Roll up, roll up for the Great Train Sale!
- By Richard Branson -
- Aug 17, 2012
The Government may as well have auctioned the West Coast Main Line on eBay: “Roll up, roll up for the Great Train Sale! Highest bidder wins. Doesn’t matter when you pay, 10 years or 15 years time will do.
“We don’t mind how much debt your company has. Deliverability not an issue. Quality not a factor. Redundancies not a problem. Roll up, roll up.”
It would have saved everyone a lot of time and effort and the taxpayer lots of money.
Looking over the many thousands of comments online, the vast majority of you share our view that the Department for Transport’s decision was completely wrong.
This view has been backed up by a survey by the Telegraph. With over 17,000 votes, over 92% of respondents believe FirstGroup will not deliver on its promises and the price they have paid is not deliverable.
Here is another good article on the lessons the Government should have learnt from the East Coast Main Line. This article goes on to explain why the decision is “nuts” and how FirstGroup are looking to “exploit” the West Coast mainline.
Thanks again for all of the feedback on Virgin Trains, it has been wonderful to see how many people care so deeply about this issue. It is particularly touching to see so many comments from our staff, who have been integral to transforming the rail networks over the past 15 years, and so many lovely comments about our staff.
A member of the public completely independent of Virgin has set up an e-petition calling for the government to reconsider the West Coast Main Line franchise decision
If you want to join them and let the Government know your thoughts, we urge you to sign the independent e-petition.
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group
