Posted 29th October 2012 | 8 Comments
Now Virgin may bid for East Coast
VIRGIN founder Sir Richard Branson has indicated that his company could bid for the East Coast franchise. After he had challenged the West Coast process, which has now collapsed, he had said it was 'very unlikely' that Virgin would bid again unless the franchise system was reformed.
Virgin is currently locked in talks with the Department for Transport over the terms for carrying on with West Coast after 8 December, but although Virgin is widely reported to be staying for an emergency period of between nine and 13 months, so far no agreement has been announced. This means that the operater of intercity West Coast services from December is still officially unconfirmed.
Meanwhile all franchise reletting has been suspended by the DfT, although four contracts are due to be renewed next year, including East Coast.
The processes cannot restart until the results of two current inquiries are known and have been taken into account. The first of these, which is examining the specific reasons why the award of West Coast to FirstGroup had to be withdrawn, should publish its initial findings within the next two or three days. The second is analysing the DfT's methods of assessing franchise bids in general, and its findings may not be known until the New Year.
As a result, it seems unlikely at the moment that any franchise can be relet in 2013, which means that c2c, First Great Western and First Capital Connect may all have to be given emergency extensions of their own.
The Government remains determined to return East Coast to the private sector in due course, having taken it over in November 2009 after National Express surrendered the contract.
Virgin had bid for East Coast unsuccessfully on two previous occasions, when it had been beaten by GNER and then National Express. Neither of these operators proved able to pay the agreed premiums, and had been forced to walk away.
These failures had helped to provoke Richard Branson into challenging the West Coast decision, but his earlier stance of refusing to bid again now appears to have been modified, although there is no way of knowing when the East Coast competition might now be restarted.
He told the Sunday Telegraph: "What I would hope is that any new bidding process will take into account innovation, and the quality of ideas. We know what needs to be done on East Coast, and we think we’ve got the team to do it. It urgently needs investment and we’d be delighted to do it.”
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Gary Gardner, Seattle, Washington USA
As a frequent visitor and traveler between London and Scotland, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree Gordon from Newark regarding the 225s. Much more pleasant to travel on than the Pendos and Voyagers, especially in 1st Class. I do miss the old GNER and the refresh to the "Mallard" interiors is still the best.
Roger Sutcliffe, Preston
Who ever runs the East coast lin in the future please no more pendolinos or voyagers these are the worst trains in the country to travel long distance on, despite the bean counters lets have some thought into the inside of any new East coast stock instead of them just being a new sardine can!
Gordon, Newark
I must say i'm quite a fan of East Coast...I know the 225's aren't quite as reliable as they should be but the company seems to have reached a decent position in recent years. The new timetable is good, the off peak first class service is great value, and the new KX has brought a (much needed) boost to the London end of the service. I also think that, despite the 'shout-it-from-the-rooftops' Pendelino/Virgin/Branson/West Coast PR noise, an East Coast 225/125 is still a far more pleasant place to spend time. A personal view i know...
I never thought i'd say it, but here's to the goverment winning the franchise...haha
Steve Alston, Manchester
I believe many have misunderstood Virgin's 'sour grapes' statement re- being unlikely to bid again for a UK rail franchise. The comments were made by Virgin in relation to the old franchise bidding process being unfair and awarding the winning bid to contractors who would deliver less with high risk bids.
That process is now undergoing major change and it perfectly reasonable for Virgin to come forward to bid under a new, revised process.
As much as I believe Virgin and FirstGroup equally have no interest in the railway other than financial, I consider Virgin to be more deserving as they have been better behaved over the last ten years; my opinion of course.
Paul Bigland, Halifax
Please don't ever let Virgin loose on our railway again, all RB is interested in is making money and cheap PR stunts, he has done nothing for the railways in this country.
Sam Green, bournemouth
Ha Ha LOL! You could not make it up could you? It would be laughable if it wasn`t so serious! Its like something out of an Ealing Comedy or a Carry On film!
Billy Bell, Beith, UK
I think the east coast would suit virgin down to the ground. Virgin on East and First on west coast.
Why don't the 2 of them get together and put in a bid for both routes? Virgin, Stagecoach and First running the most prestigious routes would certainly ensure that British companies keep running British railways and stave off the likes of DB / arriva.
Tim, Devon
Would be good to see the Virgin brand remain on the U.K. railways. I wonder if they have any interesting ideas, or if all bids will end up essentially the same. eg IEP trains + 225 trains until the end of the franchise.