Virgin Trains to take legal action

[alchresearch 214]

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.

 

Haven't a couple of train companies handed back the line because they bid too much and couldn't make it pay?

[ANGELFIRE1 10]

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

 

 

Jeez, I have not laughed as much in years after reading the above.

 

Pull all the fragmented rail company's back under the Governments wing - and let Branson run it as BRITISH RAIL.

 

Angel.

[larky 10]

I remember getting a return ticket online between Edinburgh and Manchester

 

via Virgin trains few yrs back and payed £10.50 pence rtn was cheap as chips

 

but hey they put their prices right up later i noticed trains are expensive now ..

 

As for this carryon regards the companies ive not looked into such

 

so a wont comment on it ..

Edited October 4, 2012 by larky

[Mister M 1,625]

Do the First Group Travel make any contributions to the Tory Party? Incidentally it's fortuitous that Justine Greening was reshuffled out of Transport a few weeks ago

Edited October 4, 2012 by Mister M

[Kid Sampson 10]

Do the First Group Travel make any contributions to the Tory Party?

 

Whether they do or not is irrelevant, the process is run to strict EU rules by civil servants so as to remove political influence. Also bids are anonomised so those making the decisions do not know who bid what until the final decision has been made. There probably is corruption in the DfT, but I would seriously doubt is has the Tories fingerprints on it.

[Stan Tamudo 10]

Whether they do or not is irrelevant, the process is run to strict EU rules by civil servants so as to remove political influence. Also bids are anonomised so those making the decisions do not know who bid what until the final decision has been made. There probably is corruption in the DfT, but I would seriously doubt is has the Tories fingerprints on it.

 

Keep posting Kid, even though you're a bit wet behind the ears.

[Kid Sampson 10]

Haven't a couple of train companies handed back the line because they bid too much and couldn't make it pay?

 

Yep, National Express East Coast overbid and had to hand back the keys. GNER before then is frequently used as another example but the situation was more complicated and was more to do with the owning group (sea containers) than the franchisee. Plus there have been numerous instances of franchises going into revenue support due to agreed passenger growth not materialising due to unsforseen circumstances, Virgin West Coast (due to failure of Railtrack to introduce 140mph running and delays modernising the route), Virgin Cross Country (same reasons), Great Western, South West Trains and probably more than that after Hatfield and the associated fallout. This means that the government tops up half the revenue shortfall of the train operators so they can continue making agreed payments.

[Kid Sampson 10]

Keep posting Kid, even though you're a bit wet behind the ears.

 

So do you think that National Express were making donations to Labour when they overbid for East Coast?

[Stan Tamudo 10]

So do you think that National Express were making donations to Labour when they overbid for East Coast?

 

Can I phone a friend or ask the forum via a poll?

[Kid Sampson 10]

Can I phone a friend or ask the forum via a poll?

 

I asked what you thought since you seem so enlightened.

[Fudbeer 12]

Ministers told 5 days before the announcement of the franchise that there were serious flaws in the process.

 

In an assesment of who was best to run the franchise Virgin scorred 64.5 and first scored 60.1

 

However dispite this first was prepared to pay the govenment more money so were given the contract.

 

According to other opperators the whole process was flawed.

 

http://www.channel4.com/news/how-an-illegal-process-sunk-the-governments-rail-strategy