Virgin Trains to take legal action

[smithy266 21]

So was Mr Branson right after all...? I have this great idea: why don't all the rail companies become one big company, they could call themselves British Rail, it could be state owned, and buying tickets could be made so much easier.

[Fudbeer 12]

Always thought there was something wrong here the figures just did not add up.

 

Does make you wonder what else they have got wrong and something tells me there is more to this than they are letting on.

 

 

Virgin have done a good job on the trains and Firsts's record is far from great.

[MadManMoon 10]

West Coast Mainline say they can increase passenger numbers by ten per cent every year. All the experts that I have heard say this is impossible.

Tories say they have done the 'sums' and they all add up. But as everything the Tories have 'added up' in the last two years have been wrong these are more than likely to be wrong as well.

 

Just as I predicted, no need to thank me

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212069/West-Coast-Main-Line--Government-scraps-rail-deal-High-Court-challenge-Sir-Richard-Branson.html

[Fudbeer 12]

You can just imagine what happened after Virgin anounced they were taking legal action.

 

MP's says to department of transport right we need to check every t is croosed and every I dotted,they then unearth a bag of worms.....

[MadManMoon 10]

You can just imagine what happened after Virgin anounced they were taking legal action.

 

MP's says to department of transport right we need to check every t is croosed and every I dotted,they then unearth a bag of worms.....

 

And if Branson hadn't taken legal action this bunch of unelected multi millionnaires in Downing St would yet again have wasted millions of pounds of our money on an ill thought out scheme which the next Labour government would have had to sort out

[websters gue 16]

'The estimated cost of reimbursing four companies for the cost of their bids will be £40m, Patrick McLoughlin said'.

 

Which the state will pay for. Isn't the free market wonderfully efficient?

[Stoatwobbler 10]

'The estimated cost of reimbursing four companies for the cost of their bids will be £40m, Patrick McLoughlin said'.

 

Which the state will pay for. Isn't the free market wonderfully efficient?

 

The railways used to be run by people determined to show that nationalization will never work.

 

Now it's run by people determined to show that privatization will never work.

[alchresearch 214]

And if Branson hadn't taken legal action this bunch of unelected multi millionnaires in Downing St would yet again have wasted millions of pounds of our money on an ill thought out scheme which the next Labour government would have had to sort out

 

Do you not understand basic politics and the difference between MPs and civil servants? MPs may change every few years but the people who run the country - the civil servants - remain the same.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/03/transport-secretary-west-coast-mainline?newsfeed=true

 

And lets not forget the train companies who handed back their franchises awarded under Labour when they found they'd paid too much and couldn't make a profit on them.

[PeteMorris 10]

It does make you wonder, just how many 'mistakes' go undiscovered in the dealing at whitehall doesn't it. It's a positive vipers nest, not just a can of worms!

[green 10]

I hope someone has done an FOI to see how many mandarins have left Govt to go to work for First.

 

Expect another whitewash.

[poppet2 13]

The railways used to be run by people determined to show that nationalization will never work.

 

Now it's run by people determined to show that privatization will never work.

 

The railways and buses should all be nationalised again.

[dosxuk 10]

It's probably worth pointing out that this is the first franchise award done under the LibCons new "improved" rail franchise awarding scheme, after the old (Labour) system was binned for being unsuitable after awarding franchises with insufficient risk calculations and various other flaws. Because the LibCons wanted to change the franchise award system, they put all the renewals on hold, extending many franchises by the maximum extensions allowed by law to allow for the review and new system to be brought in.

 

Now of course, they're doing another review because the new improved scheme turns out to be illegal, and they have a load of franchises which they can't legally extend without a new award... This is probably the worst possible state rail franchising has been in in the UK since privatisation was suggested.

 

The railways and buses should all be nationalised again.

 

I disagree. BR was never a paragon of efficiency, cost effectiveness and high quality customer service. Even Die Hard 2 makes a joke at BRs expense.

 

However, the current privatisation set up is equally bad, with the primary issues being too many fat cats & shareholders creaming off the profits, a lack of joined up thinking making connections difficult and the entire industry being based on penalty payments.

 

I would prefer a system like is used for London buses - where the same operators we see running the trains today - continue to operate them, but they get paid for running each service. The ticket revenues go direct to a publically owned or private non-profit organisation, which is tasked with organising the entire network and contracting individual services to operators. The operators can improve their own profits by improving efficiencies on their own services, and possibly through some sort of passenger satisfaction bonus.