As that well-known observer of the passenger rail franchising scene, Mr Kenny Rogers, almost wrote:
‘Now every franchise owner knows, the secret to survivin’ is knowin’ what to throw away, and knowin’ what to keep’
And as further details of the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements (ERMA), announced by the Department for Transport on 21 September, have emerged, it is clear Mr Rogers is bang on the money.
You have to look at the current situation from the viewpoint of the civil servants who have been responsible for running franchising for the past 25 years. In the beginning the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (Opraf) produced the Rolls-Royce of franchising systems (I think you mean ‘world-beating’ – Ed).
True, it had some deficiencies. And when ownership passed to the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) it tinkered with some ‘go-faster’ modifications, such as 20-year investment-linked franchises. Plus letter agreements to keep Virgin from going under.
CONTROL
But when the Department for Transport’s crack team took total control in 2004, technical excellence was restored. And what did the owning groups do when they got their hands on the Rolls-Royce metaphor? They took it banger racing.
There were all th…
