Northern have got the franchise till Feb. 2016 gutted terrible company
(28/03/2014 16:57)sth6168 Wrote: [ -> ]Northern have got the franchise till Feb. 2016 gutted terrible company
This is so that the new TPE and Northern franchises can be let at the same time in 2016.
(28/03/2014 16:57)sth6168 Wrote: [ -> ]Northern have got the franchise till Feb. 2016 gutted terrible company
Why do you hold that view of them?
It's not Northern's fault they have such a dowdy image - they were given a bad hand to start with ie elderly units etc. The realisation is that the North has always had to survive on hand-me-downs from elsewhere (I know Pacers/Sprinters have been based in this part of the world since introduction). Truth of the matter is that until a more balanced (ie less Southern/South Eastern area centred) rolling stock plan is introduced, this will always be the case I'm afraid.
At the end of the day the North will always get hand me downs, the farebox covers about 40% of the operating costs in the north, down south it's about 80%.
SD.
(28/03/2014 16:57)sth6168 Wrote: [ -> ]Northern have got the franchise till Feb. 2016 gutted terrible company
No matter which company gets the Northern Franchise it will still have that second hand look for a while to come .
Northern always seems to be the mix for spare units from any other franchise that is shedding units when that particular franchise is getting new units , sometimes its just like one big merry-go-round .
At least they managed to get a good number of extra units given that the franchise was let on a no growth basis. Latest figures show Northern are now carrying 47% more passengers across the franchise than at the start of it.
SD.
My single gripe with Northern is the capacity being insufficient at times. The fleet are generally well turned out, I've rarely suffered a delay with them and even the 142s aren't that displeasing to ride - I actually find it somewhat of a novelty.
New stock would be preferential but to be perfectly honest, I don't understand the complaints some passengers have for the type of services Northern run.
But that isn't the fault of the operator. They can only run what they have. There simply aren't spare DMU's sitting around doing nothing.
SD.
Fair enough, perhaps my comment regarding capacity should instead lie with those responsible for the allocation of DMUs to operators then. Either way, running 2 car units along the Wigan to Liverpool corridor during the peaks and particularly on a Sunday is dreadful - it's not all services on a Sunday and it's not every week but it happens too regularly.