Virgin / Stagecoach win East Coast

[387star]

And if that picture is remotely realistic, then either the train shown is full of dwarfs, or there's going to have to be a lot of bridges being raised to accommodate the new trains!

That's a pacer
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Oh sorry regards my earlier post just read the facts great news refurbishment is to take place very exciting

 

[Suraggu]

People please remember Stagecoach are running the trains, Virgin is just the brand being used.

 

[BantamMenace]

Am i right in presuming the time saving between Leeds and London will be due to going via Hambleton so not having to reverse in Leeds to serve Skipton, Harrogate, Bradford and Huddersfield?

 

[stuartmoss]

This link suggests in light of the new franchise that there will be six more trains per day from Horsforth to London from 2019...

Will this mean changing at Leeds? I'm presuming so, but it doesn't make that very clear.

http://maps.dft.gov.uk/east-coast/#horsforth

 

[thenorthern]

Has there been any news whether it will be all under the Virgin Trains brand like before or will it be Virgin East Coast and Virgin West Coast?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Has there been any news whether it will be all under the Virgin Trains brand like before or will it be Virgin East Coast and Virgin West Coast?

"Virgin Trains East Coast" (from the Stagecoach announcement).

 

[swt_passenger]

This link suggests in light of the new franchise that there will be six more trains per day from Horsforth to London from 2019...

Will this mean changing at Leeds? I'm presuming so, but it doesn't make that very clear.

http://maps.dft.gov.uk/east-coast/#horsforth

I'd be expecting they'll be extensions of existing Leeds trains, it's what the IEP overall fleet size is all about.

 

[arfortune]

There are more deserving winners, ie DOR, who have done very well running the East Coast for the past 5 years. The fact that this is being done less than 6 months before a general election was an act of spite by the Tory government.

Some key questions
1) Will the cost of 'Anytime' fares go through the roof like Standard Open fares did when Virgin took over the West Coast route ?
2) If Virgin / Stagecoach aren't awarded an extension when the eight years is up, will Beardy and his cronies go running to the courts, like they did with the West Coast a couple of years ago ?

1 - There's a commitment to reduce full fares
2 - There were real concerns and mistakes made on WC, and rightly they fought to highlight this. People may not like RB or his company but isn't right to keep suggesting something underhand

 

[HSTEd]

You do, of course, have evidence to support that statement (other than some anti-Tory rumour machine).

Rush to proceed with competitions in the wake of the ICWC debacle, rushed ICWC contest that resulted in the mess in the first place - there is tonnes of circumstantial evidence but I don't have secret transcripts of a Tory strategy meeting or anything.

But then I am a cynic so there we go.

 

[thenorthern]

I have noticed that they are going to have more trains call at Bradford and new trains operating to Sunderland which sounds like they are trying to beat off the competition from open access operators which Virgin Trains would never do............Wrexham and Shropshire.

I think Virgin Trains though will be the best operator for the Inter-City East Coast franchise and good luck to them.

 

[HSTEd]

It's bad enough that NR is now directly under the thumb of the Treasury, without bringing back more of BR's financing problems....

BR would not be doing any worse than NR does - in fact it would lkely get more state funding as there would be a single voice arguing for things rather than the out-of-tune choir we have now.

 

[class26]

Am i right in presuming the time saving between Leeds and London will be due to going via Hambleton so not having to reverse in Leeds to serve Skipton, Harrogate, Bradford and Huddersfield?

Isn`t it because of the IEP`s superior acceleration plus lower station dwell time s?

 

[class47basic]

what wonderful news,now our friends on the ECML can share the delights of the SC empire. you have my sympathies.

 

[DarloRich]

This is a tawdry, dogmatic political decision designed to bind successive governments and cement in place a flawed (nay broken) system that rewards no one but the shareholders and directors of private industry with a vast outpouring of tax payers money - selling off a successful and profitable government owned business for no reason stinks. Lets see how much of the planned c.£3.5bn actually make sit way back to the government.

This whole thing stinks to high heaven. Interesting that one of the aims of privatisation was the increase of competition - all three North/South intercity franchises are either (in whole or part) in the hands of Stagecoach.

But at least the fans boys are happy. Isn’t it great they will paint the trains red. :roll:

 

[RichmondCommu]

Heres hoping its a disaster and a massive failure.

DOR runs very well and it is spiteful blind Tory ideology behind this.

Toys and pram anyone?

 

[bb21]

Lets see how much of the planned c.£3.5bn actually make sit way back to the government.

I also have my doubts over this fairly optimistic figure, after the failure of successive operators previous to DOR to run a successful business on the ECML, but we shall have to wait and see.

I have separated out more general discussion on Nectar points from the thread into the General Discussions area to keep this thread on topic. We also have a specific thread dedicated to the future of East Coast Rewards in the Fares Advice & Policy area.

 

[WatcherZero]

The DFT headline franchise payment number includes inflation of around 2.5% a year, the actual real terms franchise payment according to the winners is £2.3bn.

 

[thenorthern]

I doubt Sir Richard Branson would want the Virgin name tarnished if they default on the franchise as he saw what it did to National Express after they defaulted so I would think that he will make sure that Virgin East Coast will be stable as a first priority.

Virgin Trains has definitely improved the West Coast Mainline since they took over it in a way I doubt any other operator could have done so I will be interested to see what they will do to the East Coast Mainline.

 

[DarloRich]

Virgin Trains has definitely improved the West Coast Mainline since they took over it in a way I doubt any other operator could have done so I will be interested to see what they will do to the East Coast Mainline.

How??

 

[PG]

Lets see how much of the planned c.£3.5bn actually make sit way back to the government.

I also have my doubts over this fairly optimistic figure, after the failure of successive operators previous to DOR to run a successful business on the ECML, but we shall have to wait and see.

So, in years to come, how do we actually find out how much this (or any other) franchise operator pay back to the government?

 

[swt_passenger]

The DFT headline franchise payment number includes inflation of around 2.5% a year, the actual real terms franchise payment according to the winners is £2.3bn.

That seems a much higher difference than 2.5% compounded over 8 years though, is that definite?

I took it to be more to do with DfT publishing what they were hoping for, and Stagecoach suggesting what they might get away with...

 

[DarloRich]

So, in years to come, how do we actually find out how much this (or any other) franchise operator pay back to the government?

it will be in their accounts
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That seems a much higher difference than 2.5% compounded over 8 years though, is that definite?

I took it to be more to do with DfT publishing what they were hoping for, and Stagecoach suggesting what they might get away with...

then us all halfing it, deducting a bit more and agreeing we owe them money! Management contract anyone?

 

[westv]

Megatrain, not megabusplus.

Megatrain offer tickets on the Eest Coast and EMCL - the only reason megabus plus is so long is they want to get to a station served by EMT.

This may well spell the end of megabusplus - the current routes at least. Why would they run 1-3 a day from Bradford/Hull/Huddersfield once their direct trains start.

Ah, I see. Are Megatrain tickets on WCML just another name for AP tickets or are they even cheaper? Any peak time?
Where do Megatrain currently offer tickets on ECML now? Not seen any available. Or did you mean "MT may offer tickets" rathet then "MT offer tickets"?

 

[RichmondCommu]

How??

Much better trains and a much better level of service.

Are you going to mention this in your blog?

 

[bb21]

Much better trains and a much better level of service.

Are you going to mention this in your blog?

For certain stations, yes, for others, eg. Nuneaton, much worse.

 

[Iskra]

Bradford (and Leeds) seem to do very well out of this service specification. It's good to see some genuine competition out of Bradford. Not sure if GC will remain sustainable though as VTEC will have the advantage of calling at Leeds.

The Huddersfield/Dewsbury service seems like a token service. It will probably be rammed with commuters unless it's advertised as pick-up/alighting only.

 

[DarloRich]

Much better trains and a much better level of service.

Are you going to mention this in your blog?

Much better trains - Any franchisee would have had to operate new trains. Of course they didn’t actually buy the trains did they.

Better level of service - They are the beneficiaries of a lot of hard work behind the scenes in timetable planning, a lot of infrastructure upgrade works and a lot of political manoeuvring but they do run trains more often.

Not sure what Virgin have actually done themselves but hey they have good pr

 

[Darandio]

Much better trains and a much better level of service.

A very simplistic view, seems the PR machine got you as well.

With the same vast subsidy along with someone else paying for it all, I'm sure I could have cobbled a team together from this forum and we'd have done an equally good job.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Much better trains - Any franchisee would have had to operate new trains. Of course they didn’t actually buy the trains did they.

Better level of service - They are the beneficiaries of a lot of hard work behind the scenes in timetable planning, a lot of infrastructure upgrade works and a lot of political manoeuvring but they do run trains more often.

Not sure what Virgin have actually done themselves but hey they have good pr

So your not denying any of the above then? And whats wrong with having good PR?
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A very simplistic view, seems the PR machine got you as well.

No, I just know good service when I see it. And that service is much better than when BR were running the line. And clearly I'm not the only one who thinks that.

Living in Redcar, how often do you use the WCML?

 

[Darandio]

And whats wrong with having good PR?

It means you get comments such as.....

Virgin Trains has definitely improved the West Coast Mainline since they took over it in a way I doubt any other operator could have done

Note the latter part. The question still stands, how?