Do you think it would be a good idea to let Richard Branson and Virgin Trains take over the British Rail?

Question

systems? I think he'd boost the system completely. What do you think?

And not 'British Rail' the company, I mean the british rail network/system over the whole country

Answer 1

I agree, TK.

The way things are now, how could it get any worse. Besides, I think he would ensure a better overall service.

Plus there is the possibility of us getting free balloon rides if trains are delayed. : )

Answer 2

The Virgin Rail Company, makes a lot of Mistakes and I do not think they would be good without the competition they have now.
Plus also taking over the whole Network would cost Virgin a lot of money, why? Reimbursing all the expenditure that the other companies have piled into there own firms, paying the cost of rolling stock, infrastructure, uniforms, branding, logos, etc, etc.
Whenever there is a changeover in company (I have worked in the same area of the railway system for almost 12 years now and have been employed by 4 firms in that time) so much money is thrown into the above and it normally takes 2-3 years to complete the transfer.
There are other problems with staffing levels, differance in areas and requirements of service and types of trains change.
Maintenace is also a problem, as RailTrack showed and now Network Rail, keeping and mainting the Permanent Way is a real money loser and is extremley expensive, get it wrong and as has been seen over the past few years death can result very quickly.
If the British Rail idea was ever reborn, it would have to be under goverment control again.

Answer 3

I think that you mean Network Rail?
And my answer is NO,No no!
Network Rail do not set the ticket prices, and trains are running at 91% on time which is far better that when it was run privately by Rail Track.
Since Network Rail took over in 2002 there has been only 1 Major accident unlike when British Rail & Rail Track ran the railway or maintained the tracks.
Also in the last 5 years the railways in Britain have become the safest form of transport knocking airplanes off the top spot for safety!
Just you wait to see the future developments in the next couple of years with what is going to happen on the railways. Loads of investment for one!
By the way its is also against EU law for Train Operating Companies to also maintain the tracks!

Answer 4

I think, on balance, yes. Branson has already indicated that he would prefer to run a 'complete' railway, i.e have full control of infrastructure, ownership of trains etc. The current mish mash of ownerships is doing no one any good, and we are now suffering from the highest priced fares anywhere in the world. Another answer has referred to the 'mess' he made of reorganising cross country. I don't agree - he did an excellent job once he had decent trains (Voyagers and SuperVoyagers). He totally reorganised the schedules, making far more trains available. He had his teething problems when he first held the franchise, trying to run it with clapped out HSTs which broke down on a daily basis due to lack of earlier maintenance. Living in the north-east, I remember the days of cross-country under BR - a few trains a day of ageing Mark 1 or 2 stock, hauled by beat up class 40s. It could take the best part of a day to get from Newcastle to the South West or the south coast. Now it can be done in a few hours. If only he could organise the whole system.

The previous answer refers to loco hauled trains being 10 -12 coaches long. In your dreams! Not since the 1960s. The typical consist in the West Coast was 8, and on X-country 5 or 6. Voyagers run in pairs and are 8 coaches. The crowding is not due to the length of the trains, but to the fact that far more passengers are being attracted back to the railways and there just isn't the stock - or infrastructure - to cope.

Answer 5

God in heaven no!
This meglomanic must be stopped at all costs!
He'll own everything in UK eventually...and it's all being paid for by the British taxpayer.......
When he ordered his pendoleno trains he pushed Railtrack to accept a maximum line speed of 140mph on the west coast main line using as yet untried signaling methods.
Having ordered his units and still whilst being built in Italy/Birmingham,he was told that the signaling system could'nt be introduced to allow 140mph running..but the design specification for the units was kept.
When intoduced into service onto the now Networkrail owned system(which is funded mostly by taxpayers) the class 390 type unit was permanantly restricted to 125 mph max speed.
Because of this Networkrail now has to pay compensation to RB's Virgin trains £1m per unit per year for the whole of the life of each unit(designed for a lifespan of 35 years).
A nice little earner don't you think!
Don't believe the hype about how good the 390 units are either...they are riddled with more problems than any train British Rail ever ran..and only a masochist would pay to sit in a pendoleno seat all the way from London to Glasgow!...I wonder if they have a free chiropractor at your destination?

Answer 6

Richard Branson spent more money than he had to on the specification of his Pendalino fleet and the Cumbria crash proved it was money well spent. This is a good ethic of his and in theory shows he would not be afraid to spend money where needed.

I would like to see the railways as a single unit again, this eliminates the blame culture and means one company is responsible and ultimately one person. Network Rail do need to get their act together and stop so many people from so many companies being trackside as this creates a nightmare in paperwork and reporting. If Richard Branson was given the chance I could see him creating a basic list of staff type: permanent way gangs, signallers and signalling maintenance staff, station staff, on board train staff plus office/admin/helpline staff all reporting to a local manager(s), who report to area manager, who report to managing director.

It's simple and effective all actions are easily traceable so people would do their jobs properly, management would act on information immediately and follow up on everything.

But for as long as government is involved millions will be wasted on pointless tasks, paperwork and reports will go 'missing' and those who have the ability to do the job will never be allowed to do so or be able to due to high levels of bureaucracy and backstabbing.

I must add though, that overall the railways are a safe place to work and travel and get a lot of unfair press. Just think how many trains run over the network everyday. Then ask how many people die on our roads daily?

Answer 7

Before Branson took over we had proper locomotive hauled train, 10 and 12 coach long sometimes, plenty of seats leg room etc. He takes over we have sardine can Pendolinos on the Euston West Coast main line and the awful Voyagers and Super Voyagers three and four cars long. These are travelling from one end of the country, ie Dundee to Penzance. People are standing for hours.
No Branson has got the railway system into a right pickle, sorry for the pun.

Answer 8

No. Virgin is a company, like any other, whose primary purpose is to make money for the shareholders.

The railway system, in my opinion, should be run as a public service to benefit the transport infrastructure of this country (UK).

Branson is very good at business, but he doesn't know much about trains. He once made a comment that he would pay train drivers more so they would go faster.

And yes, I would prefer to travel on coaching stock (Mk3 preferably), hauled by a proper locomotive, rather than a mickey-mouse multiple unit,

Answer 9

We can blame the Conservative government of over ten years ago for the privatisation of Britain's raliways, when they sold it off in a completely incompetent manner.
Sir Richard has made a success of the two franchises his companies run, i.e. Cross Country and West Coast, with more services providing cheaper travel and many more seats.
He took on two difficult franchises and turned them around, providing brand new trains for each franchise.
Because the provision of rail services is so expensive, we will never get back to the comparative luxury of the mark 3 carriage; the object of all the rail operators has to be to pack 'em in as comfortably as space will allow, and that means cramped conditions. Even First, which has a large slice of the franchise cake, has decreed that the Great Western HST fleet has to have more seating to maximise profits, so reducing the quality of travel. Stagecoach with its South West Trains franchise is in the same position, because it has to make money to satisfy its shareholders.
If push came to shove and the railways were re-nationalised in any shape or form, my money would be on Virgin to provide the excellent service which they strive to do with their existing franchises.

Answer 10

Virgin specializes in cross-country and express runnings, and we have smaller companies like Northern and Arriva who specialize in local services. We have GNER operating in the North East with their ex British Rail Class 43s and Class 91s. We really don't need to change. I would like to go back to B.R Blue days to be honest, because steam has no chance (well, not as it was in the 19th/20th century anyway). I prefer steam, but B.R Blue would be just as good on a modern network.

Answer 11

No, his company made a total hash of the cross country reorganisation and any company that thinks reducing the number of seats available is an improvement has a problem.