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Hugh Bayley calls for new look at East Coast franchise (From York Press)
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MP Hugh Bayley calls for new look at East Coast franchise
8:21am Monday 8th October 2012 in News
BIDDING for the East Coast Mainline franchise should be stopped in light of the West Coast Mainline fiasco, York Central MP Hugh Bayley has said.
Mr Bayley said that before the franchise was handed over to the private sector, the Government should take the opportunity to compare private and public sector running of rail franchises.
He said: “The Government needs to re-examine the merits of franchising more fundamentally. We on the East Coast have suffered a hiatus twice for collapsed franchise.”
The Government admitted mistakes had been made in the bidding process for the West Coast Main Line franchise and pulled the contract from FirstGroup, which won the bid in August claiming it could run the franchise more efficiently than existing operator Virgin Trains, which subsequently launched a judicial review.
Mr Bayley said: “We should build on the stability that users of the East Coast mainline have had since East Coast took over running it. We need to rigorously evaluate the costs and benefits of a private franchise against a public franchise by comparing the East Coast Mainline with the West Coast Mainline, rather than taking the ideological view that the private sector is best in all circumstances.”
He said East Coast should remain in public sector hands and run for the length of the West Coast Mainline franchise for a fair comparison.
Comments(11)
Richard1958
says...
9:42am Mon 8 Oct 12
pedalling paul
says...
10:20am Mon 8 Oct 12
Micklegate wrote:Would you rather he travelled locally round the Constituency by car, helping to clog up roads and claiming a far bigger car allowance?
I really don't know why Hugh Bayley claims the cycling allowance, he seems to go everywhere by bandwagon.
* well ok I do, it's because he's historically been one of the most expensive MPs and is out for every penny he can get.
Ignatius Lumpopo
says...
10:39am Mon 8 Oct 12
Micklegate's opening sentence hits the nail on the head...
Pete the Brickie
says...
11:15am Mon 8 Oct 12
Micklegate wrote:Spot on.
I really don't know why Hugh Bayley claims the cycling allowance, he seems to go everywhere by bandwagon.
* well ok I do, it's because he's historically been one of the most expensive MPs and is out for every penny he can get.
perplexed
says...
2:10pm Mon 8 Oct 12
Richard1958 wrote:Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
What makes you think that the Government can run a railway efficiently when they cannot even run a procurement exercise. Leave it to the private sector you Marxist.
bloodaxe
says...
4:20pm Mon 8 Oct 12
Richard1958 wrote:Like the banks perhaps ? Funny that every other western European country runs railways well and for public benefit. You don't let the government run the railways, you allow the people who know about railways to run the railways and, unlike the old BR, you allow them to access capital on the markets, lease rolling stock on the markets and let them make the best judgment on what is required. Johnnie Major's rushed privatisation was a warning which other governments have heeded. I'm surprised that he wasn't awarded the Legion d'honneur.
What makes you think that the Government can run a railway efficiently when they cannot even run a procurement exercise. Leave it to the private sector you Marxist.
Haywire
says...
5:05pm Mon 8 Oct 12
To quote Christian Wolmar, who does know something about railways, "What is railway franchising actually for?"
John Major, that other well-known railway expert, asserted that, "British Railways are deeply inefficient!" This was his cover story for rail privatisation, but the principal point of the exercise was to get the cost of running the rail system away from the public purse.
Amazingly enough, we are now spending about three to four times as much public money in real (should it be rail) terms to support the rail system.
I have no great axe to grind regarding a public or privately run rail system (but I'm certainly not too keen on warm beer and cricket), but I believe that the present way of doing it is unsustainable.
At the present time, nearly all the major franchises are in "Revenue Support" (this means that taxpayers' money is funding the profits of the private train operating companies, including Virgin West Coast). Meanwhile, East Coast Trains have actually provided quite a lot of money for the taxpayer.
For a reasoned view of the situation, I suggest that all those interested in a proper debate on the future of the rail system should read the article on page 6 of the October edtion of the magazine, "Modern Railways". It is headed "Time to end a failed experiment."
bob the builder
says...
7:41pm Mon 8 Oct 12
Haywire
says...
8:59pm Mon 8 Oct 12
7:41pm Mon 8 Oct 12
It's virgin on the ridiculous, at least they can run businesses to budget, efficiently and at a profit. Virgin Britain has a ring to it
Bob, I don't know how to put this to you, but you seem to have been taken in by the Branson (I leave you to work the next word out, but it starts with B). Virgin West Coast are in Revenue Support, i.e., they are not operating at a profit; they are not operating to budget; you (probably) and I are contributing to their profit as taxpayers.
Magicman!
says...
2:47am Tue 9 Oct 12
DOR stepped in to run a franchise where morale, customer satisfaction, and reliability were low - and recently it was announced that reliability is climbing and customer satisfaction is the highest it has been for the East Coast since privatisation, which is ironic as it's not technically 'private' at the moment!
Micklegate says...
9:15am Mon 8 Oct 12
* well ok I do, it's because he's historically been one of the most expensive MPs and is out for every penny he can get.