Recent content by rail-britain

Yes, it was supposed to be signed on Tuesday, but was deffered to Thursday Virgin Rail Group refused to attend, and as a result sign

No, each franchise applicant would have obtained heads of terms agreements with suitable contractors, so that they could include the costs in their franchise bid Virgin Rail Group plan was to order 21 EMU and dispose of the Voyager This is one of the costs involved when placing a franchise...

If you allow me 24 hours I can check and confirm this with Cross Country for you, as I now have direct access to their services

Surely this would come under Cross Country, rather than West Coast Ironically, West Coast could operate such a service, but they don't and haven't for many years (ie Euston - Birmingham - Manchester)

This TOC has made an error on this second claim, and their calculation is incorrect on the first one I have already established the compensation is based on 50% of a return fare (as appropriate), or 100% of a single fare if is cheaper So if the delay is rated at 50%, you then receive 25% of...

Yes, and such information can be removed I have made several FOI requests and in many cases there are big black lines where the useful information obviously was (commercially sensitive) Oddly Richard Branson advised he would publish details of what the Virgin Rail Group bid was (in terms...

Yes, that is correct and First Group will already have received the proposed WCML timetable (as specified) and simply need to confirm this, by September

Have you tried the dual airline seats in a Class 390? They really don't work, it's like sitting in a parcel

There are already mostly single airline seats in first, each coach only has one single table for 2 --- old post above --- --- new post below --- The contract is for the 5 and 9 coach versions The original plan (June 2010) was also for an 8 coach version, but this has since been dumped The...

I couldn't contain my laughter when I read this (running the franchise beyond its expiry, either at no-cost or with the profits going to charity) Firstly, I have never heard of any government contract having this applied If First Group agreed to postponing the signing of contracts and...

Looks like this Press Release was overlooked : http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/draft-iep-train-layouts/ (Normal Density) I am rather disappointed by the First Class seating layout, compared to the HST they are replacing With just one table of 2 per coach, the remaining single seats...

Yes, it is on the Network Rail website I have also uploaded a copy I am just waiting on the update which includes the ICWC services, due September

Not so much that, but it is the method on which the franchises are based The DfT receive a premium, which is between 5 and 60 times the profit taken by the franchise holder Equally, the premium increases over the length of the franchise, and it is this later stage where the franchise...

Mandatory Reservations were reintroduced by BR in the late 1980s It was mainly for peak services, where demand was high and where manual barriers were in operation Announcements would also be made that a seat reservation was mandatory However on the train itself it was still possible to...

Sadly the franchising process does not work like this, the bid was placed by Virgin Rail Group, and so could not be retrospectively considered to either Virgin Group or Stagecoach Group (and the relevant newly created subsidiary) However, now that Virgin Rail Group has effectively announced...