First West Coast

[First Class]

RE: First West Coast

(14/08/2012 14:19)buses7675 Wrote:  Very interesting - There would be even more hell to pay though if Virgin kept it and even they ran out of money with it!

I do think the government should be cautious about First's bid, if they are questioning where this money is coming from, as I'm sure they don't want another GNER/National Express East Coast situation where two operators hand it back and it ends up being operated by the DfT.

Virgin are acting pathetically IMO.

Their premium payment was going to be £2.9 Billion
First's premium was going to be £3.1 Billion

£0.2 Billion is nothing when we consider the numbers being discussed, in reality, the bids are extremely similar.

Virgin have thrown their toys out of the pram... how can they comment that First won't be able to maintain the premium payments, when they've put a very similar bid in themselves?

If First (Virgin for that matter) do win the franchise, they must put forward a £70m bond to the DfT immediately, as well as a commitment from shareholders to pay a £300m penalty -in the event they leave the franchise early, for any reason. First would be committed to pay £370million if they hand the keys back.