Commuters to launch bid to take over Southeastern franchise

[Southern]

http://www.courier.co.uk/commuters-...rn-franchise/story-29561734-detail/story.html

A group of commuters want to launch a bid to take over the Southeastern rail franchise.
London and South East Rail, or LSE Rail, is a group of eight commuters brought together through the frustrations they experienced while travelling with the company.

The not-for-profit organisation calls itself 'the people's railway', and wants to run the service by commuters when Southeastern's current franchise ends in 2018.

Beckenham resident who works in Stockwell Oli Passey, 31, said: "We want to get the message out to the public. We were online for seven months, but now we want to take the next steps and spread the word.

"It all began in December last year when I had a terrible week of travel, and trains were delayed or cancelled for five days in a row."

A bit pie in the sky or do they actually have a chance? Assuming the former...anyway, their website is here:

http://www.lserail.uk/

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Shouldn't it be Southern/TSGN/GatEx?

All I can say is good luck to them...especially with only 14 signatures on the petition...

 

[steamybrian]

http://www.courier.co.uk/commuters-...rn-franchise/story-29561734-detail/story.html

A bit pie in the sky or do they actually have a chance? Assuming the former...anyway, their website is here:

http://www.lserail.uk/

One of the photos they illustrate is not a South Eastern Stations..!!!
It is easy to spot..! A clue is that all South Eastern passenger services are
operated by EMUs over electrified lines..!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Not to mention what looks like a Southern 313 interior!

 

[Domh245]

An admirable effort, but IIRC bidders have to demonstrate a certain amount of capital to be eligible to bid. I think that is separate to the bidding fee as well. I also think that trying to run a railway without any experience is going to be a disaster if I'm feeling generous.

Other than that, it's all just popular ideas like new stock, better stations, cheaper fares etc - all of which simply aren't going to happen that soon on SE. I do like the concept of a not-for-profit railway though.

 

[Master29]

A
I do like the concept of a not-for-profit railway though.

Isn`t that what British Rail was.

 

[me123]

Aww bless... they really think they're onto something, don't they? It's quite a professional looking website, but it's clear that they have absolutely no clue.

Perhaps someone from SouthEastern could invite them to spend a week behind the scenes, and demonstrate to them exactly what it takes to run a railway. I get the feeling they'd be rather surprised.

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Isn`t that what British Rail was.

Yes. They weren't supposed to be, it was more by default.

What you really need is a not for dividend business, run on a commercial basis with a target profit margin. The difference is the profit is retained and goes back into the business in some way, so things like the cost of fitting plug sockets or Wi-Fi on trains doesn't come out of increasing ticket prices, but previous profits.

 

[Southern]

One of the photos they illustrate is not a South Eastern Stations..!!!
It is easy to spot..! A clue is that all South Eastern passenger services are
operated by EMUs over electrified lines..!

Guess they got a bit carried away!

Out of interest, can anyone identify the location in that second shot?

 

[yorksrob]

Yes. They weren't supposed to be, it was more by default.

What you really need is a not for dividend business, run on a commercial basis with a target profit margin. The difference is the profit is retained and goes back into the business in some way, so things like the cost of fitting plug sockets or Wi-Fi on trains doesn't come out of increasing ticket prices, but previous profits.

Yes, can we have this please.

 

[TheEdge]

Aww, its kind of adorable. Doomed to hilarious failure but adorable.

 

[highdyke]

Yes, can we have this please.

It's called Network Rail, it has a bigger debt than some countries.

 

[yorksrob]

It's called Network Rail, it has a bigger debt than some countries.

Mmm. Not aware of Network Rail being a passenger train operator.

Whatever you say about NR, we went from underfunded BR, to underfunded Railtrack (because they were too busy satisfying shareholders) to NR, which in spite of its debt has actually had the opportunity to do spend on some investment. If it all changes again, we've got some decent improvements out of it, such as the Arnside viaduct reconstruction.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

You forgot Network SouthEast

 

[Chrisgr31]

Guess they got a bit carried away!

Out of interest, can anyone identify the location in that second shot?

Is it on the Marshlink line? Its certainly not Uckfield line. Colours look a bit Southern especially the footbridge, ground is flat

 

[highdyke]

Mmm. Not aware of Network Rail being a passenger train operator.

Whatever you say about NR, we went from underfunded BR, to underfunded Railtrack (because they were too busy satisfying shareholders) to NR, which in spite of its debt has actually had the opportunity to do spend on some investment. If it all changes again, we've got some decent improvements out of it, such as the Arnside viaduct reconstruction.

Nope, they don't. Nevertheless, it's perhaps not a perfect model and remains somewhat unaccountable. This is the thing, people talk about 'people's railways' and all this nonsense, believing everything to be a management problem rather than practical realities. Rail is an incredibly hard, barely profitable business, full of regulation and realities of real-operation, often affected by things outside your control with lots of people with competing demands run on a network, that in many places has run out of capacity,

Good luck to them, let's hope they make a TV programme about it, sure to be entertaining.

 

[TheEdge]

Good luck to them, let's hope they make a TV programme about it, sure to be entertaining.

I'd love to see the segment when they are thrown into control during an incident then left to fix it given how easy it must be...

 

[jon0844]

Shouldn't it be Southern/TSGN/GatEx?

All I can say is good luck to them...especially with only 14 signatures on the petition...

Maybe they should apologise for the lack of signatures due to a shortage of available site visitors.

 

[ian959]

I needed a good laugh this morning...

24 days to lodge the PQQ application and they haven't even got qualified personnel to do anything yet? Even if they get a PQQ application lodged, I am sure that it would have the relevant bureaucrats in fits of laughter...

 

[WatcherZero]

Never even mind the bonds they would fail the application. You have to give 5 years experience as a transport business management examples, 3 years experience customer service, etc....

E.g.

using examples going back no more than the last five (5) years, please demonstrate your experience and approach to planning and delivering transport services, including:
a) what factors you have taken into account when planning the services;
b) your approach to business continuity and putting passengers' needs first;
c) details of the outcomes for passengers you identified and the actions you originally planned to use and have used to deliver them; and
d) what actions you have taken to review the process for delivering those outcomes and make any necessary adjustments.

Or how about 'Giving examples from the last 7 years demonstrate your ability to successfully mobilise major public sector projects/ major public sector contracts.'

 

[yorksrob]

Nope, they don't. Nevertheless, it's perhaps not a perfect model and remains somewhat unaccountable. This is the thing, people talk about 'people's railways' and all this nonsense, believing everything to be a management problem rather than practical realities. Rail is an incredibly hard, barely profitable business, full of regulation and realities of real-operation, often affected by things outside your control with lots of people with competing demands run on a network, that in many places has run out of capacity,

Good luck to them, let's hope they make a TV programme about it, sure to be entertaining.

Network Rail may well be largely unaccountable however, it's hard to think of any major instances where railway users have been put out by this. A few occasions where evening services have been permanently cut back spring to mind.

As for the South Eastern, we've had all of these issues since time immemorial. Hopefully they're not expecting to make a profit !

 

[steamybrian]

Is it on the Marshlink line? Its certainly not Uckfield line. Colours look a bit Southern especially the footbridge, ground is flat

I do not recognise the station but it is NOT on the Marshlink.

 

[yorksrob]

I do not recognise the station but it is NOT on the Marshlink.

That's certainly true.

The running lines seem a long way apart. Perhaps it's on the Western ?

 

[Starmill]

I don't think this is correct, but it looks suspiciously like Flint to me.

 

[416GSi]

I do wonder if this is real - or a 'set-up' by a TV company. Interesting comment on the website:-

Documenting our progress
We are being followed by a TV crew from Pulse Films who are making a documentary for BBC2 about us and our endeavours to improve train services in the South East. If you have any questions about the nature of filming please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

[BestWestern]

Maybe they should join forces with Gogo Coco or whatever they're called in Wiltshire and go for world domination...

 

[theageofthetra]

Not withstanding the silly stock pictures -to be fair the website looks more professional and looks better on mobile devices than many TOC's!

Still a complete bunch of wibblers & their name sounds like it should be the Tel Aviv metro.

 

[najaB]

From their website

We are under no illusion that this will be a huge undertaking...

Maybe that's the problem!

 

[me123]

The best thing is that, even with the media presence, they've attracted just sixteen signatures. That's only two since it's been posted on this website.

 

[coppercapped]

Yes. They weren't supposed to be, it was more by default.

What you really need is a not for dividend business, run on a commercial basis with a target profit margin. The difference is the profit is retained and goes back into the business in some way, so things like the cost of fitting plug sockets or Wi-Fi on trains doesn't come out of increasing ticket prices, but previous profits.

The trouble with 'not for dividend' is the answer to the question 'Who will stump up the capital for such a business if they are not going to be compensated for doing so?'

Would you hand over cash if, at best, all you can do is later get your money back without any interest being paid? You might as well put it under the mattress.

In practice the only organisation that will supply capital to a 'not for dividend' business is a government because effectively the government takes money from the taxpayer to compensate for the lack of a dividend. Is this what is wanted?