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Government told to improve nationalised east coast line

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Published Date: 03 July 2009
PRESSURE is growing on the government to improve services on the East Coast Main Line following National Express' decision to walk away from the £1.4 billion franchise.
Rail minister Lord Adonis announced earlier this week that the key Edinburgh-London route would be taken back into public ownership.

Now Edinburgh politicians have called for assurances that the standard of service offered to passengers will not suffer further.

Edinburgh East MP Gavin Strang said the route was a "great asset" which should be protected.

Addressing transport minister Sadiq Khan during a House of Commons debate, Mr Strang said: "We should welcome the government's intervention, but may I put it to him that the key thing is to sustain this service? Will he do all he can to maintain it and build on it for the future?"

Edinburgh Central MSP Sarah Boyack said the standard of the service had been slipping in recent months.

She said: "I hope this move will safeguard jobs and ensure that the quality of service provided to commuters is delivered to a higher standard."





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  • Last Updated: 03 July 2009 10:08 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

PaulB,

Edinburgth 03/07/2009 13:53:38
Bring back the restaurant service on every train, and bring back GNER - they are sorely missed.
2

Jaco Pastorius,

Phnom Penh 03/07/2009 14:07:00
Bring back hanging, too. Never did me any harm, largely because I've never been hanged.
3

danbob,

03/07/2009 14:39:58
Brilliant logic this. Government offers National express a short term franchise to run these services on the understanding that it pays the government £millions a year for the privilage of doing so. When they cannot afford it the government takes it back. Now since the franchise cost more to service than the profit made, how will this benefit the taxpayer?
4

Ian down under,

Musselburgh 03/07/2009 22:32:55
The Chief Exec of GNER is now running the trains in Melbourne, Australia. I don't think he'll come back.
Let's get a better service going with hourly expresses stopping at Newcastle and York only taking under 4h again [like BR did], then have an hourly service of stopping trains taking 4h20 with 5-6 stops, integrate with the 30 minute London-Leeds trains.
Scrap the X-country gas guzzling sardine cans and run a fast electric unit every 2 hours stopping at all main stations to York [eventually to leeds once it has wires]
Have decent walk-up fares to attract custom and you will find the passenger numbers will rise.
Direct Network Rail to start clearing the 'pinch points' like flat junctions at Doncaster Newark and Hitchin especially and get at least 4 tracks from King's Cross to Doncaster.
5

BROONISDOOMED,

PITS OF HELL 03/07/2009 22:55:03
seems that saddam only said he had the WMD to stop iran from attacking them
as they have never found any ,so was bush and blair guilty of invading iraq on heresay?
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090703/tpl-saddam-stayed-in-baghdad-until-city-b04fc5e.html

6

BROONISDOOMED,

PITS OF HELL 03/07/2009 22:57:44
and why not bring back the euro train that did leave edinburgh,until it got scrapped,you have to go to england to get on board,but how much cash came from scotland to get the euro going

 

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