Spotted at Liverpool Street station yesterday, as the 11.00 service from Norwich was emptying, a group of people wearing tabards emblazoned with the legend 'Train Presentation Crew'. That would be the cleaners then... * holds head in hands in total despair......

Thanks to the hard work of the Yardley and Hall Green Liberal Democrat teams there is to be a new bus service, No 40, to replace the 41 service which has been withdrawn by National Express. We will provide more details of exactly what the route is at a later stage.A lot of effort has been put into this by your local Liberal Democrat councillors and MP. It has involved attempts by Labour MPs...

I am somewhat surprised to see that discussions have taken place between my 'favourite' rail operator, National Express and the Conservative Party, in an attempt by the former to be allowed to bid for new rail franchises following their failure on the East Coast and East Anglian routes. Whilst Lord Adonis has set his heart against allowing them to bid at all, the Conservatives have taken the view that, after a period in purdah, they see no reason why they shouldn't get the chance to welch on another contract, run down the quality of services, axe catering, cleaning and customer service staff, and generally make train travel less enjoyable for hundreds of thousands of captive victims, sorry, passengers. Clearly, the Conservatives believe that the debate is not one of private versus...

The Yardley Labour Party are complaining that National Express Group have simply axed the 41 regardless of criticism.That is because of the bus management or regulation system. It is no good Labour complaining about the system, but also criticising me for asking the Prime Minister about bus regulation.They have had 13 years during which the system in Birmingham could have been changed to run...

John O Shea has said there was something wrong with the phrasing of the question. What exactly is wrong with this:“At the weekend, National Express group cancelled without consultation the number 41 bus in Birmingham, causing major problems for people in Birmingham.”“This is symptomatic of a national problem. When will the rest of the country be allowed to use the same system for bus...

Well, the performance statistics are out for January, courtesy of National Express East Anglia, and so, how have they done on punctuality? 78.2% for all routes 69.3% for mainline routes Guess what I have to deal with? What this means is that, to achieve their franchise target of 91%, they'll have to achieve 93% punctuality for the next eleven months. That is, to coin a phrase, so not going to happen. Ah well, never mind......

Don't get excited, it isn't an apology from me to them. You may recall that I lodged a complaint with the shambles that is National Express East Anglia in late November, after another of those deeply unsatisfying trips that they seem to increasingly specialise in. Given that their published aim was to reply to 90% of complaints within six working days, I was expecting a response in the first week of December, possibly the second. That response didn't come, and still didn't come, and by Christmas, I had begun to start thinking about another complaint. I'm a busy man though, and you know how these things are... However, I arrived home this evening to find an envelope waiting for me. In it was this letter; Dear Mr Valladares, Thank you for your email dated 24th November 2009. I am...

I have, of late, been pretty critical of National Express East Anglia, due next year to be the late and unlamented franchise holder for trains across the East of England. Increasingly decrepit trains, withdrawal of catering services, cleaners and customers services, mark the signs of a train operator merely attempting to minimise costs until someone capable takes over. The key defence that NXEA put up is that they have improved punctuality. And indeed, across  the entire network, they have achieved their 91% target. So far, so good. However, I use their mainline services. Ironically, this is the one area where they have failed, achieving a moving annual average of 88.68% in the year to 14 November. Ironic, really, because railway companies usually treat their mainline services as...

Amidst the flurry of stories about fare increases this weekend on Britain's railways, I note reports that National Express East Anglia have frozen their unregulated fares, good news indeed for those of us who use their services. Good news, that is, if you don't purchase your tickets using the internet. Because, curiously, what they don't mention is that the 10% discount they offered to passengers booking their tickets online has been withdrawn, which means that those fares have effectively gone up by more than 11%. And, amazingly, they didn't announce that with a fanfare of trumpets, oh no. Indeed, a look at their website doesn't mention the withdrawal of the discount at all. Oh dear, another year, and another disappointment from our friends at National Express East Anglia......

In case you missed them, here are the 10 most popular public relations posts from my blog in 2009. Seven of them got most of their traffic from referrals (Twitter, blog posts, Facebook, email etc) and three of them from simple search – the National Express, Obama and social media research statistics ones. National Express East Coast: Lions led by donkeys – 10 comments In January I used my blog to express dissatisfaction with National Express East Coast’s abysmal customer service. At the end of November it was time to rejoice as it lost its franchise and the east coast mainline once again became a nationalised rail service (however temporarily). In just one month service has improved phenomenally. Public relations is about reputation, not SEO – 16 comments This post on the...

UB40 sang "I am the one in ten", but it appears that I am too. According to National Express East Anglia, they aim to respond to 90% of complaints within six working days. Well, today is day eight.I'm still waiting, ladies and...

Following on from the truncation of their East Anglia rail franchise, today saw a question from Baroness Hanham, seeking to find out what the current position is. Luckily, a clutch of their regular victims were there to kick the company whilst it is down.From the Liberal Democrat benches, Baroness Scott of Needham Market (usual journey Stowmarket to Liverpool Street) commented, "As a poor benighted passenger of National Express East Anglia, may I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware of the steady deterioration in services with regard to cleanliness, refreshments, repairs to carriages et cetera, which is making the travelling experience pretty miserable? Can he assure passengers that in the new franchise more attention will be paid to ensuring that the new company operates a decent...

So National Express is to lose its franchise for train services in the eastern region. The company's foray into train services has been a disaster and has turned a leading UK company into something of a joke. What is interesting about the loss of this second franchise is that it is not immediate. The company will continue to hold onto it for two years? If they are seen as incapable of running...

For those of you who wonder what a bureaucrat does in his spare time, I can confirm that one of the things I don't do is sticking pins into wax effigies of National Express East Anglia management. I can't speak for Andrew Adonis though, but if he does, he's pretty good at this voodoo stuff. Less than forty-eight hours after I complained to and about NXEA, it was announced that their franchise will be terminated three years earlier than scheduled, in 2011.There has been, for some time, a sense that National Express were doing just enough to meet the performance targets built into the franchise agreement. However, the loss of the restaurant car service, the increasingly shabby rolling stock, with faulty toilets and deteriorating standards of cleanliness, and the claims that removing...

“To lose one rail franchise, Dr Beeching, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.” – Oscar Wilde It’s all going horribly wrong for National Express – only a few days ago, they finally relinquished their grip on the East Coast rail franchise to the power-hungry train fanatics better known as the governing council of UK PLC. Now it’s got worse and they have also been stripped of their East Anglia rail franchise. National Express will have the giant train set snatched away from them in 2011, three years earlier than they had hoped. A bidding timetable has also been drawn up for the c2c franchise that is up for renewal and is currently held by National Express and it would be a foolish man who would bet his house on them hanging on to that...

National Express will have its East Anglia rail franchise terminated three years early, the government...

Thank you for contacting National Express East Anglia Customer Services, we have received your email and we aim to get back to you as soon as possible. Our target is to answer 90% of our contacts within 6 working days.However, if your contact is urgent you may prefer to give us a call on 0845 600 7245 mentioning that you have already sent an email.We'll see, shall...

Sometimes, just sometimes, I find myself travelling backwards and forwards between London and Suffolk in first class, usually because the fare is marginally more expensive or, on the odd bizarre occasion, because it is actually cheaper. Today is one of those occasions, and so this posting comes to you from the 19:30 from London Liverpool Street to Norwich, the one train of the day when they provide an at-seat dinner service.Except, with the flair and competence with which NXEA are now renown, I am sitting in a darkened coach J for the second time in a fortnight because the people who apparently manage this company cannot arrange to have lights that work, and so those lucky people who have actually paid a full fare to ride this evening are forced to peer through the gloom at whatever they...

I have just got on board my first East Coast train - ie the company that has replaced the total failure that was National Express. I am at Kings Cross waiting to head home to Gateshead. The livery is the same, the National Express symbols and words have not been changed (frankly there are more important things to spend money on at the moment) and the staff are the same. Let's hope however...

• Rail industry bosses fear backlash over higher prices• Cost of regulated tickets set to drop fall by 0.4% The government-owned East Coast franchise is to raise some fares by an inflation-busting 5%, setting a benchmark as its privately-controlled rivals prepare to lift their prices in the New Year.The price increases were determined by National Express, which handed the right to run its London to Edinburgh trains to the government on Friday night after admitting it could not afford the £1.4bn franchise bill due to the Department for Transport. It has now secured improved financial terms, whereby it does not have to pay the estimated £180m due to the DfT this year.Elaine Holt, chairman of East Coast, said: "These fares were set by National Express some time ago. This is a...

Tremendous. Absolutely brilliant. What more could you ask from a sour, bitter, twisted rail franchise that has been stripped of the property it craved so much? A little over three hours ago, National Express East Coast was officially relieved of its duties running the East Coast Main Line, to be replaced by the Government operated East Coast. And less than three hours before that occurred, an email appeared in the inbox of anyone who had ever booked a ticket with National Express trains: Yes, one last abuse while the mailing list still resided in the system. The mailing list may have been handed over to the new owners at midnight, but there was that window of opportunity, between work finishing and the new owners stepping in. One last jolly at the expense of the new competition... :Fuck...

The government takes control of the East Coast Main Line when operator National Express hands back the franchise...

• Train service taken over from next Saturday• Public ownership will last for at least 18 monthsBack in the day, British Rail was synonymous with soggy sandwiches, late trains – or no services at all. Deserved or not, it was a reputation that became immortalised in the comedy, the Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin – every morning, his train to Waterloo was reliably late, but always for a different reason.From next Saturday, though, the government will get a chance to make some amends, when it returns as a long distance train operator for the first time since privatisation in the mid-90s.Passengers on the prestigious London to Edinburgh route have been promised punctuality, good food and clean loos.The Department for Transport has seized control of the failed £1.4bn National...

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...

The Government today announced that the National Express East Coast Mainline will be state-run once more from December 12th. No big surprises there, since the decision was made on or before July 1st. Yet two days later, National Express submitted plans to Newcastle City Council to erect electronic barriers in the city’s Central Station. They were a condition of National Express winning the franchise in 2007, so it’s all a little odd they hand in the application two days after losing it. Fast forward to last month, and the barriers are put in place, ready to be activated. Except passengers can’t quite understand why they’re positioned where they are: Central Station is a major transport hub in Newcastle – it’s also on a major bus route and one of the...

As part of the redevelopment of Digbeth coach station, National Express are working with EC-Arts on the Digbeth Public Art Project. It’ll be launched in December and will feature three permanent commissions: Boundary – “In essence the boundary fence of the Coach Station will be public art in both form and function” Irish Quarter Visual Art – “designed by artist Dave Sherry… The visual art installation will represent the Irish Quarter and encapsulates the history and vitality of the area, creating a landmark for the Irish Quarter and the City” Short Film – made by a group oy young people, this “will document the public art process, community engagement, artist interviews, workshops, events and the fabrication and installation...

The days of National Express running trains on the East Coast are very very numbered. Excellent news. On 12th December, the National Excess Fat Controller will be redundant. A new publicly-owned operator, called East Coast Main Line, (very original!) will operate the trains. The arrangement will last for at least 18 months. The franchise may or may not then return to the private sector. I...

I recently received concerns about Harris Academy pupils who live in the area around the western end of Perth Road (west of the school) finding difficulty being able to get on a bus to/from school as they are so busy. I have received the following feedback from the Director of Travel Dundee (National Express Dundee) :"Fraser,All of the buses which we schedule as School services are general registered services and available to all members of the public.We do not have the school bus contracts for any of the public authority schools in Dundee.There are a number of pupils who have passes for our buses provided by the education department and these numbers are built into our service planning.Across the city there has been an increase in the number of pupils travelling by bus.As far as we are...

The Cosmens, who hold 18% of National Express and run its Spanish bus operations, feared that National Express risked losing further value for all shareholdersThe National Express saga turned nasty today when Spain's Cosmen family, the company's biggest shareholder, expressed "serious concerns" about its future and urged it to seek independent financial and legal advice.The comments came a day after the troubled rail and bus operator ended informal merger talks with Stagecoach, leaving it no choice but to press ahead with an emergency equity fundraising.In a strongly worded statement released to the London stock exchange this morning, the Cosmen family said: "We have serious concerns about the absence of a well-defined strategy to address the company's broader and longer-term issues.""We...

Book well in advance to get a reasonable price for a return ticket on the fast and busy east coast line from London, up through Peterborough, York and Newcastle, to Edinburgh. Fortunately, your advance booking comes with an automatic seat reservation or you might end up sitting on the floor in the luggage-strewn corridors between carriages. Although there are electric sockets next to most...