Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Looking forward to Christmas

A lot of people in this part of the country must suddenly be feeling very uncertain about their future – a rapid let down from any post-Olympics euphoria.

Virgin have lost the contract to run the train service between Manchester & London, something which they have been doing for 15 years.

There have of course been gripes about the service – especially the ridiculously high fares for anyone unable or unwilling to book ages in advance & then travel only on the trains (there & back) specified on the ticket - but morale seems to be high among staff compared to some other operators.

The announcement from the Department for Transport is silent about what will happen to Virgin staff, though one imagines that, with only 16½ weeks to go before the transfer most will, initially at least, be invited to stay. Add to that all the station staff, suppliers, concession holders & a lot of people may not be looking forward to Christmas.

Manchester’s Piccadilly Station is also going to get a new look without all that Virgin scarlet.

Let us hope there are no nasty hitches to interrupt travel over the Christmas holidays.

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