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Commuters to launch bid to take over Southeastern franchise
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swt_passenger
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Perhaps this is why HarleyDavidson isn't posting any more. He could be moonlighting on a team optimising all their timetables and train crew diagrams...
Some no doubt think they can takeover and are naive. Some know its a no hope but may as well push it as it gains publicity and media attention, thus the DfT take an interest and the area benefit. We've seen this time and time again. If people protests, gain media spotlight etc they're more likely to gain than feebly sitting back and taking poor service.
If the people behind this are genuine, when they're laughed off they will make out it's a stitch up, proof of corruption, jobs for the boys etc.
And nobody with money would back it because they'd know the story and that the DfT is forcing this through so isn't going to let a company step in that will go against things.
No company can come in and shake things up that much.
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And nobody with money would back it because they'd know the story and that the DfT is forcing this through so isn't going to let a company step in that will go against things.
No company can come in and shake things up that much.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Very much agree with this. Maybe this is a serious bid, but perhaps the real aim is to continue pushing the media agenda and to influence debates about rail nationalisation and/or how TOCs are run. The lack of likely success in actually taking over the franchise does not mean that this project is doomed to fail on all possible fronts.
Polarbear
Established Member
Whilst I think that this group are very well meaning, I can't see that they would be successful in a bid to take over the running of a rail franchise. The main reason being the lack of an obvious financial backer or any sort of financial security.
Generally, there's a lot of naivety in public circles about many things, and how a railway works, day to day, is one of those things. There are many reasons why trains can be cancelled - TOC's don't do it for fun. There are rules, regulations and laws that must be followed in certain instances.
Another general moan in public circles is that train run late. As those more familiar with railway matters know, there are a multitude of reason why this can happen, but in the south of England, trying to cram "X" number of trains through a largely Victorian rail network that's had little in the way of significant investment for years, is a major factor.
Of course, there are the simplistic answers of "put more carriages on" to "solve" overcrowding, (without addressing the small matters of platform extensions, signal overlaps, depot constraints, costs of purchase/maintenance etc).
These are just a very small selection of the things that any TOC has to consider. One wonders if this group have given serious consideration to the magnitude of the task they are hoping to take on?
Generally, there's a lot of naivety in public circles about many things, and how a railway works, day to day, is one of those things. There are many reasons why trains can be cancelled - TOC's don't do it for fun. There are rules, regulations and laws that must be followed in certain instances.
Another general moan in public circles is that train run late. As those more familiar with railway matters know, there are a multitude of reason why this can happen, but in the south of England, trying to cram "X" number of trains through a largely Victorian rail network that's had little in the way of significant investment for years, is a major factor.
Of course, there are the simplistic answers of "put more carriages on" to "solve" overcrowding, (without addressing the small matters of platform extensions, signal overlaps, depot constraints, costs of purchase/maintenance etc).
These are just a very small selection of the things that any TOC has to consider. One wonders if this group have given serious consideration to the magnitude of the task they are hoping to take on?
NSEFAN
Established Member
He won't have much of a task, just whip out the 1981 Summer WTT and use that. Passengers will just use the trains you tell them to.swt_passenger said:
According to their website, no:
They may realise it's huge, but that's a long, long way from understanding what they have to do...
sciisfun
Member
I must ask, why southeastern? when I've used them (at one point frequently) they were never that bad, other than one winter morning this year, when there was also work that over ran and thus out of their control, I could on the other hand, understand if they were trying southern
There's a reason they constantly come at the bottom of national surveys of TOCs. And it long predates London Bridge rebuilding.
Aside from HS1, which is of little use to many yet brought about RPI + 3 % fare increases for many years, the rest is pretty much in stagnation mode which isn't great with rapid population growth. Amost no new or additional metro trains for 10 years for example, in contrast to almost all other London suburban services (ok not all, but many other TOCs have). Many stations have seen passenger number triple or quadruple. Even now there's a lot of promises of jam tomorrow but no actual concerte plans in public.
Most of this is not Southeastern fault really but the government.
Aside from HS1, which is of little use to many yet brought about RPI + 3 % fare increases for many years, the rest is pretty much in stagnation mode which isn't great with rapid population growth. Amost no new or additional metro trains for 10 years for example, in contrast to almost all other London suburban services (ok not all, but many other TOCs have). Many stations have seen passenger number triple or quadruple. Even now there's a lot of promises of jam tomorrow but no actual concerte plans in public.
Most of this is not Southeastern fault really but the government.
Pretty much every TOC will have a group like this. Just this lot obviously think its serious unlike most who don't really bother with it. In fact not long ago a group of die hard AGA haters were suggesting a crowdfunded commuter franchise bid.
In reality the main reason for RPI+3% was that prices had fallen behind the rest of the network due to the performance related fare adjustment during the original franchise period. The low fares were causing serious issues with inter-available fares and travelcards and in any case the government wanted passengers to pay more.
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