Stagecoach loses South West Trains franchise to Anglo-Chinese consortium

Stagecoach is being stripped of the franchise to operate South West Trains, a move significant for two reasons.

Firstly, it marks the end of the company's 20-year history on the busy commuter routes. "It became the first company to take over a British rail franchise in 1996," says the Daily Telegraph.

Secondly, it represents the latest major contract win for MTR, the state-backed Hong Kong rail operator which runs the city's metro system, as well as several Beijing metro lines.

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It will own 30 per cent of the new franchise operator while the remainder will be owned by First Group. They take over running the service on 20 August.

MTR previously ran London Overground services alongside Arriva, while in 2014, it won the contract to operate the Crossrail commuter service.

South West Trains runs services from London to cities such as Bristol and Exeter and has a strong commuter base in the suburban areas directly to the south of the capital.

The new consortium has pledged to "introduce a fleet of 90 new trains and add 22,000 extra seats into London Waterloo on every morning peak and 30,000 extra seats on every evening peak", says the Telegraph.

However, today's announcement has sparked controversy, reports The Independent.

RMT union general secretary Mick Cash said: "Once again the government have refused to consider the public sector option for a major rail franchise and instead it's a foreign state operator... which is set to make a killing at the British taxpayers' expense."

Stagecoach also demanded detailed feedback on the reasons for losing its franchise, saying it has delivered "real improvements" for passengers in recent years and doubled passenger numbers.

The Independent adds that many of the promise investment in new trains and capacity were already planned.

First Group and MTR will take over the line at a critical point halfway through a major programme to increase platform lengths at Waterloo, which is set to begin on 5 August.