South Eastern Franchise Process Withdrawn.

[whole diary]

[martyjon]

Just announced on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) 8.00 R4 news ;-

New Southern franchise process withdrawn but didn't catch the full news item to see if the reason was a result of the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) decision to bar Stagecoach from East Midlands tendering or as a result of pension issues.

Edit - correcting title - Grahame

[Timmer]

Just for clarification it's the South Eastern Process that's been withdrawn and not Southern.

[ChrisB]

Can a mod amend the subject line please? It's quite important....

[grahame]

Can a mod amend the subject line please? It's quite important....

Done

[grahame]

From City a.m.

Two train firms could seek to recover costs from the government after it scrapped the bidding process for one of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)’s largest rail franchises.

The Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) insists there is no recourse for the rail firms as they enter into the bidding process at their own risk.

City A.M. understands that Dutch firm Abellio, which was gunning for the Southeastern franchise, and rival Go Ahead, the parent of the Govia and Keolis joint venture, are however reviewing their options.

At the opposite end of the scale, I am entering a "no bid" for a course I have been asked to present in October after multiple requests today to changes in our Ts and Cs.  Simply not worth the bother and the heartache later on as the process would have continued.  I wonder how the DfT will do in looking for other bidders in any other processes it starts, bearing in mind the extra risks they'll be taking investing in bidding with no guarantee that any of the bidders will get a contract.