On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 03:52:52 -0700, Boltar
wrote:

On 19 Jun, 10:09, Paul Corfield wrote:
The winner of the London Overground concession is MTR Laing according

Sounds like a sensible decision. Why pick people who already have
years of experience running railways when you can pick a building
firm.

I would say it is an eminently sensible decision. I appreciate you are
universally cynical about everything to do with London's transport but I
think it is misplaced on this occasion. Chiltern (laing Rail) seem to be
one of the better franchise operators and are prepared to invest
independently when they have time for a payback.

Having used MTR many, many times in Hong Kong with no delays whatsoever
for any reason within their control (I had 1 delay of less than 5 mins
because someone trespassed on the track) I consider them to be an
exceptional operation. If they can transfer even 50% of their knowledge
and operational skill then we will see a vast improvement. I am sure
they are aiming to achieve far more than that as this will be a showcase
for other expansion bids so they will want to make Overground work. I
think TfL will also wish to make sure they succeed as they will want to
use this concession as a basis for comparison with other TOCs and to
strengthen TfL's hand in increasing its influence over other rail
operations around London.
--
Paul C