West Coast Franchise Fiasco

[tractor]

...

BBC News - West Coast Main Line deal with FirstGroup scrapped



Plenty good enough - incompetant f-wits

Of course, this will mean a compensation bill to the government, running into tens of millions, compensating all bidders for the cost of making their bids - since the failings were the fault of the DoT - Virgin alone said their cost of bidding was 15m

People wonder why tickets are priced so highly wtf

Even if Virgin don't get the contract after a rerun, the bidding cost of two failed bids c 30m will be spread across any other franchise/business they have lol

[DodgyAgent]

They'd certainly cost the country a damn sight less in subsidies.

The most moronically organised "privatisation" to date.

Whilst I am not an advocate of replacing a state run monopoly with a private monopoly it is impossible to argue that things would have been better had they remained as a public service. How can you argue that subsidies would have been less under public ownership?

[sasguru]

Whilst I am not an advocate of replacing a state run monopoly with a private monopoly it is impossible to argue that things would have been better had they remained as a public service. How can you argue that subsidies would have been less under public ownership?

FFS you're really brainwashed with your free-market mantra aren't you?
There are plenty of efficient public sector operations around the globe.
And the OP has just given you a good example of free market inefficiency: the bidding process costs millions which has to be recouped elsewhere.
I'm generally a free-marketeer too: where it works. It doesn't work on a single track railway, you can't "compete" in this situation.

[DodgyAgent]

Well they certainly were lower before it went "private".

Funny how we have to foot the bill for all the "private" rail companies.

so would we have had any trains to ride on? and if so what would the service have been like?

[DodgyAgent]

There are plenty of efficient public sector operations around the globe.
A.

Give me an example

[Paddy]

Ministers have scrapped the decision to award the West Coast Main Line rail franchise to FirstGroup saying the bidding process was flawed.

The contract - awarded in August - was immediately challenged in the courts by Virgin Trains, which lost out.

Ministers say there were "significant technical flaws" in the way the risks for each bid were calculated and say the bidding process must be rerun.

- BBC News - West Coast Main Line deal ditched

Useless twonks


EDIT: here's the DfT press release, which seems to have been published in the middle of the night: West Coast Main Line franchise competition cancelled - News - Department for Transport

Not "Useless twonks". More like twonks offered a directorship of First Group one day a year consulting.

[sasguru]

Give me an example

In the context of our conversation, arguably the old public sector British Rail, since they seemed to provide a similar service with cheaper fares and one-quarter of the subsidies currently provided to the privatised companies

I wonder what the compensation schemes are for the directors who could be replaced by anybody really -since it doesn't take any particular talent to collect fares from trains plying a railway line

[DodgyAgent]

In the context of our conversation, arguably the old public sector British Rail, since they seemed to provide a similar service with cheaper fares and one-quarter of the subsidies currently provided to the privatised companies

Argue it then clever boy.

[sasguru]

Argue it then clever boy.

I've given you the facts. Clever people look at the evidence, idiots stick with slogans and mantras.

[Robinho]

The privatisation of the UK railways is a good example of free market failure : a succession of monopolies, probably price fixing, profit without any risk, consumer always gets shafted.

There is absolutely nothing free market about the privatisation of the UK railways.

I agree it is a shambles.