Easiest/hardest franchises to manage?

[geordieblue]

Using this model, I would say that the easiest operations to manage, excluding the open access guys, are:

c2c
Merseyrail
Chiltern
Southeastern

All have relatively compact operations, with relatively few contracts, few stakeholders, and (southeastern aside) few passengers. Notably all have remained almost identical in terms of routes and geography operated since privatisation, indeed the history of their organisation can be traced back at least a decade prior to that.

In fairness to C2C, they have over 40 million passengers a year (which surprised me when I looked it up earlier); it's a shade more than Crosscountry. Otherwise a really informative post.

 

[Bald Rick]

In fairness to C2C, they have over 40 million passengers a year (which surprised me when I looked it up earlier); it's a shade more than Crosscountry. Otherwise a really informative post.

Ah, yes, but most of those c2c passengers are ‘similar’ in what they are doing, ie commuting to London with a small number travelling to Lakeside and Stratford for shopping.

Cross country is trying to serve scores if not hundreds of markets, flows and passenger types. (Commuters, business travel, students, weekends away, longer holidays, shopping, personal travel, local trips, long distance, very long distance, etc etc)

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not exactly an easy task on the Cross Country Route!
I think they are that for eight stations, they are the only operator that calls there, e.g. Burton - so whilst they don't manage these stations, they do effectively have all responsibility for trains calling there. Not exactly managing but not a huge step down.

This may prove to be an interesting topic for a separate trivia thread, i.e. an up-to-date list of stations where a particular TOC is the sole operator at that station but don't actually manage it.

 

[London Trains]

This may prove to be an interesting topic for a separate trivia thread, i.e. an up-to-date list of stations where a particular TOC is the sole operator at that station but don't actually manage it.

I'm not sure there are many at all, other than the Crosscountry ones due to the fact XC operate no stations.

Is Lockerbie still operated by Scotrail? (No Scotrail services call at Lockerbie)

 

[si404]

This may prove to be an interesting topic for a separate trivia thread, i.e. an up-to-date list of stations where a particular TOC is the sole operator at that station but don't actually manage it.

Southeastern has:
Abbey Wood (TfL Rail)
Cannon Street (Network Rail)
Charing Cross (Network Rail)

SWR has Waterloo

TfL Rail has Heathrow Terminal 4

 

[Mikey C]

Southeastern has:
Abbey Wood (TfL Rail)
Cannon Street (Network Rail)
Charing Cross (Network Rail)

Plus Stratford International?

 

[swt_passenger]

In the past they have run to Waterloo one summer during major engineering works.

Only for one working week, much of which was cancelled on the day. Pretty much irrelevant to the present discussion anyway.

 

[si404]

Plus Stratford International?

Yep, didn't realise that was Network Rail.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Although slightly OT, because it's not a 'franchise', I did wonder whether the Southend-on-Sea funicular might justify a prize for apparently being the most difficult railway in the UK to manage.

This 140-foot long single track line (under public ownership and operated by the museums department of the Borough Council) has suffered decades of technical problems and staffing difficulties, spent many years closed, subject to frequent breakdowns and basically unable to be relied upon to provide a service.

In comparison operations like Northern seem to run like a Swiss watch.

 

[cactustwirly]

Southeastern has:
Abbey Wood (TfL Rail)
Cannon Street (Network Rail)
Charing Cross (Network Rail)

SWR has Waterloo

TfL Rail has Heathrow Terminal 4

Southeastern also has Victoria, Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill

 

[si404]

Southeastern also has Victoria, Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill

Not sole operator at those stations they don't manage.

 

[ComUtoR]

*Of course, you don’t manage people. You lead them.

Your respect points just went up.

My TOC has changed hands 3 times since I started. Our current 'Leader' has done quite well. In terms of visibility he seems to be someone who gets his hands dirty and is actually involved with the TOC. Unfortunately, as with many companies, it doesn't trickle down to the front line.

I’ve watched this thread with interest, to see which franchises were chosen, and for what reasons.

Same here.

Following on from above, to keep tenuously on topic, its interesting to see the outside perspective and what people judge as easy/difficult. I'm not sure I would fully agree about having a 'self contained' area to operate. This is part of the reason why the service snaps so quickly. The knock on effect of a single incident has far reaching consequences. You can't divert around anything because you only have an up/down layout. You can't pop into a passing loop or turnback; everything comes to a grinding halt very quickly. This must be difficult to deal with.

Staffing breaks too. There is an issue at my TOC where head office staff are located at single points across the network. This means that when a location 'goes down' there is almost no backup. Also because they run small bespoke departments. They lack staff for when the brown stuff flies across the room. Granted that is more of a 'Management' issue.

I don't know much about contracting but in terms of procurement; I find that my TOC takes an all or nothing approach. A few years ago we were given mobile phones. I would agree that getting a decent bulk deal for all staff is potentially the best option but... They were Sh!£"$£"$ ! Totally useless for us and pretty much went into your bag never to be seen again. With a larger operation you tend to get more bespoke options. Department A gets one, Department B gets something different. I have found through experience that the larger your operation the more options you tend to have. When I worked in retail. The company was spread across the entire UK. That meant that it was split into regions etc but that spread of ideas, experiences, people, departments all meant that you had a huge diverse spread of ideas and options. If anything, it pushed the company forward. When I worked for a small self contained company, I found that it becomes more insular with, quite often, a single person making a decision for everyone.

For example, most drivers sign the routes into at least 3 of the London termini.

I don't believe that to be the case. Especially with their rather fragmented 'link' working.

 

[SE%Traveller]

Southeastern has:
Abbey Wood (TfL Rail)
Cannon Street (Network Rail)
Charing Cross (Network Rail)

SWR has Waterloo

TfL Rail has Heathrow Terminal 4

Thameslink has Bat and Ball (Southeastern)

 

[Dr Day]

Another lurker... Stepping back slightly, surely operating the trains is to some extent contracted out to Network Rail with the complexity or otherwise of the infrastructure not necessarily a factor in the ease or otherwise of the management of the franchise itself (as opposed to the performance of its services)?

Would agree therefore with Bald Rick's analysis, with the added 'difficult' one of TfW

- mix of markets including very rural, inter-city and commuting, across a wide geographic area
- significant proportion of revenue/passengers on commuter flows into various English cities yet 'control' from Wales
- strong unions, with some residual differences in Ts and Cs between depots from previous TUPE remaining
- competition from other TOCs on major corridors
- often provider of 'feeder' legs into longer distance trips (eg to London) - lots of inter-change
- lots of stations to manage, plus maintenance depots
- since take-over of Core Valleys Lines, further complications with infrastructure to operate and enhance around existing operations, with complex interfaces

 

[Bald Rick]

Another lurker... Stepping back slightly, surely operating the trains is to some extent contracted out to Network Rail with the complexity or otherwise of the infrastructure not necessarily a factor in the ease or otherwise of the management of the franchise itself (as opposed to the performance of its services)?

Would agree therefore with Bald Rick's analysis, with the added 'difficult' one of TfW

- mix of markets including very rural, inter-city and commuting, across a wide geographic area
- significant proportion of revenue/passengers on commuter flows into various English cities yet 'control' from Wales
- strong unions, with some residual differences in Ts and Cs between depots from previous TUPE remaining
- competition from other TOCs on major corridors
- often provider of 'feeder' legs into longer distance trips (eg to London) - lots of inter-change
- lots of stations to manage, plus maintenance depots
- since take-over of Core Valleys Lines, further complications with infrastructure to operate and enhance around existing operations, with complex interfaces

Wales is something of a curate’s egg. I agree it is spread thinly across a wide area, albeit with a heavy concentration in and around Cardiff. However dealing with TfW, and the nature of the ‘franchise’ takes away many of the stakeholders issues.

Also I wouldn’t say there is any Inter City business to speak of in the accepted sense, ie premium long distance travel. It’s basically Manchester-Cardiff. Everything else is regional / commuting.

 

[TRAX]

But is it a franchise in its own right?

It’s not. It’s part of the South Western Franchise, which includes South Western Railway.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The hardest:
Northern
GTR
Cross Country
GWR
All with huge geography, lots of people (spread thinly), multiple contracts and hundreds of stakeholders. All have had their networks changed over the last 2 decades.

Interesting that TPE doesn't get on this list, despite its abysmal performance over the last couple of years.
In fact it raises the oft-discussed issue of whether TPE should be combined with Northern, and/or splitting The North into NE/NW TOCs instead, as BR essentially did.
The NR Regional structure, aligned to WCML/ECML, doesn't map well onto the current structure.
Do we need a "Northern" NR Region (to include NPR)?

Scotrail and TfW are similar microcosms of "national" operators with most of the attributes of a complex national network - size and asymmetric conurbations, but otherwise heavily rural, and with local control (more complicated for TfW with its significant flows to big English cities).
Scotrail will probably be reorganised when Abellio departs, but Keolis/Amey are in it for the long haul with WG.
Devolution is going to play a greater part in the railway going forward, and it works against an integrated network such as BR enjoyed.

 

[BeHereNow]

Interesting that TPE doesn't get on this list, despite its abysmal performance over the last couple of years.

I just don't think many people recognise how poor the service is, as they run so many fewer trains than Northern. And quite a lot fewer than on their timetable.

 

[Bald Rick]

I just don't think many people recognise how poor the service is, as they run so many fewer trains than Northern. And quite a lot fewer than on their timetable.

That may have been so three months ago, but not now.

 

[pacenotes]

It has to be Eurostar, 4 countries to operate in. 2 languages to work in, Putting up with the French.

A 26 mile tunnel shared with slow trains. All at 186Mph.

 

[ThameslinkUser]

It has to be Eurostar, 4 countries to operate in. 2 languages to work in, Putting up with the French.

A 26 mile tunnel shared with slow trains. All at 186Mph.

Not a franchise

 

[Energy]

Not a franchise

Indeed, its an open access operator.

 

[LUYMun]

Southeastern, with routes that travel to/from Dartford, as well as those in loops avoiding Dartford, it must be a pain to schedule.

 

[Bald Rick]

Southeastern, with routes that travel to/from Dartford, as well as those in loops avoiding Dartford, it must be a pain to schedule.

Not particularly, and all being one Operator helps.

Besides, scheduling is just one part of what it takes to run a TOC.

 

[DB]

I would argue that EMR have a relatively simple franchise, the 2 services they run that make no decernable sense are the Norwich to Liverpool and the extension to Leeds everything else isnt too complicated

The Leeds extension seems to exist largely to get HSTs to and from Neville Hill.

 

[MB162435]

GWR has a good mix: Intercity, rural branch lines, commuter routes and overnight sleeper services, high capacity and service requirements during the summer and quite challenging conditions in the Winter on many routes, Dawlish in particular, so quite a few things to manage and juggle to make sure they have the right number of services, and capacity and the right time and in the right place

Although the most challenging I would say Crosscountry as it is effected by everyone and everything

 

[urbophile]

It has to be Eurostar, 4 countries to operate in. 2 languages to work in, Putting up with the French.

A 26 mile tunnel shared with slow trains. All at 186Mph.

Three languages at least. English, French,Dutch.

 

[Willr2094]

The East Coast franchise is, in my eyes, very difficult to operate, as evidenced by the repeated franchise failures over the last 15 or so years. There's a lack of alternative routes for much of the line, inadequate infrastructure at many points, and competition from several open access operators. It's also the main London-Edinburgh route so political factors also come into play. LNER are doing a great job but that doesn't mean that they've got an easy task on their hands.

Exactly - the East Coast express franchise is probably one of the hardest to operate - since 2006 all the franchisees have failed to operate the service without having financial problems. They also have competition from two other franchised operators in the North East and North and West Yorkshire for passengers (CrossCountry and Transpennine Express), competing demands for platform access at smaller stations from local/secondary route operators and aging infrastructure in places.

Also add in the factor that the franchise itself is also one of the more desirable ones which means any potential operator has to bid high to stand a chance of getting shortlisted.

 

[Bald Rick]

Exactly - the East Coast express franchise is probably one of the hardest to operate - since 2006 all the franchisees have failed to operate the service without having financial problems.

It is comfortably one of the easiest to operate.

However, evidently, it is one of the more difficult franchises to bid for, which is a different thing.

 

[Fyldeboy]

I think East Coast is actually amongst the easiest - but the dark side of that is that Government and Travellers expectations are extremely high. The government demand unreasonable revenues out of it and that is why franchises have thrown in the towel.