[Update] FirstGroup WCML franchise Award revoked

[Osem]

It must be contagious:

The Conservative Party has called for an inquiry into Lord Adonis' handling of the crisis on the East Coast rail franchise that prompted the Transport Secretary to seize control of the London to Scotland services.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...ranchise.html#

What a complete and utter botch up..When will they get public transport right?It doesn't matter who is in power they still make a cow pat of it.

[Osem]

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said it was "deeply regrettable" that mistakes had been made by staff within the Department for Transport. Several staff have been suspended.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19809717

The knives are out.

I dare say those found culpable will be moved to the MOD...

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Osem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19809717

The knives are out.

I dare say those found culpable will be moved to the MOD...

Please not the mod

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Actually it's not. The Government's responsibility is to see that the franchise is handed to a company that can fulfil it, not hand it to a reckless bidder and then sit back and wait to collect the fines.

Just like they have done with the NHS and PCP then

I wasn't suggesting they award a contract and collect the fines. I was merely suggesting that the government should be satisfied the contract can be delivered for the price but impose a fine structure that would benefit the government should the contact fail rather than letting the contractor walk away.

Why did the Government wait until the night before the day the court case was due to start? Were they hoping Virgin would pull out? Or did they simply only check now, 1 month and a half after Virgin raged about the process? Maybe the former transport security was demoted because they knew this was coming?

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

Just like they have done with the NHS and PCP then

I wasn't suggesting they award a contract and collect the fines. I was merely suggesting that the government should be satisfied the contract can be delivered for the price but impose a fine structure that would benefit the government should the contact fail rather than letting the contractor walk away.

They certainly should, and hopefully the penalty structure will be addressed by the relevant independent review, which was announced earlier this morning.

Also, I see that almost as quickly as the Government suggested it was going to nationalise the WCML a la East Coast, it has now decided to give The Bearded One his greatest wish - an extension to his existing franchise while this is worked out.

That, to me, is the best solution, as the £40 million the government is already having to pay out to reimburse the franchise bidders for their trouble will not now be compounded by a lot of unnecessary debranding/rebranding costs.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Chris

They certainly should, and hopefully the penalty structure will be addressed by the relevant independent review, which was announced earlier this morning.

Also, I see that almost as quickly as the Government suggested it was going to nationalise the WCML a la East Coast, it has now decided to give The Bearded One his greatest wish - an extension to his existing franchise while this is worked out.

That, to me, is the best solution, as the £40 million the government is already having to pay out to reimburse the franchise bidders for their trouble will not now be compounded by a lot of unnecessary debranding/rebranding costs.

As happens every time these people decide to give the impression of reform by renaming/rebranding govt. departments with same civil servants doing pretty much the same jobs in the same offices.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Derek

So if I'm reading this right the conservatives have basically (temporarily) re-nationalised a chunk of the railway system?

Its already nationalised, it costs three times more in subsidies nationally now than it did under br

Glad the worst group didn't get it, you only have to look at the promised they made to get the buses and see what the service is like now to know they're full of it.

[Julian]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Its already nationalised, it costs three times more in subsidies nationally now than it did under br

Glad the worst group didn't get it, you only have to look at the promised they made to get the buses and see what the service is like now to know they're full of it.

THIS is their bus service.

Fortunately they won't get near WCML.

Originally Posted by Julian

THIS is their bus service.

Fortunately they won't get near WCML.

A spokesman from First said: 'The exact cause of the incident is not yet known. This will be thoroughly investigated and we would like to offer our sincere apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by the incident.'

Even the police said they could not say what caused the incident..

Really? 'Cos I'm pretty certain I could have a stab at what happened..

And I hate First buses..they are the ones who have decided my borough only gets a last bus at 7pm.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Really? 'Cos I'm pretty certain I could have a stab at what happened..

Those pesky bridges lowering themselves at the last minute to catch out drivers again.

Originally Posted by Osem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19809717

The knives are out.

I dare say those found culpable will be moved to the MOD...

Originally Posted by Sirius

Please not the mod

MOD procurement has been working like that for years ,it's expected from them .


Just a thought ,but does the ECML need to be franchised out ,couldn't the government simply allow VT to run the line indefinitely with regular government reviews to make sure that it is running as it should and only offer the franchise out to bids if the service drops below a predetermined level .

Another thought ,wasn't there some argy bargy about the contract for new rolling stock given to a foreign company ?

Over the last 3 weeks i have seen approximately 30 brand spanking new First buses heading up the A1 towards Doncaster and Wetherby ,can i assume they will now be heading back south and returned for a refund

[Osem]

From what I've heard it seems that some fairly basic and fundamental errors were made in the numbers these guys were crunching. If so and given the huge cost to the public purse, are those responsible going to be sacked or just suspended on full pay then moved sideways?

You have to wonder how long these people were in their roles what other mistakes they might have made along the way for similar reasons. There really needs to be an investigation into this matter to examine the true extent of the ineptitude that's now evident both in what was done and the checking procedures which should have picked up these mistakes.

[Pierre]

£40 million, well spent.