Contract for Chiltern Rail Services. Currently Operated by the Chiltern Railway Company Limited.

The directly awarded contract (the Chiltern NRC) was entered into on 2 December 2021 and the operation of passenger services under the Chiltern NRC started on 31 December 2021. The Chiltern NRC has a core duration of 30 months (expiring 1 April 2025) with a maximum duration (at the authority's discretion) of up to circa 72 months (expiring 12 December 2027). A prior information notice was published on 6 November 2020 in respect of the award of the Chiltern NRC. This revised notice is published voluntarily, and for completeness, by the authority to publicise the minor increase in services arising from the addition of the CS1 (Oxford to Milton Keynes via Bletchley) passenger services as the first stage of East West Rail (EWR). It is anticipated that the passenger services will be added to the Chiltern NRC by a deed of amendment to be entered into in or around December 2023. The authority and the operator are aiming to introduce the CS1 passenger services between December 2024 and September 2025. The authority reserves the right not to proceed with the addition of the CS1 passenger services to the Chiltern NRC as envisaged or to use an alternative method to procure an operator for those passenger services. EWR will ultimately introduce new rail services between Oxford and Cambridge (through 3 connection stages CS1 to CS3). Plans for the procurement of the future overall operator of EWR passenger services are under consideration.