"Sam Holloway" wrote in message
...

This is the bit that gets me. One railway, one brand etc etc. But then
they've excluded the GN of WAGN and Central.

I can understand that this 'One' brand is current for the Eastern
region only, and hence Central isn't included, but the exclusion of
WAGN is quite irritating.

There's a very simple reason. Although the current rump WAGN is also run by
National Express, the long-term intention is to incorporate it into an
enlarged Thameslink franchise, when Thameslink 2100 (if?) comes about.
Therefore the SRA are hedging their bets, avoiding the expense of merging
WAGN into 'ONE' and then having to de-merge it at a later date.
Nevertheless, the apparent lack of co-operation and bloody-mindedness that
appears to be going on between the National Express subsidiary 'ONE' and the
National Express subsidiary WAGN is positively astounding!

There's a very simple reason. Although the current rump WAGN is also run
by
National Express, the long-term intention is to incorporate it into an
enlarged Thameslink franchise, when Thameslink 2100 (if?) comes about.
Therefore the SRA are hedging their bets, avoiding the expense of merging
WAGN into 'ONE' and then having to de-merge it at a later date.
Nevertheless, the apparent lack of co-operation and bloody-mindedness that
appears to be going on between the National Express subsidiary 'ONE' and
the
National Express subsidiary WAGN is positively astounding!

(WA)GN will be merged with ThamesLink when both their franchises run out in
2 years

In message
"Brian Watson" wrote:

[snip]

And how much did they pay for this masterpiece of rebranding, I wonder?



About one.million

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

"Joe" wrote in message
...

(WA)GN will be merged with ThamesLink when both their franchises run out
in
2 years

Not necessarily. There may be a further extension of the existing franchise.
If TL2000 does not go ahead at all then there is also the possibility of
WAGN being absorbed into the ICEC franchise.

In the letter can you ask him if it was him, or one of his staff (with no
design sense what so ever) was given a packet of crayons for Christmas, and
if their drawings somehow made it into the paint shop

In article ,
(Jack Taylor) wrote:

"Joe" wrote in message
...

(WA)GN will be merged with ThamesLink when both their franchises run
out in 2 years

Not necessarily. There may be a further extension of the existing
franchise. If TL2000 does not go ahead at all then there is also the
possibility of WAGN being absorbed into the ICEC franchise.

The GN of WAGN will have a connection to Thameslink from 2007.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...

The GN of WAGN will have a connection to Thameslink from 2007.

A physical connection, that is.

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 10:59:17 +0100, "Jack Taylor"
wrote:
"Sam Holloway" wrote in message
.. .

This is the bit that gets me. One railway, one brand etc etc. But then
they've excluded the GN of WAGN and Central.

I can understand that this 'One' brand is current for the Eastern
region only, and hence Central isn't included, but the exclusion of
WAGN is quite irritating.

There's a very simple reason. Although the current rump WAGN is also run by
National Express, the long-term intention is to incorporate it into an
enlarged Thameslink franchise, when Thameslink 2100 (if?) comes about.
Therefore the SRA are hedging their bets, avoiding the expense of merging
WAGN into 'ONE' and then having to de-merge it at a later date.

Yes, that may be the underlying reason, but as a passenger (or
customer), I couldn't care less about that. Glad to see that those in
charge are putting the burecracy ahead of the paying passengers yet
again.

Does that mean, then, that the other Eastern franchises making up
'One' have been merged? I didn't think that was the case. I'm well
aware of how the same parent company operating many franchises has to
have some degree of separation between them, but I thought that was
still the case *within* One?

Nevertheless, the apparent lack of co-operation and bloody-mindedness that
appears to be going on between the National Express subsidiary 'ONE' and the
National Express subsidiary WAGN is positively astounding!

Definitely - it seems as if they're going out of their way not to
help. :-(

Sam
--
Sam Holloway, Cambridge

"Sam Holloway" wrote in message
...

Does that mean, then, that the other Eastern franchises making up
'One' have been merged? I didn't think that was the case. I'm well
aware of how the same parent company operating many franchises has to
have some degree of separation between them, but I thought that was
still the case *within* One?

I would imagine that from day 1, as the parts of the new franchise are
coming from different operators, it would make sense to take them over and
operate them as separate entities, with a view to merging duplicating roles
and responsibilities as the franchise progresses. Certainly that is the way
in which takeovers have always been handled IME. Trying to take over two
other businesses and merge operations from day 1 would be an operational
nightmare and a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

Jack Taylor wrote:

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...


The GN of WAGN will have a connection to Thameslink from 2007.


A physical connection, that is.



Yes... so will they actually be able to run trains across it or would
that require TL2K's signalling upgrade?

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London