The LNER Encyclopedia

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009 ... l-contract

Oh dear what a shame!

Financial 'Masters of the Universe' twelve months ago. Now there is speculation[threats] about 'throwing in the towel', these people are a joke. A poor joke that we are all paying for! I hope the government calls their bluff, but sadly there are already disturbing signs that the Dfr may be beginning to waver in their attitude to the TOCS blackmail. Evidently a number of the leading franchise holders went to see Geoff Hoon recently to plead their case.They should all be made to read a company history of the LNER to know what financial struggle and hard times were all about.

Oops,what a shambles!Bring back GNER!The NXEC livery is just not photogenic.The grass is not always greener on the other side!

Just a crazy suggestion but how about giving everything to the TOC's, lines, rolling stock, stations etc... let them run it how it used to be run instead of giving such a large chunk of money to the government, which in turn gives it to notwork fail who then mess the companies services up. If it was in the hands of the companies I dare say that P-Way work may not be as disruptive or take as long.

Just a thought

Regards

Karl

Or scarier still why not give it to a publically owned body that controlled the entire network. Some sort of UK railways or british....

I am talking in humour I agree with what Karl says.

CVR1865 wrote:Or scarier still why not give it to a publically owned body that controlled the entire network. Some sort of UK railways or british....

Naa it'll never catch on .

Regards

Karl

When they privatized JNR (Japan National Railways) over here they divided it into regions with each company being responsible for everything (trains, track, stations etc) within their areas. Pretty much like the grouping in 1923. I never did understand why our stupid politicians privatized BR the way it did. It was a disaster going somewhere to happen. Worse even than Dr. Beeching's ideas.

Go back to the old regional style.

Malcolm.

In the 1990s when BR was privatised there were people who favoured the regional model with its benefits of vertical integration over an area. They were overruled in favour of the present model, supposedly for the greater benefits it would bring. For benefits here substitute the words profits for shareholders ,fat corporate fees, attractive investments etc. Another result was to make the process of privatisation as complex as possible and therefore almost impossible to reverse. Take a look at the vastly increased level of subsidy the railways require and receive now compared with BR, who were very very far from being perfect, but whose every investment proposal was pored over, penny pinched and nitpicked.
Now we have the TOCS squealing at the first signs of hard times. Well tough! NXEC, Stagecoach and the like signed the franchise deals, obviously thought they were good deals -for them -at the time and should be made to live with them. If they didn't envisage possible future difficulties and have a Plan B then it's their own fault. I am livid when dessicated ATOC representatives appear on the media to blandly tell me what a good deal I am receiving from my privatised railway system.

stembok wrote:In the 1990s when BR was privatised there were people who favoured the regional model with its benefits of vertical integration over an area. They were overruled in favour of the present model, supposedly for the greater benefits it would bring. For benefits here substitute the words profits for shareholders ,fat corporate fees, attractive investments etc. Another result was to make the process of privatisation as complex as possible and therefore almost impossible to reverse. Take a look at the vastly increased level of subsidy the railways require and receive now compared with BR, who were very very far from being perfect, but whose every investment proposal was pored over, penny pinched and nitpicked.
Now we have the TOCS squealing at the first signs of hard times. Well tough! NXEC, Stagecoach and the like signed the franchise deals, obviously thought they were good deals -for them -at the time and should be made to live with them. If they didn't envisage possible future difficulties and have a Plan B then it's their own fault. I am livid when dessicated ATOC representatives appear on the media to blandly tell me what a good deal I am receiving from my privatised railway system.

Good man, Stembok, my sentiments exactly.

I also completely agree with that statement, let them all go take their snouts and look for troughs elsewhere. An interesting story told to me yesterday, NXEC Driver takes loco to another depot and has to return by taxi. Taxi firm refuses to attend because of non payment of bills so a colleague has to go and rescue him in his own car. What a wonderful company to work for, their "mangement" must be fantastic, as promised of course at the time of privatisation. Remember all of those skills that would be imported from outside industry to run our railways because railwaymen didn't know what they were doing? It would appear that we are still waiting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7892416.stm

Another nail!

52A wrote:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7892416.stm

Another nail!

This is exactly what South West Trains tried to do but the Departement for Transport threw out their application to reduce the opening hours of booking offices. Not discouraged, SWT are now trying to make a few hundred more staff redundant instead. Interesting to see if the passengers who use NXEC have as much clout with the government as those who use SWT. We know that BR was far from perfect but as the years recede, they seem increasingly to have acheived a lot with relatively little money - after all, did the taxpayer not have the most cost effective railway in Europe towards the end of BR's time?

If BR had the levels of subsidy given to the railways today they could have done a fantastic job, and profits would not be leaving the industry into the pockets of rogues and vagabonds!

Not for Profit organisation, let all the profits get poured back in.