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Who are YOU backing?

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Tom

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stagecoach.jpg

Stagecoach Group?

national-xpress.jpg

National Express?

first.jpg

First Group?

br.jpg

British Rail?

no-one.jpg

No-one?

You can put these in your sigs as they are especially made for the purpose, please note, if you do use them, please do not put any additional items in your signature.

Thanks.
 
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devon_metro

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Would be interesting to see BR return, although i suppose this is not going to happen :x Other wise would have to be First group. They may be a bus company like the others but they run FGW. What a great company. As for National Express; What have they done to Wessex trains??
 

Mojo

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tubechallenger said:
national-xpress.jpg

National Express?[/img]

'one' Mk2? No thanks!

tubechallenger said:
first.jpg

First Group?

Possibly, if they get their act together soon, but they do promise a premium, which I think is a bit dubious, considering the rural nature of some of the Wessex network.
 

tramboy

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I don't live in the Western region, but somehow have a feeling that whoever gets the franchise won't be seen as a winner...more the lesser of three evils.

I'm not biased towards any group in any way, shape or form...and my current favourite TOC is GNER...ie Sea Containers, who in my opinion are doing a wonderful job!

Regards

Dave
 

jonb

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FIRST seem to be doing a reasonable job weith FGW and FGWL. i mean today there was MAJOR signalling problems and First used 57602 + Load 6 + 57605 on a Twyford Service. Now thats better than cancelling it surely!
 

Z12XE

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Mojo said:
Possibly, if they get their act together soon, but they do promise a premium, which I think is a bit dubious, considering the rural nature of some of the Wessex network.

One "manage" it with their setup which is quite rural in places and Anglia Railways was heavily subsidised.

Whether the maths is correct is another issue though. Either way if anyone suggests that they cant pay a premium on GW then they wont get it
 

Guinness

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For people to run it my order would be...

Stagecoach
National Express
Sea Containers
Arriva
Virgin Trains
GoVia
M40 Trains
Serco
Cs Trains Great Western
Cake Trains
Squeaky Great Eastern Railway
Goldenline
Arrow Transportation Group
Eye Rail
Swift Group
MidShire Trains Group
Central Connect
My Cat
Chav (Chaz) Railways
Dog Poo
A Random Rock on the Floor
Grass
.... and finally First Group
 

tramboy

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Why do I think Eye Rail/Swift GWT are not going to be too happy with that list! :lol:

Or for that matter me!!

Cheers

Dave
 

Guinness

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tramboy said:
Why do I think Eye Rail/Swift GWT are not going to be too happy with that list! :lol:

Or for that matter me!!

Cheers

Dave
.

Edited! ;)
 

matt

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Chaz said:
For people to run it my order would be...

Stagecoach
National Express
Sea Containers
Arriva
Virgin Trains
GoVia
M40 Trains
Serco
Cs Trains Great Western
Cake Trains
Squeaky Great Eastern Railway
Goldenline
Arrow Transportation Group
Eye Rail
Swift Group
MidShire Trains Group
Central Connect
My Cat
Chav Railways
Dog Poo
A Random Rock on the Floor
Grass
.... and finally First Group

So you dont want First to get the franchise ;)
 

joeholmes

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Well I doubt I even need to say what company I think should get it regardless of the above (quite daft) comment by Chaz!!

J.Holmes
 

steve158

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as a first hater, i even have to admit that First run Great Western very well.

but i would still like to see them lose out, preferably to NX.
 

Guinness

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matt said:
So you dont want First to get the franchise ;)

Pretty Much ;)

Joe Holmes said:
Well I doubt I even need to say what company I think should get it regardless of the above (quite daft) comment by Chaz!!

J.Holmes

It's not draft. It's opinion
 

Julian G

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jonb said:
FIRST seem to be doing a reasonable job weith FGW and FGWL. i mean today there was MAJOR signalling problems and First used 57602 + Load 6 + 57605 on a Twyford Service. Now thats better than cancelling it surely!
i wish Silverstink still kept the Cobblers <(
this would provide extra services
 

Guinness

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1288gaje said:
jonb said:
FIRST seem to be doing a reasonable job weith FGW and FGWL. i mean today there was MAJOR signalling problems and First used 57602 + Load 6 + 57605 on a Twyford Service. Now thats better than cancelling it surely!
i wish Silverstink still kept the Cobblers <(
this would provide extra services

Trouble is WCML is full and there aren't many Paths for Silverlink to use without disrupting the Fast Lines.
 

Coxster

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In my experience of First running down my local North Downs line, they have improved from Thames Trains quite a bit.
 

Mojo

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Now, anyone who posted on uk.railway back in the last year of Thames Trains will know that I hated them a lot, but come to think about it, Thames Trains managed a more reliable service AND they managed to pay a premium to the government for doing so. in the peaks for the previous Q4, FGW link had over 10% less trains arriving on time than Thames Trains did in the same period the year before. But, OTOH, the travelling environment for customers (esp. on long(er) distance routes) has improved.

As a footnote, TPExpress & FGW are the two worst-performing TOCs, but First Great Eastern improved on British Rail/NSE. Could be down to the management, comparing c2c & Silverlink County to the likes of Central and 'one' management maybe.
 

Sprog

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first.jpg


I dont see why so amy people are anti-First Group. Ive met Alison Forster. Very nice and committed lass and someone i could actually talk too.

I not going to type a ten paragraph rant, but IMO, First are Greater Westerns best bet. They have experiance of runnig the franchise and do a good job most times. They have and are phioneering several schemes on their trains and network. Surley when Wessex comes under the First wing, things can only improve.

I shall be extremely pleased when FGW retain the Franchise, and IF, and its a big IF National Express get their grubby mits on it, i shall probly turn my back on rail as its likley FGW will go the same way as ONE are.. :!:
 
T

Tom

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spm_43030 said:
first.jpg

They have experiance of runnig the franchise and do a good job most times.
They may well have experience, but it's always nice to have a change. :)
 

1K73

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First, they're not doing a bad job at all down there ( still using good sized HSTs when Vermin are packing people into Pendolinos and Voyagers ), and FGWL isn't bad, with modern units that are kept in good condition, from my experience.

David
 
T

Tom

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You can't say Virgin / Stagecoach are packing people into their Pendo's, the Pendo's are 9 car now and can hold the same capacity as a HST.
 

1K73

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I think it'd be pretty safe to say that more people travel in a London-Scotland pendolino than a HST to the West.

David
 

Aureol

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Chaz said:
Stagecoach
National Express
Sea Containers
Arriva
Virgin Trains
Midland Whimpering Braked Mk3 Stock Mainline
Chaz said:
GoVia
M40 Trains
Serco
Cs Trains Great Western
Cake Trains
Squeaky Great Eastern Railway
Goldenline
Arrow Transportation Group
Eye Rail
Swift Group
MidShire Trains Group
Central Connect
My Cat
Chav (Chaz) Railways
Dog Poo
A Random Rock on the Floor
Grass
.... and finally First Group
 

Mojo

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tubechallenger said:
You can't say Virgin / Stagecoach are packing people into their Pendo's, the Pendo's are 9 car now and can hold the same capacity as a HST.

What's with all those apostrophes?
I think most of the railway is about image, and when they see a stylish looking train they get a better impression.
 

metrocammel

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It is true, Pendo's are overcrowded, and there was rumour of building a 10th coach, but that has fallen on deaf ears. As for the Voyagers, well, they are clearly overcrowded, and the foolish non gangway idea was ridiculous, so even with a 2 unit voyager, lemmings, sorry passengers say at Man Picc cram into the nearest unit leaving the front unit empty, with no easy way of getting to the quieter unit.
Also, I dont find First, they kept 101's for a long time up in Manchester & had 31's on the Blackpool-Manc. Since Northern took over things have gone downhill, with many trains short-formed, and delays commonplace, and also got rid of two reliable, comfy for passengers and enjoyable for enthusiasts loco-hauled services.
 

Mojo

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It is quite difficult building a streamlined front AND providing easy-to-use corridor connections, plus there's also the chance the train wouldn't have got its safety case, travelling at 125mph with that connection at the front.
 

yorkie

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tubechallenger said:
You can't say Virgin / Stagecoach are packing people into their Pendo's, the Pendo's are 9 car now and can hold the same capacity as a HST.
By "packing in" he means fitting them into less seats.

A 9-car pendo has less seats than 8 Mk3s. I can't remember the exact figures, but we've had this discussion before. As for the same capacity as an HST, it depends on the formation. They are quite some way off GNER's 2+9 HSTs.
 
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