resigned from the company after it was found that it had overcharged the UK Government for electronically monitoring criminals. Serco underwent a corporate renewal programme during the 2010s, created in collaboration with the United Kingdom government, which overhauled the management of contracts and commercial auditing. Serco
495-712: A 100% FirstGroup subsidiary when the 24.5% shareholder bought out its partners. The TOCs were renamed First Great Western and First North Western . Go-Ahead Group bought the remaining 35% share in Thames Trains . Virgin Group sold a 49% share in Virgin Rail Group that operated the CrossCountry and West Coast franchises to Stagecoach . The completion of the rail link to Heathrow Airport led to Heathrow Express , an open-access operator outside
594-719: A 50% shareholding in Serco-Abellio that has a concession to operate the Merseyrail franchise in Liverpool until 2028, and previously operated the Northern Rail franchise from December 2004 until March 2016. Between April 2015 and June 2023, Serco operated the Caledonian Sleeper between London and Scotland; the contract was terminated early after Serco's request to rebase the loss making contract
693-800: A Class 67. A second set was also operated for a while. In July 2008, Transport Scotland funded the acquisition of 22 three-carriage and 16 four-carriage Class 380 Desiros with the first entering service in December 2010. These trains operated Ayrshire and Inverclyde services, adding extra capacity and allowed the cascade of existing stock to the new Glasgow to Edinburgh services via the reopened Airdrie to Bathgate line. [REDACTED] Former train types operated by First ScotRail include: The majority of Scotland's 340 passenger stations were operated by First ScotRail under Network Rail ownership. Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central stations were operated by Network Rail itself; Glasgow Prestwick Airport station
792-571: A company wholly owned by the Strategic Rail Authority , which would operate the franchise until it could be tendered again. New franchise holders Arriva Trains Wales and Merseyrail began operating. FirstGroup purchased GB Railways which owned the Anglia Railways and Hull Trains businesses. A policy where the majority of services (both long-distance and commuter) from each London terminal would all be operated by
891-778: A contract for Suffolk Community Healthcare in 2012, had 72 job vacancies after previously cutting 137 positions. Problems identified by Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group include "staff capacity, skill mix, workload, succession planning and morale, training, communication, mobile working, care co-ordination centre processes, incidents and near miss incidents". In April 2014, Serco revealed that it would lose almost £18 million on three of its NHS contracts. It had made provisions for losses in its Braintree and Cornwall contracts, which were cancelled early, and had also made provisions for losses in its contract for services in Suffolk. Serco claimed it would take longer to deliver
990-459: A government-owned operator of last resort , due either to failing expectations or to events on the rail system as a whole. The term is also sometimes used to describe companies operating passenger or freight rail services over tracks owned by another company or a national network owner. Franchises were initially let by the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF). This was in turn replaced by
1089-550: A loss of £991 million, which was followed by a smaller loss of £69.4 million in 2015. In response, Rupert Soames, Lyons's successor as chief executive, sold off "scores of divisions". Soames stated that Serco was suffering from ministers’ improved ability at driving a bargain, and claimed that "the Government has got much more adept at writing contracts and transferring risk to the private sector". Following an 8-year long investigation and trial, Serco's executives at
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#17327762935411188-478: A new blue livery with white saltire markings on the carriage ends. This rebranding placed less emphasis on the First and was marketed as "ScotRail: Scotland's Railway" . The first unit to receive the new livery was 170434, unveiled at Glasgow Queen Street on 22 September 2008. During December 2008, ScotRail started operated a set of DB Schenker Mark 2 carriages on a peak-hour Fife Circle Line service hauled by
1287-525: A new £70 million eight-year contract to run Yarl's Wood has been criticised; Natasha Walter , of Women for Refugee Women, said "Serco is clearly unfit to manage a centre where vulnerable women are held and it is unacceptable the government continues to entrust Serco with the safety of women who are survivors of sexual violence." During 2019, a fine of £19.2 million was imposed on Serco following delayed legal action started in 2013 for fraud and false accounting over its electronic tagging service for
1386-495: A single week alone. First ScotRail's approach to dealing with fare-dodgers remained a point of controversy at times. During June 2009, a report by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport alleged that passenger figures generated by ScotRail had contained 7.2 million more passenger journeys than had been actually made; in response, Holyrood 's audit committee called in Auditor General Robert Black to review
1485-661: A specialist provider of immigration services to public sector customers in Germany, for €40 million (£34 million). By 2004, Serco held numerous defence contracts, including the UK Government's contract for the maintenance of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at RAF Fylingdales . The MoD extended Serco's contract in October 2022 for a further three years, under which the company provides maintenance, repair, and operational services for
1584-492: Is 25 kV AC electrified . Glasgow’s main terminal stations are Central and Queen Street stations . ScotRail operated trains in this area under the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) brand. However, the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport no longer has any input into specifying rail services in the Glasgow area. DMUs and EMUs that were liveried in the carmine and cream livery were stripped of
1683-595: Is a major subcontractor to Airbus Defence and Space on the Skynet military communications satellites under a private finance initiative (PFI) contract. Serco Marine Services is responsible for fleet support at the three main UK naval bases, HMNB Portsmouth , HMNB Devonport and HMNB Clyde . In November 2022, the MoD awarded Serco a £200 million follow-on contract, lasting 27 months, to provide marine services for
1782-833: Is being expanded with the construction of the Waverley Line to the Borders, and the Edinburgh–Bathgate Line has been extended by the Airdrie–Bathgate rail link . A project to open a rail link to Edinburgh Airport was cancelled in September 2007 by the Scottish Government in favour of construction of a station at nearby Gogar which will connect with the Edinburgh tram network to take passengers to
1881-404: Is confusion and panic among the community – some of whom have limited English and who may not be affected by Serco’s announcement. Both Serco and the Home Office have a responsibility to put this vulnerable group at ease". Two asylum seekers started a hunger strike. In January 2019, it was reported that Serco had lost the contract to provide housing to asylum seekers in Glasgow. That same year,
1980-590: Is less dense than Glasgow’s. Edinburgh’s main station is Waverley . The main railway line through the city centre runs in a cutting immediately below Edinburgh Castle . A secondary station is at Haymarket in the west of the city. Railway lines running north from Edinburgh to Fife and the Highlands cross the Firth of Forth via the Forth Bridge . Lines in and around Edinburgh were: The Edinburgh rail network
2079-513: Is responsible for the contracted-out court escort services in the south-east area, formerly a role undertaken by HM Prison Service . In September 2013, Serco was accused of an extensive cover-up over sexual abuse at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire , England. During August 2014, it was criticised for using immigrant detainees as cheap labour, with some being paid as little as £1 per hour. The decision to award Serco
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#17327762935412178-590: The Department for Transport (DfT) through a tendering system, to operate services on certain routes for a specified duration, while a small number of open-access operators hold licences to provide supplementary services on chosen routes. These operators can run services for the duration of the licence validity. The franchised operators have changed considerably since privatisation: previous franchises have been divided, merged, re-let to new operators, or renamed. Some privately-operated franchises have been taken over by
2277-769: The Greater Anglia franchise on 5 February 2012. In September 2012, FirstGroup was awarded the right to operate the West Coast franchise which provoked a backlash from incumbent Virgin Trains West Coast. As a result of the Department for Transport having provided incorrect information during the bid process, the offer was withdrawn in October 2012 and £40 million of bid costs refunded. In September 2014, Govia Thameslink Railway took over services formerly operated by First Capital Connect as part of
2376-719: The InterCity East Coast franchise. Serco Serco Group plc is a British multinational defence , health , space , justice , migration , customer services , and transport company. It is headquartered in Hook, Hart , England. The company operates in Continental Europe , the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region, including Australia and Hong Kong, and North America. It is listed on
2475-834: The London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index . The company was founded as RCA Services Limited in 1929, a UK-based division of the Radio Corporation of America . The company began providing technical and engineering services to the British War Office during the Second World War . During the Cold War era, it specialised in the provision of defense systems engineering and facilities management services, including
2574-675: The Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive lets the Merseyrail franchise, while in London, Transport for London (TfL) oversees the new London Overground and Elizabeth line concessions. ( London Underground , a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London , operates trains nearly all on its own network serving mostly its own stations: It is not a Train Operating Company by the definition here.) The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) (formerly
2673-955: The Metro buses in Belfast and Ulsterbus coaches around the country. NIR is not a TOC under the terms of the Railways Act 1993 , which only applies to Great Britain. The cross-border service Enterprise (Belfast–Dublin) is jointly operated with Iarnród Éireann , the publicly owned national railway company of the Republic of Ireland. Upon privatisation in 1994, the three passenger-operating sectors of British Rail ( InterCity , Network SouthEast and Regional Railways ) were divided, and their existing operations were let as 25 franchises: The privatisation process began when BR's passenger sectors were divided into 25 train operating units which were gradually incorporated as publicly owned subsidiaries of
2772-736: The North East Regional franchise and the North West Regional franchise . In 2004, these were altered into the TransPennine franchise, for intercity services, and the Northern franchise, for local services that were awarded to First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail respectively. Some North West services were transferred to the Arriva Trains Wales franchise. In the same year, Thames Trains
2871-570: The Railway Technical Centre . In Scotland, Serco has operated the NorthLink Ferries ferry service since July 2012. In September 2018, the firm commenced operating a bicycle-sharing system under contract to Transport for Edinburgh ; these scheme was closed during September 2021. Serco's Home Affairs division operates speed camera systems throughout the UK and, until November 2013, designed, wrote and tested
2970-542: The Royal Navy . In London, Serco has operated the London Cycle Hire Scheme for Transport for London since it was first introduced in 2010. During December 2022, Serco signed a three-year contract extension valued at £50 million to continue maintaining and distributing the bikes, including the newly introduced e-Bikes. Serco has operated a number of train operating companies . It has
3069-584: The Strategic Rail Authority , which has since been abolished. For England, franchising is now the responsibility of the Department for Transport in the majority of cases. In Scotland, it is the responsibility of Transport Scotland . In Wales, since 2017, the responsibility for the specification and procurement of the Wales & Borders franchise belongs to Transport for Wales . In two parts of England, local government agencies are responsible: in Merseyside ,
First ScotRail - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-572: The Thameslink, Southern & Great Northern franchise and branded them as Thameslink and Great Northern. Services operated by Southern , another Govia subsidiary, were merged into the new franchise in the following year. Hull Trains became a 100% subsidiary of FirstGroup when the 80% shareholder bought out its partners. In March 2015, a Stagecoach and Virgin joint venture trading as Virgin Trains East Coast commenced operating
3267-791: The passenger transport executive or other civic body responsible for administering public transport. One of these bodies, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (Merseytravel) is responsible for one of three National Rail franchises not awarded by central government, namely the Merseyrail franchise, while certain National Rail services in North London came under the control of TfL in November 2007 as London Overground. Two other franchises,
3366-486: The 1980s, the European Space Agency contracted RCA Services to support and maintain computer systems and satellites. By the 1980s, RCA Services began to interpret their company product as the management, rather than being just an engineering and science company. For their MoD Radar contract at RAF Fylingdales , "the art, it turned out, was in running the people, not the radar." During 1984, RCA Services
3465-630: The Association of Train Operating Companies) provides a commonality for the TOCs and provides some centralised co-ordination. Its activities include the provision of a national timetable and online journey planner facility, and the operation of the various Railcard discount schemes. Eurostar is also a member of the RDG, though it is not itself a TOC. For historical and geographical reasons
3564-565: The British Railways Board. They acted as shadow franchises prior to being put to tender: The opening of the Channel Tunnel saw operations by Eurostar begin from London Waterloo to Paris and Brussels . The franchising process was implemented, with various private companies taking over the shadow franchises. Three were awarded to management buyouts . The Great Western Holdings ' management also were awarded
3663-765: The Caledonian Sleeper services. Class 90s were used south of Edinburgh and Glasgow Central with Class 67s used on the portions to Fort William , Aberdeen and Inverness . A dedicated pool was also created due to the need to fit cast steel brakes. Three Class 90s were repainted in First ScotRail livery with EWS logos. For a short time in 2005, the Edinburgh - North Berwick Line services were operated by English Welsh & Scottish Class 90s with former Virgin Trains Mark 3 carriages and
3762-557: The DfT Rail Group. Until 2005 this role was performed by the Strategic Rail Authority . The infrastructure of the railways in England, Scotland, and Wales – including tracks and signalling – is owned and operated not by the train companies but by Network Rail , which took over responsibility from Railtrack in 2002. Most passenger trains are owned by a small number of rolling stock companies (ROSCO) and are leased to
3861-659: The East Coast franchise. In April 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire began operating open access services between Wrexham and London Marylebone . In June 2008, the Gatwick Express franchise was integrated with the South Central franchise operated by Southern . The government announced that National Express East Coast would have its franchise to operate intercity services along the ECML terminated, and that
3960-488: The Ministry of Justice. Serco was also ordered to pay the full amount of the Serious Fraud Office 's investigative costs of £3.7 million. In his judgment, Mr Justice Davis said: "SGL (Serco Geografix Ltd) engaged in quite deliberate fraud against the Ministry of Justice in relation to the provision of services vital to the criminal justice system." During April 2021, the charged ex-directors of firm's subsidiary were cleared of fraud and false accounting, primarily due to
4059-446: The North West Regional Railways franchise. The remainder were divided between a handful of major transport operators: In Northern Ireland, NIR stopped using its own branding on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin when it purchased new rolling stock in conjunction with IÉ, instead launching Enterprise as a separate brand name. Great Western Holdings , which operated Great Western Trains and North West Trains, became
First ScotRail - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-400: The SFO having failed to disclose certain documents to the defense, resulting in issues that, according to the judge, "undermine the process of disclosure to the extent that the trial cannot safely and fairly proceed until they have been remedied". In July 2022, the company supplied food containing maggots to children in a hotel in the Midlands. Serco issued an apology and said it would visit
4257-429: The ScotRail franchise under the ScotRail brand. During July 2003, the Scottish Executive and the Strategic Rail Authority announced Arriva , FirstGroup and National Express had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. In June 2004, the franchise was awarded to FirstGroup; the services formerly operated by ScotRail were transferred to First ScotRail on 17 October 2004. On 1 January 2006, Transport Scotland
4356-559: The ScotRail franchise, including Abellio , Arriva , MTR , and National Express. During early October 2014, it was announced that Abellio's bid had been selected and thus First ScotRail would be discontinued from April 2015. Accordingly, the franchise was transferred to Abellio ScotRail at midnight on 1 April 2015. Several hours beforehand, the Caledonian Sleeper services had been separately transferred to Serco. Express trains operated between Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness , Dundee and Aberdeen . The Highland Main Line links Inverness to
4455-411: The Scottish national franchise, currently operated by ScotRail , and the Welsh domestic franchise, operated by Transport for Wales , are awarded by the devolved governments of the two constituent nations. The Rail Delivery Group is the coordinating body of the train operating companies in Great Britain and owns the National Rail brand, which uses the former British Rail double-arrow logo and organises
4554-401: The Strathclyde logos. Lines in and around Glasgow were: The North Clyde Line is now linked to the Edinburgh-Bathgate Line (see Edinburgh, below) with the completion of the Airdrie–Bathgate rail link , creating a new direct link between Glasgow and Edinburgh. There is also a proposal to create a new rail link across the city with the Crossrail Glasgow project. Edinburgh ’s suburban network
4653-495: The UK Government for electronically monitoring criminals. In November 2014, its share price, which stood at 674p before the taxpayer scandal broke in 2013, collapsed to 218.7p, after four profit warnings. That same month, it was announced that Alastair Lyons , the chairman of Serco, was resigning from his position. Speaking at the time, Lyons referred to "operational mis-steps" for which he took "ultimate responsibility", but said he had not been forced out. In 2014, Serco incurred
4752-405: The United Kingdom and Europe, developing a global presence with major activities in Hong Kong , Australia, New Zealand, and North America . During December 2008, Serco acquired SI International, a provider of IT services to the United States government in exchange for $ 524 million. During 2013, both Serco and its competitor G4S were found to have maintained inaccurate records and overcharged
4851-510: The clinical health services market in the UK after a review of the cost of delivering "improved service levels" and meeting the performance requirements of several existing contracts. During October 2017, it was reported that Serco was preparing to buy healthcare contracts from facilities management business Carillion . This deal included 15 contracts, with annual revenues of approximately £90 million, for which Serco would pay £47.7 million, with Carillion losing £1 billion from
4950-751: The coastal towns of Oban and Mallaig connected with the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services to Skye , Colonsay , Lismore , Islay and the Outer Hebrides and Inner Hebrides . The rural lines were: First ScotRail operated some services that ventured south of the border: principally the Caledonian Sleeper to London Euston along the West Coast Main Line , and a three times daily cross-country service between Newcastle upon Tyne and Glasgow Central via Carlisle and Kilmarnock . Performance figures for National Express’s last quarter as franchise holder, July to September 2004, were: Performance figures for FirstGroup’s first quarter as franchise holder, October to December 2004, were: FirstGroup started operating
5049-404: The common ticketing structure. Many of the train operating companies are in fact parts of larger companies which operate multiple franchises. The railway network in Northern Ireland is managed differently from the rest of the UK. The sole company in Northern Ireland that operates trains is NI Railways , who are a subsidiary of Translink , the publicly owned transport corporation, which also runs
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#17327762935415148-436: The contract for out-of-hours GP services in Cornwall from which it withdrew in December 2013 after the company left the county short of doctors. Serco also stated that it would stop running Braintree hospital in Essex as it opted to pull out of managing GP services and large hospitals. In health services, Serco's failures include the poor handling of pathology labs and fatal errors in patient records. At St Thomas' Hospital ,
5247-409: The contract. Serco was contracted to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide telephone advice on behalf of DWP to recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI), which ended in April 2018. Prior to 2015, Serco managed the UK's National Physical Laboratory . It currently provides IT Services, Industrial Support and Cryogenic Operations Support and Maintenance at CERN . Serco
5346-459: The department with equipment which would simulate the sound of warfare to confuse the enemy. During 1952, RCA Services was contracted to produce submarine-detecting sonar equipment for the United States Navy . In 1960, it was awarded the contract to design, install, and maintain the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) Ballistic Missile Early Warning System , including ongoing facility management such as cleaning, transport, and logistical stores. In
5445-537: The event of severe winter conditions. In addition to improved access to travel information at stations and aboard trains, a new design of warmed plastic tunnels along with the first "power shower" system in the UK were rolled out to help de-ice trains, while it was stated that priority would be given to keeping the most highly-trafficked routes operational. At times of severe weather, ScotRail services had been temporarily suspended on grounds of safety; in such situations, wherever possible, active trains were directed to stop in
5544-411: The extent of the miscalculation. First ScotRail stated that the "long-standing" error was being corrected, while Transport Scotland contended that the overestimate did not impact its decision to extend the ScotRail franchise. During October 2011, First ScotRail and the British railway infrastructure operator Network Rail announced the enactment of a series of new measures to handle service disruption in
5643-431: The franchise on 17 October 2004. The performance figures released by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) are as follows: Note: First ScotRail inherited a fleet of Class 150 , Class 156 , Class 158 , Class 170 , Class 314 , Class 318 , Class 320 and Class 334s from National Express, as well as Mark 2 carriages and Mark 3 sleepers for use on the Caledonian Sleeper . First ScotRail contracted EWS to haul
5742-514: The franchise would pass into the hands of public-sector company, Directly Operated Railways , which acted as the parent for East Coast . Grand Central open-access services from London to Bradford began on 23 May 2010. DB Regio's operations in the UK were integrated into those of Arriva following the acquisition of the latter by Deutsche Bahn in the previous year. Owing to continuing losses, Wrexham & Shropshire ceased operating on 28 January 2011. Abellio Greater Anglia began operating
5841-401: The franchising system, beginning its services from London Paddington to Heathrow with operating rights until 2023. The shareholdings of M40 Trains were restructured with John Laing owning 84% of the company with the remaining 16% held by former BR managers. MTL which operated Merseyrail Electrics and Northern Spirit and Prism Rail that operated c2c (renamed from LTS Rail earlier in
5940-459: The government for its overcharging on the contract. In May 2014, a Survation poll for the campaign group We Own It , found that 63% of respondents thought Serco should be banned from bidding for any new public contracts after the firm was investigated for overcharging on government contracts. Serco runs four prisons, a Young Offenders Institution and a Secure Training Centre. It has operated two Immigration Removal Centres since 2007. Serco
6039-428: The hotel. In October 2024, Serco’s tracking devices and panic alarms on prison vans were disabled after a cyber attack. Allegedly, some Serco crews were unaware that vehicles were still being used to transport prisoners for three days after the attack despite continuing software faults. During August 2018, it was disclosed that Serco had been planning to evict asylum seekers in Glasgow before their appeal procedure
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#17327762935416138-490: The increase in the number of clinical incidents arising from Serco non-clinical management has resulted in patients receiving incorrect and infected blood, as well as patients suffering kidney damage due to Serco providing incorrect data used for medical calculations. A Serco employee later revealed that the company had falsified 252 reports to the National Health Service regarding Serco health services in Cornwall. During November 2013, it emerged that Serco, which been awarded
6237-567: The individual TOCs. However, a handful of TOCs own and maintain some of their own rolling stock. Train operating companies also operate most of the network's stations , in their role as station facility owners (SFO), in which they lease the buildings and associated land from Network Rail. Network Rail manages some major railway stations and several stations are operated by London Underground or other companies. Most passenger TOCs in Great Britain are privately owned. The majority of these hold franchises to operate rail services on specific parts of
6336-457: The maintenance of sonar , early warning radar and satellite systems . Following a management buyout , the firm changed to the name Serco ('Services Company') in 1987 and was listed on the London Stock Exchange one year later. The company was restructured during the 1980s, reorientated itself towards services beyond engineering, and expanded its presence globally. Serco has encountered controversy, described by legal services firm Appleby as
6435-457: The matter became politically charged but did not impact the extension decision. In June 2012, the Scottish Government announced that the Caledonian Sleeper services would be split off from the ScotRail franchise. Following its unsuccessful bid to retain the franchise in 2014, First ScotRail transferred operations to Abellio ScotRail on 1 April 2015. Between March 1997 and October 2004, the public transport conglomerate National Express operated
6534-431: The name Wales & Borders . The remainder of Wales & West's services in the west of England were renamed Wessex Trains . John Laing bought out its partners in M40 Trains. Connex , having already lost the South Central franchise in 2001, was removed as franchisee of the South Eastern franchise in 2003 on the grounds of poor financial management. It was replaced as the franchise holder by South Eastern Trains ,
6633-505: The nearest convenient station and alternative transportation was provided until services could be resumed. In June 2012, the Scottish Government announced that when the ScotRail franchise would be re-tendered in 2014, the Caledonian Sleeper services would be split off and transferred to a standalone franchise. In May 2014, it was announced that the new Caledonian Sleeper franchise had been awarded to Serco . In addition to FirstGroup, multiple other transport companies entered bids to operate
6732-419: The operational efficiencies it hoped for, despite stating in May 2013 that it expected to make a profit on the three-year, £140 million contract for community services. It said that staff had not recorded activity accurately on the Electronic health record and that activity had increased significantly during the course of the contract. In August 2014, the company had reportedly decided to withdraw from
6831-404: The purview of National Rail, which operate specific services which are recent additions to Britain's railways. The main examples are Eurostar, which operates to continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel , and Heathrow Express , which runs fast services from London to Heathrow Airport . A number of metropolitan railways on the network are operated by the local franchise holder in conjunction with
6930-418: The radar in Yorkshire, England. Serco has contracts for the operation and maintenance of RAF Brize Norton , RAF Halton , RAF Northolt and RNAS Culdrose in the UK and RAF Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic. Serco provides support services to garrisons in Australia. Serco manages many aspects of operations at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham . Prior to June 2021, Serco
7029-716: The railway and come under the auspices of the National Rail brand. In addition, companies are able to bid for "paths" (specific parts of the overall National Rail timetable) to operate their own services, which the franchises do not operate – these operators are classed as open-access operators and are not franchise holders. Currently in Great Britain, there are three open-access operators: Hull Trains , which runs services between London King's Cross and Hull , Grand Central , which operates between King's Cross and Sunderland and between King's Cross and Bradford , and Lumo , which operates between King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley . In addition, there are operators that fall outside
7128-681: The railway network of the United Kingdom is split into two independent systems: one in Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight ), and one in Northern Ireland, which is closely linked to the railway system of the Republic of Ireland. In Great Britain, passenger train services are operated by a number of companies, referred to as Train Operating Companies or TOCs, normally on the basis of regional franchises awarded by
7227-483: The rebuilt Glasgow Eastfield was reopened. [REDACTED] Media related to First ScotRail at Wikimedia Commons Train operating company In the railway system of Great Britain , a train operating company ( TOC ) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993 . There are two types of TOC: most hold franchises let by
7326-501: The routes operated by Silverlink in London, which were combined with the extended East London line in 2011. Services are controlled directly by TfL, with running of the trains themselves contracted to a private company as an operating concession. This is different from an ordinary franchise, as the train operator is not given control of the strategic aspects of the operation, such as pricing, timetabling and rolling stock procurement. In December 2007, National Express East Coast took over
7425-628: The running of the InterCity East Coast franchise from GNER . Grand Central also began operating its services between London and Sunderland as an open access operator. In January 2008, Laing Rail which owned M40 Trains and a 50% shareholding in London Overground Rail Operations was sold to Deutsche Bahn , becoming part of the DB Regio Group. In February 2008, One was re-branded by National Express as National Express East Anglia to bring it into line with
7524-532: The same franchise was partially enacted. In April 2004, One commenced operating the Greater Anglia franchise that combined the Anglia Railways and First Great Eastern franchises with the West Anglia Great Northern services radiating out from Liverpool Street . The remainder continuing to be operated as WAGN . In the North of England, prior to 2004 there were two regional franchises,
7623-568: The software that controls the matrix message signs, signals, emergency roadside telephones (SOS) and traffic monitoring on England's motorway network including, until 2011, the National Traffic Control Centre . Starting in 1997, Serco operated the London's Docklands Light Railway (DLR) under franchise. In November 2005, TfL announced that Serco had retained the DLR franchise for seven years from May 2006; this contract
7722-533: The south-east of England, were replaced as the operator of the Network SouthCentral franchise by Govia , who began operating it under the name South Central . Also in 2001, a new franchise, the Wales & Borders franchise was created by the amalgamation of Valley Lines and the majority of services in Wales and the Borders held by Wales & West . The new franchise was initially operated under
7821-480: The south. Some stretches of main line, such as the Highland Main Line, are single track, and express trains must call at intermediate stations to permit trains coming in the opposite direction to pass. The main lines of Scotland are: The densest part of the network was the suburban network around Glasgow , with 183 stations, the second-largest suburban rail network in the UK, after London. Much of it
7920-424: The terminal. A proposal to re-open the Edinburgh suburban railway line has been made by campaigning groups. Rural lines include the scenic West Highland Line , Kyle of Lochalsh line and Far North Line . These lines carried more passengers, mostly tourists, during the summer months, but provided a valuable link and social service during the winter months. Many rural lines are single track. Trains terminating at
8019-513: The time were cleared of fraud charges in April 2021. Following the events of 2013, Serco underwent a Corporate Renewal Programme designed by the company and the United Kingdom government which overhauled the company's contract management and auditing processes. By 2019, Cabinet Office publicised that "the remedial actions taken in 2013-14 were sufficient with regard to this incidence of wrongdoing". During September 2017, Serco announced that it
8118-458: The toilet facilities. One year later, work commenced on the refurbishment of 25 Class 158s, which involved repainting, new seating, extra luggage space, the addition of new customer information systems, and the fitting of the requested toilet retention tanks. In September 2008, Transport Scotland announced that all First ScotRail trains, including those previously operated on behalf of the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport , would be repainted in
8217-405: The value of its order book. In May 2020, Serco accidentally shared the personal email addresses of nearly 300 trainee COVID-19 contact tracers . Between 2001 and 2011, Serco held a ten-year contract with Bradford City Council to manage and operate the local education authority , providing education support services to the city's schools. According to senior council officials, this period
8316-505: The year), Valley Lines Trains , Wales & West , and West Anglia Great Northern were purchased by Arriva and National Express respectively, resulting in the latter owning nine franchises. The two companies transferred to Arriva were renamed Arriva Trains Merseyside and Arriva Trains Northern. The first open access operator using the National Rail brand, Hull Trains , commenced running its services between King's Cross and Hull . In 2001, Connex , which had operated two franchises in
8415-540: Was awarded the Ministry of Defence's first outsourcing contract, under which it managed warehousing using the knowledge of staff who had completed similar work at RAF Flyingdales. Following the takeover of RCA by General Electric in late 1985, RCA Services Limited was bought out by its local management. During 1987, the firm changed its name to Serco ('Services Company') and became a London Stock Exchange listed company one year later. By 1990s, Serco had expanded from
8514-549: Was completed; the legality of such actions under Scottish law was questioned by lawyers. Serco confirmed that it was serving a notice of eviction on many tenants, causing alarm and lawyers challenged one asylum seeker's eviction at the Scottish Court of Session . Councillor Jennifer Layden, equalities and human rights convener for Glasgow, said, "The lock change announcement by the Home Office and Serco has caused widespread fear and alarm among asylum seekers in Glasgow. There
8613-725: Was deemed by Transport Scotland to not offer value. In 1997, Serco purchased the Railtest business as part of the privatisation of British Rail . Included in the sale was a management contract for the Old Dalby Test Track . Between 1997 and 2004, Serco operated the National Rail Enquiry Service under contract to the Association of Train Operating Companies . It maintains Network Rail 's fleet of infrastructure and maintenance trains at
8712-589: Was established to carry out the Scottish Executive's transport responsibilities including its then newly devolved powers over rail franchising. During April 2008, Transport Scotland granted a three-year franchise extension to First ScotRail, postponing its end-date to November 2014. In May 2009, First ScotRail announced a crackdown on fare-dodging shortly after discovering that one of its most popular saver tickets could be subject to widespread abuse; 150 travellers were caught misusing Flexipass tickets within
8811-567: Was extended until September 2014 in January 2013. However, in July 2014, the DLR franchise was awarded to KeolisAmey Docklands Limited, thus Serco handed over operations on 7 December 2014. Serco operated Scatsta Airport in Shetland until its closure in 2020. During June 2010, Serco signed a £4 million contract to operate all air traffic control services for Coventry Airport . Serco
8910-438: Was founded in 1929 as RCA Services Limited , a British-based division of the Radio Corporation of America , and initially provided technical services to the cinema industry. RCA Services Limited began providing services to government departments during the Second World War . After the onset of the conflict, the company was contracted by the British War Office due to the company's engineering and technical background to supply
9009-671: Was in the process of combining its UK and Europe operations. John Rishton was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman in Spring 2021, succeeding Sir Roy Gardner who held the position from May 2015. Rishton had been on the Board since September 2016. In August 2022, Serco announced that it would distribute £9 million in one-off payments to about 45,000 non-management staff as the firm lifted its profit guidance and dividend; this amount equated to around £200 for each of its 45,000 workers. In December 2023, Serco acquired European Homecare,
9108-523: Was marked with "real problems" and management was taken back in house by the local authority after the contract's end-date. Serco has operated similar management arrangements for both Walsall and Stoke-on-Trent local education authorities. By 2009, Serco was one of Ofsted 's three Regional Inspection Service Providers, being responsible for school inspections in the English Midlands. Serco Leisure Operating Ltd works with clients throughout
9207-533: Was one of three partners in the consortium who managed the Atomic Weapons Establishment until it was taken over by the MoD: in July 2015, the Office for Nuclear Regulation issued an improvement notice to the consortium demanding that it demonstrate that it has a long-term strategy for managing Higher Active radioactive Waste in order to reduce the risk to the public and its employees. Serco
9306-455: Was owned and operated by the airport; and Dunbar was operated by the InterCity East Coast franchise holder (originally GNER , then National Express East Coast , then East Coast , and finally Virgin Trains East Coast ). ScotRail operated Lockerbie station although none of its services called there. First ScotRail's fleet was maintained at Edinburgh Haymarket , Glasgow Shields Road , Corkerhill and Inverness depots. During early 2005,
9405-477: Was part of a consortium called Trusted Borders, led by Raytheon Systems Limited , to put in place e-Borders under a contract awarded by the UK Home Office in 2007. As a subcontractor to Raytheon, Serco was responsible for delivering the infrastructure and service management of e-Borders; Raytheon had its contract terminated in July 2010 and Serco at the time stated it had fulfilled all its commitments on
9504-546: Was part of a consortium that ran the UK's National Nuclear Laboratory under contract up until October 2013. In Britain, Serco supplies electronic tagging devices for offenders and asylum seekers . Serco, as well as its rival G4S , was accused of overcharging the Ministry of Justice on its contract to tag offenders. The firm issued a profit warning for 2014 as a result of the costs of becoming embroiled in an electronic tagging scandal. Serco repaid £68.5 million to
9603-496: Was superseded by First Great Western Link and ScotRail (National Express) by First ScotRail . A new operator, Heathrow Connect , jointly run by BAA and First Great Western , began operating stopping services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport complementing the Heathrow Express. Three new integrated franchises began operating in April 2006: Further integrations occurred in 2007. The first of these
9702-632: Was the South Western franchise ; this merged the original South West Trains franchise with the Island Line Trains franchise on the Isle of Wight and began operating in February 2007 under the name South West Trains, with Island Line retained as a separate brand. In November 2007, three new integrated franchises began operating: In addition to these three, a further new operator, London Overground Rail Operations , took control of
9801-589: Was the second largest (in terms of number of passenger journeys 2013–14) after First Great Western at the time of the termination of its franchise. During April 2008, Transport Scotland granted a three-year franchise extension to First ScotRail. In May 2009, First ScotRail announced a crackdown on fare-dodging due to abuse of the Flexipass ticket system. One month later, it was alleged that ScotRail's passenger figures were substantially inflated and that 7.2 million less passenger journeys had been actually made;
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