Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian + ShareResearch into privatisation… boils down to one key finding: the only way Branson and the vast majority of train barons make their profits is through handouts from the taxpayer.
Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian + ShareResearch into privatisation… boils down to one key finding: the only way Branson and the vast majority of train barons make their profits is through handouts from the taxpayer.
This morning the Department for Transport announced they were awarding FirstGroup's failing company Avanti West Coast a 6-month contract extension๐๐ค We held our Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally at the DfT and submitted our petition signed by nearly 14,000 people to Transport Secretary Mark Harper. No more new contracts. It's time to #KickFirstOut โ ... See MoreSee Less
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Obviously if you run a rubbish service you will get rewarded
What do you expect with a Tory government
The surprising thing is that the government subsidies train companies-shareholders are the only winners here.
These extensions will be so they can award the next franchise right before the general election and for significant terms to make it harder for them to be re-nationalised.
And please take Stagecoach with you when you go !
It is not just a First Group company though as it is part owned by the Italian State Railways/FS.
Failure pays?
How much more of our money will they get as well. Shareholders must be laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.๐ก๐ ๐คฌ
PATHETIC!! SHAMEFUL, TYPICAL!!!
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Are you a long-suffering Avanti passenger?๐ Donโt miss your chance to sign our #MakeWestCoastPublic petition! We will be handing it to Mark Harper this Monday 20 March, 10am as part of our Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally at the DfT โ Please add your name & come join us! ๐
๐ you.38degrees.org.uk/p/westcoast ... See MoreSee Less
Bring our West Coast rail services back into public ownership
you.38degrees.org.uk
I've just signed the petition to bring West Coast rail services back into public ownership. Join me here: you.38degrees.org.uk/org/petitions/bring-our-west-coast-rail-services-back-into-public...Comment on Facebook
Actually no, I'm not! But sympathy to those who are. Indeed, in the spring I'm going to Ireland for a short break and, from here in Scotland, I'll be going down the ECML to York, then across country on Northern Trains (state-owned) to Chester, then by Trafnidiaeth Cymru to the ferry port.
They seem to spending lots of money in refurbishment of these things while others are introducing the 800 series unit replacements for the 220/221s.
Just look Avanti West Coast performance levels, cancellations, staff shortages is all the evidence required for rail network to be taken back public ownership. Considering there is already parts of the network already in but in name in public ownership Northern, LNER and Transport for Wales ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, Scotrail ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟand the North next franchise to be brought in house so to speak is Caledonian Sleeper by the Scottish Government. This is on top of Network Rail being for at the failure of Railtrack which was in the private sector. If BR had cash ingestion that the franchise holders have had pumped into the since privatisation by John Major's Tory Government things would of maybe been different. Instead the road lobby had influenced Government policy to spend cash on road building programmes. They clearer didn't see climate change coming where rail would through correct Government policies get freight onto the railway. This needs improvements in the rail infrastructure to give more paths on the network for freight trains espically on the ECML AND WCML plus other routes such as Highland Main line.
What this government ought to do is grow a pair and renationalise the whole of the UK's railways, but they won't do that because some MP's are on boards of some of the TOC companies.
Explain how the main man on DFT been on the board for Avanti no impartiality their
Yes bring back British rail
Won't let me sign Oh well
Tory scum have given them another 6 month contract are they for real
I'm not even a train passenger any more for the simple reason that the fares are exorbitant and unaffordable. Add to that the fact that I am disabled and need to use a mobility scooter, though I can still drive, trains on the national network are inaccessible. Also there is the fact that the fares are daylight robbery and you have the facts in a nutshell. We need to take ALL public services back into public ownership and then run a PUBLIC SERVICE with them instead of as a cash cow for the tories greedy cronies. A typical example of the stupidity and inefficiency of privatisation is that of a friend who lives here in Watchet and has a brother who lives in Ilfracombe. If he visits by public transport (bus & train) he cannot get there and back in a day and has to stop over by sleeping on a sofa. That is also apart from the fact that the fare is outrageously expensive on the train and is unaffordable even taking into consideration that he has his 'old gits' free travel bus pass. I can do Ilfracombe in about 90 minutes in the car and at a fraction of the cost and this at a time when we hear all the double speak from this government about global warming, mostly hot air, of course, as they are not to be trusted to do anything about these porblems.
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Are you an angry Avanti West Coast or TransPennine Express Trains passenger? ๐๐ก Join our Kick First Out! Avanti & TransPennine Passenger Rally at the DfT to tell Transport Secretary Mark Harper MP enough is enough.
๐ Monday 20 March 2023, 10am
๐ Department for Transport, London, SW1P 4DR
๐ kickfirstout.eventbrite.com ... See MoreSee Less
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We will be submitting our #MakeWestCoastPublic petition - now signed by more than 12,000 people - to Transport Secretary Mark Harper, so please make sure you sign the petition before 20 March ๐ you.38degrees.org.uk/p/westcoast
Bring Back all the passenger operations into Public ownership. It's the only way Forward.
I avoid all train journeys if possible these days - there is no evidence of organisational abilities anywhere.
Let’s kick out Failing FirstGroup.
It seems to be the same with their bus service. Busses don’t turn up without any notification.
As usual its rich friends over providing efficient public services - why?? We dont want Avanti running our trains on the West coast!!๐ก๐
We use the First buses everyday and find that they provide a good service. Unlike some other towns we have a good regular bus service in Portsmouth.
Trans pennine are so bad I won't book tickets using them at all. In my experience they almost never run on the Manchester to Hull axis. Better Leeds to Manchester but at 15 min frequency lots of alternatives
LNER are no better and they're public owned.
Enough is enough
How about disgruntled Southeastern customers?
Let's pretend Labour is socialist party.
First group are along with all the other companies are failing with buses as well.
About time First got the boot, worst transport company ever
I saw the big FIRST logo and all the corporate pink and was about to rip into the f88kers, then realised it was you, so; Keep Up The Good Work!
Bring back British Rail and not bus companies to run our railways
Usual rubbish then. I've not had any problems with Avanti West Coast lately nor have a lot of my colleagues.
The railways shoul NEVER have been privatised in the first place nor should the buses as they have ALL been an absolute disaster ever since. Along with re-nationalisation, we also need to re-instate as much as possible of the network that Marples and his crony Beeching closed down in the 1960s. There are no longer any execuses for NOT doing so as the climate emergency demands a reliable, affordable and available PUBLIC transport system whereby we can remove lots of cars from our roads. That means that privatisation is a DEAD DUCK as it is UNAFFORDABLE both in the short term and the long term. Kick the privateers out - they wouldn't stand for this rubbish anywhere else in Europe !
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Great news from Scotland today! ๐ฅณ Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth MSP has announced that the Caledonian Sleeper service will be brought back into #PublicOwnership from 25 June 2023 ๐ That will make 6 of Britain's 20 rail franchises back in public hands ๐ bringbackbritishrail.org/franchises ... See MoreSee Less
Ministers nationalise 'world class' cross-border train service - but why?
www.heraldscotland.com
MINISTERS have confirmed they are to nationalise the key Caledonian Sleeper service which operates overnight rail passenger services betweenโฆComment on Facebook
Still paying out money to the private owned leasing companies & to GBRf for the locomotives & crew. Until that is dealt with it will never be fully back in public hand.
It was run by Serco says it all really
I am all for public ownership, I am also old enough to remember the experience of using British Rail
As someone that uses the Sleeper on a regular basis, we will see what changes if any. To be fair the Mk3s where looking shabby, I do miss the Mk2 brake vans, as it was good to get large luggage out of the cabin. I have used the Mk5s the ride was fine both in the standard two berth cabin and the double bed version. I think the Mk5s traditional berth is slightly smaller that the Mk3. The Sleeper service is brilliant, no need to worry about the cost of luggage in the hold of a plane. I have been told just to have a small holdal on a plane costs £8 each way. The class 73s has not worked as well as planned as every time I am travelling from Inverness the train is double headed with a class 66 & the class 73.
The damage has been done
Good news hope return bargain berths senceable ticket prices
That's one how long before the rest go the same way .
Hurray, bring them all back
Might be because the Scottish MP’s use it to travel to and from Westminster.
Too little to late sadly
And only temporarily.
Cross border ffs
Fantastic!
Remember, the same lunatics will be running the asylum!
Great news .
Brilliant
It's good to see some people actually waking up from this mad privatisation
Still won't stop the new stock riding awfully lol
Hope it’s cheaper
About time !! Now for the rest !!
Serco as usual being greedy and trying to extract more taxpayers to swell their greedy coffers. No wonder the scottish tories are winging winning and belly aching about the move to make it publicly owned again.
I'd draw the line at calling it world beating. The seats on the VSOE don't make yr bum mumb.
Still a terrible ride
6 down, 20 to go.
Typical rubbish then. Scotrail is falling to pieces thanks to the SNP Government, now the overnight sleeper to Scotland will go to pot. Bring back the big 4.
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Did you know that FirstGroup Plc runs four of our failing train companies: Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express Trains, South Western Railway and GWR? ๐๐ฐ๐ธ Three of these contracts are up for renewal this year. We cannot allow the Department for Transport to renew them! Itโs time to #KickFirstOut โ ... See MoreSee Less
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Please sign our petition to #MakeWestCoastPublic ๐ you.38degrees.org.uk/p/westcoast
Whoever thought a bus company that struggled to run buses properly would make a good train operator needs their head examined
Their buses are rubbish too. They've just pulled out of Southampton today, and their remaining service in the area, Portsmouth/Fareham/Gosport, is skeletal and evaporating. When I lived in Plymouth they tried to further break into the city from a couple of country routes they had, and that ended in ignominious failure. I hate them.
Tory-Mates though... Hard to provide decent service levels and pay yourselves huge dividends at the same time. Public ownership is not the Conservative way. They prefer selling assets for a one time financial gain and then squandering them.
Avanti and TPE are clearly rubbish, but SWR and GWR aren't exactly failing surely?
Anyone else remember First's original strapline? "Transforming travel". Well they've certainly done that alright. Shysters, scammers and downright crooks in cahoots with a government of the very same mindset, this is how and why they survive and prosper.
I suspect First view trains as buses on rails, hence their enthusiasm to strip the trains of buffets, shops, first class and anything else that diffentiates the train from a bus! Avanti's franchise also expires in less than 6 weeks time and no announcement yet by the DfT, sadly I think it's almost a certainty now they're getting an extension. Could have been an ideal opportunity for the Government to fire a warning shot across the bows of First Group by taking Avanti off them, but more chance of Lord Lucan heading up the franchise than that happening!
Is there any franchises that actually work? Although not related to First, Northern rail is pretty appalling.
Why did the idiotic goverbment sell our railways to european countries, so they make profirs to runtheir own railways cheaper than ours????
I would like BR back - the franchise system makes no sense, having all the bad parts of a commercial operation and none of the good bits - but to be fair, I use GWR regularly and I haven't had a problem with them.
No one who actually remembers BR could want it back surely? Filthy trains, vile food, staff in old clothes, ghastly stations, services withdrawn if popular………..
Sadly the Tories won't let them fail because that would mean placing them in the hands of OLR on a COST NEUTRAL BASIS. Actually saving the tax payers money.
They got kicked out of London for the crap bus services they provided so it’s no wonder they screwed up the trains.
If OLR is brought in for those companies there will be so few in private operation that it makes no sense anymore to continue the pretence that private operation is good. May as well go the whol hog. LNER, Northern, Southeastern. If joined by TPE, Avanti and SWR then really the rest should join them.
Yep take off these money grabbing Companies who care more about their shareholders than passengers
As far as I know, the only issues with SWR are their current lack of trains. The delays with the 701s aren't their fault, although their decisions to reform the 458s and scrap the 442s is questionable. And of course the landslide at Hook, and the ongoing resignalling thats going on.
Unfortunately there would probably be no change to the services provided by these TOCs by jettisoning First Group; the problems are largely not of their making.
Take care the dying government doesn’t put a long franchise in place just to spite the incoming government.
I thought avanti nw was trenitalia, Italian state run railway?. Either way, they should never of been sold off to anyone, they are a public asset.
GWR is fairly good , the others are a joke however SER and GTR also a total joke run by go ahead cowboys
Yet First own Hull Trains which is one of the best, albeit an open access operator rather than a franchise.
First Bus has also sliced our local services here in worcester. Pretty much no buses after 1800.
I expect they have already re won them franchise by now.
Can't believe you missed out on the slogan "First to go"
The shareholders reap the benefits, and the taxpayer gets lumbered with the debt.
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