The Great Britain VIII

I seem to recognise that handsome gent

 

Well said Mr Kerr and good luck to Nicola in the erection next Thursday

 

honestly, i dont think there will be a GB 9 next year, because RTC will have taken such a hit over this years problems that it wont risk it, until there is another TOC that can handle steam, my gut feeling is that ORR will revoke west coasts licence not just over the wotton basset incident, but because of other past problems in time i hope that another organisation will take up the work, but for the next 2 years we are in for a lean time.

 

Looks like 67018 for today's train, if anyone is still remotely interested.

 

I notice on UK Steam that beyond Edinburgh GB8 has been cancelled and only the return to London remains. Not altogether surprising I guess after some reports of passengers throwing in the towel as early as Bristol Temple Meads on day 2.

 

RTC provide a wide variety of tours both day and extended. This will have been a PR disaster for them. I do hope that they have insurance in place and maybe even the customers took out insurance to mitigate the potential financial impact on the company. RTC has it's flaws but who else provides the variety and maybe the enthusiast world would be a worse place without them. I hope GB8 is not the death knell.

 

Seem to recall reading somewhere that RTC are members of ABTA. Would make sense as so much of their business is "holiday" based touring abroad.

 

What is the nature of the insurance you are hoping RTC had in place?

 

Failure of third party providers to deliver would be a good one.

 

Totally agree. All other issue with RTC pale into insignificance compared to this. I hope they are strong enough to survive not only this but the next few uncertain weeks and months.

Don

 

In the UK any tour which includes more than one element ie travel plus hotels must be covered by Tour Operators Insurance

Don

 

very sad case of affairs but for RTC it means if their tour is getting canned or majorly disrupted as this tour is now, then a full refund and discount on a future trip should be the order of the day - tough love but RTC needs major PR damage limitation now.

OK its not entirely their fault due to their suppliers but, for the passengers their supplier is RTC.
Cruise lines do the same when one of their ships breaks down half way through a voyage - this is no different - there is no crew nor traction to continue this holiday in its pure form as sold and advertised

RTC can choose later on to seek reimbursement from their supplier or claim on their lost business insurance if they have it.... UK passengers should also be able to claim back in full from their credit card if they paid by one as they did not get the goods in full or even part majority really.
Some travel insurance if you have extras included for third party failures/disruptions may consider a payout BUT this one will be difficult for assessors as the 3rd party supplier has been banned from operating but not gone out of business, but cover may well extend - its up to insurers how they see it.

Sorry for the tour operator but that what's necessary to do when you enter into arranging a package holiday, ABTA or not. keep the customer happy so they come back again....

 

Website shows only ATOL applicable to overseas tours and covers failure of RTC only.

 

Well I know, I'm just saying it'd be interesting to hear what they had to say on this matter, given how they worked to keep mainline steam a bit of a club during the BR years. In the current set up you do need a TOC of course.

 

Oh yes, don't get me wrong, I'm no apologist for that era. I'm just thinking there may have been a motivation behind keeping certain players away from the playground so to speak. We don't yet know at what cost this feast of steam we've been enjoying over the years has been either.

 

In those days the trains were run by BR so it's not really a direct comparison with what's going on these days.

 

News filtering through on heads up that 67018 has failed at Oxenholme with GB8. Hopefully the long suffering passengers won't be kept waiting too long.