Row erupts as French rail firm SNCF launches bid to run London to Birmingham HS2 services

A furious row erupted today after French state-owned rail operator SNCF launched a bid to run new high speed services from London to Birmingham.

It joined forces with Virgin Trains to enter the competition for the West Coast Partnership franchise, which will include services on the existing West Coast route from 2019 and initial HS2 trains between the capital and West Midlands from 2026.

SNCF chairman Guillaume Pepy said: “We are world leaders in high speed rail. In partnership, we will deliver a successful HS2 service for the UK.”

But the bid, which if successful would increase the proportion of Britain’s rail network run by overseas operators, was immediately condemned by the RMT union.

Its general secretary Mick Cash said: “The integrated HS2/West Coast operation has been bought and paid for by the British people and should be run by the British state in the public interest and not by some consortium of speculators looking to make a killing at the taxpayers’ expense.”

Union leaders claim around 70 per cent of train routes in this country are wholly or partly owned by foreign state-owned rail organisations, including German, Dutch, French, Belgian and Italian, with profits from fares allegedly subsidising operations abroad.

Shadow transport minister Pat Glass branded the current franchise system as “broken”.

She added: “Under the Tories we are now in a ludicrous situation where 75 per cent of our railways are now wholly or partly controlled by foreign states or foreign companies and this bid would only serve to increase that.”

However, former Tory transport minister Stephen Hammond stressed SNCF had “great expertise in running long-distance, high speed services”.

He added: “They may not win but we should welcome their bid.”

Under the proposals unveiled today for the West Coast line and HS2 franchise, half of the partnership would be owned by Stagecoach, with SNCF taking a shareholding of 30 per cent and Virgin 20 per cent.

SNCF has operated France’s intercity TGV service since 1981 and has the largest fleet of high-speed trains in Europe.

It runs around 700 high-speed journeys each day in France and internationally at speeds of up to 200mph.

The company’s high speed division recorded turnover of £6.4 billion last year, of which more than a quarter was from international operations.

SNCF’s existing involvement in Britain’s railways is through its 70 per cent ownership of transport group Keolis.

Keolis has a 35 per cent stake in Govia, which runs Govia Thameslink Railway, including the heavily-criticised Southern services, a well as London Midland and Southeastern.

FirstGroup and Italian operator Trenitalia announced in January that they will also jointly bid for the large-scale new franchise including HS2.

However, Virgin Trains co-chairman Patrick McCall said: “I’m delighted that SNCF has come on board, and together we will put forward what we hope is the winning bid.”

Virgin Trains has operated long distance services between London and Scotland on the West Coast line since 1997. It is owned by Virgin (51 per cent) and Stagecoach (49 per cent).

It has introduced a number of transformations on the railways such as tilting trains, automatic compensation for delays and a Netflix-style streaming entertainment system.

The Rail Delivery Group, representing train companies and Network Rail, said passengers and the Treasury benefit by rail companies from around the world bringing “new ideas and innovation”.

Phase 1 of HS2 between London and Birmingham is scheduled to open in December 2026, with a second Y-shaped phase heading north later launching in two stages.