Government takes control of National Express early – where have the cheap train tickets gone?
By Paul Smith
Was it something we said? Probably not, because it seems as if National Express is burning through money faster than a teenager in tittie bar. Yesterday it was announced by unions that the Government would take control of the East Coast Mainline from 12th December. Today, media outlets are reporting the date has been brought forward to next Friday, claiming that funding for the route is running out.
According to the Guardian, the Government is hell-bent on relieving National Express of any other interests it has in the railways:
Lord Adonis is also determined to strip National Express of its remaining franchises, Essex commuter services National Express East Anglia and c2c, but the DfT is still consulting legal advice on whether it can use cross-default guidelines to reclaim the contracts.
So National Express have barely a penny to the name and the Government is stepping in at a week’s notice – that’s probably why you’ll have trouble booking a train ticket through their website this morning:
feral trolley of the week
Wow! Someone else gets called Lord Adonis! Well I never.
Lord of the ThunderCats
The National Express East Coast website is selling advance tickets now. I know as I just bought some.
Indeed they are. However fares booked 10 weeks in advance have roughly doubled in price since before the announcement that the franchise was being taken back. I used to travel this way every fortnight as a greener alternative to flying. Now what was it government say about us changing the way we live…..