Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Branson's four-letter verdict on Virgin Trains

Jason Nisse,Business Editor
Sunday 23 July 2000 00:00 BST
Comments

At last Sir Richard Branson has given his verdict on Britain's most criticised rail service - his own. Sir Richard said of Virgin Trains: "They're f***ed."

At last Sir Richard Branson has given his verdict on Britain's most criticised rail service - his own. Sir Richard said of Virgin Trains: "They're f***ed."

His remark came in an interview with the Independent on Sunday's Review section. The entrepreneur was answering his own joking question: "Do you know why we're changing the name of Virgin Trains?"

Branson's comment echoes the infamous jibe by Gerald Ratner in 1991 when he said that the much-ridiculed trinkets sold at rock-bottom prices in his stores were "crap". Ratner insisted the remark was a joke, but the result was a terminal fall in sales, a plummeting share price and, later, Ratner's exit.

Virgin Trains have been heavily criticised for lateness, cancellations and high fares. In the interview, Branson answered this much-publicised customer dissatisfaction by insisting his company takes on challenges that other companies will not touch "to make the customer's lot happier".

Citing "Britain's most dilapidated railway line", he said: "The best thing Virgin will be known for, three years from now, the best thing we will have done for this country, I believe people will say, is transforming the West Coast main line from the worst to the best."

Sir Richard gave the interview ahead of publication of what is believed to be a critical biography of him by Tom Bower, the writer behind exposés of Robert Maxwell, Tiny Rowland and Mohammed Al Fayed. His remarks also come as Virgin tries to expand rail operations with a bid to take over the Great North Eastern rail franchise. A decision is expected in September.

By then, Branson should know if his People's Lottery bid has ousted Camelot to run the National Lottery. Despite personal holdings estimated at £2.4bn, many of his companies are not having a good year. Virgin Express lost more in this year's first quarter than it did in the whole of 1999; in its last reported year, Virgin Direct lost £20.4m and V2 Music Ltd had an annual deficit in excess of £48m. Against these results can be set the huge assets of Virgin Rail and Virgin Atlantic.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in