Following the relative highs of recent years, I fear a deep depression is settling over north east England. And I am not talking about the weather.
Railwaywise, the promises of the new Northern, TransPennine and Virgin franchises seem to be fast evaporating. Both Northern and TransPennine are thought to be seeking to renegotiate parts of their contracts in view of the late delivery or transfer of new or additional rolling stock, and delays by Network Rail in implementing improvements to allow the ‘more and faster’ services trumpeted little more than a year ago. And Virgin Trains East Coast has announced it is forking out £84.1 million to support losses on its services because of delays in delivery of its new Azuma (daft name) trains and the necessary related upgrade work to tracks and power supplies along the East Coast main line, coupled with a downturn in traffic as a result of terrorist attacks and uncertainty following the Brexit vote – although there would seem to be no reason why the taxpayer should compensate it for the last two. A further unspoken reason may be Virgin’s concern that the internal fit of its Class 800/801s as delivered does not compare well with the Mk 3s of its existing 40-ye…
