LNER vs VTEC

[bussnapperwm]

Are they? Despite popular belief LNER is still a private company.

They are. I should know as I've sent a couple of FOIs to them. They are owned by Dft Olr Holdings Limited, who are based at Great Minster House.

Several "arms length companies" that are owned by local authorities and the government are FOIable, for example:

Reading Buses (Reading Borough Council)
Blackpool Transport (Blackpool Council)
Direct Rail Services (Secretary Of State For Beis)
West Midlands Metro (West Midlands Combined Authority)

 

[greyman42]

Virgin still has 600 tonne, 125 mph mobile branding billboards running up and down the country.

If (say) Amazon wanted their name flashing past commuters the length of the country, they’d be charged a fortune for the privilege.

There was no incentive or demand for Virgin to de-brand; they were let off despite it being a franchise requirement.

Stagecoach may have burned their bond, but Virgin Group must be chuckling at the value that they’re still extracting from the enterprise.

Due to the similarity in the livery, many of the general public still associate the train sets with Virgin, so they are getting free advertising anyway. Even on the sets that are de-branded.

 

[CLH]

Are they? Despite popular belief LNER is still a private company.

Here's their FOI policy - https://www.lner.co.uk/globalassets/downloads1/foi/lner-publication-scheme---final.pdf

And here's their policy on complaints about their response to an FOI request - https://www.lner.co.uk/globalassets/downloads1/foi/lner-foi-review-process---final.pdf

 

[mark-h]

Some more FOI requests to LNER are avaliable on What do they know?.

 

[pt_mad]

One thing about VTEC and now LNER by legacy is that a lot of staff wear posh shoes with skirts rather than steel toes which has always struck me as strange when most Tocs insist on steel toe protection especially for assistance staff and hosts. Or do some platform heeled shoes have steel toes? Especially with VTEC it seemed to be image over practicality with more staff looking like air hosts than any other TOC that springs to mind.

 

[takno]

One thing about VTEC and now LNER by legacy is that a lot of staff wear posh shoes with skirts rather than steel toes which has always struck me as strange when most Tocs insist on steel toe protection especially for assistance staff and hosts. Or do some platform heeled shoes have steel toes? Especially with VTEC it seemed to be image over practicality with more staff looking like air hosts than any other TOC that springs to mind.

Why on earth would you want non-safety-trained staff to be wearing steelies? Sure there's a possiblity they might be helping out with an evacuation at some point, but in all probability they would be in no more need of steelies in those circumstances than the general public. Should we be requiring them on passengers as well?

 

[Christmas]

I think the roll out of the LNER brand has been painfully slow with several power cars still displaying the Virgin logo 4 months on. The odd thing is they have left all of the coaching stock totally blank when it makes sense to display the new LNER logo on each coach. This would help establish the brand and reduce confusion. East Coast wasted no time in adorning their name over the tarnished NXEC brand but it looks like LNER management are reluctant to let go of their Virgin ties.

I would also bring back the Yellow stripe to show where First Class is. In fact this should be mandatory across all TOCs.

 

[Iskra]

I think the roll out of the LNER brand has been painfully slow with several power cars still displaying the Virgin logo 4 months on. The odd thing is they have left all of the coaching stock totally blank when it makes sense to display the new LNER logo on each coach. This would help establish the brand and reduce confusion. East Coast wasted no time in adorning their name over the tarnished NXEC brand but it looks like LNER management are reluctant to let go of their Virgin ties.

You do realise it takes time and stock out of service to do this?

Some franchises have taken years to get their livery done. I suspect they have bigger fish to fry.

 

[Christmas]

You do realise it takes time and stock out of service to do this?

Some franchises have taken years to get their livery done. I suspect they have bigger fish to fry.

If you had bothered to read my post instead of trying to dismiss it you would see that I mention that East Coast managed to rebrand very quickly. In fact several sets were rebranded for day one of their tenure. The NXEC brand was gone within a couple of weeks as they rapidly worked through the night to do so.

Now we have the strange sight of trains with LNER at one end and Virgin at the other. It's the same stock, same franchise as 2009 so no excuses for the delays. I know that LNER still have a management that are desperate to belong to the Virgin 'family'.

 

[Iskra]

If you had bothered to read my post instead of trying to dismiss it you would see that I mention that East Coast managed to rebrand very quickly. In fact several sets were rebranded for day one of their tenure. The NXEC brand was gone within a couple of weeks as they rapidly worked through the night to do so.

Now we have the strange sight of trains with LNER at one end and Virgin at the other. It's the same stock, same franchise as 2009 so no excuses for the delays. I know that LNER still have a management that are desperate to belong to the Virgin 'family'.

LNER run more services than EC did. So what do you want, pretty trains at the price of cancellations?

Virgins logo branding reproduced quicker than amoeba, so it’s no surprise it takes longer to remove.

4 months is nothing. Keep your powder dry. They have bigger priorities, but it’s getting done.

And it might be the same stock, but it’s 10 years older and even more life expired, which it makes it less reliable and require more maintenance.

 

[pt_mad]

Why on earth would you want non-safety-trained staff to be wearing steelies? Sure there's a possiblity they might be helping out with an evacuation at some point, but in all probability they would be in no more need of steelies in those circumstances than the general public. Should we be requiring them on passengers as well?

Did VTEC have platform heels in the footwear catalogue? Or did staff wear their own?

 

[londonmidland]

Just seen this is one of the toilets.

“LNER. Don’t judge us. We’re getting around to replacing this sticker”
Picture basically shows the Virgin logo torn off the balloon.

 

[GrimShady]

Just seen this is one of the toilets. View attachment 52930

Very good!

 

[warriorofrovac]

I know that LNER still have a management that are desperate to belong to the Virgin 'family'.

Please provide proof of this claim.

 

[Hadders]

Virgins logo branding reproduced quicker than amoeba, so it’s no surprise it takes longer to remove.

Hardly. There was no Virgin branding on the outside of the coaches. The only external branding was on the loco/powercar/DVT.

 

[Iskra]

Hardly. There was no Virgin branding on the outside of the coaches. The only external branding was on the loco/powercar/DVT.

There’s still plenty of internal branding that will require time and work to get rid of; 1st class seat headrests for example.

 

[whhistle]

My first journey with LNER last week was very positive - I very stupidly managed to drop my advance ticket out of my pocket at Peterborough, crossed the bridge to get my train, then realised I no longer had a ticket...

The difference is that YOU realised it was YOU at fault.
I've seen railway staff bend over backwards helping someone in genuine need.
Yet as soon as there's a hint of "it's not my fault" when it clearly is, the help drops to near zero.

Stagecoach may have burned their bond, but Virgin Group must be chuckling at the value that they’re still extracting from the enterprise.

Value?
Will people not see it as a failed Virgin franchise; IE, Virgin failure?

 

[HaggisBotherer]

It's certainly noticeable that so far at least LNER don't seem to be having Seat Sale offers like VTEC used to do round about this time of year.

Not that us north of Edinburgh have ever got a whiff of a sale discount, whether it's been GNER, NXEC, EC, VTEC or indeed now LNER...

 

[Edders23]

The staff are much happier it would seem however it will be a long time before they repair the damage done by VTEC. I hope the oboard service will return to its former glory.

They need to drop that stupid Azuma nonsense!

I regularly drop/pick up passengers off at Peterborough and haven't received many negative comments about the staff under VTEC certainly not to the extent that I did for National express but most the passengers really liked the east coast offering so that was a hard act for VTEC to follow

 

[Darandio]

I regularly drop/pick up passengers off at Peterborough and haven't received many negative comments about the staff under VTEC certainly not to the extent that I did for National express but most the passengers really liked the east coast offering so that was a hard act for VTEC to follow

As was discussed here throughout the VTEC tenure, staff morale was at rock bottom.

 

[Segedunum]

The difference is that YOU realised it was YOU at fault.
I've seen railway staff bend over backwards helping someone in genuine need.
Yet as soon as there's a hint of "it's not my fault" when it clearly is, the help drops to near zero.

Indeed, I've wandered into Kings Cross ticket office and said that stupidly I've not noticed a ticket wallet drop out of my wallet and now I'm 270 miles from home and destined to be £85 lighter to get back there.

The bloke took my booking details, reservation details et al and wrote out a replacement ticket before sending me on my way. At no point did I demand this, but just asked if anything could be done before I bought a new walkup.

Politeness and admitting when you've done something daft seems to go a long way.