A new TOC cometh.....

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

On Sunday 5th February, Abellio (subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, cf. Dutch state railways) will take over the Greater Anglia franchise. This new TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) will be known as Greater Anglia. Does exactly what it says on the tin, I suppose. 

Their website is up and running with a countdown to the franchise start date:

http://www.greateranglia.co.uk/

There is also a Wikipedia entry with more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Anglia

Abellio describe this franchise as their first 'solus' UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail operation. Rather an arcane word that I had to look up. It means 'alone'. Abellio are of course current partners (with Serco) in the Northern and Merseyrail franchises.

Thought occurred to me. Wonder if NS decided on bidding for this franchise because it is geographically closest to The Netherlands? 

[Electric train]

Are trains going to be yellow in an NS stylee 

A reintroduction of ferry boat trains Liverpool St to Harwich then onto Hook van Holland used to enjoy that trip

[EBrown]

Can someone tell me why is the franchise so short?

[JayMac]

The Greater Anglia franchise was up for renewal and put out to tender during the height of the 'McNulty' consultation. DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) decided, in their wisdom, to start a new franchise bidding process rather than offer the extension to the NXEA^▸ (National Express East Anglia) franchise that was allowed for, as an option, in the current franchise. The DfT also decided to tender a short franchise as an interim measure whilst 'McNulty' was being looked at. The argument being that it would give the government (remember, this tender was the first to be decided/awarded by the ConLib coalition...) time to plan changes in rail franchising policy based on Sir Roy McNulty's Rail Value for Money Study.

Things have moved on since then, but I think National Express, at that time, were seen as persona non grata within the DfT, after they gave up on East Coast, thus forcing the DfT to take over.

There's a lot of politics behind the decision to only tender a 29 month franchise for Greater Anglia. Part of that DfT decision (which included NatEx failing to pre-qualify for Greater Anglia) may have been a way of punishing National Express for walking away from East Coast.

That said, National Express haven't gone away. There are many new brooms which have swept away all trace of Richard Bowker* and the East Coast fiasco. Whilst, after 5th February, NatEx will only have one franchise (c2c), it's safe to say they aren't giving up on UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Rail. They've poached Elaine Holt from government run East Coast to head up their franchise bid team. She knows her onions, having cut her teeth (too many metaphors?) across various parts of First Group and I don't doubt that she and NatEX will be going full tilt to gain new franchises. NatEx have missed the boats for the InterCity West Coast (Virgin) and Greater Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) franchises, but there are many more franchises up for renewal in the next few years....



*Remember him? Last heard of playing trains in the Arabian desert!

[thetrout]

The Greater Anglia Franchise seriously needs to sorted, the amount of problems they have on that line is incredible. Their staff are also poorly trained too!

My example of this was when I asked for a First Class Return from Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport. The ticket clerk tried to tell me that a Disabled Railcard wasn't elidgable for discount (Total b*ll*cks). After an argument for 10 minutes I asked for the guy to get his Manager which he refused to do. Sensing I could find myself in hot water as the gentlemen was of an "Ethnic Minority" I said, if you won't give me the discount, I'll just use the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine). Which in the end is what I did. I sent an e-mail to NXEA^▸ (National Express East Anglia) explaining the story, 10 weeks later a letter landed on my doormat with was a very brief apology and a ^5 voucher.

The trains are also in a terrible state! If you ever want to use the toilet on a NXEA Class 321, my advice, DON'T!! The less said about that the better as i'm sure the moderation team will agree...

So I'm hoping these Dutch fellows can bring big improvements, but considering the length of the franchise, I won't hold my breath! They already have trout points for saying they'll be providing complimentary refreshments on the Intercity routes and Standsted Express. About bl*ddy time too, considering the prices for First Class tickets on those routes!

[eightf48544]

Non of these shinanagins answers the Wolmar question: "What are franchises for?"

They certainly don't seem to have very much to do with running the railway.

[Btline]

Is it going to be called "Greater Anglia" - that's a bit of a weird name for a franchise!

[EBrown]

Is it going to be called "Greater Anglia" - that's a bit of a weird name for a franchise!

Perhaps inspired from our very own (First) Greater Western?

[BandHcommuter]

NatEx have missed the boats for the InterCity West Coast (Virgin) and Greater Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) franchises, but there are many more franchises up for renewal in the next few years....

They still have until 9th February to apply to prequalify as a bidder for the Greater Western franchise should they wish to. It will be interesting to see whether National Express is considered to have redeemed itself sufficiently to be invited to tender for this or the other two franchises, Thameslink and Essex Thameside, which are also at the prequalification stage.

[eightf48544]

Roger Ford has some interesting articles on the three franchises (Greater Western, Thameslink and  Essex Thameside) and the dilemas facing DaFT^» (Department for Transport - critical sounding abbreviation I discourage - about) in framing them. Particulary the Greater Western where the franchisee has to run the service through, finishing Reading, Electrification, IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project. This will offer more capacity on routes, save money, give a consistent and safe service and meet customer requirements. Intended to replace HSTs.)(brand new including bi-mode), Resignalling to new ERTMS^▸ (European Rail Traffic Management System. A future railway signalling system, with equipment located in the driver's cab, rather than lineside) (unproven?)  and introduction of Crossrail.

WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) * 5!

[Btline]

Yes, but FGW^▸ (First Great Western) operate the Greater Western franchise as FGW not First Greater Western.

(why isn't it just Great Western anyway?)

[paul7575]

Greater Western was used for the franchise name by DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to differentiate it from Great Western + Great Western Link + Wessex all combined, IIRC^▸ ('if I recall/remember/read correctly')...

Likewise DfT use Greater Anglia as the combined name for three previous franchises, Great Eastern, Anglia, and the West Anglia part of what used to be WAGN.

Paul

[eightf48544]

Still doesn't answer the Wolmar question.

[EBrown]

Yes, but FGW^▸ (First Great Western) operate the Greater Western franchise as FGW not First Greater Western.

(why isn't it just Great Western anyway?)

First Great Western I believe is owned by First Greater Western Ltd, which in turn is a part of First Group.

Interestingly, as I searched Companies House I noticed First also own the company name "First Greater Anglia Limited"; perhaps they will be bidding on the next Greater Anglia franchise?

[Brucey]

First Great Western I believe is owned by First Greater Western Ltd, which in turn is a part of First Group.

Interestingly, as I searched Companies House I noticed First also own the company name "First Greater Anglia Limited"; perhaps they will be bidding on the next Greater Anglia franchise?

First Greater Western Ltd are owned by First Rail Holdings Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstGroup plc.

First Rail Holdings Ltd wholly own:
FIRST CAPITAL CONNECT LIMITED
FIRST CROSS COUNTRY LIMITED
FIRST DOCKLANDS LIMITED
FIRST EAST MIDLANDS LIMITED
FIRST GREAT NORTHERN LIMITED
FIRST GREATER ANGLIA LIMITED
FIRST GREATER WESTERN LIMITED
FIRST METRO LIMITED
FIRST SCOTRAIL LIMITED
FIRST SOUTH WESTERN LIMITED
FIRST WEST COAST LIMITED
(Apologies for the caps, I copied and pasted this)

FirstGroup plc also own a number of other rail related companies:
THE NEW GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY LIMITED
GB^▸ (Great Britain) RAILWAYS GROUP PLC (and subsidiaries)
GREAT WESTERN HOLDINGS LIMITED (and subsidiaries)
HULL TRAINS COMPANY LIMITED (80%*)
FIRST/KEOLIS TRANSPENNINE LIMITED (55%*)

* = Shareholding according to the information this service holds, which isn't always correct or up-to-date