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Re: Virgin Moderation of Competition - is it Legal?

On 22 Sep, 14:01, keith Kondakor <goo...@k2t.co.uk> wrote:
> Virgin and the DfT are trying to run a monopoly so that the upgrade
> looks better.
> At Nuneaton we will get a dogs dinner of a service as the timetable is
> deigned to serve the commuters to london with direct trains and then
> provide a slow service. LM will provide cheap fares but will be
> stopped from giving us trains all day. We almost go the DfT and Virgin
> to stop the 08:48 from Liverpool at Nuneaton at 09:58 to get into
> Euston for 11:00. This would hav given a useful day in Lindon for
> those who cannot justify £108 return. Unfortunaly Virgin blocked
> saving this 1 off peak train.
>
> many people who live outside the town centre drive to Coventry or
> Rugby already due to less harsh ticking resitictions. If Virgin can
> stop anyone else giving Nuneaton a good service then they can keep a
> good amount of revenue. If London Midland or open acccess operator can
> run all day and without silly 10 minute waits at Northampton then they
> will take revenue. The monoply should not be granted to Virgin at
> Nuneaton if we have no Virgin trains to London betweem 08:45 & 21:02
>
> keith kondakorwww.nbrug.org.uk

(you need a spellchecker...)

The situation is much more complex - and you still think that "Virgin
is refusing to add stops" etc.

Remember two things - and also bear in mind that the Virgin MOC
agreement was drawn up by/with the involvement of Tom Winsor, and will
therefore certainly be pretty legally sound.

1) The DfT has designed the timetable and packed it very tightly so
that even losing 3 minutes for a station stop "may" affect following
paths.
2) Because of the framing of the Virgin MOC agreement the TOC is
actually obliged to object to anything that could be seen as
"competition" and if it doesn't object then it is in breach of its
franchise.. (really - I only learned that a few weeks ago!).

So - whilst you may not like the situation it is far more complex that
just Virgin being awkward. There are senior railway insiders who will
tell you that the DfT supports the MOC agreement because it is
retaining the vaue of the West Coast franchise so that the DfT can get
the best value when it is re-let in 2012. (and remember that the LM
timetable on the WCML was written by the DfT before the LM franchise
was let - and bidders worked to the timetable that LM is about to
introduce in December.. so don't blame LM either. Its very much a DfT
railway).

Tony

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