East Coast franchise - ongoing discussion, merged topic

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

National Express are shortly to be down to just one franchise, C2C, after failing to make the shortlist for the stop-gap 17 month Greater Anglia franchise.

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A new company is set to run rail services in East Anglia.

Existing operator National Express East Anglia was not shortlisted for the Greater Anglia franchise, which starts next year.

The three companies on the list are the Go-Ahead Group, Stagecoach and Nederlande Spoorwagen.

National Express said it would seek clarification from the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) over the decision.

The Greater Anglia franchise will start on 5 February 2012 and run for 17 months with an option to extend by up to one year.

The DfT said this shorter franchise would allow time for reforms arising from the current McNulty review into rail value for money to be properly considered.

'Very disappointed'

In a statement, the DfT said objectives for the franchise would include delivering a quality of service for passengers for their entire journey and working with Network Rail to maintain performance.

A National Express spokesperson said: "We are very disappointed not to have been shortlisted to bid for the Greater Anglia franchise.

"We believe we put forward a very positive and high quality submission building on the significant improvements delivered on National Express East Anglia.

"We are therefore seeking further clarification from the Department for Transport to explain this decision."

Peter Lawrence, president of campaign group Railfuture, said: "I'm surprised. I thought they [National Express] would probably get a 17-month extension.

"I think they're doing the best they can within the circumstances they have to operate in.

"It won't make much difference to passengers. It doesn't seem worthwhile changing operators for such a short period of time."

[Timmer]

Despite a change of government it looks like National Express group are still not flavour of the month down at the Dft. Still they could always bounce back when the franchise is re-let in a couple of years time!

[woody]

     The InterCity East Coast passenger rail franchise- National Audit Office Press Releases - 24 Mar 2011 12:33     http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/0/6041908DE7A866758025785D00457B4A
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said today:
"In terminating the East Coast passenger rail franchise, the Department for Transport acted decisively to protect the public interest and achieved value for money by avoiding the significant risk that other holding companies would seek negotiated exits from their loss-making franchises."
Worth a read for its possible implications on the future of the Great Western Franchise.
                                               

[Rhydgaled]

Why oh why are they planning to re-let the franchise??!?!?!?!?! Nationalisation = much cheaper railways. British Rail was not much better at providing the services, if at all, but a lot cheaper and no worse.

[Ollie]

Why oh why are they planning to re-let the franchise??!?!?!?!?! Nationalisation = much cheaper railways. British Rail was not much better at providing the services, if at all, but a lot cheaper and no worse.

Cheaper for who?
Certainly not the passenger, East Coast haven't put fares down, so I don't see where you're coming from?

[Henry]

 Considering 'passenger's best interests' I think it would be unfair to rule out any option
 to re-franchise the East Coast.
 
 

[Rhydgaled]

Why oh why are they planning to re-let the franchise??!?!?!?!?! Nationalisation = much cheaper railways. British Rail was not much better at providing the services, if at all, but a lot cheaper and no worse.

Cheaper for who?
Certainly not the passenger, East Coast haven't put fares down, so I don't see where you're coming from?

For the taxpayer/cash strapped government. No private company = no private company taking a slice of the profits. At least the franchise in question actually make a profit, franchises which cost more to run than the revenue they can generate have an artifitial profit paid for by the taxpayer. As evidence, I stated that BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) recived far less subsidy than the railways do now. I expect however that the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s slice of profit pales into insignificance next to the leasing of rolling stock, over ^300m per year across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) just for leasing the DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) fleet.

[ReWind]

I know it's no way near FGW^▸ (First Great Western) land, but it is affecting some of our XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services!!

A major signalling blackout has occured in the Northallerton area, north of York! Similar to what happened in Cardiff recently, but affecting a larger area, thus more severe!!

Trains are currently well over two hours late from Newcastle, and this is still growing all the time!!  Many EC and XC services cancelled too!

With the rally in London, I sure wouldn't want to be at Kings Cross tonight!!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

ive been getting updates on this from a friend on facebook who was stuck in the same place for over two and a half hours

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

East Coast rail line disrupted by signal failure

Hundreds of passengers were stranded on trains on the East Coast main line because of a signal failure.

Five passenger trains and five freight trains were brought to a standstill due to the problem in the York area, Network Rail said.

Other services were disrupted or cancelled. Passengers were being advised to travel only if absolutely necessary.

The East Coast main line runs between London Kings Cross and Scotland.

A Network Rail spokesman said the problem was with its signalling software and at this stage officials had no idea how long it would take to fix.

The affected train companies included CrossCountry, East Coast, First TransPennine Express, Grand Central and Northern Rail.

East Coast introduced a revised timetable.

A number of replacement bus services were being offered around the affected area.

They included First TransPennine Express between York and Middlesbrough, Northern Rail York to Poppleton and CrossCountry between York and Darlington.

BBC Radio Five Live reporter Steph McGovern said she was stuck on a London-bound Grand Central train near Northallerton in North Yorkshire for six hours.

Passengers were eventually allowed to climb down a ladder and walk along the track to a level crossing.

She said people on the train had been provided with free food and drink.

Other trains were evacuated in the same way, she said.

Three months ago thousands of East Coast main line passengers had their journeys disrupted by a power failure at Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Telegraph:

Thousands trapped in rail signal chaos

Thousands of passengers were trapped on trains for more than five hours on Saturday by a major signalling failure on the East Coast main line.
Five passenger trains were stranded between York and Northallerton when a computer failure caused local signalling systems to shut down shortly after 1pm.
Network Rail said it did not know how many were on board each train, but that most of those affected were on board express trains operated by East Coast.
Passengers on a Grand Central train had to be evacuated using ladders and were taken on to the next station by road.
Some of the trains could not be moved out of the affected area until 6.45pm, while dozens of other services up and down the line were delayed by several hours.
The fault caused other trains to be cancelled or disrupted and bus replacement services were brought in on some journeys.
Among the passengers affected was BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Radio Five Live reporter Steph McGovern, who was heading to London when her train got stuck near Northallerton for six hours. She told the BBC passengers were eventually allowed to climb down a ladder and walk along the track to a level crossing. They had been provided with free food and drink during the wait.
Greg Neale, a former Sunday Telegraph journalist, was stuck on a northbound train outside Doncaster for two hours. He said: ^The train crew were very good and eventually gave out free cups of tea and water. There were a lot of frustrated passengers. At York there were a lot of Scotland football fans heading south who had been put on replacement coach services from places further north so clearly they must have endured a similarly long delay.^
A Network Rail spokeswoman said: "We had our systems engineers working on it to fix the fault but we had quite severe problems this afternoon. Obviously for those people on these trains there has been significant disruption. We can only offer our sincere apologies."
Network Rail said tonight that after repairing the faulty signalling system some long distance services had been restored but there were still problems at a regional level, where services are not expected to return to normal until tomorrow.
British Transport Police stressed the delays were not caused by cable theft.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

East Coast rail delays spark passenger anger

Train passengers left stranded by signalling problems on the East Coast main line have complained of being left to fend for themselves.

Many people were eventually brought to York station after being stuck on trains for hours.

Middlesbrough passenger Mike Oyston said: "It was just chaos, there was no information at all."

A spokesman for train operator East Coast said: "We sincerely apologise for the queues and inconvenience." He said the company had tried to keep passengers informed by sending members of staff to York station. "Part of the problem was that we didn't know the exact times when this situation would be resolved so the amount of information we had was limited," he said. "Clearly we had a difficult weekend."

However, passengers would be eligible for compensation payments under its '"delay repay" scheme. Most of East Coast's services were operating normally on Sunday, he added.

However, Mr Oyston said he was angry that he had to arrange for a friend to drive to York from Middlesbrough to take him home. "There were about 1,000 people waiting to get home from York station," he said. "We were not told anything. We were directed to the back car park and left to get on with it. We're not happy at all."

Grandmother Pat Feetham, of Hull, also complained of a lack of information after being stuck on a train from Scotland for almost five hours. "They ran out of food, it was very cold and we didn't know what was happening until a police officer got on the train and said there were buses to take us to York. We're not happy."

As delays continued on some services on Sunday, National Rail Enquiries said a number of train crews and trains were not in the right place to run. It advised people to check before travelling.

[JayMac]

A friend of mine was heading back to London from Newcastle on Saturday afternoon/evening. He eventually got his ticket endorsed so that he could travel Newcastle-Carlisle-Euston. Despite the much longer journey he was quite chuffed, because he'd never travelled the Tyne Valley Line beyond Prudhoe and the TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) on the Virgin service from Carlisle gave him a gratis Weekend First upgrade!

[ReWind]

ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) is closed again tonight between Grantham and Newark!  This time due to a fatality!

And we think we got it bad are way!! 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

East Coast rail services disrupted after body found

Services on the East Coast Main Line have been badly disrupted after a person was struck by a train.

Major delays are being reported between Doncaster and London King's Cross after the incident earlier this afternoon at Grantham, Lincolnshire.

There are currently no East Coast, First Hull Trains and Grand Central services through the area but First Capital Connect are not affected.

Police confirmed a body had been found on the line near Grantham station.

A spokesman for train operator East Coast said: "We can confirm that a person was hit by an East Coast train at around 4pm this afternoon at a location just north of Grantham. The train is currently being held at the location by the British Transport Police. As a result the line is closed in both directions: the location is a two-track stretch of line with no diversionary route available."

Disruption is expected until services resume Thursday morning.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "Officers were called to the line close to Grantham after a report that a person had been struck by a train. Inquiries have begun to establish the identity of the body and the circumstances leading up to the death."

A passenger at Retford said they had been at a standstill for more than an hour and were being served refreshments by staff.

Other operators are accepting East Coast tickets for journeys between London and the North, including East Midlands Trains from London St Pancras and Virgin Trains via London Euston.