East Coast Rail Route

[PinzaC55]

I wouldn't mind a return of GNER (loved the post 2004 livery on the 125 sets), but I'm sure most if not all of us would like to see the 225 sets wearing intercity branding again

I'm intrigued to find out what preservation will do when the 43's and 91's are eventually retired.

Intercity branding was the best livery for the 91's - they looked magnificent.

[52D]

Hmmmm 52As ideas are all very well but Alex Salmond will have to build a new interchange station at Lamberton because we don't want them SNP blighters trying to reclaim Berwick for Scotland. Im sure the caravan site owner will take a fair price for his land and the Marshall Meadows Hotel also stands to making a killing. Me im up for a job in passport control.

[60527]

Hmmmm 52As ideas are all very well but Alex Salmond will have to build a new interchange station at Lamberton because we don't want them SNP blighters trying to reclaim Berwick for Scotland. Im sure the caravan site owner will take a fair price for his land and the Marshall Meadows Hotel also stands to making a killing. Me im up for a job in passport control.

Perhaps you should ask the people of Berwick where they would prefer to reside.

[52D]

The majority of Berwickers and I Include myself as Berwick born are in favour of the Union and don't want anything to do with the short sighted Mr Salmond. So let us keep the status quo.

[60527]

Perhaps it is best to avoid politics but the point was to ask the people, which is rather the basis of democracy and is exactly what is happening in Scotland.

[Mr Bunt]

Mr Branson is now kicking himself and the DoT has had the last laugh. They have extended his WCML franchise for an extra two years and they will not give him the ECML because that will mean he has both North /South main lines which is one of the reasons he has failed in the past. No Pendalinos. Also East Coast has put £640 m back to the Treasury so now they want to franchise it off to try and make more money but will it work?. They seem to forget that we are in a recession so as usual the passenger will have to pay extra so some company can make a profit and pay the government a profit as well.

It was said on BBC radio 4 a couple of months ago that the WCML franchise bank rolls every other one of his enterprises in his Virgin Empire thats why he is so keen to retain running it.

East Coast has apparently earned the government £600m+ during its period in public ownership. At a time when the Treasury's strapped for cash is it wise to give that kind of cash flow away, even as a paid for franchise?

During its nationalised period, after Connex got the boot, South Eastern was returning the best public performance indicator (PPI) figures of any TOC. So there's nothing inherently wrong with nationalisation; unless it doesn't fit your political dogma.

On the subject of liveries, quite a bit of penny pinching seems to be going on here. Greater Anglia are running some units still in WAGN colours and East Coast have a few sets still in GNER blue/orange. That doesn't look at all professional.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[Andy W]

If someone is paying you serious money to do it, why not?

I travelled on the 007 set a couple of weeks ago and it is a bit startling when you are beside it platform side. But the inside is completely normal, the seats aren't electrified and the arm rests don't lock you into your seat or do any other odd things like they do in the films!!

The time it takes to relivery stock depends on their shopping cycle. Usually TOCs cannot have, special jobs apart, too many units out of traffic at once. So we get these odd combinations running around for ages, with the old liveries looking increasingly shabby. It doesn't look good.

[Trestrol]

[/quote]East Coast has apparently earned the government £600m+ during its period in public ownership. At a time when the Treasury's strapped for cash is it wise to give that kind of cash flow away, even as a paid for franchise?


But you forget the Tories don't like to run anything, Thats why they privatise so when things go wrong the push the blame on somebody else in a "nowt to do with me Guv" attitude.

[Andy W]

That's politicians for you and that applies to every party. They love to be in on a success and hate being associated with failures or things that cost a lot. The current fares policy is a good example - the rises are baked into the franchise agreements, it's effectively a tax by proxy, trying to shift the blame onto someone else for all those rises.

The £600m profit is funny money. The Dft subsidise NR with so much 'direct grant' (it's a way of getting round the PSBR limits) that these profit figures are pretty meaningless. Direct grant is one reason why the TOCs have limited 'pull' on NR - they tend to think of the Dft as their real customer.

And every day I and many other TOC railwaymen grind our teeth and try to remember that we have a railway to run and paying passengers need to get from A to B safely, on time, and in some degree of comfort.

Whoever gets the ECML to run, I hope they don't mess it up like some of the recent outfits that have had the opportunity. Departing for the north from Kings Cross, it's still a wonderful way to travel.

[PinzaC55]

I actually hope the latest privatisation attempt on the ECML is as shambolic as the previous ones. Although the public has a short attention span they will notice and maybe pressure will grow for the railways to be returned to national control.

[strang steel]

I am not too worried about the TOCs remaining privately owned, but I would like to see the leasing companies merged into a state controlled organisation, which could then institute (after consultation with the TOCs) a rolling programme of stock renewal, hopefully with the majority of items being built in Britain.

This might be a good way of using government money to help kickstart the economy, and in the long run would help pay for itself by the receipt of all the leasing charges. It should also help to relieve overcrowding on some services. I am sure there must be disadvantages, but I just haven't thought of them so far.