Sign e-petition & support Virgin Trains
- By Richard Branson -
- Aug 20, 2012
It is not all over in the battle to make the Government see sense and reconsider the decision to award the West Coast Mainline franchise to FirstGroup.
An e-petition, set up completely independent of Virgin by a member of the public, is calling for the government to reconsider the decision.
Over 10,000 people have already signed the e-petition. Once we get 100,000 signatures from UK citizens the issue may be debated in the House of Commons. We urge you to sign the e-petition and let the Government know how passionately we all feel about keeping the West Coast Mainline as a Virgin Trains franchise.
The final decision has not been signed off and we want as much support as possible to force the Government to reassess this ill-judged decision. August 28th is the provisional date for the signing of the contract for the next franchise, so do sign the e-petition as soon as possible.
The public reaction has been one of strong support for our wonderful Virgin Trains staff, and dismay and anger at the decision. This has been mirrored by analysts and experts.
The Independent on Sunday called the Government's decision "incomprehensible to those who regularly use the route" and accused the Department for Transport of "short-termism, a myopic focus on the bottom line and a disregard for those who bear the consequences".
The Daily Record called the decision "a disgrace" in another hard-hitting piece - it is well worth reading the full articles to see why. Meanwhile, the Telegraph stated that ministers are to be questioned over the franchise.
My apologies for focusing so much on Virgin Trains at the moment but this really is a crucial issue and we are determined to do all we can do convince the Government to reconsider the decision.
By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group
