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Topic: National Express Tipped To Win East Coast Main Line Franchise (Read 1901 times)
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Lee
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The east coast main line will get a new operator this week when the Department for Transport names the winner of a keenly-contested battle between four of Britain’s largest transport groups (link below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/08/national_express_leads_east_co.html#moreNational Express , the quoted bus and rail company , was last night tipped as the winner. It would take over from GNER , a subsidiary of Sea Containers , which has run the blue - riband route since the privatisation of British Rail in the mid 1990s. But industry sources said last night the result was still open. Four names are in the frame - National Express , Arriva , Virgin/ Stagecoach and First Group - and the sources said all the companies believed they still had a chance of clinching the prize. Industry executives were this week wondering how close the successful bid would come to matching GNER’s. One rail analyst said: “The route is still experiencing very strong passenger growth, and the government has made it clear it is happy to see fare increases above the rate of inflation, so the company that wins is going to have promise to give back a lot to the Treasury.” |
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courgettelawn
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Just heard on the news that National Express have indeed won the East Coast franchise. It will be interesting to see whether they continue to operate in the manner of GNER. One hopes so.
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Lee
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National Express Group PLC has won with a pledge to pay the government £1.4 billion over the life of the seven year deal (link below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/08/national_express_wins_east_coa.html#moreThe premium payment is more than the £1.3 billion that the incumbent operator , Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) , agreed to pay. GNER was forced to give up the franchise before the end of its 10-year term because it was unable to meet the payments. The Department for Transport (DfT) said the National Express bid vehicle , NXEC , had said it may wish to raise unregulated fares by an average of 2.1 pct above inflation each year over the course of the franchise. Regulated fares will continue to rise by inflation plus 1 percent per year. East Coast runs services from London King's Cross to Peterborough , Leeds , York , Newcastle , Edinburgh and Aberdeen. The new contract will begin on December 9 and last until March 31 2015 , with the last 17 months conditional on set performance levels being reached. More on this in the links below. http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=526.msg1699#msg1699http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/08/east_coast_rail_deal_could_mea.html#more |
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« Last Edit: August 15, 2007, 03:24:02 PM by Lee »
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courgettelawn
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Being someone who just wants trains to run regularly and on time, I can forgive the caviar and champagne they obviously must be selling at those prices on the buffet cart! As for stupid advanced purchase tickets, said person cannot have traveled with First.
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Lee
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National Express's award of the InterCity East Coast rail franchise has been thrown into doubt this weekend after the Office of Fair Trading revealed it is to investigate the company's suitability to run the business on competition grounds (link below.) http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/08/national_express_faces_oft_pro.html#moreThe Sunday Telegraph has learned National Express faces an inquiry over its potential dominance of both coach and rail services along the route between London, the North East and Scotland's east coast. Although the bus and rail operator dismissed the investigation as "routine" there is a worrying precedent for the company. In 1997 the Competition Commission forced National Express to sell its coach operation Scottish Citylink as a result of it winning the Scottish Rail franchise. Since then there have been five other investigations into franchise awards , three of them involving National Express and the overlap of its coach and rail operations. The OFT investigation and its decision on whether to instruct the Competition Commission to rule on the matter is likely to take some months. There is also an interesting article contained in the link below. http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/08/the_dignity_of_trains_is_in_lo.html#more |
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« Last Edit: August 20, 2007, 03:34:51 PM by Lee »
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