GaryMcEwan
Established Member
Maybe now First can sort out the mess that is First Scotland East....
If true, at least the SNP can say the winner is not "English".
Does anyone know what time it will be at?
Maybe now First can sort out the mess that is First Scotland East....
Ah well I guess I won't be working for Scotrail then. I have passed a few stages for a job with them and was told the job was on hold at the moment but they would let me know when I would be going on to the next stage! I guess it was on hold because of the franchise decision. That'll be that then !
I was thinking that pacers to Scotland for the Borders line i hope not. But I hope they invest more than they have with Northern the worst rolling stock going.
There still gunna need staff so dont give up. I wonder if the bid will see a few pacers transfer up here in exchange for some 15x? *joke*
If true, at least the SNP can say the winner is not "English".
But (again, if true) a bad loss for FirstGroup following on from FCC, and another bid failure by Arriva.
DB will be cross.
Edit:
The BBC now has it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29531099
And the BBC clearly know so much about Scotrail that they have a photo of First Capital Connect carriages in the article.
A union has reacted angrily to reports that a Dutch firm will be awarded the next £2.5bn ScotRail franchise.
Current operator FirstGroup is expected to lose the franchise to Abellio, an offshoot of Dutch national railways.
The contract is to run most of Scotland’s trains for the next decade from April 2015. FirstGroup was said to have been among five shortlisted bidders for the deal, the Scotsman reported.
Neither Transport Scotland nor ScotRail would comment on the reports but Scottish transport minister Keith Brown is due to announce a “major Scottish transport development” on Wednesday.
Rail union RMT reacted furiously, saying it represented a missed opportunity to bring the franchise back into public ownership. Union bosses described it as a “disgraceful and shameful betrayal of the Scottish people”.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “It is scandalous that just a few weeks after the referendum, and promises from all quarters that the Scottish people would have an increased say in every aspect of their lives, that the continued privatisation of Scotland’s railways has been bulldozed through with the SNP colluding with the political elite in Westminster to deny the opportunity for this franchise to be brought back into public ownership.
“There is no question that this whole franchising process could and should have been halted, pending the ratification of the post-referendum devolution settlement, instead of rushing headlong into a deal that will deny the Scottish people ownership and control of their railways for many years to come.
“Scotland could have taken control of its own railways, instead they have opted to go Dutch, meaning that profits will be sucked out of the system to underpin investment and fares in Holland.”
The 320s, 334s and 380s now all carry the 'Spotrail' livery.Fare point I guess, but the First Branded Saltire paint job is hardly new, so much so that theres at least 3 classes all wearing it now I think?
Abellio issued a contract notice for up to 400 new carriages:http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG152580
I'm looking forward to seeing their rolling stock proposals.
I will miss First Scotrail. At least they are British
At least First is a word in the English language.
Will Abellio be allowed to change the livery of the Scotrail trains, if they are any guesses as to what they might go for?
It does indeed seem that First have lost the Scotrail franchise.
I think they have done a very good job over the last ten years.
I don't like the whole franchise way of running a railway, so i'm somewhat biased when it comes to changes like this.
I will miss First Scotrail. At least they are British, were as now Scotrail with be pretty much a sub section of Dutch State Railways.
Just been last week to Edinburgh for a few days. First a British company was in plentiful supply. Now only the 350's operated by First Transpennie will be there, in a sea of Dutch and German state owned stock.
Even then it's only 55% British.
These foreigners are getting more brazen by the day.
The Crosscountry 220's now have 'Part of Arriva - A DB company' writ along the top of the outside of the carriages.
Then I saw 67029 in the bay in bright silver with many giant 'DB' logos all over it.
Non railway interested folk would be no doubt amazed to learn that the 'DB' stands for 'Deutsche Bahn'
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...other week and oh lordy what a mouthful 'Abellio Greater Anglia' is!
I know it's one word longer but still. Abellio, stupid anyway. No matter how good someone is at saying it, it still sounds like their speaking gibberish.
At least First is a word in the English language.
The point is that, in a time when there is so much focus on organisations like the BBC being London-focussed and unaware of Scottish issues, to be apparently unaware that First's livery in Scotland is different is unfortunate.In an article talking about First Group they used a picture showing trains in plain First Group livery with no branding visible. Seems perfectly fine for a media organisation who are not rail specialists...
I'll happily join in the criticism when the BBC do use a spectacularly poor image (such as the 121 on a preserved line on an article about the infrastructure improvements announced in a budget). This, however, feels like nitpicking.
Was down at Liverpool Street the other week and oh lordy what a mouthful 'Abellio Greater Anglia' is!
I know it's one word longer but still. Abellio, stupid anyway. No matter how good someone is at saying it, it still sounds like their speaking gibberish.
Abellio Deutschland was formed by the Essen public transit company in association with the British investment company Star Capital Partners, which owned 75% of Abellio.
In 2008, both parent companies sold their shares to NedRailways, the international expansion arm of Nederlandse Spoorwegen. All NedRailways companies are now branded as Abellio