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Post by TNL33036 on Apr 19, 2018 20:14:32 GMT
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Post by snoggle on Apr 19, 2018 22:16:37 GMT
A waste of time as all a judicial review does is examine the process used to reach a decision, not the decision itself. You can rest assured that the DfT will be able to demonstrate they have followed due process regardless of people's views about the "politics" behind the franchising process / nationalised railway etc.
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Post by TNL33036 on May 14, 2018 22:23:19 GMT
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Post by snowman on May 15, 2018 4:43:31 GMT
Financial Times also reporting this, 2 options : nationalisation (unlikely under Conservatives); or basically paying existing operators for it to continue for 2 years until a new franchise can be let in 2020 (assuming they don’t just walk away) www.ft.com/content/9631d7a2-5790-11e8-bdb7-f6677d2e1ce8
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Post by snowman on May 16, 2018 12:28:57 GMT
LIVE : appears East Coast is being nationalised, or in Grayling speak, being brought under public control and called LNER (is it 1923 ?)
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Post by snoggle on May 16, 2018 12:39:54 GMT
LIVE : appears East Coast is being nationalised, or in Grayling speak, being brought under public control and called LNER (is it 1923 ?) Or, in reality, being handed over to a consortium of private sector consultancies to run it including SNC Lavallin, Ernst and Young and Arups. I imagine Stagecoach shareholders are breathing a sigh of relief to be out of the deal while Mr Branson will not be overly pleased to have lost the franchise he wanted for so long. Wonder how much money is going to be splashed on *yet another* rebranding? Signs, publicity, train liveries, staff uniforms, seat covers, website, customer information systems, national rail websites and systems - it never ends. We really have to end all this nonsense. Oh look - new website ----> www.lnerailway.co.uk/
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Post by TNL33036 on May 16, 2018 13:05:36 GMT
I wonder what happens in regards to the “Azuma” brand of the IEPs, does it get transferred to the new company or does it get ditched completely?
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Post by ThinLizzy on May 16, 2018 13:53:59 GMT
LIVE : appears East Coast is being nationalised, or in Grayling speak, being brought under public control and called LNER (is it 1923 ?) Or, in reality, being handed over to a consortium of private sector consultancies to run it including SNC Lavallin, Ernst and Young and Arups. I imagine Stagecoach shareholders are breathing a sigh of relief to be out of the deal while Mr Branson will not be overly pleased to have lost the franchise he wanted for so long. Wonder how much money is going to be splashed on *yet another* rebranding? Signs, publicity, train liveries, staff uniforms, seat covers, website, customer information systems, national rail websites and systems - it never ends. We really have to end all this nonsense. Oh look - new website ----> www.lnerailway.co.uk/ judging by the logo there probably won't be a major change to the livery on the trains as it would probably sit well on the current scheme. However, there will need to be a lot of de-viginisation inside the trains
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Post by snoggle on May 16, 2018 14:48:58 GMT
judging by the logo there probably won't be a major change to the livery on the trains as it would probably sit well on the current scheme. However, there will need to be a lot of de-viginisation inside the trains Having travelled with VTEC recently then yes a lot of effort will be needed to remove the Virgin branding. Not sure how they're to remove it from the leather first class seats.
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Post by routew15 on May 17, 2018 6:41:10 GMT
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Post by snoggle on May 17, 2018 8:14:48 GMT
As I've said elsewhere I think this is Grayling being "pragmatic" - rare but does happen. The two possible small bits of additional devolution to TfL are the Southern WLL services and GN Inners. Both are "distractions" relative to the main job in each franchise. The GN Inners have been neglected for decades - they're only getting new trains because it is now unavoidable. The East Croydon - Milton Keynes service plus the few Southern WLL peak workings are not exactly Southern's first priority so giving them to TfL gets rid of a problem. Being a bit cynical the DfT have simply suggested that "problem children" rail services should be dumped on the Mayor to look after. We had this with Romford - Upminster which was a piddling operation for Greater Anglia and nearly had it with West Ealing - Greenford which was nearly dumped on TfL but remains with GWR for now. Note there is no appetite to devolve larger parts of Southern's operation as part of "restructuring" GTR in the early 2020s. Note also that Grayling may be hoping that Khan won't be Mayor post 2020 which would make a transfer slightly more palatable in political terms. Anyway this is just Grayling "throwing tit bits" to the ever eager "lap dog" Mayor who wants more trains to play with. The Mayor does seem to have learnt to keep his mouth shut. We've had a distinct lack of "grandstanding" of the sort we saw with Southern Rail / London Bridge problems. All that did was annoy an awful lot of people and make the Mayor look rather stupid in the eyes of anyone who had a grain of understanding about what was wrong at Southern. You don't just drop in an untested and non existent "new" management team and resolve problems going back years. Perhaps someone told the Mayor how things really work and being quiet is the better strategy if you want to make any progress at all with the DfT? It's all about who really holds the power - i.e. not the Mayor when it comes to National Rail services. I happen to think TfL would do a reasonable job with giving the GN Inners a boost. There's plenty of scope to boost ridership - esp off peak - and the stations would benefit from some TLC and all day staffing. It does, though, rely on TfL actually having some money to do this and NOT being lumbered with an operation that currently receives subsidy but with that subsidy being whipped away because it's being given to TfL. That just makes things worse for TfL overall. When TfL took on the West Anglia routes those services broadly broke even under Abellio but required subsidy by TfL as the Overground operational model is more expensive.
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Post by ServerKing on May 18, 2018 21:35:18 GMT
I think the Mayor has more pressing matters such as the widespread public knowledge of people deserting public transport in London, and even the Elizabeth Line will be more expensive across town than the current journey by Tube as it is. If Khan took over the GN inners, it will just mean differently coloured Class 313s... a lot of those stations will still be grim, like Essex Road and Old Street. As for LNER, I guess a change from GNER from the late '90s... Though if Failing Grayling tosses the ball back to Stagecoach and Virgin after everyone has forgotten, it shows how flawed the franchise system is
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Post by snoggle on May 18, 2018 21:57:42 GMT
I think the Mayor has more pressing matters such as the widespread public knowledge of people deserting public transport in London, and even the Elizabeth Line will be more expensive across town than the current journey by Tube as it is. If Khan took over the GN inners, it will just mean differently coloured Class 313s... a lot of those stations will still be grim, like Essex Road and Old Street. As for LNER, I guess a change from GNER from the late '90s... Though if Failing Grayling tosses the ball back to Stagecoach and Virgin after everyone has forgotten, it shows how flawed the franchise system is I know you love a bit of hyperbole but I can't let some of what you've said go. 1. I don't think there is "widespread desertion". There is certainly weaker demand on most modes but it's not as if the trains and tube are empty all day. It's not the late 70s or early 80s. We forget the numbers using the system are VASTLY higher now than then even with the reductions last year. 2. Elizabeth Line fares across town (excepting Heathrow) will be the same as the tube or existing TfL fares (on the Shenfield route). There is no case so far where Elizabeth Line fares are higher than an equivalent tube or rail service. 3. On the GN Inners the 313s will start being replaced this year by Siemens Class 717s that are now under test on the continent. Given the possible transfer is not until 2021/22 TfL would inherit the Class 717s. Who knows what the stations will look like by then - I don't know if GTR have any franchise commitments to fix them up. 4. There is no immediate prospect of Virgin or Stagecoach regaining the ECML services. No one has any idea what the proposed East Coast Partnership will involve - and that includes people at the DfT!! I think Stagecoach shareholders will be asking some very pertinent questions of the company about the strategy with regards to rail having endured a £200m loss as a result of the VTEC failure. It remains to be seen whether Stagecoach will be prepared to bid high for East Midlands or South Eastern. In each case they are one of three remaining bidders. They could quite easily be out of the UK rail business - barring a minority share in Virgin Trains - very soon if they don't keep East Midlands. SWT gone, VTEC gone .....
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Post by ServerKing on May 19, 2018 6:00:54 GMT
It's now obvious that TfL are struggling financially as they are set to lose a billion from all modes of transport, so even if Sadiq had mentioned bringing part of the GN Inners to TfL, it would be highly unlikely. Then how far would they cover? To Hatfield? Stevenage? People may not be deserting public transport, sorry, badly worded and was tired, lol... but it doesn't have the appeal of stuff outside the M25. We may have higher frequency but there are no creature comforts like WiFi and USB charging. Reliability has been hit by lower road speeds plus roadworks and congestion. With regards to Stagecoach they did very well with SWT, see how First MTR are suffering now! That franchise was one of the best, now suddenly it's almost as bad as Southeastern... I don't know what penalties there are for VTEC abandoning the franchise, but if it is minor like an eBay non payment strike, more franchisees might follow their bad example. Let's see if the State use a more sensible ticketing system that isn't so expensive and confusing as the current models rail franchises have
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Post by snowman on May 19, 2018 9:41:46 GMT
It's now obvious that TfL are struggling financially as they are set to lose a billion from all modes of transport, so even if Sadiq had mentioned bringing part of the GN Inners to TfL, it would be highly unlikely. Then how far would they cover? To Hatfield? Stevenage? People may not be deserting public transport, sorry, badly worded and was tired, lol... but it doesn't have the appeal of stuff outside the M25. We may have higher frequency but there are no creature comforts like WiFi and USB charging. Reliability has been hit by lower road speeds plus roadworks and congestion. With regards to Stagecoach they did very well with SWT, see how First MTR are suffering now! That franchise was one of the best, now suddenly it's almost as bad as Southeastern... I don't know what penalties there are for VTEC abandoning the franchise, but if it is minor like an eBay non payment strike, more franchisees might follow their bad example. Let's see if the State use a more sensible ticketing system that isn't so expensive and confusing as the current models rail franchises have All franchises have a performance bond (like a deposit, but might be bank letter of credit), I think VTEC have lost theirs hence the regulatory announcement (to stock market) with the reference to the £165,000,000 being unrecoverable, bit more than an ebay strike
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