28 June 2004

Chair calls for SPT's regulatory role to extend to buses

Cllr Alistair Watson, Chairman of Strathclyde Passenger Transport, today (Monday 28 June) moved to protect passengers' interests by putting forward SPT as the ideal organisation to make sure FirstGroup's appointment as the preferred bidder for the rail franchise doesn't lead to a loss of competition or a reduction in services.

The rail franchise covers some 95% of rail services in Scotland. FirstGroup is Scotland's largest bus operator, covering some 35% of the total route miles. After taking evidence from SPT, the Competition Commission concluded that FirstGroup's dominant position in the public transport market could allow it to:

• shift passengers from bus to rail by raising fares
• shift passengers from bus to rail by reducing levels of service or frequency, re-routing or reducing capacity
• disadvantage competitors by undermining multi-operator, multi-modal tickets
• promote its own bus services at the expense of competitors by selectively providing bus information at rail stations.

The Competition Commission has proposed a range of remedies to address these issues including the appointment of a monitoring agent. The monitoring agent would ensure FirstGroup sticks to the conditions of the franchise relating to fares, competition and the level and frequency of services.

Cllr Watson said, "SPT already plays a vital role in protecting passengers' interests and co-ordinating public transport provision in West and Central Scotland. SPT's skills base and unparalleled experience of delivering public transport schemes puts it in a unique position to fulfill the role of monitoring agent.

"The monitoring agent would be responsible for checking compliance with fare controls and also with restrictions on changing the frequency and capacity of services. SPT already performs this role for the bulk of the rail franchise and it is ideally placed to extend this work to cover buses as well as trains."

ends