The Scotsman reported on the 14th November GNER will 'tender' for two more franchises GNER, operator of the East Coast main line _link_ing Edinburgh and London, has confirmed it will bid for two new rail franchises if given the green light by regulators. It stressed that in both cases these were new franchises and not an attempt to wrest control of the routes from incumbent operators. GNER, whose franchise for the east coast expires in 2005, said it believed it could bring the same tender loving care to passengers on the new routes. Any idea which franchises GNER has in mind? regards Bob

The Scotsman reported on the 14th November GNER will 'tender' for two more franchises GNER, operator of the East Coast main line _link_ing Edinburgh and London, has confirmed it will bid for two new rail franchises if given the green light by regulators. It stressed that in both cases these were new franchises and not an attempt to wrest control of the routes from incumbent operators. GNER, whose franchise for the east coast expires in 2005, said it believed it could bring the same tender loving care to passengers on the new routes. Any idea which franchises GNER has in mind? regards Bob GNER (Sea Containers)  has said publicly it will go for the new East Coast frnachise and also the Greater Western one. ICEC kicks off very soon, GW in 2005. for an April 2006 start with east coast, clearly the number wishing to pre-qualify will vastly exceed the number of qualifiers the SRA will want, so expct another row on the lines of First and Greater Anglia when the short list is announced next spring-oisg. SB

From: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  (Steve Broadbent) Date: 18-Nov-03 11:00 GMT GNER (Sea Containers)  has said publicly it will go for the new East Coast frnachise and also the Greater Western one. ICEC kicks off very soon, GW in 2005. for an April 2006 start with east coast, clearly the number wishing to pre-qualify will vastly exceed the number of qualifiers the SRA will want, so expct another row on the lines of First and Greater Anglia when the short list is announced next spring-oisg. SB May I suggest that, with a properly run SRA, this would not be so.  The following bidders should be automatically disqualified - those that have 'handed in' or effectively 'handed in' any current franchise (e.g. Virgin, First (sic) Group); and those that have had a franchise removed (e.g. Connex); plus any bidding grouping including such companies.  This would mean GNER vs any new entrants and maybe, National Express - which is an easy decision given the need to retain at least one properly run Inter City railway as an example for others. There we go, SRA, short cut the process and start negotiation with GNER tomorrow.  NB. this will also save an awful lot of tax payers money in bidding costs. Bob

May I suggest that, with a properly run SRA, this would not be so.  The following bidders should be automatically disqualified - those that have 'handed in' or effectively 'handed in' any current franchise (e.g. Virgin, First (sic) Group); and those that have had a franchise removed (e.g. Connex); plus any bidding grouping including such companies.  This would mean GNER vs any new entrants and maybe, National Express - which is an easy decision given the need to retain at least one properly run Inter City railway as an example for others. There we go, SRA, short cut the process and start negotiation with GNER tomorrow.  NB. this will also save an awful lot of tax payers money in bidding costs. Bob well, apart from the legality, there are those who would contend that GNER is as you say it is, all very subjective, certinaly they coud do far ebtter. But your point is an interesting one given the many companies thta are going to want to take GNER's frnachise oevr.... SB

well, apart from the legality, there are those who would contend that GNER is as you say it is, all very subjective, certinaly they coud do far ebtter. But your point is an interesting one given the many companies thta are going to want to take GNER's frnachise oevr.... Is this going to be an example of where the SRA attempt to reduce the number of different companies running Franchises, in an attempt to develop a 'Big 5' (GoVia, First, Nat Ex, Arriva and Virgin Stagecoach), no matter what GNER's past performance has been?

May I suggest that, with a properly run SRA, this would not be so.  The following bidders should be automatically disqualified - those that have 'handed in' or effectively 'handed in' any current franchise (e.g. Virgin, First (sic) Group); and those that have had a franchise removed (e.g. Connex); plus any bidding grouping including such companies.  This would mean GNER vs any new entrants and maybe, National Express Given that NEG has had to renegotiate a number of their franchises (which is no different to effectively 'handed in' ), I think you've just reduced the number of potential bidders to 1 plus any new entrants, of whom I would suspect there would be very, very few.