Nexus, the Tyne and Wear region’s Passenger Transport Executive (PTE), has announced plans to end its contract with DB Regio in 2017.
The authority said both it and DB Regio are “dissatisfied with the structure and the financial and operational performance of the current contract”.
Nexus did have the option to extend the contract by two years but instead plans to operate the service directly until 2019 – at which point a new contract will be drawn up to take account of the planned introduction of a new fleet of trains.
Nexus said it has agreed an investment package with DB Regio for the final year of the contract.
Tobyn Hughes, managing director of Nexus, said: “The future of the Tyne and Wear Metro holds a major investment in a new fleet of trains, and we need to prepare the business for that.
“The current contract that expires in March 2017 is not delivering the outcomes for passengers that either we or the operator wants to see. As a result we propose not to exercise our option to extend it beyond its natural expiry date.”
Other Train companies could also take over the Tyne and Wear metro including National Express, Abellio, First Group and MTR.
Abellio and MTR could be favourites for the bidding to take over from Nexus/DB Regio.
After 2019?
Well DB Regio & Nexus are
ending the contract in March next year as Tyne and Wear Metro with the possibility of MTR, Abellio and National Express that could be favourite bidders to take over the Tyne and Wear Metro franchise that the Metro operates across Newcastle and Sunderland and surrounding areas in the Tyne and Wear region.
Firstly, it’s a concession and not a franchise. Nexus will be operating the Metro directly from 2017, as is stated in the article, until the new contract is awarded.
A concession. Right. Now I understand.