Casualties imminent as competition turns up the heat in London bus market and UK rail franchising

New entrant: RATP is the latest London bus player

New entrant: RATP is the latest London bus player

The shortlists for the East Anglia and West Coast rail franchise contracts and the latest London bus tender results illustrate that the UK transport market is now attracting the most intense levels of competition in its 20 year history of being an open market. In the case of the rail franchise shortlists, the interesting thing is not who made them (see panel), but the companies that did not. They include the Spanish and Italian state railways, who were making their first forays into the UK,...