APPENDIX 1
OFFICE OF PASSENGER RAIL FRANCHISING
VOLUME 24
Provisions of a notice dated 15 August 1996 issued
by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to M40 Trains Limited
in respect of the franchise agreement dated 24 June 1996 and made
between the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising and M40 Trains
Limited
Under your Franchise Agreement, you are committed
to procuring new rolling stock not later than this Sunday 18 August.
The Franchise Agreement requires that direct
agreements are in place (i.e. signed) in respect of both the rolling
stock procurement and the maintenance procurement prior to the
main contracts being signed. In view of the complexity of these
arrangements and their late finalisation with your suppliers,
we may not be able to settle the direct agreements by 18 August.
In this circumstance, you may take this letter as our consent
to delay final placement of the order until 5pm on Wednesday 21
August.
Subject to this point, you have advised me that
you currently expect the main contracts to be signed on time,
but conditional upon procurement of insurance, and that you expect
the insurance to be procured not later than 25 August. I confirm
that, provided the direct agreements are in place, signing the
contract on these terms will be acceptable to us so long as insurance
is actually procured and the contract duly becomes unconditional
by 25 August.
Provisions of a notice dated 23 August issued
pursuant to section 55(6) of the Railways Act 1993 on behalf of
the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to M40 Trains Limited
in respect of the franchise agreement dated 24 June 1996 and made
between the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising and M40 Trains
Limited
I refer to the Franchise Agreement dated 24
June 1996 between M40 Trains Limited and the Director of Passenger
Rail Franchising (the "Franchising Director").
The Franchise Plan included in this agreement
required you to order 12 new diesel multiple units not later than
18 August; by variation of the Franchise Agreement on 15 August,
this date was extended to 5pm on 21 August. In the event, the
order for the new diesel multiple units was only placed on 22
August.
In view of the rapid placing of the order after
the due date, the Franchising Director regards the contravention
of the Franchise Agreement to be trivial (as that term is used
in Section 55 of the Railways Act 1993 ("the Act")).
Accordingly, he will be taking no further action in respect of
this contravention.
This letter is written pursuant to Section 55(6)
of the Act, and a copy of it will be placed on the Franchising
Director's register as required by Section 73(2)(e). The Franchising
Director considers no further publication is necessary.
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