Arriva CrossCountry

[eos]

Got a feeling this Christmas , will see a record number of customer complaints- worse, far worse than operation Princess... wait till the trolley only service tries to get thru a packed Voyager...Oh Joy.

 

[VTDan]

You're probably right however, will they have modified the Voyager fleet by Christmas??

 

[voyagerdude220]

You're probably right however, will they have modified the Voyager fleet by Christmas??

Are they still taking out the shop?

I definately remember someone on here telling us that Arriva had been blocked by Bomardier, but the New XC website states otherwise?

 

[VTDan]

I have no idea. As you probably know i'm leaving them in a few months, so I now dont pay any attention to what they'll be doing! Mainly because I wont be in the country wooh lucky me!

Who knows though, seems to me as all Arriva's plans are crumbling already...

 

[me123]

I'd have thought that they'd keep the shop until the voyager was converted?

 

[VTDan]

Wouldnt they have to...?

I'm going to miss VirginXC!!!
They started running when I was 13!! And now they're going...Oh how sad..

 

[Techniquest]

Something i'll look forward to aswell. My gut feeling is that they're going to really fook it up! But....
....
.... Only Time Will Tell.....

Oh I couldn't agree more...

Let's see how much they can screw up here. If they can't manage to run a train between Cardiff and Manchester properly, how they will cope with an Edinburgh - Plymouth train (for example) I just don't know...

 

[VTDan]

With the majority now being on 4car Voyagers! They'll get busier than the present Virgin XC services.

They should have just made Virgin refurbish their Voyagers, seems to be the only change for the better Arriva have decided on. Then it still wouldn't have made any difference. Arriva aren't changing alot, apart from saying things that are bound NOT to happen!

 

[pedned]

Even though Virmin were kinda crap and ahd abad reputation... I th ink they should have been kept, Arriva arent goign to last 5 minutes... Until they get the HST's then i wont mind being alte becuase at least I wont be cramped and i'll bbe partly comfortable!
Maybe they'll do what they did in "the valleys" when they go bust... give us all a diesel gala
That'll make them enough cash...

 

[332 > 444]

Pacers are available for capacity increases

 

[djw1981]

Hnady for the shop and luggage van! Could carry bikes as well.

 

[theblackwatch]

Who knows though, seems to me as all Arriva's plans are crumbling already...

Perhaps they're just trying to continue the work of the previous franchise holder...

 

[VTDan]

Virgin we're doing very well. Only because Richard Branson quite rightly said, he was not prepared to pay out more money for it, did they lose it.

All other Arriva transport is just sh*t so I can't imagine this being any better!

 

[87015]

Virgin we're doing very well. Only because Richard Branson quite rightly said, he was not prepared to pay out more money for it, did they lose it.

VXC might be reasonable at the moment (anything else is an overstatement IMO), but what came before was utterley shambolic. There is no excuse for the multitude of farces they had day in day out over a number of years both pre and post-Voyager introduction. Not all of us forget things as quickly as some evidently...I might have enjoyed some of those riots as a crank, but I'd hate to have been a regular punter between Brum and Bournemouth or wherever over the last ten years.

They should have been stripped of the franchise along time ago :-x

 

[VTDan]

I completely disagree. When I was younger I used Virgin to get to school!

What makes you think Arriva will do any better? Looks to me as if they're going the opposite way!

 

[Guinness]

They should have been stripped of the franchise along time ago :-x

If that's your way of thinking then I can think of many other franchises that needed stripping during franchises. FGW, 'one', Central Trains and Northern Spirit were/are worse than XC for one reason or another.

 

[voyagerdude220]

I completely disagree. When I was younger I used Virgin to get to school!

What makes you think Arriva will do any better? Looks to me as if they're going the opposite way!

That's precisely what i was going to say as well..

Please vote in my poll:

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=14632

 

[Techniquest]

Arriva have no chance of being as good as Virgin IMO. There's as good a chance of my hanging up my books, notepads and pens for life as of Arriva managing not to screw things up...

 

[djw1981]

But Virgin screwed up badly early on with Operation Princess, and the SRA debacle over half hourly frequency on core routes, Voyagers being shorter than required etc. It is only over time that management have learned from these mistakes to develop an alright TOC.

 

[Bonemaster]

But Virgin screwed up badly early on with Operation Princess, and the SRA debacle over half hourly frequency on core routes, Voyagers being shorter than required etc. It is only over time that management have learned from these mistakes to develop an alright TOC.

Operation Princess was part of the franchise commitment, the SRA said they could do it, Railtrack said it could be done, only Hatfield meant it couldn't. Virgins biggest grief was unpreciedented rise in customers that it just couldn't cope with, and whereas a state can pay for rolling stock to fund the peaks and troughs of an economy, a private company cant, and as such you run to 75% full in the economies ruts and 125% in the economies peaks

 

[VTDan]

But Virgin screwed up badly early on with Operation Princess, and the SRA debacle over half hourly frequency on core routes, Voyagers being shorter than required etc. It is only over time that management have learned from these mistakes to develop an alright TOC.

Virgin were an 'alright' TOC.

Many people are saying Virgin are sh*t because they have had one or more bad experiences with them, they then hold a grudge. These people will never be satisfied, Arriva will do something wrong then they'll be complaining about that.

People who forgive and forget will appreciate the TOC much more. Just as if a fare paying passenger travelled with Virgin and got a ticket for £10 and were a few minutes late into their station, would not be happy. The same passenger travels the same distance with Arriva operating, the ticket costs £20, they arrive a few minutes earlier.

Guarantee most people would be happier with Virgin operating. Unless they are loaded, or, hold a pass.

 

[Mojo]

It doesn't matter who is operating the service any more. The DfT specify who can lease what stock, by underwriting it, unless a company buys them outright. Since they've said what units are going to WC, they don't have much choice. The huge costs involved in setting up a new fleet, no organisation would take that risk & cost.

The only difference is what way a company spins it, IMO Virgin absolutely love PR and are more likely to have ad campaigns and a regularly updated "press office." http://www.virgintrainsmediaroom.com/

 

[Bonemaster]

It doesn't matter who is operating the service any more. The DfT specify who can lease what stock, by underwriting it, unless a company buys them outright. Since they've said what units are going to WC, they don't have much choice. The huge costs involved in setting up a new fleet, no organisation would take that risk & cost.

The only difference is what way a company spins it, IMO Virgin absolutely love PR and are more likely to have ad campaigns and a regularly updated "press office." http://www.virgintrainsmediaroom.com/

Don't forget that the franchise winners pick which of the extras they are going to supply or will try to supply, and also some of the ticketing policies. The stock is defined by DFT, the stations are leased from NR, the routes are defined by the franchise i.e. by the DfT, and the timetables are ultimately set by the DfT and Network rail with very little operator interference, the stock is leased from 3rd parties who have the responsibility for the heavy maintenance on it, the operator may negotiate on many of these but at the end of the day the hands are tied behind there backs, as a leasor will not sanction improvements that will make the stock unattractive if returned.

Just about the only things you can pin on the operators is single operator ticketing policy, staffing levels, marketing, maintenance & cleanliness.

They then try to balance profits, against franchise payments, and get the farebox revenue as high as they can with the items inside there control.