I am not surprised, given FirstGroup's corporate structure that is very much of the "command and control" from the centre type, with the operating companies not given much autonomy. That breeds resentment of the centre, so when things like the Hull Trains HST plan are passed down from the centre, it is easy to see why GWR might be slow to respond - to them it is just something else that they are being ordered to do.
Compare and contrast with the way EMT and VTEC worked together, particularly with the cross-hire of resources after the snow earlier this year. No doubt Stagecoach's rather more enlightened management attitude helped the co-operation.
well, a lot of that is down to "not really a competitor" as stagecoach had a stake in VTEC as well.
had it been another operator,and I was playing with real train sets, if I had been approached for a loan it would have invoked one of three responses.
1) sorry(expletive omitted) our trains are fully utilised...meaning I will be more than happy to see bad publicity for a competitor
2)sorry( no expletive)..our trains are fully utilised...meaning there really are no trains available
3) yes, got xxx available,but it'll cost you!...sorry about the short-forms etc but this is our surplus/rescue stock and we're taking a risk that things on our side don't go pear-shaped,hence the price.
I assume that under a standard leasing agreement(as you would when leasing a car), those bases should have been covered already, and "courtesy trains" should have been supplied in the event of the vehicle needing to go for maintainance.
if not..why not?
probably a daft question,but why is it necessary a driver to sign both the route and the vehicle?
in the case of coaches(psv's) , in the case of hiring one out,it is not necessary for either,as long as the general qualification has been reached.(fwiw emergency equipment/exits etc is also located in different areas of a bus/coach, yet this is not deemed as much of superior importance as it is on rail)
granted coaches don't take half a mile to stop, but it is very common for drivers to be chopping and changing between all sorts of vehicles with different driving characteristics on a daily basis, not to mention all sorts of numpties in close proximity doing completely daft stuff like doing their make-up in the rear view mirror on the M25.
health+safety will probably go nuts, but if you did a risk assessment I think you'd find the likelihood of an accident is far greater on road than it is on metals.