No such thing as the best TOC in my opinion, they're all vaguely good at some things and shockingly poor at others. I'm leaving rolling stock out of my comments, as I don't think that really affects how management manage on a day to day basis. Only ones mentioned are those I have considerable experience of.
XC - overbid, cut costs and service to try and plug the leakage. To their credit, they have partially succeeded. More reliable and on-time than previous operator, seem to look after their staff and contrary to popular opinion, I think the blanket off-peak fare restriction 2V is a good thing.
TPE - offer reasonable Advance fares offset against pretty astronomical non-regulated fares. Fairly imaginative with timetabling and stock provision, and seem fairly quick to respond to any repeated problem on their network by tinkering. Their disruption plan is also one of the best - it seems to be run everything through to time, and pick up the most relevant working back, thus restoring the network and allowing most passengers to travel.
LM - their Super Off-Peak fares are great value, and they do well out of providing competition to Virgin and Chiltern. However it wasn't their invention, so bit unfair to give them the credit! Great at customer interaction, good customer service department and good innovation too eg Plan 110. However, their disruption plan is woeful ie shut an entire part of the network down, working closely with other staff reveals how poor internal relations are and generally the consensus is that the entire upper floor should be got rid of. Also, Northampton and Bletchley guards depot suffer from can't-exit-back-cab-itis and are doing a great deal to encourage McNulty fans of the case for DOO.
LO - reinvented the roles of all traincrew, have a slick operation and keep everything clean and tidy. Simple premise, ie clockface throughout the day, but it works. All staff seem to know everything about the network which is great (I asked a member of station staff at Sydenham about train times from Acton and he was spot on - try asking the same of a Virgin assistant at Euston about Stoke and you're met blankly). Heavy targets to meet, and it works. In my opinion, the best of a bad bunch and a great model to use going forward for urban rail networks.
ME - simple network, simple premise like LO and it works. LO pips ME purely because of the investment in the former makes for a far nicer passenger experience. Sampling the chocolate brown panels underground on any of the loop stations is enough to make you hurl. Oh and the daytickets are a rip-off and shouldn't be allowed in my humble opinion, especially as they remove journey options off the ME network too.
NT - despite crippling underinvestment in most of their network, the franchise by definition connects communities that otherwise have little public transport. The staff are on-the-whole, moreso than any other franchise, friendly and helpful (but that's just because us Northerners are great
) they have good value fares even when not PTE sponsored and make the best of a bad set of circumstances. I can't wait to be rid of ClogRail though, morale seems to have plummeted in recent months as they seem to be intent on wringing every penny from the franchise.
SR - high targets set by Holyrood seem to keep the franchise on their toes. Do a good enough job, except Haymarket Depot can hardly get the trains out of the sidings let alone to Inverness and back - their figures are pretty bad.
SWT - in common with Stagecoach's joint venture, the fat seems to need trimming from SWT. Productivity improvements have helped though, and the deep alliance should reduce costs. Management seem to be fairly hands on, and chucking money at a problem seems to improve things. But then again having had 15+ years now, you'd hope that that'd be the case.
SN - underrated in my opinion. Great value fares, consistently good across the board. Metro services seem to suffer the most out of any service, but they keep most user groups happy, have very hands on management and are pro-active at trying to determine the future of services in South London. The priority card is also a great idea. Minus points for a shambolic service recovery procedure, much like LM, and minus points again for being so crap with GatEx.
VT - my least favourite franchise. Staff are generally obnoxious and think they're wonderful, management are twice as bad. Irritatingly good at spin and selective truthmongering, massive fare rises, anti-customer when it suits them eg no cards, poorly trained RPI staff and while the customer service department are generous in their payouts, it can take an irritatingly long time to get through to them. Also responsible for introducing the astronomical wage rises of staff by starting to poach from other franchises, played dirty when passing XC over and then feigned innocence, dragged their heels over franchise commitments for XC just because they wanted to, and wrote in staff transfers from Blackpool, Brighton, Liverpool and Birmingham to London just to ensure that other companies couldn't have them, leading to a mass exodus and no gain for Virgin as none of the staff from Blackpool and Brighton wanted to move to London. Leaving aside the previous screwing of the taxpayer, I can't wait for VRG to disappear from the rail network.