Examination of Witnesses (Questions 211-219)
DR MARK
BROWN, MR
PETER NORGATE,
MR JOHN
SEGAL AND
DR NIGEL
G HARRIS
12 JULY 2006
Q211 Chairman: Good afternoon to you
gentleman; I am sorry to keep you waiting. We will try not to
cut down your time. Would you be kind enough to identify yourselves
for the record, starting with you, Dr Brown?
Dr Brown: I am Mark Brown, I am
the Development Director of the Halcrow Consulting business.
Mr Norgate: Peter Norgate, Director
of Mott MacDonald, responsible for rail planning.
Mr Segal: John Segal, Director
Rail of MVA.
Dr Harris: I am Dr Nigel Harris,
the Managing Director of the Railway Consultancy.
Q212 Chairman: Thank you very much.
Did any of you have anything you wanted to say? No? You are going
to be brave and go for questions. Do you want to give us a general
snapshot of the franchising process from start to finish? Who
wants to give us that? The child's guide to franchising—Dr
Brown?
Dr Brown: If I kick off?
Q213 Chairman: Please.
Dr Brown: You are asking, Chairman,
for our views?
Q214 Chairman: Yes, we promise not
to have you hanged drawn and quartered if we do not agree—at
least not obviously!
Dr Brown: I would say fairly firmly
that the passenger rail franchising part of rail privatisation
has, on balance, been quite a success. Like anything else in this
world there are areas which have been more successful than others
and there is room for improvements, opportunities and threats
facing us going forward. But it has been a success both in terms
of the material benefits I believe it is now generating.
Q215 Chairman: Like what? In what
way is this current franchise system better than a unified state-run
railway system?
Dr Brown: In no particular order
accommodating very significant passenger growth over the last
10 years.
Q216 Chairman: Would that not have
happened in any country where there was an economic upturn?
Dr Brown: It has not happened
at the same rate as it is happening in the UK and there have clearly
been a lot of innovative approaches.
Q217 Chairman: Like what?
Dr Brown: Like ticketing.
Q218 Chairman: Ticketing. In what
way?
Dr Brown: Tickets that are focused
on various market segments and provide a wider range of opportunities.
For example, one particular operator sold an off peak ticket which
allowed four people to travel for the price of one on trains where
there was capacity.
Q219 Chairman: They did not do that
for very long, did they? Who was that?
Dr Brown: That was Midland Mainline.
Other operators have formed deals with taxi companies, for example,
to allow users to book taxis in advance through the railway ticket
and have taxis waiting for them at their destination.
| 
