TOCs 2013-2019: Direct Awards

Passenger Rail Franchising Companies in Great Britain (TOCs)

Following the pause for the Brown report, the system resumed in 2013, the DfT published a revised timetable in March 2013, with the first tender being concluded in May, the direct award for the Essex Thameside franchise.

In 2014, the DfT was re-organised, with responsibility for rail franchising becoming part of the new Office of Rail Passenger Services's remit under an externally recruited chief, the ORPS itself being part of a new Rail Executive within the DfT.

In January 2015, as part of its statutory duty to promote competition, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) launched a policy review to determine if there were opportunities to improve the current system outside the established areas of competition, namely the bidding process and the open access operators. In July 2015 it identified four possible areas for reform: an increased role for open access operators, having two successful bidders for each franchise, having more overlapping franchises and having multiple operators with licences on each route. The regulator (by then renamed the Office of Rail & Road) evaluated the CMA's options, leading to a final report in March 2016.