The familiar Virgin rail might be about to be exited from Preston station. This week a decision on which company runs the West Coast Main Line from the 10th December 2012 will be made. Rumour has it that First Group have bid much higher than Virgin. Although the decision is said to factor in service levels, the increased income for the government is weighing heavily on the decision.
It is said by the rail unions that to achieve the cost saving First will cut back on service and staff, reconfiguring the trains to be more efficient, which doesn’t sound too attractive from a passenger point of view.
The government says that 40,000 extra seats a day over the whole network, with new and longer trains and improved stations and ticketing will be in the deal. As an incentive for investment the contract will last for 15 years.
The West Coast Main Line has been relatively free of the business problems that occurred on the East Coast, despite a massive track upgrade that disrupted service for years. The long term contract to encourage investment might have the opposite effect if paying the government more squeezes too hard. You might hope that an incumbent has better insight into the possibilities. It will be a bit disappointing to lose the familiar Virgin look but sentiment isn’t a factor.