Xerces Fobe2 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I think everybody here knows that the Secretary of State is a figure head for the civil servants who do the real work (destruction), they may take big policy decisions and question recommendations but does anybody think Justine Greening reviews rail franchise bids? No I don't thinkshe reviews any rail franchise bids; IMO she adds no value and has no real idea of what it is all about and spouts meaningless platitudes when interviewed, This is her qualifications for her job- not exactly a good fit IMO! "Greening was born in Rotherham, where she attended Oakwood Comprehensive School.[1] She is a graduate of the University of Southampton, where she studied Economics,[ and has an MBA from the London Business School. Prior to entering Parliament, she trained and qualified as an accountant, before working as an accountant/finance manager for, amongst others, Price Waterhouse Coopers, GlaxoSmithKline and Centrica." source Wikipedia XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 This is her qualifications for her job- not exactly a good fit IMO! She seems like the ideal person to look at the financial side of the bids - probably a lot better qualified than the civil servants who actually do this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 She seems like the ideal person to look at the financial side of the bids - probably a lot better qualified than the civil servants who actually do this. I agree she is well qualified to know the cost of everything and the value of nothing ! XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB17005 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I'm not sure how the second point is relevant to the actual contract decision. As for the £14m, well tough. They entered the bidding process knowing that it was non-refundable if they lost. I'd like to see a cost statement on that one , just as a benchmark , if it takes 140 men on £100k packages one year to change a light bulb , how much to formulate an ICWC franchise bid ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 The £14m figure has been bandied around a lot. I thought it was how much Virgin have spent over the years on bids, not just this one, can anyone clarify? Also is that figure how much Virgin have spent, or how much Virgin+Stagecoach have spent? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB17005 Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 The £14m figure has been bandied around a lot. I thought it was how much Virgin have spent over the years on bids, not just this one, can anyone clarify? Also is that figure how much Virgin have spent, or how much Virgin+Stagecoach have spent? He refers to spending £14 million on the bid. That would be Virgin trains which is roughly half & half Virgin & Stagecoach. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Looking at the firms Greening has worked for I notice that a couple are well known insolvency practioners and Centrica well known for robbing customers blind on energy deals so she is qualified to fleece rail passengers and TOC,s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 bid now on hold acording to aunty beeb http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19467510 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Interesting article in Rail with Firsts MD ,looks like a chance that new trains might not be Pendo,s he also promised new Pendo seats and more tables plus better luggage provision and a business class ,over to you Virgin what will you offer? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Government response: http://www.dft.gov.uk/news/statements/villiers-20120903a/ ]The Minister of State for Transport (Theresa Villiers)[/b]: On the 15 August 2012 the Department for Transport announced to the London Stock Exchange that it intended to award the InterCity West Coast franchise to First West Coast Limited, a subsidiary of First Group. Bids were received from Abellio InterCity West Coast Limited – NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen, First West Coast Limited – FirstGroup plc, Keolis/SNCF West Coast Limited – Keolis SA and SNCF, Virgin Trains Limited – Virgin Group Holdings Limited. The new franchise is planned to begin operation on Sunday 9 December 2012. The franchise will operate for a core term of 13 years and 4 months, with an option to be extended to operate for up to 15 years. The winning bid from First West Coast Limited provides for a premium of £5.5 billion NPV over the core franchise term. The West Coast Main Line is one of the most important intercity rail passenger routes in the country and it is also a valuable public asset. Over the last decade and more, taxpayers have invested £9 billion to upgrade the infrastructure. It is a profitable franchise for the current operator and after significant public investment in the line the Government is rightly seeking to get a substantial return for passengers and taxpayers. The First West Coast bid provides: more trains on the route, with 12,000 extra seats per day provided by 11 new 6 carriage electric trains from December 2016 (in addition to the 106 extra Pendolino carriages currently being introduced); refurbishing the existing Pendolino and Voyager train fleets, more capacity on services between Birmingham and Scotland, and faster journey times between London Euston and Glasgow; new services to Blackpool, Bolton and Shrewsbury, subject to approval of the ORR; lower Standard Anytime fares over the first two years; £22m in station improvements; Oyster-style smart ticketing; and, for the first time in an intercity franchise, better customer satisfaction as measured by the National Passenger Survey. When a new franchise begins, employees of the current franchise operator, including drivers, guards and back office staff will be transferred to the new operator, protected by TUPE regulations. All of the rolling stock used by the incumbent operator will also transfer across. Taken together, I believe that the commitments in First West Coast’s bid represent significant improvements for passengers and will provide a good return for the taxpayer. As a result of a legal challenge, which the government intends to defend robustly, we have not yet signed the contract with First West Coast, and consequently the competition remains live. I cannot give the full commercial details of the winning bid, or indeed of the other bids. Nor is it usual or appropriate – once litigation proceedings have commenced – for the Government to comment on the detail of that, other than to say that our legal advisers are fully engaged in addressing and responding to those proceedings. I will continue to keep the House updated, subject to the constraints of legal or commercial privilege. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 838rapid Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Interesting article in Rail with Firsts MD ,looks like a chance that new trains might not be Pendo,s he also promised new Pendo seats and more tables plus better luggage provision and a business class ,over to you Virgin what will you offer? Having had the pleasure of working for a Worst group operation,Promise is a big part of the offering.. Delivery is however a different concept. The area I worked in was still using the "Honeymoon Period" excuse 3 years later. Was your Honeymoon that long?? As for promising propaganda well lets end saying all that stated "delivering the promise" No doubt still living the dream Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 The first Great pantomime before Christmas with villains Villiers, a wicked smiling Knight on a pantomime horse hauling a stagecoach and a sad ending - the WCML franchise left in Cinders! XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted September 4, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2012 he also promised.........business class thats a novel concept, wonder where they got that idea from? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted September 4, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2012 Not sure what to make of this..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Not sure what to make of this..... It's a Chiltern Railways add in response to Beardie advertising outside Chiltern stations XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmustu Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2012/08/28/virgin-warns-first-running-west-coast-main-line-may-improve-services/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggesford box Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Hi, just a thought and with the chance of being accused of reverse snobbery and putting two and two together and making five; Beardie and call me Dave both public schoolboys, Beardie looks like loosing his franchise and then Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers get removed from transport. Makes you think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted September 4, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2012 Hi, just a thought and with the chance of being accused of reverse snobbery and putting two and two together and making five; Beardie and call me Dave both public schoolboys, Beardie looks like loosing his franchise and then Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers get removed from transport. Makes you think. But just take it a stage further. The new Transport Secretary previously had a role dealing with civil aviation, presumably in quite close contact with the airline industry? Now let's just think what could be said if the bearded one gets his way and the politicos decide to put the toys back in his pram - there would then, I reckon, be grounds for a major investigation and some sort of inquiry because it is clear that it would be very easy to make accusations - even if they were completely without foundation. I reckon a rather interesting political situation has been created by the change of horses at 'Transport' and the politicos are going to have to tread very carefully. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 838rapid Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Hi, just a thought and with the chance of being accused of reverse snobbery and putting two and two together and making five; Beardie and call me Dave both public schoolboys, Beardie looks like loosing his franchise and then Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers get removed from transport. Makes you think. Bullingdon boys in action again.. Very possible. Was it the MP for Putney that said there was no chance of a U turn over the letting of this franchise being looked into again?? I see Boris is having a Rant over the extra runway at Heathrow. Which by chance the former Minister for Transport was against,a MP who's constituancy would be under the flight path. How many more U turns from Call me Dave?? School boys playing at running a country.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 838rapid Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 But just take it a stage further. The new Transport Secretary previously had a role dealing with civil aviation, presumably in quite close contact with the airline industry? Now let's just think what could be said if the bearded one gets his way and the politicos decide to put the toys back in his pram - there would then, I reckon, be grounds for a major investigation and some sort of inquiry because it is clear that it would be very easy to make accusations - even if they were completely without foundation. I reckon a rather interesting political situation has been created by the change of horses at 'Transport' and the politicos are going to have to tread very carefully. Fancy a Transport Minister having a vested interest .. Smells a bit like Mr Marples and Marples Ridgeway Road Construction. Am sure its just a coincidence ?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Backtracking and cuts to the recent electrification schemes - railways not cost effective, service cuts closures and a big road building program- sound familar? XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggesford box Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Is that the sound of someone sharpening an axe I can hear? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Fancy a Transport Minister having a vested interest .. Smells a bit like Mr Marples and Marples Ridgeway Road Construction. Am sure its just a coincidence ?? It's hardly the same though. Having worked in the past for one of the companies you are dealing with as a Minister is slightly different from awarding lots of contracts to a company your wife owns (after you gave her all your shares on becoming a minister). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave47549 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gronk the shunter Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 This is worth reading, certainly seems that (on facevalue at least) the First bid won on price alone, the list of improvements and investment from Virgin being substanially higher, maybe one reason why they opted to pay less............. http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2012/09/05-exclusive-controversial-west-coast-bids.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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