Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 01:55 29 Mar 2024
- Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
- Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
29th Mar (1913)
Foundation of National Union or Railwaymen (*)

Train RunningDelayed
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 29, 2024, 02:03:13 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[98] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[97] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[86] Return of the BRUTE?
[74] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[53] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[23] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: East Coast Franchise  (Read 4856 times)
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« on: August 14, 2007, 07:09:45 »

Awarded to National Express
Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2007, 07:15:58 »

Awarded to National Express
Anyone but First so I am happy. Branson misses out again, very surprising. Was sort of expecting Virgin/Stagecoach would get East Coast after losing XC (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) which just goes to show there is no consistency whatsover with the awarding of franchises. Hopefully that will mean that when the GW (Great Western) franchise comes up for renewal in a few years time that someone else gets a chance to run it.

And finally a victory for Bowker. Lets hope they improve on what GNER (Great North Eastern Railways) has done over the past 11 or so years and not screw it up.
Logged
martyjon
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1941


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2007, 07:41:43 »

For National Express response to award of ECML (East Coast Main Line) Franchise see ;-

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200708140715100375C
Logged
12hoursunday
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 267


View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2007, 14:45:40 »


Anyone but First so I am happy. .

You base this statement I assume on the preformance of First on the Western Region. It may surprise you that First are preforming well on Transpennine ( best in it's class last year) and Scotrail. Also investigate the preformance of the Eastern Region since First lost the Great Eastern franchise and I think you'll find that it has slipped in the ratings of staff/customers. We will never know what the GNER (Great North Eastern Railways) part of the railway would have been like under the First banner unless NEx are unable to meet their financial targets. NEx have to pay the treasury MORE money back than Sea Containers had to and we all know how hard they found that task.

Just remember that it's not all doom and gloom within the First Rail empire.
Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2007, 18:30:28 »


Anyone but First so I am happy. .

You base this statement I assume on the preformance of First on the Western Region. It may surprise you that First are preforming well on Transpennine ( best in it's class last year) and Scotrail. Also investigate the preformance of the Eastern Region since First lost the Great Eastern franchise and I think you'll find that it has slipped in the ratings of staff/customers. We will never know what the GNER (Great North Eastern Railways) part of the railway would have been like under the First banner unless NEx are unable to meet their financial targets. NEx have to pay the treasury MORE money back than Sea Containers had to and we all know how hard they found that task.

Just remember that it's not all doom and gloom within the First Rail empire.
I'm sure its not all doom and gloom in the wonderful world of First and yes I do base that statement on the performance of their Western region franchise. This is not branded as the worst rail franchise in the UK (United Kingdom) for nothing...with help from Dft and Network Rail of course.

I also base it on the complete pigs ear they have made to buses in the Bath and Bristol area over the years - high fares, cut services and up until recently a poor fleet of buses. Yes its a bit narrow in terms of experience of only part of their empire, but having travelled on GNER a number of times I would not have wanted a company who has done nothing to improve travel in the region in which I live to possibly screw up another good part of the network.

Wessex trains (NEX (National Express - parent company of Wessex Trains) company) wasn't perfect but our local services have gone down considerably since First took over them.

I agree they are doing well with Transpennine but who wouldn't with an almost completely new fleet of trains. That franchise is also in partnership with another company Keolis.

So one hand yes Im happy First have not been awarded any of the recently announced franchises. But Im also sad that they are not fit enough in my opinion to take on any further franchises until they sort out FGW (First Great Western). Once they do I will be more than happy to congratulate them on gaining new franchises. Its nothing personal.
Logged
Steve Bray
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 207


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2007, 18:32:50 »

First don't get everything right in Scotland

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6919805.stm

Apologies if this doesn't work, but just google bbc first scotrail fines


Logged
simonw
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 589


View Profile Email
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2007, 20:28:30 »

Up until very recently, FGW (First Great Western) was the responsibility of the FG Finance director, whilst TPE (Trans Pennine Express) and FS where the responsibility of FG Operations director.

http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/rail/570.shtml

The reason for this is quite simple, FG did not care about FGW operational performance, but it's financial performance. FGW has the distinction of paying the government over ^1.2 billion pounds, whist both TPE and FS receive subsidies. If the East Coast line had been awarded to FG it would have been another 'cash cow' where financial performance was paramount. As things stand, I believe that Arriva are paying way too much for this Franchise, and consequently the quality of the service they offer will deteriate.

I can't blame FGW for everything that goes wrong, but what it is responsible for does go wrong often, (breakdowns, severe overcrowding, delays, poor planning to handle engineering overruns, etc)  that they must be held to account. I'm quite sure that if FGW had their franchise removed for incompetance, FG and others would reconsider how they run rail franchises in future



Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2007, 20:36:45 »

Up until very recently, FGW (First Great Western) was the responsibility of the FG Finance director, whilst TPE (Trans Pennine Express) and FS where the responsibility of FG Operations director.

http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/rail/570.shtml

The reason for this is quite simple, FG did not care about FGW operational performance, but it's financial performance. FGW has the distinction of paying the government over ^1.2 billion pounds, whist both TPE and FS receive subsidies. If the East Coast line had been awarded to FG it would have been another 'cash cow' where financial performance was paramount. As things stand, I believe that Arriva are paying way too much for this Franchise, and consequently the quality of the service they offer will deteriate.

I can't blame FGW for everything that goes wrong, but what it is responsible for does go wrong often, (breakdowns, severe overcrowding, delays, poor planning to handle engineering overruns, etc)  that they must be held to account. I'm quite sure that if FGW had their franchise removed for incompetance, FG and others would reconsider how they run rail franchises in future
Did you mean National Express rather than Arriva Simon? Either way, to be paying more than GNER (Great North Eastern Railways) were committed to and in less time is a huge gamble by NEX (National Express - parent company of Wessex Trains). But it is a far more straightforward franchise than GW (Great Western) and even in an economic downturn the East Coast mainline will always see plenty of traffic. Still a lot of money to pay to the government for the privelege of running this franchise though.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the 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 the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page