Virgin Trains and Stagecoach win £3.3bn contract to run the East Coast mainline rail franchise
Stagecoach and Virgin Trains are set to cash in on one of Britain’s most lucrative railway contracts after ministers surprised the City by awarding the £3.3 billion, eight-year East Coast mainline contract to their joint venture.
The Government staved off one political row by rejecting the favourite — a joint bid by Eurostar and Keolis, both majority-owned by France.
But critics still condemned the move to re-privatisate the London-to-Scotland line by handing it to Stagecoach, led by Scottish tycoon Brian Souter, and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains.
The East Coast mainline has generated £1 billion for UK taxpayers since 2009, when former operator National Express handed the contract back to the Government.
The RMT union called returning the franchise to the private sector “a national disgrace”. General secretary Mick Cash added: “This is pure industrial vandalism by a rotten government hell-bent on wrecking successful public services in the name of private greed.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin ... 87056.html
East coast rail has been too successful – quick, privatise it
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... il-rip-off
Britain awards East Coast rail contract to Stagecoach-Virgin JV
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/ ... PF20141127
Comment - Three days ago we wrote on Facebook that the dynamic/synergy which had existed and prevails for the past 15 days would change the either negativity and back to the nasty practice -
The above announcement those who are supposed to be our ac acquaintance and uses our issues, expertise and network for their advantage and business benefits and the write/pass as great business Guru and experts p- had we stayed in France Longer that deal would not have gone through that way / The British, French and International media what they write and their so call expertise.
We are not going to re-post this article on Facebook those who are interested can do so and those who care keep a copy/. To all those Ladies out there who think an d talk only big money - it take more than cash/connections and shrewdness to make such issues work and come ab out.
Beside their benchmark and code of conduct is not much better than Sechelles Seychelles government the past 35 years.