Abellio frontrunner for Greater Anglia franchise

[Pumbaa]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/04/dutch-firm-frontrunner-for-olympic-rail-route

What is says on the tin.

 

[Schnellzug]

Abellio? Oh yes, the ones that part own northern, is that right? It's so hard to keep track of all the name changes of these multinationals.


* Incidentally, apropos another favourite topic, nice piece of selective journalism in that story: "An announcement could come this month and follows the furore over the decision to select Siemens of Germany as the preferred bidder for the Thameslink train manufacturing contract, instead of Derby-based Bombardier."

 

[bluenoxid]

Waffle story :roll:

We bid for their rail services and they bid for ours.

Abellio is formerly Ned Rail. They work with Serco for Northern and Merseyrail.

 

[tbtc]

Abellio is formerly Ned Rail

I'd love them to get the Scotrail franchise - seeing trains with Ned on them would be amusing...

 

[stut]

I look forward to their expertise in running trains across Fenland...

Can we expect to see yellow double-deckers appearing soon, then?

 

[swt_passenger]

Waffle story :roll:

Exactly - at this stage it is equally likely that Stagecoach or GoAhead will get the franchise...

 

[185]

Good luck to them. Got a lot of respect for Nederlandzi Spoorthingy, lots of innovative ideas such as multimodal integration, and efforts to encourage community rail partnerships.

Regardless of nationality of the operator, I'd trust them anyday rather than two certain cheating lying Scottish companies.

My only criticism of them is the new stupid name. Abellyflop? :roll:

 

[radamfi]

Abellio originated as a German bus company which was bought out by NedRailways and they kept the name.

 

[SprinterMan]

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=818741&postcount=100

From this thread:

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=818741#post818741

The peculiar world of NXEA.

Maybe not all waffle methinks

 

[heenan73]

Chances are that the Grauniad picked up the story from here; 365201 dropped the rumour, but such things are rife before all these announcements.

I wouldn't bet £1 on it until Roger Ford confirms :roll:

 

[Schnellzug]

i wish they'd kept the name NedRailways. Think of the fun people could have with that.

 

[Zoe]

i wish they'd kept the name NedRailways. Think of the fun people could have with that.

I think London Eastern would also have been a much better name than "one" that London Eastern Railway Ltd used. Was it ever planned to use this name? The TfL journey planners back in 2004 referred to the TOC as London Eastern for some time even though this branding was never used.

 

[The Sleeper]

The winning bidder is advised two weeks before the public DfT announcement (they are waiting for all the party political annual meetings to be over). It is "assumed" that Abellio were advised at 10am Monday 03 October. Abellio have a mobilization team in place and they are now (it seems) running around getting things in motion. Non of this speculation has been confirmed but internal "government sources" i.e. 'leaks' seem to confirm this and Abellio are quoted as saying "we are not in a position to state anything at present" which is not quite a denial) I really do hope they have got the franchise and I will be quiet happy to offer my skills() to them should they come knocking...

 

[Zoe]

The winning bidder is advised two weeks before the public DfT announcement (they are waiting for all the party political annual meetings to be over). It is "assumed" that Abellio were advised at 10am Monday 03 October. Abellio have a mobilization team in place and they are now (it seems) running around getting things in motion.

Back in 2005 it seemed to have been known that First had won the Greater Western franchise some time before the actual announcement.

 

[First class]

Albellio may be slightly unhappy here.

I believe they REALLY wanted the IWC franchise more than any other, with the regional franchises kept as backups.

I can't see them getting IWC if they have the London Eastern.....

Still, another free TOC on my Albellio pass

 

[SprinterMan]

Albellio may be slightly unhappy here.

I believe they REALLY wanted the IWC franchise more than any other, with the regional franchises kept as backups.

I can't see them getting IWC if they have the London Eastern.....

Still, another free TOC on my Albellio pass

Too be honest, I can never see Virgin losing the West Coast unless something very bad happens.

 

[Schnellzug]

IWC? Oh, Intercity West Coast, I presume. I was thinking Isle of Wight Central.

 

[swt_passenger]

I can't see them getting IWC if they have the London Eastern.....

Still, another free TOC on my Albellio pass

What's the difference between them having London Eastern and ICWC, and Stagecoach already having SWT, EMT and half of ICWC?

 

[The Sleeper]

IWC? Oh, Intercity West Coast, I presume. I was thinking Isle of Wight Central.

giving your age away a bit, so you worked for the Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway then?

 

[First class]

What's the difference between them having London Eastern and ICWC, and Stagecoach already having SWT, EMT and half of ICWC?

Merseyrail, Northern, Eastern, DLR....

4 operations is possible excessive, add IWC and 5 franchises is a bit high I think.

 

[Zoe]

Merseyrail, Northern, Eastern, DLR....

4 operations is possible excessive, add IWC and 5 franchises is a bit high I think.

DLR is not a rail franchise so would not likley be considered any more than Stagecoach running the tram in Sheffield would be. There also wouldn't be any reduction in competition if West Coast and Anglia were run by the same company. It's possible that First will retain Greater Western and win East Coast and I don't think anything would be done to prevent this.

 

[deltabravo]

Is this bid just Abellio on their own, or are they partnering with Serco, like they do with Northern and Merseyrail?

 

[Pumbaa]

Just Abellio I think.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Too be honest, I can never see Virgin losing the West Coast unless something very bad happens.

Admittedly they're fighting tooth and claw, I was speaking to someone last week about possible bid details from VRG. Their sneaky press tactics about how they're now paying large sums back to the Treasury is just the beginning of wowing the media - again.

Nonetheless, I still think if you want to make money on the bid, put it against Virgin. They'd have to either put something spectacular up front with their own cash (which they won't) or very successfully lobby certain Marsham St mandarins.

 

[dk1]

Abellio did have plans to keep the 90/DVTs but reduced to 10 sets. Current in house maintainence may also be contracted out to Bombardier.

 

[swt_passenger]

Admittedly they're fighting tooth and claw, I was speaking to someone last week about possible bid details from VRG. Their sneaky press tactics about how they're now paying large sums back to the Treasury is just the beginning of wowing the media - again.

They like sailing close to the wind with the media stuff - presumably they are just doing it while they can; because isn't there supposed to be an embargo once the formal tender responses go in?

 

[eastdyke]

Abellio did have plans to keep the 90/DVTs but reduced to 10 sets. Current in house maintainence may also be contracted out to Bombardier.

The current weekday loco-hauled diagrams require 11 sets of stock so would the reduction be achieved by a new timetable or greater EMU use?

Contracting maintenance out to Bombardier would give the politicians an opportunity for (erroneous) spin!

 

[dk1]

The current weekday loco-hauled diagrams require 11 sets of stock so would the reduction be achieved by a new timetable or greater EMU use?

Contracting maintenance out to Bombardier would give the politicians an opportunity for (erroneous) spin!

So many rumours doing the rounds on here & within the company. There are currently 12 sets so with maintainence there is no way a full half hourly service can be operated with 9 sets in traffic unless turnaround times are reduced to say 20-25 minutes by for example departing Norwich at xx.15/xx.45. This will then impact on punctuallity & throw step-ups out of the window.

 

[eastdyke]

So many rumours doing the rounds on here & within the company. There are currently 12 sets so with maintainence there is no way a full half hourly service can be operated with 9 sets in traffic unless turnaround times are reduced to say 20-25 minutes by for example departing Norwich at xx.15/xx.45. This will then impact on punctuallity & throw step-ups out of the window.

Thanks!

So its EMU's then.

 

[Pumbaa]

They like sailing close to the wind with the media stuff - presumably they are just doing it while they can; because isn't there supposed to be an embargo once the formal tender responses go in?

They can still spin about their current operation, the hush hush is on their proposed operations. I recall they sang XCs praises with local advertising campaigns in Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle and Southampton back in 2007 which ended abruptly when they lost.

I was studying the cash profiles, in particular the re-calculated energy bills for since 2006. No wonder they haven't been singing from that particular hymn sheet...