All change for network as rail franchises switch track

Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Transport, is in no doubt.

Changing the operator on the South West Trains rail franchise, which includes some of the UK's busiest commuter routes, will be "great news for rail passengers".

The change of operator represents a major shake-up as the franchise has had the same operator, Stagecoach, since the railways were privatised in 1996.

The franchise has had the same operator for longer than any other and Stagecoach ran the very first franchised train in the UK under privatisation - the 0510 from Twickenham to London Waterloo - in the early hours of 4 February 1996.

Taking its place will be a joint venture between FirstGroup (LSE: FGP.L - news) and MTR Corporation (HKSE: 0066-OL.HK - news) , the Hong Kong-based transport company, whose existing UK interests include operating the new Crossrail service across London and the much-praised London Overground, which it jointly runs with Arriva.

Some spectacular promises are being made by the new operators, including some £1.2bn worth of investment, 750 new train carriages for the Windsor, Reading and London Suburban routes by the end of 2020, faster journey times to stations including Hounslow, Reading, Southampton, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Portsmouth and Salisbury and improvements to stations, notably at Southampton Central.

Extra journeys are also being promised, notably between Portsmouth and Southsea and London Waterloo.

But the change in franchise operator is bound to lead to some disquiet.

The rail unions are already grumbling about the fact that another privatised rail franchise is being run by an operator that is part-owned by a foreign state, as MTR is some 75% owned by the Hong Kong government, joining Arriva, which is owned by state-controlled Deutsche Bahn of Germany; Abellio, which is owned by the Dutch national rail operator and Keolis, which is part-owned by the French government and which owns 35% of Govia, the controversial Southern Trains operator.

Potentially more controversial, though, may be the involvement of FirstGroup.

It operates the Great Western Railway franchise, previously known as First Great Western, which has given it the dubious distinction of being one of the UK's most complained-about rail operators.

Resolver, an independent complaints handling website, said two years ago that it had received more complaints regarding the service - nicknamed "Worst Great Western" by commuters - than it had concerning South West Trains, Southern Trains and Virgin Trains combined.

In fairness to First (Other OTC: FSTC - news) , during recent years, it does appear to have improved its service levels.

The latest official complaints data from the Office of Rail & Road (ORR) points to a steady drop in complaints about GWR.

During 2015-16, the latest year for which figures are available, it attracted just 33 complaints for every 100,000 train journeys taken on the service.

But that number is still more than twice the number of complaints - 13.6 - that South West Trains received in the same period.

Moreover, during the whole of the last decade, there has not been a single quarter in which First Great Western, or the renamed GWR, did not attract more complaints than South West Trains.

In fact, South West Trains bears the distinction of being one of the least complained-about rail operators in the UK, attracting fewer complaints than every other franchise other than the London Overground and Govia Thameslink.

Whatever reason the Department for Transport has for replacing Stagecoach as the franchise operator for South West Trains, it was certainly not for the level of customer complaints it attracted.

The company, which has doubled passenger numbers using the franchise since privatisation, is seeking an explanation from the DfT.

There is also a competition issue arising from the new franchise award.

FirstGroup and its subsidiaries now have a monopoly over some rail routes.

Anyone wishing to travel from cities such as Exeter or Plymouth to London by rail will now have no choice but to take a train with the company.

Over time, it may well be that First's involvement with the franchise, rather than that of the bete-noir of the unions, MTR, provokes the livelier response from rail passengers.