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Post by TNL33036 on Apr 25, 2017 11:14:38 GMT
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Apr 25, 2017 15:40:18 GMT
Was the front page of the standard, the Media is straight onto the usual "Oh no all our money is going to be wasted in other countries"
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Post by snoggle on Apr 25, 2017 16:44:54 GMT
Was the front page of the standard, the Media is straight onto the usual "Oh no all our money is going to be wasted in other countries" Conveniently forgetting that the Standard is owned by a Russian, more than half the NR services in London are run by foreign state owned enterprises as are a vast share of TfL's contracted buses. Pathetic "anti French" sentiment that makes for an easy "knock about" headline that makes stupid Brits feel faintly superior / disgusted / angry for a few milliseconds. Let's ignore the fact that we were only ever going to get the French, Germans, Spanish, Italians and Japanese involved in HS2 in some way because they all run very fast, high frequency, high speed rail services and do so very successfully. Perhaps the Standard would prefer that we seek out High Speed rail expertise from countries who can barely run a functioning rail network? |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2017 19:29:59 GMT
I don't follow trains too much but am I right in thinking current West Coast service will be merged into this new franchise ? So if Virgin are unsuccessful it will be the end of Virgin trains after 2019. Is the East Coast Service branded as Virgin trains like services out of Euston?
I wonder if the Pendolino trains will move to the new franchise.
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Post by snoggle on Apr 25, 2017 20:17:56 GMT
I don't follow trains too much but am I right in thinking current West Coast service will be merged into this new franchise ? So if Virgin are unsuccessful it will be the end of Virgin trains after 2019. Is the East Coast Service branded as Virgin trains like services out of Euston? I wonder if the Pendolino trains will move to the new franchise. Yes the DfT plan is to merge the existing WC franchise into the "West Coast Partnership". The Partnership is responsible for managing the transition to HS2 services and whatever is left on the old WCML. The DfT is contracting the supply of trains for HS2 separately but the new operator will be responsible for helping in the design of the customer / operational aspects of the train plus all the usual stuff of training staff, bringing the trains into service etc. It makes a lot of sense for the existing services to be within the new franchise as it stops too much "game playing" by franchisees and allows a clearer allocation of risk between the parties. It also makes things smoother in handling a phased transition between services as well as ensuring the new business has an existing revenue stream and is not just a cost incurring body for several years until services start. Yes if Virgin don't win the new Partnership contract then they will be off the WCML. I expect the Pendolinos are deemed a "franchise asset" so they will transfer to the Partnership operator (whether it is Virgin or someone else). Yes, East Coast Main Line express services are branded as Virgin Trains despite Virgin being a minority partner (it's really a Stagecoach business). |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2017 20:19:53 GMT
I don't follow trains too much but am I right in thinking current West Coast service will be merged into this new franchise ? So if Virgin are unsuccessful it will be the end of Virgin trains after 2019. Is the East Coast Service branded as Virgin trains like services out of Euston? I wonder if the Pendolino trains will move to the new franchise. Yes the DfT plan is to merge the existing WC franchise into the "West Coast Partnership". The Partnership is responsible for managing the transition to HS2 services and whatever is left on the old WCML. The DfT is contracting the supply of trains for HS2 separately but the new operator will be responsible for helping in the design of the customer / operational aspects of the train plus all the usual stuff of training staff, bringing the trains into service etc. It makes a lot of sense for the existing services to be within the new franchise as it stops too much "game playing" by franchisees and allows a clearer allocation of risk between the parties. It also makes things smoother in handling a phased transition between services as well as ensuring the new business has an existing revenue stream and is not just a cost incurring body for several years until services start. Yes if Virgin don't win the new Partnership contract then they will be off the WCML. I expect the Pendolinos are deemed a "franchise asset" so they will transfer to the Partnership operator (whether it is Virgin or someone else). Yes, East Coast Main Line express services are branded as Virgin Trains despite Virgin being a minority partner (it's really a Stagecoach business). Thank you snoggle for the excellent detailed reply explains everything. |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 22, 2017 9:46:35 GMT
The DfT have announced the short listed bidding consortia for the West Coast Partnership (combined HS2 / WCML service)
First Trenitalia West Coast Ltd, a joint venture between First Rail Holdings Ltd and Trenitalia SpA
MTR West Coast Partnership Ltd, a joint venture between MTR Corporation (UK) Ltd and Guangshen Railway Company, with the following key sub-contractors:
Deloitte MCS Ltd, Panasonic Systems Europe, Snowfall AB, Trainline.com Ltd, WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff
West Coast Partnership Ltd, a joint venture between Stagecoach Group plc, Virgin Holdings Ltd and SNCF C3
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Post by TNL33036 on Jun 22, 2017 12:25:41 GMT
Funny how MTR originally dropped their West Midlands franchise bid only to appear again on the shortlist for the West Coast partnership franchise, they appear to have a lot of sub-contractors on board for the bid....
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Jun 22, 2017 13:12:00 GMT
Funny how MTR originally dropped their West Midlands franchise bid only to appear again on the shortlist for the West Coast partnership franchise, they appear to have a lot of sub-contractors on board for the bid.... I was wondering, there are a total of 7 companies involved in the bid. I wonder how profitable it will be for each one involved and if any will end up pulling out. |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 23, 2017 10:58:38 GMT
Funny how MTR originally dropped their West Midlands franchise bid only to appear again on the shortlist for the West Coast partnership franchise, they appear to have a lot of sub-contractors on board for the bid.... I was wondering, there are a total of 7 companies involved in the bid. I wonder how profitable it will be for each one involved and if any will end up pulling out. There will be profits for each. The scope of the "Partnership" is very broad and way in excess of a normal franchise. That's why there are so many parties listed. I expect that other bids have a plethora of companies sat behind them as sub contractors or someone like SNCF will bring in their own internal expertise given they've built, commissioned and operated LGV and the TGV trains for decades. I imagine Trenitalia will be the same as SNCF as they have the same experience. |
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Post by TNL33036 on Sept 13, 2017 7:20:39 GMT
I saw on FB 390010 in the new livery in which it is white with grey doors and with the Virgin sticker in a red wrap, I'm assuming they're preparing for the new franchise or even preparing to loose it? Oh and the nameplates are now stickers instead.
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Post by Gellico on Sept 13, 2017 16:16:27 GMT
I saw on FB 390010 in the new livery in which it is white with grey doors and with the Virgin sticker in a red wrap, I'm assuming they're preparing for the new franchise or even preparing to loose it? Oh and the nameplates are now stickers instead. Mid life returbs, pretty much the slope livery and looks pretty awful on a pendo. Hope Virgin loses the franchise as every one of my experiences with them have been negative. |
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Sept 13, 2017 16:55:50 GMT
I saw on FB 390010 in the new livery in which it is white with grey doors and with the Virgin sticker in a red wrap, I'm assuming they're preparing for the new franchise or even preparing to loose it? Oh and the nameplates are now stickers instead. Mid life returbs, pretty much the slope livery and looks pretty awful on a pendo. Hope Virgin loses the franchise as every one of my experiences with them have been negative. Weird you bring that up, I have to say to me my experience with them has been by far the best compared to any of the TOCs. Always had good experience with their staff and services. |
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Post by Gellico on Sept 13, 2017 17:03:27 GMT
Mid life returbs, pretty much the slope livery and looks pretty awful on a pendo. Hope Virgin loses the franchise as every one of my experiences with them have been negative. Weird you bring that up, I have to say to me my experience with them has been by far the best compared to any of the TOCs. Always had good experience with their staff and services. Generally all TOCs aren't great in my eyes as the current way the railways are run isn't right imo. They are a public servive and should be nationalised. Service before profit not the other way around. |
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Post by planesandtrains on Sept 13, 2017 17:30:49 GMT
Weird you bring that up, I have to say to me my experience with them has been by far the best compared to any of the TOCs. Always had good experience with their staff and services. Generally all TOCs aren't great in my eyes as the current way the railways are run isn't right imo. They are a public servive and should be nationalised. Service before profit not the other way around. But is it the TOC's fault? I love how SWT commuters thought things would suddenly turn better from one day to the next... The fact is, the underlying infrastructure is old which causes problems. The problem with nationalising the railways is that again, it is just a rebrand of the problem rather than acutually fixing it. It's all well having 12 car trains and cheap fares when the infrastructure is so poor compared to other countries. It is the same problem in Germany on the commuter lines despite the common misconception that German railways are great- they are better, but still not great. |
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