Guest flumax Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29531099 Only wished it had been able to being them back in to public ownership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flure Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 How does this work?We (in Scotland) cannot bring our railways into public ownership, but by awarding the contract to Abellio, the people of The Netherlands now own our railways.What a shambles of a country the UK is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Sad news as surveys show First took ScotRail forward improving punctuality, increasing customer satisfaction and bringing all railway employees under the same employee unlike the previous incumbents (National Express) who had catering done on the cheap via outside catering company. As I understand it Abellio are going to take catering to outside catering company which will be very bad for current employees in that sector. Also means we are having our trains run by a foreign company now. Not much for me to be happy about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jailender Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Abellio have promised major shopping developments at Aberdeen and Inverness stations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld_Reekie Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Have no sympathy whatsoever for First Group. Shockingly poor IMO. Far too often showing up with 2 car services on main routes at rush hour when a minimum of 4 are needed. Shame we can't get it in to public ownership but no UK party appears to support amending UK Railway Act 1993 or devolving it. Think we'll see some major improvements from Abellio. By next franchise though, I want it brought into public ownership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbcmfc Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Abellio have promised major shopping developments at Aberdeen and Inverness stations. A wh smith? Or a tie rack AND a Wh smith? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Bairn Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 In theory looks good but cant see them living up to everything theyve promised http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/news/new-deal-transform-rail-services Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomtscotland Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I know a couple of train drivers and they've got nothing good to say about First. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Endell Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Have no sympathy whatsoever for First Group. Shockingly poor IMO. Far too often showing up with 2 car services on main routes at rush hour when a minimum of 4 are needed. Shame we can't get it in to public ownership but no UK party appears to support amending UK Railway Act 1993 or devolving it. Think we'll see some major improvements from Abellio. By next franchise though, I want it brought into public ownership. Aye, First's attitude to customer service is appalling. Not at all sorry they've lost the franchise, although the whole franchise process is nonsense (wastes millions that could be better spent improving services). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Abellio have promised major shopping developments at Aberdeen and Inverness stations. Aberdeen station is yards away from a massive mall isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jailender Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Ditto Inversneckie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParisInAKilt Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Worked for scotrail as a ticket inspector at Paisley, no laughing Horrible job and the company wasn't up to much from my experience. The trip to Paris in 2007 helped break it up but only lasted 3 months. It was that bad I was glad to go back to a call centre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Endell Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Worked for scotrail as a ticket inspector at Paisley, no laughing Horrible job and the company wasn't up to much from my experience. The trip to Paris in 2007 helped break it up but only lasted 3 months. It was that bad I was glad to go back to a call centre. Only behind Glasgow bus driver in the list of sh*t jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debian Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 £5.70 fair between Cities. Aye right. Whats the catch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jailender Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 £400 from Stranraer to Prestwick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deecie Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 You'll have to book it 16 weeks in advance and there'll only be one seat per train. These promotional fares just mean that the company can say that their average fare is lower than the rip-off price they regularly charge. I was £55 return to get to Glasgow last weekend and I didn't even get a seat - bargain. As an aside though, the trains in Holland have always been pretty good for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jailender Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 The trains in Holland might be good, but Abellio might well have different objectives with this contract. ie making loads of money. Railways are generally a major drain, and not many run at a profit Europe wide. More to do with providing infrastructure than making money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilScotsman Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 The trains in Holland might be good, but Abellio might well have different objectives with this contract. ie making loads of money. Railways are generally a major drain, and not many run at a profit Europe wide. More to do with providing infrastructure than making money. Ironically, the only franchise in Britain which is a net contributor to the exchequer is the East Coast one. Now, there's something else which marks that one out as different - it's publicly owned and operated (until February next year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Endell Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 It also ends their public transport monopoly (almost) in Glasgow - if I want to travel into the city centre I can either travel by First Scotrail or First Bus (although I tend to avoid the poverty wagon at all costs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jailender Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Apparently Abellio run one of the rail franchises down south, and have recently cancelled one of their cheap tariff fares, so it will be interesting to see how long the £5 inter-city one lasts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth Farrington Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Without fail, the train I go for in the morning or at night is always a few minutes late. I couldn't tell you the last time it never happened. When you're trying to get a bus after the choo & everything needs to be bang on time, it's fecking infuriating. I'd love to know where they get their survey samples from. I don't know many people who are as delighted as Shitrail try to make out. Goodbye & good riddance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErsatzThistle Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Only a couple of years ago it was about £2.50 odds to get from Newton Mearns into Glasgow off peak which I thought was a fair price. Now it's about £4.20 off peak, in a filthy, damp carriage usually. Noticed the Cathcart Circle line has had a lot more signalling and engineering problems in the last eighteen months than it has in years previously. Hope the Dutch can fix things across the whole country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bzzzz Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I know a couple of train drivers and they've got nothing good to say about First. Ditto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) Can we get some of those funky Dutch double decker trains now?... Edited October 8, 2014 by Toepoke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deecie Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Can we get some of those funky Dutch double Decker trains now?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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