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Posted: Sun 04 Apr, 2004 01.02
by Larry Scutta
The 3 franchises were merged into the 'Greater Anglia' franchise, this was won by National Express who started (as One railways) on the 1st April.
This is the new strategy by the Strategic Rail Authority - bigger franchises and less of them. This is being done in part by having one operator per London terminus. Thames Trains also ceased to be on the 1st; that franchise has been merged with First Great Western's but will be readvertised in a couple of years. The GN bit of WAGN is staying for a wile and will then merge with Thameslink.
The controversial thing is that the old Anglia Railways company was the best performing franchise and one of the most popular in the country.... and they were kicked off the network!. Although funnily Anglia was expected to win and so its parent company was bought by First Group a few weeks before the franchise decision was made.
Posted: Mon 05 Apr, 2004 20.41
by Anonymous
Larry Scutta wrote:The 3 franchises were merged into the 'Greater Anglia' franchise, this was won by National Express who started (as One railways) on the 1st April.
This is the new strategy by the Strategic Rail Authority - bigger franchises and less of them. This is being done in part by having one operator per London terminus. Thames Trains also ceased to be on the 1st; that franchise has been merged with First Great Western's but will be readvertised in a couple of years. The GN bit of WAGN is staying for a wile and will then merge with Thameslink.
The controversial thing is that the old Anglia Railways company was the best performing franchise and one of the most popular in the country.... and they were kicked off the network!. Although funnily Anglia was expected to win and so its parent company was bought by First Group a few weeks before the franchise decision was made.
I'm not surpirsed Anglia where said to be one of the most popular in the country, they very rarely had any techincal problems. First Group ran Great Eastern quite well up until the last 3-6 moths when they kept getting delays. The main problem stems from the traingular shaped trains (if people understand what I mean by that, the slam shuts which are been rplace are a rounded square shape looking face on) if you don't understnad what I mean by the shape, then the ones with the big rubber buttons.
These keep having problems with doors sticking, which means First GER kept putting "Not In Use" stickers on them. They keep breaking down alot as well so prehaps these are next to go. The old slam shuts are actually quite reliable but age is the problem, I think they may be over 35 years old
Posted: Tue 06 Apr, 2004 23.59
by Larry Scutta
Mind you reliability and perfromance aren't necessarily the fault of the company involved. they are only working with what they've been given. They are just operators, the infrastructure isn't theirs and in most cases that is crap.
The most reliable train company apparently is the one on the Isle of Wiight..... not surprising seeing as they only have about 4 stations
Posted: Wed 07 Apr, 2004 07.19
by James Hatts
They also have some of the oldest trains on the Isle of Wight!
Posted: Wed 07 Apr, 2004 11.36
by Aston
James Hatts wrote:They also have some of the oldest trains on the Isle of Wight!
They use old London Underground stock on the Isle of White, so any Tube buffs who want to see old underground trains, head over to the White Isle!
Posted: Wed 07 Apr, 2004 15.32
by Chris
Aston wrote:James Hatts wrote:They also have some of the oldest trains on the Isle of Wight!
They use old London Underground stock on the Isle of White, so any Tube buffs who want to see old underground trains, head over to the White Isle!
I can't see a bunch of tube buffs going on an 18-30 holday to some Spanish island
Posted: Wed 07 Apr, 2004 19.00
by Anonymous
Aston wrote:James Hatts wrote:They also have some of the oldest trains on the Isle of Wight!
They use old London Underground stock on the Isle of White, so any Tube buffs who want to see old underground trains, head over to the White Isle!
I wonder if "TOX-03" has made his way over there yet, he seems to have graffitied most of the London Underground especially the Metropolitan Line
Posted: Wed 07 Apr, 2004 19.56
by James Martin
The new Virgin Voyager and Pendilino trains are fantastic - faster and more comfortable than the old sort. Some good bevvies on them too.
Posted: Wed 07 Apr, 2004 20.08
by Gavin Scott
Flava wrote:Some good bevvies on them too.
Do you mean like bottled beer and alcopops, or is "bevvies" a euphemism for something else?
Posted: Thu 08 Apr, 2004 19.46
by Anonymous
Flava wrote:The new Virgin Voyager and Pendilino trains are fantastic - faster and more comfortable than the old sort. Some good bevvies on them too.
Great Eastern trains have Strawberry Milkshakes all over the floor & mc donalds chips stamped in the seats
Posted: Tue 13 Apr, 2004 21.44
by cat
At Cambridge station the other week, listening to the dreadfully cheery announcer.
Unfortunately, the new 'One' brand does not appear to have been successfully implemented.
With announcements running to the format of "the [time] [operator] to [destination]..."
So it sounds like "the 10.30 one service to Manchester...", which makes you think it is "The 10.31 service to Manchester".
It gets really annoying after a while, honestly...