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Post by vjaska on Sept 16, 2012 23:19:35 GMT
Pretty much, unless the operator feels that they can deal with the cost of upgrading the rolling stock themselves, as I believe was part of the case with the WCML?? It's part of the reason why people are calling for longer franchise agreements so that the TOC has more input into the operating of the line, such as investment of rolling stock etc. Externally at FCC319 will be tatty, dirty, probably a bit of rust showing and generally unloved. Southern on the whole keep the 455 clean and presentable. Both these units of of a similar age and went through refurbs at roughly the same time ... so why should it be the case? Things definitely got worse when FCC took over and removed 319 maintenance from Selhurst ... I personally will be very disappointed if First retain FCC ... especially as it will then later control Southern services to Indeed, Southern are pretty good in general, never really had any problems with them. I've never used First Capital Connect but the times I've seen their trains, they do look extremely dirty and I've heard others say they are poor.
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Post by mre81 on Sept 17, 2012 20:14:53 GMT
It's interesting to read how many consider First Capital Connect to be representative of the way the company as a whole operates. Unless I am very much mistaken the issues with First Capital Connect relate to years of under investment by the government, not by First Capital Connect. The substandard service they provide is a direct result of this and the investment program that is now happening. As for the fleet unless I mistaken doesn't the Government (or more specifically DfT) allocate the vehicles etc, with the operator paying their leasing and maintenance fees as part of the contract? Historical underinvestment may explain some of FCC's failings, but it doesn't explain why they can't clean their trains (inside or out), or why they can't remove the graffitti which is rapidly festooning their fleet, in particular their new class 377s. As others have said, other TOCs are in a similar position, but manage to keep some semblance of standards.
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Post by RM5chris on Oct 3, 2012 7:17:32 GMT
LBC reporting on their morning news that First have had their bid CANCELLED!
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Post by RM5chris on Oct 3, 2012 7:30:12 GMT
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Post by john on Oct 3, 2012 9:37:29 GMT
It does make you wonder what has gone on behind the scenes. Who was it who said the beardy Branson was just throwing his toys out of the pram?? Looks like he might have been right!
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Post by T.R. on Oct 3, 2012 10:04:22 GMT
Thameslink/Great Northern/Southern, Essex Thameside, and Greater Western tendering now suspended.
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Post by john on Oct 9, 2012 10:59:51 GMT
Thameslink/Great Northern/Southern, Essex Thameside, and Greater Western tendering now suspended. Oh dear oh dear. Not looking good. TBH I'm quite happy about the Essex Thameside one being suspended, NatEx do a fantastic job with c2c, they really do. The Greater Western one could be interesting considering the whole First v Virgin issue. A cheeky bid by beardy Branson at all on that one??
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2012 12:07:33 GMT
Thameslink/Great Northern/Southern, Essex Thameside, and Greater Western tendering now suspended. Oh dear oh dear. Not looking good. TBH I'm quite happy about the Essex Thameside one being suspended, NatEx do a fantastic job with c2c, they really do. The Greater Western one could be interesting considering the whole First v Virgin issue. A cheeky bid by beardy Branson at all on that one?? Virgin have not pre-qualified for Great Western ... however Stagecoach have
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Post by john on Oct 9, 2012 16:22:03 GMT
Oh dear oh dear. Not looking good. TBH I'm quite happy about the Essex Thameside one being suspended, NatEx do a fantastic job with c2c, they really do. The Greater Western one could be interesting considering the whole First v Virgin issue. A cheeky bid by beardy Branson at all on that one?? Virgin have not pre-qualified for Great Western ... however Stagecoach have Could be a bold move though not quite sure how they will look at their bid considering their current operators of SWT. Would enable a more balanced service from Devon though, great for passengers that way.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2012 17:40:42 GMT
Oh dear oh dear. Not looking good. TBH I'm quite happy about the Essex Thameside one being suspended, NatEx do a fantastic job with c2c, they really do. The Greater Western one could be interesting considering the whole First v Virgin issue. A cheeky bid by beardy Branson at all on that one?? Virgin have not pre-qualified for Great Western ... however Stagecoach have The pairing of Great Western and SWT would sit very well together.
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Post by vjaska on Oct 9, 2012 23:06:59 GMT
If Virgin do not get to continue running it once the system has been sorted out, then it's a bigger joke than it currently is.........
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Post by RM5chris on Oct 10, 2012 14:37:42 GMT
If Virgin do not get to continue running it once the system has been sorted out, then it's a bigger joke than it currently is......... Which could easily happen with a Tender system. As long as it can be proved that the system is fair/not flawed then its back to price again.....
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Post by ServerKing on Oct 15, 2012 18:29:53 GMT
UPDATE : Virgin keep West Coast for 13 months, then a proper bidding process, for first an interim Franchise (like what Greater Anglia are doing at the moment) until a proper one afterwards.... this Government sure know how to waste money
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Post by snoggle on Oct 15, 2012 20:57:30 GMT
UPDATE : Virgin keep West Coast for 13 months, then a proper bidding process, for first an interim Franchise (like what Greater Anglia are doing at the moment) until a proper one afterwards.... this Government sure know how to waste money I watched the announcement in Parliament and I do not understand why there is any need for the interim 2 year contract. The SoS didn't give any rationale for this and it is very unlikely to deliver any sort of meaningful improvement. This means that plans for new through services to towns just off the WCML or which exploit the North West electrification projects will be delayed by years. If there are problems which are so bad that a full term WCML contract cannot be relet for 3 years then I do not understand how big franchises like Thameslink and GW can be let for long terms either. The other danger with all of these delays is that big projects like Crossrail and Thameslink are beginning to be in danger of having little operator input because the existing companies will be distracted by bidding. New train fleets, such as for Thameslink, may also struggle to get into service in time because of delays in getting the long term operator into place. The more delays there are then bidders face a "moving picture" in terms of how they have to deal with major project related works and how they would run their train services to cope with the disruption. This all affects their predicted costs and revenue in the bids. It's a horrible mess and this is before we even have a clue whether the government can stick to its policy for rail franchises.
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