DfT OLR Holdings

DfT OLR Holdings (DOHL) is a holding company established by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom to act as operator of last resort for rail franchises that are nationalised.

DfT OLR Holdings Limited.
TypeHolding company
IndustryRail transport
Founded2018
Headquarters
London
,
England
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
  • Richard George (Chairman)
  • Robin Gisby (CEO)
ServicesTrain operating company management
Revenue£2.2 billion (2022)
£20 million (2022)
£22 million (2022)
Number of employees
11 (2022)
ParentDepartment for Transport
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.gov.uk/government/organisations/dft-olr-holdings-limited

History

DfT OLR Holdings was established in 2018 by the Department for Transport to operate rail franchises should it become necessary to bring them into public ownership and operate as an operator of last resort in accordance with section 30 of the Railways Act 1993.[1] As at May 2023, the company has four active subsidiaries; London North Eastern Railway, Northern Trains, Southeastern and TransPennine Express. In May 2023 DfT OLR Holdings superseded FirstGroup as the largest operator of passenger services in the United Kingdom, generating 23% of passenger revenue and 26% of passenger miles.[2]

Subsidiaries

DOHL has a number of active and dormant subsidiaries.

London North Eastern Railway

On 24 June 2018, London North Eastern Railway took over the InterCity East Coast franchise from Virgin Trains East Coast after the latter ran into financial difficulty.[3][4]

Train Fleet

Train Fleet (2019) Limited was established in August 2019 to take ownership of 40 Class 365 units from Eversholt Rail Group. This arose from a complex financial arrangement, struck during the privatisation of British Rail by the British Railways Board when the trains were financed by financial institutions, that gave Eversholt the option to pass on their lease liabilities back to the government.[5][6] In July 2021, all were sold back to Eversholt after termination of their leases with Govia Thameslink Railway was agreed.[7]

Northern Trains

On 1 March 2020, Northern Trains took over the Northern franchise from Arriva Rail North after the latter became financially unviable.[8][9]

Southeastern

On 17 October 2021, Southeastern took over the South Eastern franchise from Govia after financial irregularities were uncovered.[10][11]

TransPennine Express

On 28 May 2023, TransPennine Express took over the operation of Transpennine services after FirstGroup's TransPennine Express contract was not renewed after repeated customer complaints of poor service and cancelled trains, as well as having the highest rate of cancellations of any train operating company in January and February 2023 with about a quarter of services being cancelled.[12][13]

See also

References
  1. About us DfT OLR Holdings
  2. "First last, or last first". Modern Railways. No. 897. June 2023. p. 6.
  3. "Transport minister ends Virgin East Coast franchise". The Railway Magazine. No. 1407. June 2018. p. 7.
  4. "LNER brand revived for East Coast". Rail Express. No. 266. July 2018. p. 10.
  5. "Government takes ownership of Class 365 fleet". The Railway Magazine. No. 1422. September 2019. p. 105.
  6. "DfT takes ownership of Class 365 fleet". Today's Railways UK. No. 214. October 2019. p. 69.
  7. "Eversholt Rail regains Class 365 ownership". Railways Illustrated. No. September 2021. p. 13.
  8. "Government takes over Northern franchise". Rail Express. No. 286. March 2020. p. 6.
  9. "Arriva stripped of Northern franchise". Railways Illustrated. No. April 2020. p. 7.
  10. "OLR taking over Southeastern". Modern Railways. No. 878. November 2021. pp. 8–9.
  11. Lancefield, Neil (17 March 2022). "Govia slapped with £23.5m penalty over Southeastern scandal". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  12. "TransPennine Express loses contract over poor service". BBC News. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. Topham, Gwyn (11 May 2023). "TransPennine Express nationalised for catalogue of failings and poor service". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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