East Coast franchise - ongoing discussion, merged topic

[whole diary]

[John R]

Lowering drinks to 99p would reap rewards for train buffets.

If this affects the profitability, then change supplier. (e.g. from Twinnings to PG Tips) On a train, I doubt people are going to be fussy about the kind of tea bag.

I would much rather buy a "cheapo-make" tea for 99p than a "posh-organic make" tea for ^1.60.

Ditto for Coke (use a cheap brand, buy in bulk and sell for 99p), coffee etc.

exactly lets face it how much is a tea bag, and milk works out at 5p a cup if that... at a pound there making 95 pence they could sell a hundred cups between penzance and paddington each trip easy and thats 95 quid, does the toc get to keep all the profit from food sold?

Ever heard of staffing costs, dIstribution costs, wastage, and so on..... 

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

so fgw catering staff are on more than 95 a day? just one product would make that in one trip... yes i am aware that most food excluding mcdonalds is perishable and if you were buying food in bulk would you really expect to pay shipping costs? buy from a decent supplier and there wont be any

[caliwag]

GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways) trialled bottles of regional ale, which was a fantastic find, and went down well, at not over inflated prices. The cheese board went regional as well...sometimes all Scottish...sometimes Yorkshire, marvellous.
Best time was when you could buy a slice of pork pie and pickle (again from a regional supplier)...their catering manager must have had a fine time, but from a passenger's point of view it made the queueing and the journey worth while...very fond memories, yet surely not that difficult to realise!!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways) trialled bottles of regional ale, which was a fantastic find, and went down well, at not over inflated prices. The cheese board went regional as well...sometimes all Scottish...sometimes Yorkshire, marvellous.
Best time was when you could buy a slice of pork pie and pickle (again from a regional supplier)...their catering manager must have had a fine time, but from a passenger's point of view it made the queueing and the journey worth while...very fond memories, yet surely not that difficult to realise!!

the only reason i can see for them not making an effort is that they dont get to keep the money it just goes to the government

[dog box]

Well Well National Express have gone belly up......was this shower not the driving force behind the much celebrated Wessex Trains??

[cereal_basher]

Wessex Trains was indeed a National Express Franchise. The difference was Wessex Trains were subsidised, no large premiums due to the government. National Express also bid for the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise but lost, this time as they made realistic forecasts on the amount of money they could pay the government, unlike with NXEC^▸ (National Express East Coast).

[r james]

Im sure the next year willbe interesting with this franchise!!

I say it will end up with either Virgin or Arriva. 

[stebbo]

Wessex Trains was indeed a National Express Franchise. The difference was Wessex Trains were subsidised, no large premiums due to the government. National Express also bid for the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise but lost, this time as they made realistic forecasts on the amount of money they could pay the government, unlike with NXEC^▸ (National Express East Coast).

And hopefully unlike FGW.....

[JayMac]

It has been confirmed that NatEx are to lose their NXEC^▸ (National Express East Coast) franchise, with the route being taken back into temporary state ownership.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8127851.stm

[Phil]

I'm really going to miss their website. Their ticket booking process was the best around.

[JayMac]

Well here's hoping that website will stay.....ideal for a Solo debit card holder like me. I think it will stay with the 'new' franchise, after all it was inherited from GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways).

[Henry]

 Now there is the East Coast mainline up for grabs, I wonder if First Group will continue their interest in National Express ?

[Brucey]

The Southern website uses the same booking engine as NXEC^▸ (National Express East Coast).  Govia's other franchises (London Midland and Southeastern) also use the Mixing Deck.

[Lee]

Adonis statement can be found here - http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/statements/franchisedrailservices

I guess the big question arises from the following quote:

National Express also operates rail services on the East Anglia main line and associated commuter routes. The company has said that it does not intend to default on its obligations in respect of these franchises. Notwithstanding this, the Government believes it may have grounds to terminate these franchises, and we are exploring all options in the light of the Group^s statement this morning. In the meantime, we expect National Express to meet its obligations on these franchises in full.

A company which had defaulted in the way National Express now intends would not have pre-qualifed for any previous franchises let by the Department. I note that the parent groups of previous franchise failures are no longer in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail business. It is simply unacceptable to reap the benefits of contracts when times are good, only to walk away from them when times become more challenging.

[JayMac]

Adonis statement can be found here - http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/statements/franchisedrailservices

I guess the big question arises from the following quote:

National Express also operates rail services on the East Anglia main line and associated commuter routes. The company has said that it does not intend to default on its obligations in respect of these franchises. Notwithstanding this, the Government believes it may have grounds to terminate these franchises, and we are exploring all options in the light of the Group^s statement this morning. In the meantime, we expect National Express to meet its obligations on these franchises in full.

A company which had defaulted in the way National Express now intends would not have pre-qualifed for any previous franchises let by the Department. I note that the parent groups of previous franchise failures are no longer in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail business. It is simply unacceptable to reap the benefits of contracts when times are good, only to walk away from them when times become more challenging.

Here is how National Express see the 'cross-default' situation. (Extract from their trading statement released 01/07/2009 - full statement can be found here: http://www.nationalexpressgroup.com/nx1/media/news/rns/rnsitem?id=1246428012nRnsA8563U&t=popup)

"If, despite the best efforts of NXEC^▸ (National Express East Coast) and the full utilisation of National Express' committed financial support, trading conditions result in NXEC being unable to meet its financial obligations under the terms of the East Coast franchise agreement, the Board believes that the Secretary of State would have a duty to reassume control of the franchise.  Should such circumstances arise, National Express believes that the Secretary of State would not be permitted either to recover from National Express any losses arising from any possible breach of the franchise agreement by NXEC or to execute the right of cross default contained in the franchise agreements for NXEA^▸ (National Express East Anglia) and c2c.  Cross default can only be applied where the Secretary of State can reasonably expect that the default under one franchise within an owning group has a material impact on the other franchises within that group.  However, the Group believes that the Secretary of State would have no grounds on which to come to this conclusion in circumstances where the Group has satisfied in full all of the parental support obligations to which the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) asked it to commit at the time of tendering the East Coast franchise and awarding it to NXEC, and will continue to do so at both NXEA and c2c.  National Express has taken and received clear and detailed advice from leading legal Counsel upon its, and its subsidiaries', positions under the East Coast and other franchise agreements and is confident that the implication of any NXEC default should be confined to the NXEC franchise. The Group would oppose any attempt by the DfT to cross default, in order to protect shareholder value."

Looks like we could be heading to the courts if Adonis pushes for 'cross-default'.