Also whilst the remarks about graffiti and the location of it may well make them more difficult to clean for the reasons you outline, other franchises, and until a couple of years into this franchise when things started to change, they used to be done a lot quicker.
I think there's an element of nostalgia there, as my own recollections are at variance. The number, frequency and severity of graffiti attacks has reduced. Stabling locations (certainly at Bishops Stortford) have been makde more secure.
I have personally been involved in dealing with the aftermath of TWO instances were a complete 4 car EMU was sprayed from solebar to cantrail completely covering one side of the train. Both occasions the attacks happened at the same location and at similar times. I've even had two coaches of my unit sprayed up while stabled at the same location in broad daylight for something like 40 minutes in the evening peak. This just doesn't happen now.
There may be issues surrounding the reporting of graffiti as many people don't seem to see the problem; and that applies to passengers as much as to staff. There is a prevailing view on both sides that it's colourful at least. Personally I hate it with a vengeance and am always embarrassed to drive a train with graffiti on it, so I always book it as a fault. When I do it gets dealt with quickly.
However the refurbishment that has gone into current trains is very sub-standard, I don't know how you can lay the blame at anyone other than National Express, they should have refurbished stock better and to a higher standard, whatever the rights and wrongs about the size of the fleet, the fact is the bare minimum was spent on refurbishment and whilst previous franchises were by no means perfect, they did spend more money on rolling stock.
Given that the FCC Cl317 fleet has had the SAME refurbishments and updates as the NXEA fleet (CET tanks aside due to the lack of pump-out facilities on NXEA), I have to question why you blame the TOC. It seems to me that if it really was down to the TOC there should be more differences between the two Cl317 fleets than there are. It seems that most of these refurbs are actually driven by the ROSCOs
And a lot of that work that has been done has been pretty good, but to the average man on the street, who is not a train driver or enthusiast, they wilol not look at it like that and will ask themselves, what have National Express done for me in the 2004-2012 time period the vast majority of people in Essex and Suffolk do not think very much.
If their trains failed less often then that has to be a win, whether the passengers see it or not.
When First Great Eastern and Anglia Railways for whatever their rights and wrongs, people, including rail groups were lamenting their loss in the local press.
Ah, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Any large transport conglomerate, First included, would have been tarred with the same brush as NX.
You can't judge the franchise from a customer point of view because of what you know and deal with internally, the general point is, and I'm not just saying this, but if you look at all of the satisfaction surveys over the past few years in general people are not very happy with the performance of the operator. That is not just my views, but it is reflected in the national rail survey results every year which suggests that people are not happy with the service provided by NXEA
And I'm just wondering where the root of the dissatisfaction comes from. My own view is that the Greater Anglia area was disadvantaged to start off with due to historic issues and has never had the investment to properly overcome them. I firmly believe that whoever had been awarded the franchise in 2004 would be in pretty much the same place as NX is now.
I agree it has been allowed to do that, and that is without doubt wrong and the DFT need to actually deal with that situation and actually set better franchise criteria the next time around. However at the same time nobody forced National Express to put a bid in like the one they did for the franchise, whilst at the same time nobody was forced to accept it in the DFT, so you can't just blame one party for this.
That is such a nonsense argument that it isn't even worth entertaining. That the franchising model at that time worked in the way it did is nobody's fault but the Government's. The TOCs can hardly be blamed for using standard business and tendering practices within the framework provided, and that applies as much to TOCs like GNER as it does to NX.
It's not just on the platforms, it's inside the stations, ticket halls and even on stations exteriors in some situations. It's even at one terminus. I won't name them all because I'm just curious if anyone else has noticed them, but the stations closest to London are not the place you should be looking.
Well maybe you should. Given the use that Chiltern put to the NSE "flash" and colours I would be interested to know where you've been seeing them on the WA lines.
Not necessarily, as a percentage NXEA is better off than FGW, EC (perhaps not a fair comparison admittedly), Merseyrail, FCC and Northern in terms of post-privitisation rolling stock. I worked out the numbers a couple of months ago and you can see them
here. Though of course still having 80% of the fleet being pre-privatisation is a massive issue.
I knew someone would mention proportions.
As Benjamin Disraeli observed;
"There are three types of lies. Lies, damn lies and statistics." The other thing to bear in mind is that twice f*** all is still f*** all.
The problem that NXEA has is not to do with the proportion of the fleet but the sheer number of vehicles. It's going to cost approximately double to refurb a 4 car EMU compared to a 2 car DMU, both in terms of material, labour and time lost while out of revenue earning service. Given that NXEA has 244 pre-privatisation units (your figures, although I'm unclear how you classify the mainline sets), the vast majority of which will be 4 car EMUs, that gives almost 1000 individual vehicles. Faced with those numbers I really think Northern would have little to complain about.
Let’s not forget NX were effectively bankrupt in 2009 – as part of their “recovery package” agreed with the banks the following spending commitments on Greater Anglia that NX were suppose to pay for went immediately and very quietly.
Your memory is selective. It was NX Group that had it's back to the wall due to poor performance in it's overseas bus divisions, specifically their US school bus contracts and the Spanish coach concerns. The rail division (at that time pared back to cover just NXEA and c2c) did indeed remain profitable, but there was actually quite a lot of discussion at the time saying that the lions share had actually come from c2c and not NXEA.
Here a few headline grabbers:
1. Cl.321 refurbishment - £10m refurb announced in 2007 including new seats, new heating, aircon etc etc – cancelled – result £10m straight into profit
2. Carriage Washers – Ilford to be paid for by NX in the franchise contract – NX refused – result Nitwit Rail paid £2m to complete – result £2m straight into profit
Disputed.
The Ilford washer is not on Nitwit Rail's infrastructure. NR could have told them to poke it on the basis that they already had a functioning washer. The benefit of the new washer accrues entirely to the TOC as it reduces the number of movements in the depot and therefore time commitments. The washer at Orient Way is a different matter as the Olympic Delivery Authority promised a "like for like" replacement to make up for the loss of the carriage sidings at Thornton Fields, but the Ilford washer was not part of this programme.
3. Bombardier Repair / Spares contract – result trains that fall to pieces – result £unknown straight into profit
Disputed.
The contract was negotiated with the DfT and ROSCO. NX and their successors are simply the beneficiaries of this contract.
You really should speak to some of the Bombardier fitters. The support given to the Cl379 fleet is no different to that offered to LOROL, FCC, Southern or SET for their Electrostar fleets.
4. Clacton Depot reopening – in the franchise contract – reneged on by NX – Nitwit Rail paid £3m to have this completed – result £3m straight into profit
Disputed.
NX reopened the facility closed by First at a cost of £1.5m
Cite your sources, please. Just because you suspect something does not make it so. On those figures alone NXEA should have made at least £15m profit. I don't recall seeing any figures supporting this hypothesis, but maybe you're privy to information we don't have.
And the state of Cl 321/3s is fast catching up with the Cl.321/4s......and the 317s.....and the 315s......and the MKIIIs........
Blown window panels, disgusting seat covers, bottom seats that collapse, heating that does not work, PIS systems that don’t work, toilets locked out of use, doors that rattle alarmingly.......and they smell!
I remember the Cl317s were worse for all of these faults under WAGN than was ever the case under 'one' and NXEA. I vividly recall getting on a Cl317/1 and noticing a line across one window halfway up. It was only when the train pulled away and the line moved that I realised that the window was blown and actually half full of water. Never seen the like before or since.
The seats were faded and threadbare and a significant number were not attached to the frames. The carpets were worn and the vinyl floors were sticky. The exterior paint was faded and flaking with corrosion showing through. The toilets were beyond disgusting and the smell was abominable. The doors rattled, but then they always did even when new (it's the design, you know). And all of that applied to the "new" Cl322 Stansted Skytrain units too.
And then we get to Anglia's Mk2 mainline sets. There really isn't anything good to say about them. They rode poorly, were noisy and drafty, old and dirty and not at all comfy. The Cl86s were slow compared to Cl90 standards and the whole ambience was about as far from premier as it could be.
Shall I continue by describing their rural DMU fleet...? I think you must be getting the picture by now. As I've said once already, nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
The loos on 317s. Or rather the sinks- on the /5s especially, these are often missing the floor-button to operate the tap. So there's no way to wash your hands when you've done what you need to do. JOYFUL.
Would you believe that this is as a consequence of metal theft...? The original press studs were brass and have almost all been stolen. NX had been looking at a low-cost theft-proof alternative, but it seems to have stalled for whatever reason.
Well I think as people are seeing passengers have had enough of paying huge premiums for other lines to be improved whilst our own falls to bits!
MPs, Rail User Groups and even the media and now applying serious pressue to both DAFT and Nitwit Rail pressing for serious investment.
Of course it will take time and real improvements wont be seen for at least 4-5 years but at least it is happening!
And they have my sympathy. It is a matter of record that I believe decent investment in the Greater Anglia area is long overdue, but I don't believe 4-5 years is realistic. Heck, we're hardly likely to see Crossrail finished in that time.
Anglia need major investment that will take decades to complete. There are major capacity improvements that need to be delivered that haven't even been planned for.
Mr Leigh, I do enjoy our exchanges and of course I will be overjoyed to see the back of NX but you have to admit, the complete failures of their's I highlighted earlier cannot be ignored.
One of the things that you and others have failed to identify is that my defence of NXEA's record is not based on loyalty to the company but on a realistic view of the state of rail in the Anglia region. I firmly believe, as I have said repeatedly, that ANY rail company would have struggled to make Anglia work. Without proper investment in infrastructure and modern rolling stock, together with a modern maintenance facility, Anglia will remain a basket case no matter who the franchisee is.
It is fine if you are on the West Anglia with all the new shiny Cl 379s but think of the majority of the travellers on the GE Mainline who produce a very large proportion of the lines revenue! You cannot deny we are being shortchanged and why shouldn't we complain about a TOC that is quite frankly disgraceful in it's contempt for passengers???
Please do complain, but I firmly predict that in six months time it will be Abellio's name you'll be dragging through the mud.
There has been and is more investment going on the GEML now than there has been for more than a generation; £200m on the OLE in the next 2 years, £100m on the track in the next 3 years, etc. But none of this improves capacity, which, frankly, is going to be new line territory.
Forgive me for not getting excited, but most of that is to deal with backlogs. £200m to bring LNER's 1949 electrification up to 1960's standards by providing self-tensioning...? Oh please!!
It's the capacity improvements that need to be delivered. When will the GEML be 4-tracked to Colchester and the WA lines to Broxbourne? When will we get linespeed improvements and the removal of all those pesky LCs down the Lea Valley? These are the investments we want to see.
O L Leigh
