GNER spent lots of money lobbying to get the new east coast franchise. Indeed there are stories on BBC Online about how the company donated money to Labour. Perhaps readers could let me know how much they gave.
Entirely coincidentally, parking charges at GNER stations is now going up - for example in Newark it's nearly doubled, from £4.50 a day to £8.50 a day.
Are donations to Labour really THAT expensive?
30 comments:
Good to see this raised. The cost of car parking is something that GNER can actually change; for many other costs, such as fares or food on the trains, they are constrained by rules. They had to pay a huge sum - £1.3bn over the period of the franchise - back to govt, because they were doing well, with good trains and service. (they were however benefitting from the East Coast line upgrade built at taxpayers expense) So if anything, the car parking hikes are due to a policy the conservatives would presumably favour - returning public money from a profitable sale of a public asset - or would they? This is also a classic spillover of the wierd way the Major govt privatised the railways - a monopoly exists along the line for provision, the car parks are a neccessity for many - so a captive monopoly market was created, but not in the hands of an accountable public body, but private shareholders. Just like water and the utilities. So crap to read critiques of this on Tory sites claiming this is the work of New Labour devils, not that they are any better. We are all groaning under the new 18th century monopolists created by Thatcher-Major and have no appeal and no recourse. The toothless "regulators" are like the corrupt Rotten Borough parliamentarians of that period, presiding with vacuous non-interest over the public fleecing, whilst in the background the Lords and Masters of the country houses slaver over their mighty profits.
Also, there's a lot of pressure from government to discourage car-use even when it is to get yourself to a green method of transport's hub...
Brighton station's car park is far, far more expensive (over £13 from memory).
Surely the track, stations and car parks, etc are in fact owned by the supposedly "non-profit making" Network Rail and not by, in this case, GNER who simply have a licence to operate the route.
Turn your attention, instead, to rail fares and you have a real story - for example, try booking, even months ahead, an Apex return fare to Leeds departing from Kings Cross on a Friday afternoon and it's virtually impossible.
As a result the cheapest available fare has increased from around £45 three years ago to £85 now.With supposedly tight regulation it's amazing that they have been able to force through such increases - but GNER currently has a monopoly on the East Coast line - little wonder they felt able to offer so much for the extension to their franchise, the sheer size of which shocked their competion as well as neutral observers at the time.
The Gruaniad reports it was over £27,000:
http://tinyurl.com/hoyql
Did they have to buy Prescott a train set as well?
The whole thing stinks to high heaven. Even with my car, that's the equivalent of a 100 mile round trip I could do instead of parking and taking the train. Station carparks should encourage train USE, not discourage it. We are all being shafted by Major's mad privatisation, and Fatboy Shag's incompetence and broken promises when he was in charge (I use "in charge" as in "in office but not in power")
The ever helpful Electoral Commission site shows donations to the value of £27, 339.
A thought just struck me. If the Conservatives donate a few million to Labour and let Prezza shag all their MPs would this be enough to promote them to power? It seems to have worked for everyone else so it must be worth a go.
Here here
If people are still prepared to pay these extortionate prices then they will charge them. Its supply and demand. Athough I am against monopolies for essential services such as trains I wouldn't put the car parking in the same catagory. Perhaps some of you should take a leaf out of Dave's book and get on you bikes. Then you could leave the 4WD at home for the wife to take the children to school in.
If you don't like it...don't use it and perhaps it might make you a bit healthier.
Anon, The dire situation we are in may have been kickstarted by the Tories, but the fact that New Labour hasn't done anything to change the situation should be highlighted. Only the government of the day can actually change things, the people who get the glory will not be those who shouted loudest about it being a problem (New Labour) but those who work to find a solution (Hopefully the Tories), regardless of who mcaused the problem in the first place.
well said anon. there's also the point that GNER / Sea Containers donate to the Tories as well......
Don't measure the size of the car space. Years ago I had to have a car re-sprayed there were so many nicks in the car doors as those parked at the side negotiated the cramped bays.
Better still Sea Containers GNER's parent company is insolvent..............maybe Abu Dhabi will buy GNER ?
From the Electoral Cmmission Register, GNER donated £27,399.00.
(Tesco only gave £41k, to put that in perspective) and its all of a total of £3.7m.
anonymous is right for a change. The last twenty years have seen the creation of huge private monopolies which fleece the ordinary working man - I don't mean the cloth cap variety, but anyone who actually works for his living rather than living off the efforts of others.
If Dave C promised to do something about this he would tap into a popular feeling which aches for redress. Delicious irony that soi-disant socialists should be do exactly what they say they stand against. But then socialism, being about the material, was always dazzled by money - it only stands to reason.
Old news about the donations?
Guardian article from March
The new car parking costs are nasty, however. They've gone from £4.50 to £9 per day at Doncaster station, and there have been a lot of complaints, especially since it coincided with the opening of the newly completed "Transport Interchange", which was supposed to improve matters.
I use a bicycle to get there instead, although a dodgy council deal with the developer to force pedestrians through their new shopping centre has made it difficult/dangerous. One cyclist has been injured in the two weeks since it opened. But I digress...
I was stung last week for £8 to park at Durham station. I didn't think it would be a problem because, not being terribly well-off, I can claim travel expenses for medical appointments (I was going to a clinic at UCLH). When I got the claim form though, it stated: "the hospital does not reimburse parking fees". Ouch. I could have parked for free at work, too....
One could argue that the daily parking charge in Durham City is similar anyway (indeed I think GNER took that line in their defence), but to hike it from £4.50 up to £8 in one go is a bit harsh.
Someone really needs to get hold of the railways and turn them upside down. The way in which they were privatised was a bit of a fudge...perhaps the next conservative administration could finish the job one way or another.
BTW I wouldn't be surprised if GNER had been lining Labour's pockets, but if the Tories had been in I expect they'd have done the same with them!
They're high here too.
However, do GNER still retain complete control over the car parks, or are they now managed by a separate company responsible for the upkeep (hah) and clamping etc. - much like the NHS...?
Very crafty and very well done. There's absolutely no connection whatsoever between the two, GNER are one of the best-performing franchisees on the railways, but by linking the fact that they do some lobbying (although not as much as Virgin) to the fact that they have raised some charges somewhere, you make a story to attack Labour.
There's a place for you on the Daily Mail newsdesk just waiting to be filled!
If someone has already given you this information, no point in publishing my comment really!
The Guardian had a report on 1 March 2006 detailing the donations made by GNER. They totalled £27000 for the previous 18 months.
"Figures from the Electoral Commission have revealed that the company, which is owned by Bermuda-based Sea Containers, began making donations in November 2004 and has since contributed to Labour on 11 occasions. GNER's donations consisted of £24,639 in cash; £1,348 in rail tickets and £1,412 for furniture."
I would love to know what kind of furniture was "donated" and where and by whom it was used.
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1720328,00.html
It sounds like a bargain to me because I know what trying to park in Newark is like. So if a peerage for life is £1m, a days parking where parking spaces are more rare than peerages should come in at £500.
Good shot anon (comment one). I would just hate to be a captive commuter, how grim that price rise must be - just what the F*** do you do about that?
Any serious ideas cybercitizens? How can we help the powerless parkers?
The changes John Major made to the railways through privatisation have led to a resurgence in the railways, massive increases in passenger and freight traffic and massive investments in the infra-structure. It was the Wilson - Health - Callaghan - Thatcher Governments who refused to divert Government funds to the railway system to make it world class.
GNER customer care gave me the following comment. I am somewhat perplexed about the bit about maintaining the newly raised prices for 18 months in line with competitors? Surely a station car park by its very nature has to be next to the station - and therefore there isn't that much opportunity for competition, as a car park 2 miles away really doens't do it. See what you think:-
"Thank you for your email regarding our forthcoming parking increases.
Your comments are noted and will be passed to the appropriate team for their information.
These increases reflect the £28m investment already made in our stations, including £1m investment at Newark with new customer information points, additional cycle racks, CCTV, new customer information screens and refurbished toilets. There will also be a further £25m invested over coming years, including plans for a new Travel Centre and additional self-service ticket machines, a new customer waiting lounge and refurbishment of both platforms by 2007 in addition to a new lift by the end of 2008.
In the last ten years we have provided 2000 additional car parking spaces along our route, including 220 at Newark, and will create a minimum of a further 900 spaces by December 2008.
The majority of our parking charges along the route have remained unchanged for the previous 12-18 months and have been well below the market rate for the standard and location of car park provided.
Following these increases daily prices will remain frozen for 18 months and maintained in line with competitor activity.
I fully appreciate the reasons for your annoyance at these increases, but hope I have gone some way to explaining the reasons we have chosen to take this course of action.
Thank you, again, for taking the time to contact us."
Hmmm. Rants about "I want free parking and £5 railway tickets at Friday peak time, 'cos I'm worth it" - 28 posts. Levy fingered in corruption scandal - 8 posts.
Sense of proportion - nul points
Don, its not a rant about FREE parking - or indeed CHEAP tickets. Its a policy of a 90% rise in car parking for working people, and how can this be justified? Especially when there is NO alternative.
I worked for Railtrack (as it then was) for a while as a consultant. Station facilities are owned by Network Rail, but are run by the train operating companies (like GNER) who manage things like car parks in all but a couple of dozen major stations (King's Cross, Edinburgh Waverley, etc.) Contrary to what everybody assumes, I think the current system of a private rail infrstructure company and multiple TOCs, though not optimal, could have been made to work eventually had the Tories been reelected in 1997. Unfortunately, we got that buffoon instead, followed by Byers, who made even Prescott look competent and trustworthy. Prescott's mission, instead of working with the rail industry, was, in his words, to "shaft Railtrack". And Byers actually did "shaft" them. Unsurprisingly, this caused huge problems for the rail industry, but in probably the last big, successful piece of NuLab spin, they shifted the blame onto the industry and their predecessors. Railway policy has since improved somewhat, mostly by spending billions and billions of other people's money on the problem. But the underlying problem (the rural routes that absorb resources from inter city and suburban services) hasn't been touched.
"Since it was consultants who got Railtrack into a situation where they had no idea what their business costs were and couldn't meet their obligations, I'm not sure they're necessarily worth listening to."
That's playing the man not the ball - the usual recourse of people who have no argument.
Performance on the railways is indeed improving now, after the dip which Prescott and Byers caused, because the government is showering the railways with billions of our money. No other reason.
Just like the health service.
car parks are not big profit makers for railway companies though, they represent a good loss. you see, the prime land next to a railway station in any town is perfect for development into offices or a hotel. the mention of brighton is interesting given plans that there are to build on the carpark. thats why so many carparks, and not just railway ones are vanishing. with land values at what they are they are a poor use of such an asset. rail fares are the real story as another poster says... or sea containers lobbying to try and get competition kept of the ecml after being misled by ministers that they would have the exclusive right of use tot he line and having bid for the franchise as the result of this untruth.
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