Farewell, GNER
Sunday, September 9, 2007 
I'm writing this on board a Great North Eastern Railway train to Edinburgh. On December 9 GNER will hand the east coast franchise to National Express. I have mixed feelings about this, not least because - in my mind - I associate National Express with (often uncomfortable) long distance coach travel.
The longest journey I ever did by coach was Aberdeen-London. That was with Stagecoach, and it was a double-decker bus, not a coach. But in my penniless early twenties (when owning a car was out of the question) it was National Express I usually turned to for those overnight treks from London to Edinburgh when passengers invariably arrived hungry, tired and dishevelled.
In contrast, I have fond memories of GNER. I was (and still am) a huge fan of privatisation. My old friend Madsen Pirie, who runs the hugely influential Adam Smith Institute, once said, "If it moves, privatise it", and I endorse this completely. Yes, yes, I know that privatisation of the railways hasn't been an overwhelming success (how could it?), and there are a lot of things wrong with the network, but what we've got (including the level of investment) is far better than pre-privatisation.
As an arch disciple of privatisation (and someone who grew up with ramshackle old British Rail) I remember to this day the pleasure I felt when I clapped eyes on my first 'privatised' train - a GNER locomotive, in what was to become the company's distinctive blue livery, at King's Cross station.
Since then I have travelled on GNER many, many times, and rarely have I been disappointed by the service - or seriously delayed. To be honest, I prefer, whenever possible, to drive, but that has less to do with the train companies and more to do with the independence and flexibility that a car can offer.
Anyway, if this is to be my last-but-one journey with GNER (I return to London on Wednesday), I for one will be sorry to see them go. National Express East Coast? Doesn't sound quite right, does it?
Reader Comments (5)
How I miss "ramshackle old BR"! I agree GNER have maintained a good service, and I pay credit to their resistance, until fairly recently, to the anti-smoker agenda. But to cite GNER's performance as being in any way indicative of an improvement in rail services generally in the years following privatisation is to forget the appalling experiences elsewhere on the network. Connex, Thames Trains, Virgin, First Great Western...
"If it moves, privatise it". But most of the rail-network doesn't. Track, signalling, stations, tunnels... all are fixed and all are interdependent wiv the bits wot move. The splitting of infrastructure from train-operation was one of the key errors in the privatisation plan. The culture of subcontracting infrastructure-maintenance to the lowest bidder [or highest bung] has seen documented cases of crashes being caused by sloppy repairs to trackwork.
The focus on cost-cutting has also impacted on levels of staff-training. In BR days, a train driver would have had at least ten years' traction-training and footplate experience before going out on their own. Micheal Hodder, who famously took his Thames Trains DMU past Signal 109 before ploughing it into a FGW express on the Down Main and killing 31 people, had 13 days' driving experience.
And now National Express are taking over the East Coast route. Hmmm. Have you, umm, studied the entrance-door to any of their coaches lately? The NWO No-Smoking roundel is there of course, and accompanied by about twelve of it's mates. No smoking, no drinking, no food, no standing, no... if it's humanly possible to do it, then it's verboten on a National Express coach. Last time I slummed it with them up to Carlisle, I cashed in my vomit-stained return ticket and went overdrawn at the bank so's to afford the rail-fare home. Nowadays, I'd rather walk.
And to de-closet myself further, I must point out a crucial error in the above. As any proper trainspotter should know, the FGW express was heading towards Paddington on the Up-Main.
Up to London, down to everywhere else.
I used to use that as an argument for Regional Assemblies.
Yeah everything either verbotten or compulsory. Oh I agree with you on hating National express Basil. I think privatisation of the railways wasnt such a good idea in that as you say the tracks and rolling stock arent run by the same firm. Delays and prices have also increased.
Simon how much did the ticket cost you?
"If it moves, privatise it". Really? You'd like to see competing private armies, competing police forces, competing criminal courts (I'd like to be able to choose which court I'm tried in, thanks very much!).
As with many suggestions from arch-privateers, it turns out that the nostrums don't apply to the things which the ravers hold dearest to themselves, only to those things they viscerally hate (so, railways are rubbish, of course they should be privatised! But the Queen's Highway is a gift from God so of course I should be able to drive my toad-mobile at any speed I like and free of charge to boot!).
I have a fondness for GNER too, although it's all relative to the wretchedness of most of the other companies' pathetic offerings.
Then again, if British Rail had been given anything like the gazillions of public money washing down the gullets of these privatised companies, maybe you'd have seen how they could deliver something even better: funny how it turns out BR was probably the most cost-effective railway in Europe.
Funny how ramshackle old BR could do London to Edinburgh in 3 hours 59 minutes, whereas the private successors, after millions of public money, can barely manage 4.5 hours.
Funny how BR used to do London to Southampton Airport in 59 minutes, a journey that now takes at least 15% longer, and BR managed to do it four times an hour while the private sector can now mostly manage only twice -- a 35% cut. At the same time, the rolling stock purpose-designed for that route and paid for by the tax-payer is sitting in sidings rotting, because the dynamic private company has bought cheaper "suburban" rolling stock with less leg-room and worse seats. And yet fares have gone up.
Blah blah. Bloggers should be able to write whatever the Hell they want, irrespective of facts.
We are specialize in Nike shox,this kind of shoes are suitable for sport ,when we do some outside execises ,we can prepare one ,it’s the newest fashion ,many star like it vey much ,if you like sport , if you are pursuing fashion ,we are the best ,and we have a lots styles for you to choose , Nike air Max 90 Nike air Max 2009 and so on …the high quality cheap max ,,there are a lot of air max wholesaler ..its worthy to purchase