socialmedian: National Express East Coast franchise nationalised

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National Express East Coast franchise nationalised

Source: guardian.co.uk Politics

Nov 06, 2009

Summary

• Train service taken over from next Saturday
• Public ownership will last for at least 18 months

Back in the day, British Rail was synonymous with soggy sandwiches, late trains – or no services at all. Deserved or not, it was a reputation that became immortalised in the comedy, the Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin – every morning, his train to Waterloo was reliably late, but always for a different reason.

From next Saturday, though, the government will get a chance to make some amends, when it returns as a long distance train operator for the first time since privatisation in the mid-90s.

Passengers on the prestigious London to Edinburgh route have been promised punctuality, good food and clean loos.

The Department for Transport has seized control of the failed £1.4bn National Express East Coast franchise. Apart from a stint running the Southeastern service earlier in the decade, the government has ducked complaints over fare hikes and poor catering by letting the private sector take the flak – and the profits.

That will change when the DfT launches the frugally t

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