FirstGroup trumps Virgin as frontrunner for WCML franchise (guardian 29/07/2012)

[whole diary]

[grahame]

firstwestcoast.com has been registered.

And indeed it has been registered for over 2 years  - http://www.whois.net/whois/firstwestcoast.com

[JayMac]

firstwestcoast.com has been registered.

With no obvious link that it was registered by anyone associated with First Group.

Horizon Trains Ltd has been registered as a company at Companies House since Feb 2012, horizontrains.co.uk was registered by First Group PLC in October 2011. Horizon Trains as a trade mark has also been registered with the Intellectual Property Office as a company involved in the business of providing transportation services.

I can't find any domain registrations that feature First, West and Coast with obvious links to First Group, nor any trade mark registrations for First West Coast. firstwestcoast.co.uk appears to be owned by someone in a residential property in Birmingham.

[broadgage]

Isn't there anything more important than catering in first class depending upon the outcome of this franchise award? 

Yes, but.
Although many factors are more important than first class catering, most of these such as timetables, regulated fares, and so on are fairly tightly specified.
Catering is more or less optional, and therefore a matter of some concern.

Re-introduction of proper restaurants 
Or adjust "in line with changing customer needs" i.e. just a trolley

[Brucey]

The IPO website is currently down for maintenance, but I located this in the Trade Marks Journal.  All sounds very much like a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)....

2610558 15 February 2012 (09, 39, 43)
HORIZON TRAINS

Class 09
Computer software, computer programs and software applications for providing travel, transport and timetable information and real-time information regarding train running times, prices and network delays; computer software, computer programs and software applications for travel booking, reservation and ticket issuing services.

Class 39
Transport services; transportation services; passenger transportation services; rail transport services; travel booking, reservation and ticket issuing services, including by means of the Internet and/or by mobile telephone; travel, tourist and travel timetable information services; tourist travel, travel agency and tour operator services; arranging of tours, trips and excursions; operation of stations (railway) for transport purposes; provision of car parking facilities; car park services; delivery and storage of goods; advisory and consultancy services relating to all the aforementioned.

Class 43
Services for providing food and drink; cafe, restaurant, snack bar, bar and catering services; rental of meeting rooms and temporary accommodation; advisory and consultancy services relating to all the aforementioned.

Horizon Trains Limited

Agent: Burges Salmon LLP, One Glass Wharf, Bristol, BS2 0ZX.

I would be surprised if First assigned their name to the West Coast franchise, so Horizon Trains could be a suitable name.  Whether you choose to believe it or not, Virgin have built up quite a good brand image on that route and I believe this is something that First will not want to lose.

[eightf48544]

Rebranding another of the idiocies of franchising.

Money wasted on changing all the liveries station signs notepaper etc, etc.

People will call it Virgin for years just as my parents generation still refers to the GPO^‡(resolve).

[JayMac]

Agree with that eightf. Still hear people refer to Virgin CrossCountry or travelling with Virgin from Bristol Temple Meads. Signage for Virgin Trains still hangs on in some CrossCountry locations as well.

[LiskeardRich]

. firstwestcoast.co.uk appears to be owned by someone in a residential property in Birmingham.

This could be rather worrying, set a fake website and potentially fraudulently bring in payments, but in fact have no connection or tickets to sell

[JayMac]

Or the perfectly legitimate activity of buying a domain in the hope it will have a profitable re-sale value.

Or indeed a domain that is to be used by a company called First West Coast and just happens to have been registered privately.

No evidence that the registrant of firstwestcoast.co.uk is, or will be, doing anything wrong. That needs to be made VERY clear.

[TonyK]

Absolutely right, bignosemac. Even if the intent is to try to grab a few quid by signing up the domain name before a company thinks to do so, it is perfectly legit. 

[Btline]

The franchise should be called West Coast with a standard silver livery.

Then allow the winner to apply small branding i.e. a small First logo.

Just like ScotRail. So it is refered to as West Coast WHOEVER runs it. If Scotrail is lost to Arriva in the future, most people won't notice, and will still call it ScotRail. Credit to Arriva for not putting Arriva on. (and NX until recently)

[JayMac]

From The Telegraph:

Virgin prepares for legal fight over West Coast line

Virgin Trains is preparing for a legal fight over its last remaining rail franchise, as ministers prepare to award the contract for the prestigious West Coast line to rival FirstGroup.

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains will push for a judicial review if the Department for Transport awards the 14-year franchise to FirstGroup this week as expected, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

Virgin has been operating West Coast services between London and Scotland for 15 years through a joint venture with Stagecoach. However, insiders say Virgin Trains now faces an uncertain future, with one senior source warning: "It could be farewell to Virgin Trains."

FirstGroup is thought to have made what industry insiders describe as a "suicide" offer of ^6.5bn-7bn to run the West Coast line, outbidding Virgin, its closest competitor for the franchise, by about ^1bn.

Dutch train company, Abellio, and France's SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) are believed to have bid close to, or below, the ^5bn mark.

Virgin has spent almost ^14m bidding for the West Coast contract and Sir Richard has warned the Government that it risks repeating rail franchising mistakes of the past if it goes with FirstGroup's offer.

In a leaked letter to the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, Sir Richard claimed the only way FirstGroup could meet its commitments would be to "drastically cut the quality of services". Industry experts say there is a high likelihood FirstGroup will have to "hand back the keys" to the franchise before the contract ends in 2026, a fate suffered by both GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways) and National Express which abandoned the East Coast Main Line when their bids proved unviable.

The judicial review would be the first legal challenge of its kind in the rail industry.

One senior industry source admitted it is a "long shot" but pointed out that Sir Richard has little other choice if he wants to remain in the rail business. "A judicial review is a difficult process but Sir Richard is passionate about rail," said the source. "He doesn't want to see a repeat of the National Express situation."

It is believed Virgin, which is headed by Tony Collins, has spent up to ^60m bidding for rail contracts in recent years but West Coast is its only remaining franchise. It made several unsuccessful tilts at the East Coast Main Line and lost the Cross Country franchise to Arriva in 2007.

Virgin Trains would not comment but it is believed its bid team has not met DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) officials for more than a fortnight.

FirstGroup already has a registered company called First West Coast. Richard Parry, a former director at London Underground, has been leading FirstGroup's bid for the inter-city West Coast services.

Sceptics have pointed to FirstGroup's recent decision to hand back the First Great Western franchise three years early after the economic downturn rendered its ^1.1bn contract uneconomic. By taking advantage of a break clause in the contract, FirstGroup avoided payments of almost ^830m to the Government.

Virgin Rail Group, which is 51pc owned by Sir Richard and 49pc by Stagecoach, currently pays about ^160m a year to run West Coast services. A ^7bn bid would see FirstGroup having to meet payments averaging ^500m a year. A spokeswoman for FirstGroup would not comment on the West Coast franchise but insisted: "We do have a track record of bidding responsibly."

Rail unions have warned FirstGroup it will face a major industrial battle amid fears cost-cutting could lead to the loss of up to 800 jobs. Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Union, has slammed the West Coast deal as an exercise in "casino franchising".

The DfT has come under pressure from the Chancellor to maximise proceeds from rail franchises. The DfT refused to comment, insisting the franchise was still a "live competition".

Would it be wise for Virgin/Stagecoach to go to war with the DfT and by extension HMG? A legal challenge is of course their prerogative but Stagecoach are in the mix for other rail franchises. Dragging the Dft into the High Court would surely not do them any favours. Also, what grounds would they have for a judicial review? If they are already contemplating such an action then they must be aware of some error in process made by the DfT. Or are they hoping to find such an error?

[JayMac]

Credit to Arriva for not putting Arriva on

The word Arriva is all over Welsh trains! As for CrossCountry, that may be an excellent decision. Would you want your name all over the trains of such a p***-poor franchise? 

[Btline]

True - perhaps they assumed the franchise would be slammed!

In Wales, it should be "WelshRail", with small branding.

[JayMac]

In Wales, it should be "WelshRail", with small branding.

Sicr "RheilffyrrdCymru" fy ffrind? 

Nos da.

[Rhydgaled]

True - perhaps they assumed the franchise would be slammed!

In Wales, it should be "WelshRail", with small branding.

I don't think 'Welsh Rail' has the same ring to it as ScotRail. I've tried to come up with a name for Welsh railways that does have a bit of a ring for it and haven't had much success, the best I've got is 'Railffordd Cymru' (and yes, my Welsh spelling was wrong) - as shown on the timetable cover designs I've made up (see attached).

I think the WAG^» (Welsh Assembly Government - about) Express livery (now that 57315 and 57314 are no longer used, 57316 and 57313 were the best looking locos) is pretty decent for the LHCS^▸ (Locomotive Hauled Coaching Stock) and 158s (the 158s need the Arriva swish painting over in the darker colour, with the colour of the doors on the Gerald sets used on their doors too, the space where the WAG logo should be filled with 'Railfford Cymru' and the Arriva logo replaced with an Alphaline one (in the style used on the blue patch in early Wales & West days)), just need the lines to run the full length of the coach rather than fading out. The other stock in Wales I would put in a white livery with dark green, light green and red areas (inspired by the old ValleyLines livery).