Rail Franchising - The Future

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Rail Franchising - The Future

(04/10/2012 14:32)DVL418 Wrote:  As highlighted earlier in this thread, judging a TOCs 'performance by relying on the PPM indicator, many factors of which are not within its own control, is extremely subjective and unreliable.

That doesn't answer my question - what other measures do you want to use? I've already outlined my views on Virgin aside from the cold, hard facts. Take Merseyrail for example - no doubt about it, a very punctual operator. Their performance figures are taken in exactly the same way as Virgin's and East Coast's, with absolutely no other measure to address their overall "performance" as an operator. I could point to overcrowded and dirty trains, for example, but none of this is relevant to the PPM or MAA figures.

No, I don't necessarily agree the railways are "inefficient" and "broken". I'll use Merseyrail again - despite their obvious capacity shortcomings - they are very reliable indeed and I wouldn't mind betting significantly more trustworthy than BR ever were when they operated the network. Virgin have done an excellent job for most passengers' money, and as a semi-regular user I'll agree. There are other examples of strong franchises such as South West Trains, Southern, ScotRail, London Midland. Hardly "broken".