• West Coast Main Line deal delayed after Virgin legal action
    4 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19467510[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]The deal to hand the West Coast Main Line rail franchise to First Group is to be delayed following a legal challenge by current operator Virgin.[/B] Virgin launched the challenge last week after losing its attempt to continue operating the route. Ministers were expected to sign the deal with First Group several days ago. But they have confirmed due to the legal challenge the contract has not been signed and "the competition remains live". Virgin has run the West Coast Main Line since 1997, but lost out to FirstGroup, prompting it to demand a review. Labour had also urged the government to defer signing the contract so that MPs could examine it. [B]'Significant improvements'[/B] And more than 165,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the decision to be reconsidered. In a written ministerial statement transport minister Theresa Villiers said: "As a result of a legal challenge, which the government intends to defend robustly, we have not yet signed the contract with First West Coast, and consequently the competition remains live." But she insisted "the commitments in First West Coast's bid represent significant improvements for passengers and will provide a good return for the taxpayer." Liberal Democrat president Tim Farron called for an emergency Commons debate on the West Coast Mainline franchise. The MP, who represents Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: "The announcement today, that the awarding of the franchise has been suspended due to the judicial review, gives us time to have that debate." But Speaker John Bercow turned down the request. Virgin has made an application for a judicial review of the decision to award FirstGroup the contract, and has lodged papers at the High Court in London. FirstGroup has said it wants to proceed "without delay or disruption" and would continue to prepare to start running the franchise on 9 December this year. The franchise, to be run under the name First West Coast Limited, would run until 2026. The Aberdeen-based company already operates a number of rail routes, including Great Western and ScotRail. The West Coast Main Line route serves 31 million passengers a year travelling between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the central belt of Scotland. Passenger numbers have doubled since Virgin started running the franchise. FirstGroup has said it would introduce 11 new 125mph six-car electric trains on the Birmingham to Glasgow route and provide more direct services between destinations, as well as introduce improved wi-fi and food.[/quote] [img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62285000/gif/_62285220_west_coast_route_map_464.gif[/img]
How did this even begin? Why is the government taking something from one company and giving it to another?
[QUOTE=cccritical;37529461]How did this even begin? Why is the government taking something from one company and giving it to another?[/QUOTE] Because Virgin's contract to run the franchise is over, so they and First both ran bids to be awarded the next contract to run the franchise.
[QUOTE=cccritical;37529461]How did this even begin? Why is the government taking something from one company and giving it to another?[/QUOTE] They pretty much promised a huge sum of money to improve the lines, thats why they won the bid. Virgin say it's impossible for them to have so much money and think they're lying. AFAIK.
[QUOTE=cccritical;37529461]How did this even begin? Why is the government taking something from one company and giving it to another?[/QUOTE] Virgin got a 15 year contract to run the line in 1997, so this year it was up for renewal. FirstGroup bid higher, and were awarded the contract instead. A lot of people are complaining that FirstGroup's services in other areas are bad and they're going to shit up the line, while others are saying that FirstGroup's bid was [i]so[/i] high that in a few years, it's going to turn out they can't actually pay for it, and that if that happens they'll basically give the line back and fuck off with no real penalty [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19264614[/url] [quote]But there are concerns that FirstGroup may have bid too much for the franchise. "There have been many examples… where there have been very aggressive bids which the government has awarded and then quite soon afterwards, the people have handed back the keys and walked away from the contract without any real penalty," said Stephen Glaister, Professor of Transport and Infrastructure at Imperial College London. "That's a very unsatisfactory situation from a public interest point of view." As part of its contract, First West Coast would have to pay £265m in penalties if it were to terminate the contract early or fail to make scheduled payments to the government.[/quote] [editline]4th September 2012[/editline] Of course we all know who should [i]really[/i] be running the line [img]http://imgkk.com/i/pyb6.png[/img]
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