ONLINE REFERENDUM
|
Should
Your TOC be Renationalised?
|
||
|
JUMP
TO:
|
| ANGLIA RAILWAYS
angliarailways.co.uk "Performance is now so universally mediocre even [SSRA franchising director Mike] Grant seems unable to find cause for optimism. He released without comment the latest figures, which show nearly all the 25 franchises were even less punctual between May and August 2000 [i.e. before the floods and Hadfield derailment] than in the same period last year. "Improvements were confined to three of the smallest franchises
including Cardiff Railway, now up to the unimpressive level
of the others after being worse than them [EYES passim]."The
usual suspects - Virgin, Connex, South West Trains, GNER and
Great Western - all managed to make bad punctuality records
worse. The prospect of investment is not a panacea either. Punctuality
deteriorated on some franchises which now have new train, Anglia
worsening by 6 percent and ScotRail by 2 percent." SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE 1012 6 Oct 2000 ********************* "ANGLIA RAILWAYS' intercity services registered
a miserable 65 percent punctuality [according to SRA statistics
presented on 29 June 2001.] 'With services now largely back
to normal, it is good to see passengers are returning in increased
numbers' said SRA chief executive MIKE GRANT... SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE # 1032 13 July
2001
|
||||
| C2C
c2c-online.co.uk Formerly LTS. Owned by the bus company National Express, which also owns Gatwick Express, Stansted Express, Silverlink, West Anglia Great Northern, Central Trains, Scotrail, Wales & West, Cardiff Railway, and Midland Mainline."Once upon a time a group of third-rate bus managers and a rail-privatisation adviser to the Tories (see EYE 907) cobbled together a company called Prism Rail to bid for rail franchises. ..."The fairy godmothers at the Office of passenger rail franchising (Opraf) duly handed over LTS Rail (a.k.a. the Fenchurch Street to Southend misery line) and West Anglia Great Northern, covering Cambridge, Peterborough and the lucrative Stansted Express. "But greedy Prism soon wanted more. In its desperation to outbid rivals, it asked to run Wales & West and Cardiff Railway, and said it could do so with ridiculously low subsidies. Again the wish was granted... (EYE 928) ... the Opraf fairy godmothers, by now at the Strategic Rail
Authority, granted Prism its third wish last month, bringing
forward by three years the end of the loss-making franchises
while leaving Prism with LTS Rail until 2011 and that lucrative
Stansted Express until 2004. Prism's share price rocketed and
within weeks National Express offered £166 million for
the asset-less company - a price much inflated by the deal."So
National Express gets its hands on Stansted Express (to add
to Gatwick Express and its stake in Heathrow Express), plus
that fat LTS Rail subsidy; the Opraf fairies save face - and
Prism's bungling directors live happily ever after on the contents
of their bulging wallets." SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE 1007 28 July 2000
|
||||
| CARDIFF
RAILWAYS
"Performance is now so universally mediocre even [SSRA franchising
director Mike] Grant seems unable to find cause for optimism.
He released without comment the latest figures, which show nearly
all the 25 franchises were even less punctual between May and
August 2000 [i.e. before the floods and Hadfield derailment]
than in the same period last year. "Improvements were confined
to three of the smallest franchises including Cardiff Railway,
now up to the unimpressive level of the others after being worse
than them [EYES passim]. SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE 1012 6 Oct 2000
|
||||
| CENTRAL
TRAINS
Owned by the bus company National Express, which also owns
C2C (formerly LTS), Silverlink, West Anglia Great Northern,
Gatwick Express, Scotrail, Wales & West, Cardiff Railway,
and Midland Mainline. ****************** (New Year fare) rises at other companies include a 4.9% increase on some off-peak fares on South West Trains, a 3.3% increase on Connex peak fares, and 3.3% increases on Central Trains' off-peak fares. AOL MAIN NEWS PAGE
27 Dec 2000 (also BBC Online)
|
||||
| CHILTERN
RAILWAYS
"[The Shadow Strategic Rail Authority's] chief task is to put the railways right; but instead of tackling the industry's flawed structure it has opted to amplify many of the shortcomings through longer franchises. "As it processes bids for 20-year franchises it may turn a blind eye to bluebottles in the ointment. After all, the first winning bidder is M40 Trains -- chosen to continue running Chiltern Railways just as Chiltern's "all day" punctuality was slumping by 4 percent. "The latest figures show just 87.6 percent of trains arriving roughly on time on Chiltern's upgraded and largely exclusive rail system." SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE 1012 6 Oct 2000
"In 1997 M40 Trains savagely cut services from some stations and in 1998 it was canceling so many trains it was ordered by the office of passenger rail franchising (Opraf) - hardly the strictest taskmaster - to spend £2.5 million on "passenger benefits" as punishment." SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE 1009 25 Aug 2000 *************************** CHILTERN RAILWAYS So far only two franchise issues
have been revolved since the SRA was set up as a shadow in March
1999. CHILTERN RAILWAYS, the least complicated franchise, which
runs a good communter service between Birmingham and London,
was given a further vote of confidence, and French-owned CONNEX
has been stripped of its south central franchise in London's
commuter belt. KEITH HARPER TRANSPORT EDITOR THE GUARDIAN
1 February 2001
|
||||
| CONNEX
connex.co.uk "Government plans to relieve the misery for thousands of
rail passengers who travel into London each day by transferring
CONNEX's franchise are under threat... KEITH HARPER ************* "Passenger groups in the north of England expressed concern at the news that the French-owned company, Connex, was on the list of four bidders for the new transpennine rail franchise, linking Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and York. Connex is being forced to give up a franchise serving London commuters because of poor service."
"Sir Alastair Morton [chairman of the shadow Strategic Rail Authority] wielded his axe and it fell on the neck of one of Britain's worst-performing rail companies. [Connex] has become a legend in its own lifetime, infamous for running short trains, packing in passengers, and allowing the public to sit in some of the dirtiest rolling stock in Britain." KEITH HARPER THE GUARDIAN 25 Oct 2000
"The SSRA can only blame itself for getting into this position. There were other bidders, but it boxed itself in by deciding that only Connex and GoVia should finally contest the franchise." KEITH HARPER
GOVIA HAS RENAMED CONNEX THE "NEW SOUTHERN RAILWAY."
THE GUARDIAN 25 Oct 2000 ************ (New Year fare) rises at other companies include a 4.9% increase on some off-peak fares on South West Trains, a 3.3% increase on Connex peak fares, and 3.3% increases on Central Trains' off-peak fares. AOL MAIN NEWS PAGE
27 Dec 2000 (also BBC Online)
|
||||
| EUROSTAR
eurostar.com "In a betrayal of the northern MPs who agreed to the Channel Tunnel on the promise travellers from their constituencies could take direct trains to the continent, the project has now been sidelined. It will not now happen before the final stage of the Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) with London in 2007 -- if at all. The scandal of the Eurostar services that never were has cost the British taxpayer £430 million. A spokesman for the SRA, which is responsible for the EUROSTAR regional plan, says research shows there is no "economic case" for a EUROSTAR service to the north and Scotland... The cost of the never-used EUROSTAR LOUNGES and other infrastructure preparation has cost the public £140 million. Added to that is the incalculable cost of a missed regeneration opportunity for some of the poorest parts of the country... The fate of the engines and coaches supposed to run the routes has also prompted outrage. 139 coaches - which cost £180 million to build - haave gone to a Canadian rolling-stock company for a reported £60 million. Transport minister KEITH HILL admitted in the Commons last month that because they were sold so cheaply, there was nothing left from the Government's £109 million outlay to recoup... When, in February last year, the Government announced the findings of London-based consultants AD LITTLE's report, the pro-regional EUROSTAR lobby was devastated... The pressure groups believe the AD LITTLE report was a "negative and blinkered" view of the prospects of regional services, based on narrow financial consideratons which ignored the wider economic and social benefits... Campaigners believe the decision to abandon EUROSTAR altogether has already been made by default. But there's been no public announcement nor have MPs had an opportunity to debate the matter." ROB CAVE **************************** "The price quoted by Eurostar, one-way from Frankfurt to London was £144.50, including £99 Brussels - London. The price quoted by German Railways for the same journey on the same trains on the same day was £86.10, including £51.80 Brussels - London." ERNEST WISTRICH **************************** "The French cried "foul" on the British yesterday
and attacked Railtrack's threat to pull out of the second stage
of the Channel Tunnel rail link. The criticism came from Guillaume
Pepy, director of passenger services for SNCF, the French state-owned
railway, in a put-down of Britain's dilapidated railway system...
Mr Pepy said: "I am shocked. It's nonsense. It's incredible."
Mr Pepy, whose company has a big stake in Eurostar, said that
the 72-mile journey from Folkestone to London on Eurostar was
"sometimes a nightmare."... Jean Francois Bernard, director
general of RFF, a publicly owned company but otherwise the equivalent
of Railtrack, said: "Because the British system is private,
it is bad, and it is bad for safety." SNCF receives £2.1 billion
from the French government to run its services compared with
the £1.3 billion which the 25 train operating companies get
in Britain."
|
||||
|
Owned by the First Group. "Mile for mile, passengers pay more for 'walk-on' tickets in the UK than anywhere else in Europe... the USA [or] Japan... British rail fares not only eclipse those in other countries but mile-for-mile are twice as expensive as flying to New York... "A ticket with British Airways to New York, bought on the spur of the moment, would have cost £457 single or £825 return, including £41 airport taxes. At 3,464 miles the higher single fare works out at 13p a mile... "A ticket from the capital to Exeter with Great Western at £44.50 single or £89 return, is the equivalent of 29p a mile." BRITISH HIT BY WORLD'S HIGHEST TRAIN FARES
JOANNA WALTERS THE OBSERVER 8 Aug 1999
"First Great Western managed to squeeze £5 million profit from its crumbling service, and to forecast another £25 million profit the following year. The taxpayer was subsiding the company by £50 million a year... "The payout to the directors [following a £140 million takeover by the First bus group] was embarrassing. Brian Scott got £3.7 million; Richard George £3 million; Mike Carroll, John Sellers and Ian Cusworth £2.2 million; Maurice Warren £1.85 million; Ann Robinson £370,000; John McCallion and Barbara Salter £2.2 million each; Philippa Sondheimer and Barry Wood £1.5 million each. Thus the directors who had bought their shares for £340,000 sold them less than 18 months later, without a single noticeable improvement in the service, for £23 million. "Richard George was recommended by British Transport Police for prosecution for his role in the Southall disaster, but the recommendation was not accepted by the DPP." SIGNAL FAILURES SPECIAL PRIVATE EYE 987 15 Oct 1999 "First Great Western has refused to install stronger hammers than the ones that snapped when passengers tried to smash windows to get out of the burning train. "[Tony] Knox [a survivor of the Paddington rail crash in which 31 passengers died] will be carrying a steel claw hammer in his bag when he travels on Thursday. "'I feel completely betrayed by the Government,' he said. He
feels Labour has broken its promises by pressing ahead with a
'cheap and cheerful' safety device to stop trains going through
red signals, which falls short of a fully automatic system." JOANNA WALTERS
THE OBSERVER 1 Oct 2000
|
||||
| FIRST
NORTH WESTERN firstnorthwestern.co.uk Owned by the First Group. "Train passengers stranded at Rochdale station during last week's floods were expecting taxis or buses to take them to their final destination. Instead, the 6.48pm from Manchester's Victoria Station was met by two British Transport police officers - there to prevent a possible 'riot' by angry commuters, according to train bosses... "A spokesman for First North Western said their station staff felt 'under the cosh' and that passengers were 'on the verge of rioting' after services were canceled by fellow train operator Northern Spirit... "'It was more important to get two policemen to stand on Rochdale Station than it was to give us correct information or a coach,' said university lecturer Dr Elisabeth Wilson. "Around 30 passengers had to pay for their own taxis home."
*******************************
SIGNAL FAILURES
|
||||
| GATWICK
EXPRESS gatwickexpress.co.uk Owned by the bus company National Express, which also owns LTS
a.k.a. C2C, Silverlink, West Anglia Great Northern, Central Trains,
Scotrail, Wales & West, Cardiff Railway, and Midland Mainline.
|
||||
| GREAT NORTH
EASTERN RAILWAY www.gner.co.uk PASSENGER COMPLAINTS RECEIVED Third-most complained-about train operating company (after Virgin Cross Country and Virgin West Coast): GREAT NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY (80,348 written complaints THE INDEPENDENT 26 Aug 1999
"A rush hour fare bought immediately before traveling on Thursday evening from London to Leeds on GNER would have cost £54.54 single, £109 return, or 30p a mile. "A ticket with British Airways to New York, also bought on the spur of the moment, would have cost £457 single or £825 return, including £41 airport taxes. At 3,464 miles the higher single fare works out at 13p a mile." BRITISH HIT BY WORLD'S HIGHEST TRAIN FARE
JOANNA WATER THE OBSERVER 8 Aug 1999
"GNER possibly operates the most risky high-speed train service in Europe. In June EYE 1003 reported that GNER and Great Western Trains had saved money by abolishing British Rail's safety rule that any train running faster than 110 mph without automatic train protection (ATP) must have two drivers in the cab... "Two Eurostar trains GNER has hired since spring are equipt with ATP, which has to be switched off as Railtrack hasn't installed ATP on the east coast line. There can be few other lines in Europe where trains without ATP exceed 110 mph for sustained periods with only one driver in the cab." WREATHS ON THE LINE
PRIVATE EYE 1014 3 Nov 2000
"The punctuality of GNER, the company at the centre of the Hatfield rail crash, is the worst on the network... Only 75.8% of its trains are running on time, although this figure has an inbuilt cushion letting trains arrive 10 minutes late." KEITH HARPER THE GUARDIAN 9 Nov 2000
GNER, whose high-speed King's Cross to Leeds train was derailed
at Hatfield, is anxious the accident should not undermine its
bid to keep its franchise... James Sherwood, the "president" of
the company that owns GNER, has tried some late spin-doctoring.
He said GNER was likely to win the new franchise because its performance
had been "excellent" within the constraints of Railtrack's performance.
So what excellence did he mean exactly? Perhaps he was thinking
of the GNER expres which derailed in June 1998 because of a broken
wheel and the disruption caused when most of GNER's fleet was
grounded as a result. Or about the tilting trains GNER promised
to have in service by 1999 but hasn't ordered yet. Or the 45 redundant
sleeping carriages it promised to convert for daytime use... SIGNAL FAILURES-GNER SPECIAL PRIVATE EYE #1017 15 Dec 2000 *************** GNER A crucial decision is awaited on who gets the franchise to run the east coast main line between Edinburgh and London. Here the SRA has exposed itself to a flawed approach and deep internal divisions. The team that esamined the bid recommended a Virgin/Stagecoach scheme to SIR ALASTAIR [MORTON] with its new 120-mile track linking the north and south, capable of carrying trains at speeds of 200 mph. The option would cost £1.5 billion less than the bid by the incumbent, GNER, and was regarded as better value. SIR ALASTAIR ignored the advice and backed GNER. Virgin is furious because SIR ALASTAIR has made matters worse by seizing on the idea of a high-speed line and promising to investigate its potential... SIR RICHARD BRANSON is understood to have instructed counsel...
|
||||
| HEATHROW EXPRESS
heathrowexpress.co.uk "A lesser-known branch line of private rail - airports operator BAA - is doing its bit to counter inflation by increasing the single fare from Paddington to London airport on the Heathrow Express by 'only' £2 to £12 (a mere 10 times the inflation rate), contrary to press speculation that it was going to be even higher, perhaps £15. "BAA claims that of the 4 million passengers who have used the service in its first year of operation 98% are 'delighted.'" THE GUARDIAN
14 August 1999 At £12 for a second-class single, the fifteen-minute Heathrow Express is the most expensive (per mile travelled) railway journey in the world. If you buy your second-class ticket on the train, it is even more expensive - £14. Next time you visit Madrid Airport (Barajas), why not take the newly-opened Metro into the city? The train will look strangely familiar if you've ridden the Heathrow Express - the same bulbous cab, the same luggage racks, the same annoying televisions (though thankfully without sound). There's a reason it all looks so familiar - it's the same train (manufactured in Spain). The only difference between the Madrid Airport Metro and the
Heathrow Express is the price -- FOURTEEN POUNDS on the Heathrow
Express versus FOURTEEN PENCE on the Madrid Metro, if you buy
a carnet...
|
||||
| HULL TRAINS
Hull is at the end of the line - literally. Hull is on a spur from the London-Newcastle-Edinburgh main East Coast line. It has one through train a day to London (when it's running); otherwise it is a trundle across the flat 40 miles to Doncaster to wait for the London connection. One of the minor pleasures of coming to Hull on the train from the Big Nowhere (sorry, London) is getting off at Doncaster and waiting for the Hull train - usually some clapped-out little two-car diesel of uncertain vintage. Occasionally someone gets off the London train having traveled in First Class, gets on the Hull train and marches up and down the train looking for the First Class section to Hull. Sorry, chum: no First Class on the Doncaster-Hull train. The look on their faces as they realise they would have to share a space with the rest of us is enough to warm the most luke-warm class warrior's heart. ROBIN RAMSAY
Hull Trains Passenger
|
||||
| ISLAND
LINE
Part of Brian Souter's Stagecoach empire (along with South West Trains and a substantial chunk of Virgin) Received the fewest of all written passenger complaints in the 12 months ending March 1999 -- (72 written complaints - 10 per 100,000) Congratulations, Island line! Please send information re. this company to island@renationalise.com
|
||||
| ARRIVA
(formerly MERSEYRAIL ELECTRICS)
Owned by the bus company Arriva, which also owns the Northern Spirit train operating company. Merseyrail regularly come near the bottom of the national punctuality and cancellation stakes. They also have no website. But a helpful passenger, PAUL HALFPENNY, has set up an email address where Merseyrail users can offer constructive comments on the service they receive. The address is: ihatemerseyrail@hotmail.com *********
home | vote on additional TOCs |
||||
| MIDLAND MAINLINE
midlandmainline.com Owned by the bus company National Express, which also owns C2C (formerly LTS), Silverlink, West Anglia Great Northern, Central Trains, Scotrail, Wales & West, Cardiff Railway, Stansted Express, and Gatwick Express. Please send info or comments. re. Midland Mainline to midland@renationalise.com. ****************
GUARDIAN 28 SEPT 2001
|
||||
| NORTHERN SPIRIT
Owned by the bus company Arriva, which also owns Merseyrail. "A spokesman for First North Western said their station staff felt 'under the cosh' and that passengers were 'on the verge of rioting' after services were cancelled by fellow train operator Northern Spirit... " 'A request was made to Northern Spirit to put alternative transport on but they refused. At the end of the day, Northern Spirit should have provided the service.' "A spokesman for Northern Spirit couldn't explain why buses had not been laid on but confirmed the line had been closed because of flooding at Hebden Bridge." THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH
|
||||
| SCOTRAIL
scotrail.co.uk Owned by the bus company National Express, which also owns C2C (formerly LTS), Silverlink, West Anglia Great Northern, Central Trains, Gatwick Express, Wales & West, Cardiff Railway, and Midland Mainline. "Performance is now so universally mediocre even [SSRA franchising director Mike] Grant seems unable to find cause for optimism. He released without comment the latest figures, which show nearly all the 25 franchises were even less punctual between May and August 2000 [i.e. before the floods and Hadfield derailment] than in the same period last year... "The usual suspects - Virgin, Connex, South West Trains, GNER and Great Western - all managed to make bad punctuality records worse. The prospect of investment is not a panacea either. Punctualitiy deteriorated on some franchises which now have new train, Anglia worsening by 6 percent and ScotRail by 2 percent." SIGNAL FAILURES
PRIVATE EYE 1012 6 Oct 2000
|
||||
| SILVERLINK
Owned by the bus company National Express, which also owns C2C (formerly LTS), Gatwick Express, West Anglia Great Northern, Central Trains, Scotrail, Wales & West, Cardiff Railway, and Midland Mainline. According to SSRA figures, Silverlink and Thameslink are the least punctual of the London commuter companies, having worsened 6% in a year. THE GUARDIAN
The Captial Transport Campaign group said that under the fare capping
system every Train Operating Company could increase the cash price
of commuter fares in 2001, even when their performance had become
dramatically worse. The group is particularly incensed that the SILVERLINK
company, which operates out of London's Euston station to north London
and the Midlands, has put up prices by 4.3% even though it finished
bottom in a recent customer satisfaction poll.
9 Nov 2000 AOL MAIN NEWS PAGE
27 Dec 2000 (also BBC Online)
|
||||
| SOUTH WEST TRAINS
swtrains.co.uk "The SRA's decision to hand the 20-year SOUTH
WEST TRAINS franchise to STAGECOACH is bad news for passengers
everywhere: it completes the SRA's U-turn since chairman ALASTAIR
MORTON said new franchises would be "all about service to customers
and investment, investment, investment." SIGNAL FAILURES *********************************** "Owned by Brian Souter's bus company Stagecoach, which also owns Island Line and has shares in Virgin Trains. "If there is any suing to be done, surely it is the passengers who have reason to pursue SWT for its obvious failure to provide the kind of train service for which it takes a fat subsidy (£54.9 million tis year). "Latest figures show only 85.2 percent of SWT "all day" trains arriving roughly on time. In the last financial year SWT was fined £3.9 million - by far the largest fine for any train franchise - for appalling delays, overcrowding and cancellations. "But that only put a small dent in Scroogecoach's overall profits (up 11 percent to £244 million) and directors told shareholders 'SWT had another excellent year.' "A year ago SWT passengers might have thought this kind of evidence would ensure Stagecoach's demise as a train operator. But promises to boot out operators who fail to satisfy their customers have been quietly dropped, and last week Stagecoach was shortlisted for the 20-year SWT franchise." SIGNAL FAILURES
PRIVATE EYE 1009 25 Aug 2000 "Performance is now so universally mediocre even [SSRA franchising director Mike] Grant seems unable to find cause for optimism. He released without comment the latest figures, which show nearly all the 25 franchises were even less punctual between May and August 2000 [i.e. before the floods and Hadfield derailment] than in the same period last year... "The usual suspects - Virgin, Connex, South West
Trains, GNER and Great Western - all managed to make bad punctuality
records worse.
SIGNAL FAILURES *********************************** (New Year fare) rises at other companies include a 4.9% increase
on some off-peak fares on South West Trains, a 3.3% increase on
Connex peak fares, and 3.3% increases on Central Trains' off-peak
fares. AOL MAIN NEWS PAGE ************************************ SOUTH WEST TRAINS GRAHAM ECCLES, the rail director of Stagecoach, one of Britain's biggest transport operators, last night said it was acceptable for commuters to stand for up to 30 minutes in the rush hour on a crowded train... SIR ALASTAIR MORTON, chairman of the SRA, said trains should be comfortable and that "standing for 20-30 minutes in the rush hour is not unacceptable"... Recalling the early days of SOUTH WEST TRAINS, when it sacked too many drivers and its service almost collapsed, [Stagecoach chairman BRIAN] SOUTER admitted: "We have had our problems but we have learned our lessons. We have got to love it, warts and all."
|
||||
| STANSTED
EXPRESS wagn.co.uk "Once upon a time a group of third-rate bus managers and a rail-privatisation adviser to the Tories (see EYE 907) cobbled together a company called Prism Rail to bid for rail franchises... "The fairy godmothers at the Office of passenger rail franchising (Opraf) duly handed over LTS Rail (aka the Fenchurch Street to Southend misery line) and West Anglia Great Northern, covering Cambridge, Peterborough and the lucrative Stansted Express. "But greedy Prism soon wanted more. In its desperation ot outbid rivals, it asked to run Wales & West and Cardiff Railway, and said it could do so with ridiculously low subsidies. Again the wish was granted... (EYE 928) "... the Opraf fairy godmothers, by now at the Strategic Rail Authority, granted Prism its third wish last month, bringing forward by three years the end of the loss-making franchises while leaving Prism with LTS Rail until 2011 and the lucrative Stansted Express till 2004. Prism's share price rocketed and within weeks National Express offered £166 million for the asset-less company - a price much inflated by the deal. "So National Express gets its hands on Stansted Express (to add to Gatwick Express and its stake in Heathrow Express), plus that fat LTS Rail subsidy; the Opraf fairies save face - and Prism's bungling directors live happily ever after on the contents of their bulging wallets." SIGNAL FAILURES
PRIVATE EYE 1007 28 July 2000
|
||||
| THAMESLINK
Owned by the Anglo-French company GoVia, (a.k.a. Go-Ahead) which also owns Thames Trains and the south central network (the "New Southern Railway"} formerly owned by CONNEX. According to SSRA figures, Thameslink and Silverlink are the least punctual of the London commuter companies, having worsened 6% in a year. THE GUARDIAN
9 Nov 2000
"Punctuality is poor on Thames Trains and even worse on Go-Ahead's Thameslink franchise, whose passengers have suffered appalling overcrowding. Last month a French bidder offered £327 million for the company, valuing the shares held by directors Martin Ballinger and Christopher Moyes at £23 million and £19 million respectively. Go-Ahead's directors dismissed the offer as 'wholly inadequate.'" SIGNAL FAILURES
PRIVATE EYE 1008 11 August 2000
|
||||
| THAMES TRAINS
thamestrains.co.uk ERRORS ALL THE WAY DOWN THE LINE --- SARAH HALL ************** Owned by the Anglo-French company GoVia (a.k.a. Go-Ahead), which also owns Thameslink and the south central network (the "New Southern Railway"} formerly owned by CONNEX. "£410,000 - total cost per year of introducing and maintaining ATP train braking system (considered by Thames Trains after the Southall train crash in 1997, but rejected before the Paddington train crash in 1999). "£760,000 - total salary increases received this year by directors of the Go-Ahead group, which owns Thames Trains (whose trains were involved in both crashes)." HARD CHOICES
PRIVATE EYE 1012 6 Oct 2000
"GoVia controls Thames Trains, the company at the heart of the Paddington rail crash: one of its employees, driver Hodder, went through a red light. Investigations after the event brought before Lord Cullen's inquiry into the disaster, revealed that Thames has a poor record in driver training and in scrutinising new employees." KEITH HARPER
THE GUARDIAN 25 Oct 2000 "Punctuality is poor on Thames Trains and even worse on Go-Ahead's Thameslink franchise, whose passengers have suffered appalling overcrowding. Last month a French bidder offered £327 million for the company, valuing the shares held by directors Martin Ballinger and Christopher Moyes at £23 million and £19 million respectively. Go-Ahead's directors dismissed the offer as 'wholly inadequate.'" SIGNAL FAILURES
PRIVATE EYE 1008 11 August 2000
"The French presence is not the only other controversial aspect of the deal. Sir Patrick Brown, a civil service bureaucrat with a hand in the rail privatization process, is on the board of Go-Ahead." TERRY MACALISTER
THE GUARDIAN August 2000
|
||||
| VALLEY LINES
No website, but listed by the Association of Train Operating Companies as "operating normally" during the flood / rail replacement chaos... Where the heck is this happy Valley? If you know, please tell us at valley@renationalise.com
|
||||
| VIRGIN
virgin.com/trains
Virgin Trains, part-owned by the bus company Stagecoach, own the West Coast and the Cross Country networks. PASSENGER COMPLAINTS RECEIVED Most complained-about train operating company: Second-most complained-about train operating company: THE INDEPENDENT 26 Aug 1999 "Mile for mile, passengers pay more for 'walk-on' tickets in the UK than anywhere else in Europe... the USA [or] Japan... British rail fares not only eclipse those in other countries but mile-for-mile are twice as expensive as flying to New York... "A ticket with British Airways to New York, bought on the spur of the moment, would have cost £457 single or £825 return, including £41 airport taxes. At 3,464 miles the higher single fare works out at 13p a mile... "A rush hour fare bought immediately before travel on a weekday evening from London to Manchester on Virgin costs £72.50 single or £129 return. For the 250-mile journey the single fare works out at 29p a mile." JOANNA WATERS THE OBSERVER 8 Aug 1999
"The company runs the country's least punctual franchises but celebrated the new year with fares increases similar to those of September 1999... and May 1999, er, and January 1999. "'Passengers are paying through the nose for a service which does not meet their legitimate expectations' complained Philip Davies, of the official Midlands rail users' committee, to no avail... "The service broke even or made a small profit under British Rail, but taxpayers will hand Virgin more than £59 million to run it this year. "To take just one example of Virgin fares, a return from Stafford to Euston now costs £99.50 - not first class but standard. Virgin has run the route for less than three years, but in that time the Stafford fare has jumped more than 42 percent." SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE 994 Jan 2000
"Performance is now so universally mediocre even [SSRA franchising director Mike] Grant seems unable to find cause for optimism. He released without comment the latest figures, which show nearly all the 25 franchises were even less punctual between May and August 2000 [i.e. before the floods and Hadfield derailment] than in the same period last year... "The usual suspects - Virgin, Connex, South West Trains, GNER and Great Western - all managed to make bad punctuality records worse.
****************** VIRGIN TRAINS A crucial decision is awaited on who gets the franchise to run the east coast main line between Edinburgh and London. Here the SRA has exposed itself to a flawed approach and deep internal divisions. The team that esamined the bid recommended a VIRGIN/Stagecoach scheme to SIR ALASTAIR [MORTON] with its new 120-mile track linking the north and south, capable of carrying trains at speeds of 200 mph. The option would cost £1.5 billion less than the bid by the incumbent, GNER, and was regarded as better value. SIR ALASTAIR ignored the advice and backed GNER. VIRGIN is furious because SIR ALASTAIR has made matters worse by seizing on the idea of a high-speed line and promising to investigate its potential... SIR RICHARD BRANSON is understood to have instructed counsel... KEITH HARPER TRANSPORT EDITOR THE GUARDIAN 1 February 2001 ****************** There was pandemonium when the last EYE hit the
streets announcing that VIRGIN was soon to raise train fares by
9 percent. Such increases are routine for VIRGIN TRAINS as it
struggles to keep its suicidal franchise deals of 1996 afloat.
But when the media got excited about the next fares rise, VIRGIN
had a fresh excuse -- Hatfield. SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE 1026 20 APRIL 2001 ****************** "Only 45 percent of VIRGIN WEST COAST TRAINS ran
on time [according to SRA statistics presented on 29 June 2001.]
'With services now largely back to normal, it is good to see passengers
are returning in increased numbers' said SRA chief executive MIKE
GRANT... SIGNAL FAILURES PRIVATE EYE # 1032 13 July 2001
|
||||
|
Owned by the bus company National Express, which also owns C2C (formerly LTS), Silverlink, West Anglia Great Northern, Central Trains, Scotrail, Cardiff Railway, Midland Mainline, Stansted Express, and Gatwick Express. "Once upon a time a group of third-rate bus managers and a rail-privatisation adviser to the Tories (see EYE 907) cobbled together a company called Prism Rail to bid for rail franchises... "The fairy godmothers at the Office of passenger rail franchising (Opraf) duly handed over LTS Rail (aka the Fenchurch Street to Southend misery line) and West Anglia Great Northern, covering Cambridge, Peterborough and the lucrative Stansted Express. "But greedy Prism soon wanted more. In its desperation ot outbid rivals, it asked to run Wales & West and Cardiff Railway, and said it could do so with ridiculously low subsidies. Again the wish was granted... (EYE 928) "... the Opraf fairy godmothers, by now at the Strategic Rail Authority, granted Prism its third wish last month, bringing forward by three years the end |