Greater Anglia: is it wrong to like your rail franchise?

Regular readers will be aware that I had a love/hate relationship with National Express East Anglia when they held the East Anglia rail franchise. Well, I say love/hate, in that I hated the way they ran the franchise into the ground, and loved to criticise them for doing so.

So, you can imagine my joy when it was announced that the franchise would be taken from them. Actually, you probably can't, so pleased was I. And, whilst my dream scenario of the franchise being awarded to Deutsche Bahn did not come to pass (on time trains, beer, wurst and pretzels), going Dutch was the next best thing.

They did get off to a nightmarish start as snow played havoc with their first days, but the signs were promising. Announcements are better, the information is more accurate, and their app for the BlackBerry allows me to buy tickets painlessly and follow the progress of my train. And I find myself thinking, "I kind of like these people.".

Now, based on my experience of rail franchises across the country - and remember, Ros and I did most of our travelling during the Presidency by train - this is an unfamiliar feeling other than during my trip to Craven Arms on the late, and much lamented, Wrexham and Shropshire.

That saddens me, because I rather like trains. I enjoy the view out of the window, I enjoy the sense of movement, I enjoy the arrival at new or different places.

So, I want Greater Anglia to succeed. Admittedly, I'd really like the restaurant car back and a proper cooked breakfast, but I'll settle for a train service run by people who understand the notion of customer service.