First Trenitalia win West Coast Partnership

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

Well the Virgin razzmatazz isn’t for everyone and they weren’t perfect but I generally enjoyed travelling with them and shall be a little sad to see them leave the rail industry.

Seeing First get their hands on another rail franchise doesn’t overly please me. Having said that, I’m suitably impressed with what they are doing with Transpennine Express having got to try out one of their new Nova trains last week...Loco and coaches, now there’s a thing!

[grahame]

A very useful piece in Business Live telling us what all change as a result of First Trenitalia taking over from Virgin.  Worth clicking through to (even if it takes you out of the Coffee Shop)

Knowing that some elements of the customer experience are keenly followed by our members, I have selected the following paragraphs to give an idea of what is in the article as a whole:

Any other benefits?

Better and more reliable free Wi-Fi is being promised on board, alongside at-seat wireless charging for electronic devices.

There's also a change in store in terms of food and drink.

A new on-board food offer is due to be launched - featuring produce by 'household names'. No further information has been revealed as yet.

[ChrisB]

They're taking on the whole of the Virgin senior management team....

From theTimes
 

The boss of Virgin Trains has defected to First Group to run the west coast
main line rail franchise when it takes over operation of the country’s most
lucrative network in 12 days’ time.
 
Phil Whittingham, a stalwart of Virgin Trains since it was handed the west
coast main line at privatisation 23 years ago, is to continue running the
London-Birmingham-Manchester-Glasgow line. Virgin had criticised the
Department for Transport’s decision to ditch it in favour of a First Group
joint venture with Trenitalia, the Italian state railway.
 
Mr Whittingham, 48, Virgin Trains’ managing director since 2013, will lead
a mass migration of his management team to First Group.
 
The appointments prompted bemusement among rival rail industry executives.
“Isn’t this the same Virgin management team that has spent the last two
year’s rubbishing First Group’s bid?” commented one.
 
Virgin Trains, which is a joint venture between the entrepreneur Sir
Richard Branson and Stagecoach, the passenger transport group, is still in
dispute with the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) over the award of the west coast line.
Virgin/Stagecoach was barred from the bidding competition because of a row
over train workers’ future pension liabilities. Court hearings are due to
take place in the new year.
 
Criticisms of the franchise award to First Group/Trenitalia has come
against the background of the crisis at the heavily lossmaking First Group.
Its operation of South Western Railway has been in chaos and First is
currently fighting activist investors trying to break up the group.
Trenitalia, meanwhile, has limited experience in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and no experience
operating fast intercity services. Its only UK contract to date has been
the small London-Southend commuter route.
 
The London Euston-based franchise is likely to be in the political and
media spotlight for many years to come. The west coast main line has been
bundled into a super-franchise called the West Coast Partnership, which
also contains the rights to the future operation of the HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) high-speed
line.
 
The final clearance for the massively over-budget and late-running £88
billion HS2 has yet to be passed by ministers. Trains were originally
supposed to be operational on the initial phase of the route between London
and Birmingham by 2026. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has
indicated that may not now happen until 2031.
 
First Group also announced that the director who led its bid to win the
West Coast Partnership, Caroline Donaldson, would be in charge of
overseeing preparations for the operation of trains on HS2. Ms Donaldson
has been at First Group since 2010 and previously worked for Network Rail
and London Underground.
 
“Phil and Caroline bring great experience, insight and drive,” said Steve
Montgomery, managing director of First Group’s rail operations, which also
extend to the other oft-criticised franchises Great Western Railway and the
Transpennine Express.

[IndustryInsider]

They're taking on the whole of the Virgin senior management team....

Not necessarily a bad thing?  After all they're also taking on the same front line staff and trains, etc...

From theTimes
Trenitalia, meanwhile, has limited experience in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and no experience
operating fast intercity services. Its only UK contract to date has been
the small London-Southend commuter route.

Not small in passenger numbers though, as they carry more per year than Virgin Trains West Coast do. 

[JayMac]

No experience operating fast intercity services?

The journo at The Times has obviously never heard of Italy's Frecciabianca, Frecciargento and Frecciarossa high speed services. Translated as White, Silver and Red Arrow respectively, with top speeds ranging from 200km/h (125mph) to 300km/h (186mph).

West Coast's 125mph should be a doddle for Trenitalia.

[JayMac]

The public name for the new West Coast Partnership is Avanti West Coast. Trains will wear a green and white livery with an orange triangle logo.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/27/west-coast-train-services-to-be-rebranded-with-avanti-logo

[SandTEngineer]

....and for those that like Logos, please see here http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=22506.0

[JayMac]

The new website is up and running too (just a front page and countdown at the moment).

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/

Also an introductory video:



Forward facing and forward thinking they say. Yet the logo is pointing backwards. 🤔

[Celestial]

Well that video was a load of marketing puff with no substance whatsoever. 

Though on the website I love the way they mention getting rid of the unpopular Voyager trains, a phrase that I think has also been said by the former government. Assuming they don't get scrapped, it'll be interested to hear the government spin when it gets announced that they are going somewhere else (presumably XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise))). 

[grahame]

From the Guardian

The trains, the staff and the entire management team may be staying the same, but passengers on intercity west coast mainline services will next month no longer be boarding a Virgin train but riding on a rebranded, “ready and fit for the future”, Avanti.

The name Avanti, according to new operators FirstGroup and Trenitalia, “embodies progress and forward movement”, and is Italian for “forward” and “let’s go”.

Avanti is already a popular company name in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), for firms including tax accountants, numerous Italian restaurants, a hazardous waste collection business and a purveyor of urinal floor mats and jumbo toilet rolls.

Avanti West Coast will also have a new logo: an orange triangle. According to the train operators, the triangle was designed by an independent creative team of more than 100 people working in two locations: an old pickle factory in London and a theatre in Amsterdam.

The triangle, First Trenitalia said, symbolised how their train service will bring communities across England, north Wales and Scotland closer together.

The trains will be painted green and white. The tilting Pendolino trains will be refurbished and and older Voyager models phased out from 2022 to be replaced by a new fleet.

First Trenitalia said there would also be 263 more trains a week, as well as new stops along the 400-mile route that takes in major cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Steve Montgomery, the managing director of FirstGroup’s overall rail division, said the rebranding marked the start of “a new era in high-speed rail services – one that will generate national prosperity and pride”.

[TonyK]

Avanti - I pondered hard before remembering where I I had heard the word before. The only reference I can come up with is an advertisement for John Smiths (other beers are available, mostly better) where Peter Kay says it to his mother to hurry her up. This was in the course of moving her to a nursing home (it's for the best) because her moustache frightens the kids, and he wants to put a snooker table in her room.

Cheers!

[ChrisB]

At least they'll have one thing in common with Virgin - condoms!

There used to be a Virgin brand, and there is n Avanti condom too.

[Western Pathfinder]

Something a little less rubbery https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studebaker_Avanti.

[Timmer]

Thank you for the detailed specs of the Avanti condom there ChrisB 

[JontyMort]

They're taking on the whole of the Virgin senior management team....

From theTimes
 

The boss of Virgin Trains has defected to First Group to run the west coast
main line rail franchise when it takes over operation of the country’s most
lucrative network in 12 days’ time.
 
Phil Whittingham, a stalwart of Virgin Trains since it was handed the west
coast main line at privatisation 23 years ago, is to continue running the
London-Birmingham-Manchester-Glasgow line. Virgin had criticised the
Department for Transport’s decision to ditch it in favour of a First Group
joint venture with Trenitalia, the Italian state railway.
 
Mr Whittingham, 48, Virgin Trains’ managing director since 2013, will lead
a mass migration of his management team to First Group.
 
The appointments prompted bemusement among rival rail industry executives.
“Isn’t this the same Virgin management team that has spent the last two
year’s rubbishing First Group’s bid?” commented one.
 
Virgin Trains, which is a joint venture between the entrepreneur Sir
Richard Branson and Stagecoach, the passenger transport group, is still in
dispute with the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) over the award of the west coast line.
Virgin/Stagecoach was barred from the bidding competition because of a row
over train workers’ future pension liabilities. Court hearings are due to
take place in the new year.
 
Criticisms of the franchise award to First Group/Trenitalia has come
against the background of the crisis at the heavily lossmaking First Group.
Its operation of South Western Railway has been in chaos and First is
currently fighting activist investors trying to break up the group.
Trenitalia, meanwhile, has limited experience in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and no experience
operating fast intercity services. Its only UK contract to date has been
the small London-Southend commuter route.
 
The London Euston-based franchise is likely to be in the political and
media spotlight for many years to come. The west coast main line has been
bundled into a super-franchise called the West Coast Partnership, which
also contains the rights to the future operation of the HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) high-speed
line.
 
The final clearance for the massively over-budget and late-running £88
billion HS2 has yet to be passed by ministers. Trains were originally
supposed to be operational on the initial phase of the route between London
and Birmingham by 2026. Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, has
indicated that may not now happen until 2031.
 
First Group also announced that the director who led its bid to win the
West Coast Partnership, Caroline Donaldson, would be in charge of
overseeing preparations for the operation of trains on HS2. Ms Donaldson
has been at First Group since 2010 and previously worked for Network Rail
and London Underground.
 
“Phil and Caroline bring great experience, insight and drive,” said Steve
Montgomery, managing director of First Group’s rail operations, which also
extend to the other oft-criticised franchises Great Western Railway and the
Transpennine Express.

Inevitable with TUPE^▸ (The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.), surely?