John B wrote:

On 22 Feb, 15:54, Mizter T wrote:
But by the looks of things sooner or later Eurostar isn't going to be
the owner of and hence be in charge of St Pancras station. It does of
course depend on how LCR is split up - will St Pancras be vested in
the owner of HS1/CTRL, or with Eurostar UK Ltd (EUKL)?

St Pancras is managed by Network Rail:
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/4394.aspx


But just because they're contracted to run it means nothing - it's
ownership that counts.


...and will be vested in the owner of HS1:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle2910648.ece


OK - that seems pretty definitive!


There are arguments both ways - the train operator (EUKL) being in
charge makes some sense, with regards to the fact that they are the
ones who are using it every day, unless of course there are other new
operators on the scene when having an impartial station owner starts
to make a lot more sense.

Except that there are three (soon four) train operators in St Pancras,
with EUKL running the fewest services. Indeed, the fact that LCR was
allowed to spec the station in the first place probably explains why
the signing and walking routes for domestic rail are currently so
****poor...


But I was really thinking about the international part of the station
- as things stand, there's a segregated part of the station solely for
international services, and that doesn't look like it'll change soon.
My thinking was whether EUKL was going to control that part (i.e. by
owning it).


Indeed how LCR is broken up could be taken as an indicator as to how
likely TPTB consider a new international operator is to come on to the
scene. Likewise, depending on how LCR is broken up, it could provide
the necessary incentive for a new operator, or indeed provide enough
of an obstacle so as to prevent a new operator considering it
worthwhile.

Will be interesting to see. Given the lack of cheap multibillion loans
for private equity buyouts (which is how the likes of Macquarie have
profited from similar previous acquisitions), I'd not be at all
surprisied to see Network Rail emerging as the successful bidder for
HS1.


Very good point about the buyout and the current climate. However
similar question marks would surround an attempted purchase by Network
Rail - NR has big debts and might well be unhappy incurring any more,
they might have problems raising money for any such purchase, they
might be under government pressure not to get involved etc etc.

Just because Network Rail owning HS1 is the neatest solution in the
minds of rail enthusiasts doesn't mean it is going to happen. The
government may well want more of a payback on HS1 than Network Rail
can offer.


I think the argument for vesting the stations in the ownership of the
HS1/CTRL company is stronger, and of course a lot less messy, than the
counter arrangement. EUKL presence at St Pancras, along with any
potential future operators, would thus be like an airline at an
airport terminal.

...or a TOC at a major station.


Yes - but like it or not the way passengers have to be dealt with when
it comes to international train services to and from this country is
more similar to air travel than it is to domestic rail travel, albeit
without hold luggage. The whole 'check-in' arrangement has to be,
well, arranged, and passengers have to be herded through it. One part
of my thinking was that if EUKL was responsible for doing this, then
if a competing operator had managed to negotiate access to St P they
could still be given a hard time by EUKL. That said, competition rules
would probably mean they had to play ball.

Indeed I'm actually mildly curious to know how things are handled at
the international part of St Pancras' station at present. The
passenger facing staff who do the 'check-in' are EUKL - but do EUKL or
NR pay for the security staff, and who do they answer to? (I suppose
the answer is probably that EUKL, through LCR, pay NR to manage the
station and hence pay the security staff.) Who are the staff at
platform level - NR or EUKL? The staff at the booking office are
obviously EUKL.

Though having asked all those questions I actually realise that the
precise nature of the arrangements doesn't really matter!


All that said, it seems likely that DB is keen on working with
Eurostar as opposed to running competing services, so much of this
talk is probably just hypothetical.

Angels, pins, etc.


Given that even if a competing service ever did run it would be likely
that EUKL at St Pancras would simply be obliged to treat it as if it
were one of its own services, it is all a bit of a moot point really!
It's good that the stations will be vested with HS1, so EUKL couldn't
just say "no" to a new entrant - but again, even if EUKL actually
owned the stations European competition rules would have kicked in and
forced them to open it up to other operators.

Anyway, issues about how precisely things would work at the St Pancras
interface would be very low on the priority list of any operator
genuinely considering running new services - the lack of suitable
trains being a somewhat more pressing issue.

It would of course be great if DB somehow bestowed a new dynamic
impetus on Eurostar through some kind of co-operative agreement or
joint-venture, and got trains running to further afield... but we're
back to familiar uk.railway territory here!