Class 156 Rolling Stock Lease

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 has been agreed in relation to the Fleet.

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