Better value than Student Connect

If you're hungry I've noticed that WHSmith have got some very good special offers on at the moment. Galaxy for £1 and Haribo for £1.20. The Haribo is really good for sharing. They also give away bottled water with some newspapers, saving around 50p on the price of the water alone, but the paper is invariably the Independent. They should give free water with Metro.

Also, Upper Crust have a few cheaper baguettes now, I've not tried one yet but Upper Crust are usually quite good. M&S have this meal deal going, it sometimes works out cheaper than Tesco. The sandwiches are limited but you can have any pack of crisps or drink. Another note, the 1.5litre bottles of water are cheaper than the 500ml bottles.

So all in all, station retailing is quite good. Hurrah!

Under new management

Sorry for the misleading title, FCC is not under new management (except for the MD). But that got me thinking. FCC are bound to lose the franchise in 2015 - very few operators manage to keep them. So who should take over? I think Wrexham and Shropshire should. Since Beardy Branson's Virgin Trains tried to force them out of business, word has been getting out that W&S are actually quite good - nice staff, cheap tickets etc.

The Competition

FCC may have monopolies on many of its routes, but not at Ely station. So what are the competitiors up to?

Arriva CrossCountry

CrossCountry are very good at punctuality, and I'm a little teapot. Their Birmingham - Stansted line seems to play second fiddle to the other routes.

National Express East Anglia

Hurrah! NXEA offer reasonably priced student tickets, just not to everyone. And they have lots of Class 317s. I used one the other day, and they make lots of weird noises. As we pulled out of Waterbeach it sounded like some pipe carrying liquid had ruptured. It can get a bit scary at times.

Stagecoach East Midlands Trains

Not bad, but they still haven't refurbished their trains, so I ended up on a train from Sheffield to Ely with no seat reservation, nasty seats (like those on the 317s) and all the information stickers in Welsh.

Stagecoach Cambridge

2 words. EPIC FAIL. A return ticket on the train from Ely to Cambridge is £2.00 with Groupsave 4. The return ticket from Cambridge Station to the centre is £2.40. Stagecoach love money even more than FCC's dearly beloved Shareholders.

New crap old trains

Good news, if you can call it news. FCC is getting new trains! But when I say new, I actually mean 20 years old. That's older than me. I suppose they are better than the old Class 317s, which are RUBBISH - an epic fail amongst rolling stock, and almost as bad as Student Connect.

Resignation at FCC

It has come to light that the Managing Director of FCC, Elaine Holt, has resigned. The story has not been widely reported, although there is an article here http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/general/2009/03/31-elaine-holt-departure.html

Holt has been a controversial figure at times, but on balance it is a shame she has left at such a crucial time for FCC. There are new trains and timetables being introduced in the next few weeks and months, and punctuality has never been better. I wish her well in the future, perhaps she should come and take over the buses in Cambridge?

As for her replacement, Jim Morgan is the interim MD. He has been an important figure at FirstGroup, but he probably won't be around for long. Let's hope Student Connect isn't around much longer either.

FCC as we know it: 2006-2009. RIP.

WAGN: Rest in Peace

An overdue obituary for WAGN.
West Anglia Great Northern is sadly no longer with us. Having been killed off by the absurd franchise system, passengers will miss WAGN's catering trolley, and more importantly their Scholar Season Tickets.
Perhaps the tickets provided too great a discount. But FCC have not done the honourable thing, and so students now pay +£300 or +£400 a year more for their travel.
WAGN is survived by fellow franchise C2C.

Dearest WAGN, your prices were fine,
You did a good job of running trains on our line.
Now FirstGroup have taken over the route,
They're only running it for the loot.

WAGN: 1997 - 2006

Campaign Slogan

WHAT DO WE WANT?

First Capital Connect to reinstate more reasonable student prices

WHEN DO WE WANT IT?

In time for the start of the next academic term, with refunds paid to those who purchased Student Connect tickets last year