Class 156 Rolling Stock Lease

Description

This notice concerns a modification to an existing lease (the Lease) procured whilst ScotRail was under the Abellio franchise ownership, between ScotRail Trains Limited (SRT) and Angel Trains Limited (Angel) for 76 Class 156 vehicles (the Fleet). The Lease is currently scheduled to expire on 31 March 2027 with the option to extend until 31 December 2027. A 5-year extension has been agreed to the Lease for the same scope of supplies, with an additional option to extend for up to a further 1 year. The value of that extension (inclusive of options) is GBP 77,000,000 excluding VAT. This extension is necessary to ensure SRT is able to discharge its obligations and continue to deliver vital services while the rural new fleet procurement is progressed and is therefore an interim solution until the new fleet can be procured, built and commissioned for passenger service. There is a Continued Service Operation (CSO) workstream in progress to restore the condition of the fleet due to their age which will ensure it can continue to operate for passenger service for the duration of the extension. Lot 1: The Lease is being modified in accordance with regulation 86(1)(b) of the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016 as additional supplies not included within the original procurement have become necessary, and a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons and would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of cost for SRT, because: 1. The modification has become necessary: there is a need to secure the ongoing operation of the Lease, which includes lifeline services in rural areas, while SRT carries out a full procurement for an enduring rolling stock solution using emerging technologies (including batteries and network electrification). Diesel trains are the only feasible option for this interim period. 2. A change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons: this is because: a. the Fleet has specific characteristics and technical features that are designed to interoperate with the rail infrastructure and SRT’s other fleets and are required for operation on the West Highland and Stranraer Lines, as well as Glasgow suburban routes. For example: i. the Fleet is the only available DMU passenger stock which is fully accepted for operation on the West Highland and Stranraer lines and is able to make use of differential speed limits in order to meet the journey times of the timetable; ii. any alternative Fleet would require an extensive programme of train crew and engineering staff training, which would create significant additional (and disproportionate) training workload at a time when SRT is already engaged in an intensive programme of recruitment for future fleet cascades and new trains; iii. a Section 54 agreement is being finalised in relation to the Fleet, and SRT expects that agreement to be in place for the full duration of the lease and options. b. SRT’s analysis has confirmed that there are no alternative available fleets that contain the necessary technical features and could meet these requirements. 3. In the event that an alternative existing fleet with suitable performance and technical characteristics was available (which in SRT’s view is not the case), and that fleet could be adapted to accommodate the necessary technical features, this would result in substantial duplication of cost, significant inconvenience and extra time out of service, which would be disproportionate in the context of an interim solution