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Title: First Milks Great Western ^Cash Cow^ Post by: Lee on August 03, 2007, 10:55:05 First Great Western^s problems have more to do with the structure of the group and the financial pressures it faces than the size of the franchise , argues Christian Wolmar (link below.)
http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/rail/570.shtml Title: Re: First Milks Great Western ^Cash Cow^ Post by: Jim on August 05, 2007, 12:27:12 Someone told me thats gone up in various mess rooms in the area!
Title: Re: First Milks Great Western ^Cash Cow^ Post by: grahame on August 06, 2007, 08:18:46 I think I'm allowed to quote a short extract from christian Woolmar's article in "critical comment":
Quote Uniquely of FirstGroup^s franchises, FGW was, until recently, run directly by the company^s finance director, Dean Finch, a man for whom the expression ^bean-counter^ might have been invented because it was seen as the cash cow for the group^s business. All the others were the responsibility of Andrew Haines, the former head of South West Trains, who showed there that he is a good operator. Indeed, some of the other First franchises, notably TransPennine Express and ScotRail, are among the best, and now, interestingly, after all the flak - which, according to one source, has ^troubled the top table^ - Haines is to get control of FGW. It darned well OUGHT to have troubled the top table - the british public in these parts will accept a huge amount of nonsense, but this has worn pretty this - and First has become something of a dirty word in these parts. Let's hope that Andrew can bring an improved service which also brings improved results for First - surely that's in everyone's interest. This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |