In 2014 will first keep scotrail

[starrymarkb]

ion.

In fact aberdeen has the most expensive local bus's in the UK when you go somewhere else and pay its like heaven.

More expensive then Southern Vectis's 'remortgage your house' fares? In fact looking at their site their fares don't seem too bad.

 

[Aictos]

More expensive then Southern Vectis's 'remortgage your house' fares? In fact looking at their site their fares don't seem too bad.

I think it varies from location to location ie Kings Lynn for a weekly ticket is £6 but rises to £17 for the same ticket for Norwich!

While Peterborough is £11.50 for the same type ticket!

 

[kylemore]

I completely agree with that, although the RPTs have already received notification of what they would agenda they have for the next franchise period
The position should be clearer this time next year as the RPTs will then have published these, TS will then also have an outline document prior to inviting notes of interest
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The sleepers account for such a small amount of the franchise this will not be a crucial aspect of it
However, in respect of the sleeper operation discussions have already commenced on the long-term operation of the service
It is clear the service will NOT be scrapped and will be included within the next franchise
The RPTs already have a confirmation that the Aberdeen and Inverness sleepers will remain until at least 2018 (although policies can change subject to reliability, etc)
The position has also become less clear due to the dispute between Arriva Cross Country and DfT (over the extension of services between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central)
It has even been suggested that ScotRail (at the next franchise) may takeover all the Anglo-Scottish services north of Edinburgh
As before discussions on this aspect are at a very early stage and are subject to the final decision on IEP (due next month)

--

Moving on, I decided to dig out all the documents I have in relation to this
The next franchise would include proposals for :
Renewal of rail line between Wemyss Bay and Largs (not likely)
Renewal of rail line between Paisley Canal and Kilmacolm (possibly reduced to Elderslie and Kilmacolm)
National Rail Timetable (for Scotland)
Upgrade rail line between Glasgow and Edinburgh, via Carstairs, with a 60 minute frequency and journey time of between 35 and 40 minutes
Double deck trains in Ayrshire (not likely now)

Renewal of line between Wemyss Bay and Largs?!
Never existed in first place!
Was proposed but never built

 

[Bittern]

Renewal of line between Wemyss Bay and Largs?!
Never existed in first place!
Was proposed but never built

Well, better late than never.

 

[Sadsmileyface]

Hi! the scotrail franchise in currently owned by first but in 2014 the contract will need to be renewed but do you think first will want to keep it and if they didnt who do you think will want this franchise.

scotrail

1984 - 1997 = british rail
1997 - 2004 = national express
2004 - (expire 2014) - first (why start at 10 years they must have the money to flop)

The other TOC's already know how unrewarding the SQUIRE regime is. The targets are too high, the regime is rarely profitable, and TS is unreasonable. First is the only one with the resources to struggle through it.

The poisoned chalice that it is, First will bid for and win the next franchise, only because it looks good on their books.

 

[Aictos]

The other TOC's already know how unrewarding the SQUIRE regime is. The targets are too high, the regime is rarely profitable, and TS is unreasonable. First is the only one with the resources to struggle through it.

The poisoned chalice that it is, First will bid for and win the next franchise, only because it looks good on their books.

I agree on the SQUIRE regime, FCC has something similiar which is just as impossible - these audits really do need to be looked at as you rightly said they are near impossible to gain.

 

[MCR247]

Whats SQUIRE?

 

[me123]

SQUIRE is the Service QUality Inspection REgime. Inspectors from Transport Scotland routinetly check the standard of the stations and trains to ensure that First are doing a good job.

Here's the schedule. As you can see, it focuses on the standard of the stations and the trains, checking for cleanliness, comfort, customer service, good information provision...

It's an excellent regime, very thorough. However, I don't work in the rail industry, but you can see straight away that the targets are ridiculous; some benchmarks are at 99%. And, within that, the criteria are tough. I vaguley remember hearing/seeing somewhere that discarded "Metro" newspapers count as rubbish, and they're often thrown in the bin at 8am!

The real problem with this is that the train company comes out looking a hell of a lot worse at the end of it all. Impossible targets means constantly negative headlines for the company, such as this one. I remember last year that Scotrail actually did quite well under SQUIRE: they improved on the previous year and met a number of their targets. But the press focussed on the negative, and the hard work of the staff was not recognised.

 

[route:oxford]

SQUIRE is the Service QUality Inspection REgime. Inspectors from Transport Scotland routinetly check the standard of the stations and trains to ensure that First are doing a good job.

Here's the schedule. As you can see, it focuses on the standard of the stations and the trains, checking for cleanliness, comfort, customer service, good information provision...

It's an excellent regime, very thorough. However, I don't work in the rail industry, but you can see straight away that the targets are ridiculous; some benchmarks are at 99%. And, within that, the criteria are tough. I vaguley remember hearing/seeing somewhere that discarded "Metro" newspapers count as rubbish, and they're often thrown in the bin at 8am!

The problem with this regime is that at a single manned station with a fairly "clockface" timetable of around 4/6 trains an hour - the member of staff has to leave the counter to go and sweep the platforms whilst trains are due in the next 10 minutes.

This is unpopular with customers as it leaves them in the anxious position of boarding a train without a ticket as the ticket machine has a fair queue and the member of station staff is sweeping the platform. Fortunately the on-train crew are generally understanding and there is the policy of accepting cash fares on board after the thefts from the ticket machines.

 

[The_Stig]

SQUIRE is the Service QUality Inspection REgime. Inspectors from Transport Scotland routinetly check the standard of the stations and trains to ensure that First are doing a good job.

Here's the schedule. As you can see, it focuses on the standard of the stations and the trains, checking for cleanliness, comfort, customer service, good information provision...

It's an excellent regime, very thorough. However, I don't work in the rail industry, but you can see straight away that the targets are ridiculous; some benchmarks are at 99%. And, within that, the criteria are tough. I vaguley remember hearing/seeing somewhere that discarded "Metro" newspapers count as rubbish, and they're often thrown in the bin at 8am!

The real problem with this is that the train company comes out looking a hell of a lot worse at the end of it all. Impossible targets means constantly negative headlines for the company, such as this one. I remember last year that Scotrail actually did quite well under SQUIRE: they improved on the previous year and met a number of their targets. But the press focussed on the negative, and the hard work of the staff was not recognised.

The criteria is far too strict. It looks good for TS as they are seen to be keeping the TOC on their toes, unfortunately you cannot legislate for the public who scratch windows, remove the emergency light sticks, rubbish and 'ruin' the toilets, locking them out of use.

 

[CarterUSM]

Undfortunately, the staff end carrying the can for many SQUIRE failures, disciplinary action has increased proportionally since introduction. Whilst i like the idea of the regime, as has been said, it is far too strict, failures for posters being hung a few degrees of centre, or more than ten pieces of litter ticket sized or larger, are a bit draconian to say the least. A bit more common sense is in order with this setup, and as me123 mentions, the positives have been far more so than negatives.

 

[starrymarkb]

I think it varies from location to location ie Kings Lynn for a weekly ticket is £6 but rises to £17 for the same ticket for Norwich!

While Peterborough is £11.50 for the same type ticket!

Southern Vectis is £10 per day!

In Stagecoach territory in Devon a day ticket is £6.50, but that covers an area from Taunton and Yeovil in the east right through to Lands End (Stagecoach and Western Greyhound accept each other's day tickets)

 

[rail-britain]

Cough, SQUIRE could also be seen as a method of clawing back the subsidy

For example, the TOC receives a subsidy of £100
The SQUIRE target is missed and so a fine of £10 is applied
The TOC then receives a net payment of only £90

Therefore the bids put in to operate the franchise have to be higher to take this into account
However, the benefits of SQUIRE are clear to see when you compare franchises that don't

 

[CarterUSM]

Cough, SQUIRE could also be seen as a method of clawing back the subsidy

For example, the TOC receives a subsidy of £100
The SQUIRE target is missed and so a fine of £10 is applied
The TOC then receives a net payment of only £90

Therefore the bids put in to operate the franchise have to be higher to take this into account
However, the benefits of SQUIRE are clear to see when you compare franchises that don't

I think that more or less sums it up!

 

[scotsman]

Fortunately the on-train crew are generally understanding and there is the policy of accepting cash fares on board after the thefts from the ticket machines.

That's because 90% of TVMs no longer accept cash! I always have to buy onboard anyway though.

 

[Sadsmileyface]

The problem with this regime is that at a single manned station with a fairly "clockface" timetable of around 4/6 trains an hour - the member of staff has to leave the counter to go and sweep the platforms whilst trains are due in the next 10 minutes.

And, for talkings sake, if an Auditor appeared at the window while the member of staff wasnt at the window and had to wait any more than five minutes, then they'd incur a fail as well.

Here's the schedule. As you can see, it focuses on the standard of the stations and the trains, checking for cleanliness, comfort, customer service, good information provision...

It's an excellent regime, very thorough. However, I don't work in the rail industry, but you can see straight away that the targets are ridiculous; some benchmarks are at 99%. And, within that, the criteria are tough. I vaguley remember hearing/seeing somewhere that discarded "Metro" newspapers count as rubbish, and they're often thrown in the bin at 8am!

The real problem with this is that the train company comes out looking a hell of a lot worse at the end of it all. Impossible targets means constantly negative headlines for the company, such as this one. I remember last year that Scotrail actually did quite well under SQUIRE: they improved on the previous year and met a number of their targets. But the press focussed on the negative, and the hard work of the staff was not recognised.

There are actually 39 schedules... there're loads missing from that page.