W14_Fishbourne wrote:

On another topic entirely, this announcement means that National
Express - once the biggest owner of TOCs is now down to one railway
and c2c. (I expect these two TOCs to be merged, making the name "one"
strangely prophetic!)

Do you mean that you expect the DfT to merge the franchises (in which case,
why wasn't LTS included in Greater Anglia in the first place?) or that you
expect NatEx to market them as a 'common' entity (as with Virgin Trains as
the trading name for both Virgin West Coast and Virgin CrossCountry)? In the
latter case the TOCs cannot be merged as they are required to be accounted
for independently, in line with the franchises, although a common branding
can be applied.

Jack Taylor wrote:
Do you mean that you expect the DfT to merge the franchises (in which case,
why wasn't LTS included in Greater Anglia in the first place?)

The idea is once the current c2c franchise expires, that it gets merged
into the Greater Anglia setup.

They both expire in 2011, at which point (assuming they have done well)
NX can get a 3 year extension to One, which is likely to include c2c

Great Eastern wrote:
Jack Taylor wrote:
Do you mean that you expect the DfT to merge the franchises (in which
case, why wasn't LTS included in Greater Anglia in the first place?)

The idea is once the current c2c franchise expires, that it gets merged
into the Greater Anglia setup.

They both expire in 2011, at which point (assuming they have done well)
NX can get a 3 year extension to One, which is likely to include c2c


Forgot to add, c2c and One Railway already share certain departments
(Accounts/Payroll and Customer Services for c2c are done by One)

I suppose it wasnt included to begin with as there was no guarantee that
NX would get Greater Anglia, and c2c didn't expire the same time as
FGE/AR/WAGN

On 22 Jun, 09:37, W14_Fishbourne wrote:
On another topic entirely, this announcement means that National
Express - once the biggest owner of TOCs is now down to one railway
and c2c. (I expect these two TOCs to be merged, making the name "one"
strangely prophetic!)

Did someone say "Bowker effect"?

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

On Jun 22, 11:06 am, John B wrote:
On 22 Jun, 09:37, W14_Fishbourne wrote:


Did someone say "Bowker effect"?

--
To be fair, NX was losing TOCs well before Bowker turned up (Scotrail,
Wales). He's simply been unable to stop the losses.

On 22 Jun, 11:28, W14_Fishbourne wrote:

Did someone say "Bowker effect"?

To be fair, NX was losing TOCs well before Bowker turned up (Scotrail,
Wales). He's simply been unable to stop the losses.

They won One shortly before his arrival, though - that was a pretty
big win; I'd've thought it would offset W&W and Scotrail.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

On 22 Jun, 11:06, John B wrote:
Did someone say "Bowker effect"?

From nationalexpressgroup.com

"NX East Midlands Rail Franchise response

22/06/2007


National Express Group PLC ('the Group') notes today's announcement
from the Department for Transport ('DfT') advising on the award of the
East Midlands rail franchise.

Commenting on the announcement, Richard Bowker, Chief Executive, said:
'We are very disappointed with today's announcement. We look forward
to the DfT explaining the reasons for their decision.

'I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our employees at
Midland Mainline and Central Trains. Midland Mainline's record of
constant improvement has resulted in the company being top of industry
league tables for operational performance as well as customer
satisfaction, a record of which we are truly proud.

'The team at Central Trains have shown what can be achieved in a
difficult franchise with the right people and the right focus.'



He should perhaps have added "and much good has it done them".

--
gordon

On 22 Jun, 11:06, John B wrote:
Did someone say "Bowker effect"?

He's also busy sorting out the climate (see press release below from
National Express group website), Presumably he's currently using the
area served by the top end of the Midland Main Line as a pilot test
for his latest interest.

"NX Group at No 10 Summit on Climate Change

26/06/2007


National Express Group Chief Executive, Richard Bowker, today met with
British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and California's Governor, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, to accelerate transatlantic action on climate change
and to encourage global shift towards a low carbon economy.

Richard Bowker was part of a coalition of 19 business leaders at the
roundtable meeting at No 10 Downing Street which was aimed at creating
momentum in the battle to tackle climate change.

The event was attended by Gordon Brown and David Miliband, Secretary
of State for Environment as well as senior representatives from B&Q,
Barclays, BBC, BP, BSkyB, DuPont, Goldman Sachs, Google, Interface,
JPMorgan, Man Group, News International, O2, Royal & Sun Alliance,
Swiss Re, Tesco, Walkers and Warner Bros. The business leaders
present have already pledged to work with governments, civil society
and their customers to tackle climate change.

The group reported on progress achieved on their own emissions
reduction programmes, discussed challenges to developing an
international emissions trading scheme, and reviewed successes in
driving public engagement since the Long Beach summit in California
last July, also co-ordinated by The Climate Group.

They also discussed the growing UK public engagement campaign 'We're
in this Together' which has a planned US roll-out later this year.
This business-backed campaign - led by The Climate Group and unveiled
by Tony Blair and David Miliband earlier this year - offers both ideas
for behavioural change and practical solutions for UK consumers.

The campaign aims to help reduce average household emissions by around
a tonne over three years. Since April, the campaign has announced 12
separate solutions and has already saved 36,000 tonnes of CO2 (an
amount equivalent to taking 13,000 family cars off the road for a
year). 'We're in this Together' will also provide a practical and
official legacy to London's Live Earth concert on 7th July.

National Express coach operation is working with Live Earth to
encourage the use of public transport: information and case studies
have been included in the 90,000 ticket wallets sent out for the
event; and all those travelling to the venue by coach will receive a
Coach Card giving 30% discount on travel. The division has also
unveiled a new network of coach services from 43 towns and cities in
the UK direct to the gates of the new Wembley Stadium. Over 10,000
people have used National Express coach services for the first few
events at the national stadium, with a minimum of 5,000 people
expected to use the services to travel to the Live Earth event.

The Group also has its launch of its 'Carbon Club' set for late 2007:
this will give rewards to customers using its coach or rail services
based on the amount of carbon saved travelling by public transport
rather than car.

Commenting on the Group's involvement in the Climate Group, Richard
Bowker said: "As a leading international transport provider, National
Express Group has a responsibility to collaborate with other business
leaders to tackle climate change. We are proud to be playing our part
to raise the awareness of climate change and, more importantly, to
highlight how people can do their bit to make a difference. Moving
forward we will be highlighting the environmental credentials of
coach, bus and train travel thereby giving the travelling public a
practical way to reduce their carbon footprint."

Dr Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group, said: "The scale and
urgency of the climate change problem facing us calls for
unprecedented collaboration. UK and California leadership on this
issue has blazed a trail for others to follow. The companies here
today are already leading the way in reducing their own carbon
footprints and are now turning their attention towards making it
easier, cheaper and more appealing for consumers to play their part in
the solution. We hope the 'We're in this Together' campaign will
receive further public support following the Live Earth concerts and
capture the aspirations of many in this country and beyond who want
practical help in knowing how to play their part in tackling climate
change."

- Ends -


Notes to Editors:

National Express Group serves around one billion passengers a year
worldwide on its bus, train, light rail and express coach and airport
operations. We have leading positions in each of our markets - the
United Kingdom, North America and Spain."

On 22 Jun, 09:20, Chris Tolley wrote:
Once again, we see the magic of the franchise bidding system at work.
Promise a huge premium to win the bid, then get the customers to foot
the bill for it.

Presumably it will also give the competition authority wallahs an
excuse to justify their existence by proclaiming a need to look at the
implications of Stagey's local bus services and Megabus operations
within the area of the franchise. Unlikely to change very much but the
process will no doubt consume even more money from the taxpayers.

--
gordon

wrote in message
oups.com...
On 22 Jun, 09:20, Chris Tolley wrote:
Once again, we see the magic of the franchise bidding system at work.
Promise a huge premium to win the bid, then get the customers to foot
the bill for it.

Presumably it will also give the competition authority wallahs an
excuse to justify their existence by proclaiming a need to look at the
implications of Stagey's local bus services and Megabus operations
within the area of the franchise. Unlikely to change very much but the
process will no doubt consume even more money from the taxpayers.


Why? They haven't been interested in Stagecoach Hampshire Bus down here...

Paul