There was a major internal review within Serco just before the Caledonian Sleeper franchise commenced, that concluded anything bespoke like this was far too high a commercial risk for them, and in future they'd stick to stuff like very bog-standard local authority outsourcing.
Is there an option to terminate the contract early?.....and in extremis could they just default and pay the appropriate penalty (or not, as the case may be)?
I believe there's break points, yes, and there may be one next year sometime (7.5 years, halfway through the original 15 years). I reckon Serco will happily walk away.
In their defence, and I know this from experience, the management team work bloody hard and have often gone to extraordinary lengths to keep things going. I suspect a lot of this is out of their control at the moment, for one reason or another.
In my last job I frequently had to travel down to London or points south and would always get the sleeper if possible. Even into the days of Serco with the Mk3s it was my preferred method of travel.
Indeed, they can't. They are, however, posted by people who might have particular biases. First hand experience is always best.
This really is not CS’ finest hour. I think that a combination of the overtime ban and staff self-isolation has hit them hard. I am drawn increasingly to the conclusion that management don’t seem to care much at the moment.
The end of Serco cannot come soon enough, especially given the constant industrial disputes. I’m not sure whether a nationalised operator would be much better but they certainly would be no worse.
I agree with you.
It almost certainly wouldn't be better. Serco are simply running this on behalf of Transport Scotland - where is the money for higher pay going to come from? It is a relatively small operation. What change in personnel is going to lead to substantial changes?
Movement of the train (ie rail operations) is already contracted out to GBRf. Maintenance of the train is contracted out to Alstom. The hospitality / customer service is the bit that Caledonian Sleeper already do.
The phrase "look before you leap" comes to mind. Nationalised businesses have a very mixed record on getting the basics right, while merging CS with Scotrail would allow the efficiency of a joined service team but risk losing focus on the sleeper operation in amongst all the other stuff that CS have to deal with. Even with TS calling the shots and Serco in day to day charge, I'd be hesitant about concluding that nationalisation would in and of itself lead to the problems being fixed.
Having worked there myself, and seen the operation up close, I can assure you that you're very wide of the mark there.
I personally will stock up well on snacks when it comes to my trip later next month. I guess no chance of the club car opening be then?
It is a question of scale though isn't it. Easyjet is much more able to do what you suggest What is the turnover of Easyjet relative to Caledonian Sleeper?
How do you propose they are told?
I can only assume that up until that point there were staff frantically trying to resolve the problem, and I've seen them go to lengths such as emptying the shelves of supermarkets in Inverness and Fort William when supplies have been disrupted.
CS have actually done that on occasion.
