Draft:West Coast Partnership Development

West Coast Partnership Development (WCPD) is the Shadow Operator for HS2 and part of West Coast Partnership, a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia.

During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the InterCity West Coast franchise would be replaced by the West Coast Partnership (WCP). In August 2019, the DfT awarded the WCP franchise to the First Trenitalia consortium. Originally, the franchise was initially scheduled to run until March 2030, and had also been set to operate the initial High Speed 2 services from 2026, before project delays moved its expected completion. However, during December 2020, it was announced that First Trenitalia and the DfT had agreed to terminate the WCP franchise at the earlier date of 31 March 2026 as part of the abolition of the franchise system; later revisions resulting from COVID-19 and poor performance shortened the contract expiry to October 2023 before being extended to October 2026.

The role of West Coast Partnership Development is to design and deliver a fully integrated high-speed and intercity rail network along the West Coast Main Line corridor. The shadow operator is designing the high-speed services which will run on the new High Speed 2 railway, as well as planning the future Avanti West Coast intercity services.

Background
In November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that the InterCity West Coast franchise would be superseded by the West Coast Partnership (WCP). The principal change of the WCP was the inclusion of the High Speed 2 (HS2) services, then envisioned to start around 2026. Accordingly, the DfT required that bidders have experience in operating high-speed trains and the associated infrastructure, which led to all tendering parties either being, or partnering with, an existing high-speed operator.

During June 2017, the DfT announced that three consortia had been shortlisted to bid for the franchise:


 * FirstGroup (70%) / Trenitalia (30%)
 * MTR Corporation (75%) / Guangshen Railway Company (25%)
 * Stagecoach (50%) / SNCF (30%) / Virgin Group (20%)

In December 2018, the Spanish state-owned company Renfe Operadora joined the MTR-led bid. During April 2019, it was announced that the incumbent Stagecoach-led bid had been disqualified after it had proposed significant changes to the commercial terms, specially in regards to staff pensions. Stagecoach disputed its disqualification and launched a legal challenge to have it overturned. On 17 June 2020 the High Court ruled against the company and that the decision had been lawful.

In August 2019, the DfT awarded the franchise to the First Trenitalia consortium with Avanti West Coast to commence operations on 8 December 2019. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a merger inquiry into the award of the franchise following a referral from the European Commission. In December 2019 it was announced that the CMA had approved the franchise's award; concerns that limited competition on some routes could lead to higher fares and less availability of cheaper tickets were offset by the agreement of price caps to be present in some regions.

High Speed Services
West Coast Partnership Development is designing and delivering new High Speed services between London, the West Midlands, North West England and Scotland. These services will consist of new rolling stock, built by a 50/50 joint venture between Hitachi Rail and Alstom, which will run on the new High Speed 2 railway and the West Coast Main Line. Trains will use new HS2 stations at London Euston, Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange and Birmingham Curzon Street. Services between London and North West England and Scotland will use a junction at Handsacre, near Lichfield in southern Staffordshire, which will join the HS2 route with the West Coast Main Line.