Network Rail to sell off 18 major train stations including Waterloo, Reading and Leeds in bid to cut £50billion debt

Network Rail to sell off 18 major train stations including Waterloo, Reading and Leeds in bid to cut £50billion debt
http://dollars-vedioonline.blogspot.com/2016/02/network-rail-to-sell-off-18-major-train.html

Citigroup bankers brought in to identify ways to tackle crippling debt
Options discussed include offering station concessions to retail firms
Train use has reached a record high for the first time since the 1920s
Currently Network Rail runs 20,000 miles of track with 40,000 tunnels


Network Rail is set to sell off 18 major train stations including Waterloo, Reading and Leeds in an effort to cut its £50billion debt.
The organisation is looking at ways to tackle its crippling financial problems and bankers from Citigroup have been brought in to identify options for major stations.
These choices may also include offering concessions in stations to firms and retail organisations, reports the Independent.

Network Rail is set to sell off 18 major train stations including Waterloo, pictured, in an effort to tackle its debt
Network Rail came under government ownership in 2014 and ministers are eager to make serious changes to the way the organisation is run.
Experts believe that running big stations such as Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly and London Charring Cross is proving distracting for Network Rail at a time where rail use is at its highest since the 1920s.
Government bosses think that by taking the management, or at least a portion of it, away from the organisation a better customer service delivery could be achievable with a focus turned back to maintaining tracks and other issues.


Currently the firm runs 20,000 miles of track with 40,000 tunnels and bridges to focus on.
A station concession model has been used successfully at St Pancras station, which is managed by the High Speed One (HS1) link.
HS1 is run by a Canadian pension fund on a 30-year concession, who paid £2.1billion for a deal in 2010.
The modern and stylish station has an array of shops, cafes and restaurants busy with commuters often using the high-speed link to travel across Kent.
As well as a concession, the Government has also looked at ways of utlising obscure spaces owned by Network Rail in an effort to raise funds.

A station concession model has been used successfully at St Pancras station, which is managed by the High Speed One link. Pictured, commuters alight from a high-speed train at St Pancras
For example, spaces under railway bridge arches have been rented out to firms to be used as nightclubs and restaurants.
A Network Rail source told The Independent on Sunday that Citigroup had been asked to find the best options for the organisation's stations.
The source said: 'It could be just the retail; it could be a concession option like St Pancras. It could be some, could be all. It might be same answer for all or treating them individually.
'The point is there are lots of possibilities. Citi is testing the market so there will be lots of opinions out there and none of them right, as our board will make that decision some months down the line from now.'

Outrage at Superbowl 50 Colonial Williamsburg ad that used footage of 9/11 attacks

'September 11 should not be used to sell anything': Outrage at Superbowl ad to promote Colonial Williamsburg that used footage of the 9/11 attacks
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation ad was shown during the Superbowl
The commercial was aimed at promoting tourism at the historical attraction
It showed some of the defining moments in American history in reverse
However, the ad provoked outrage by showing clip of the 9/11 attacks
But the makers of the commercial said they stood by their minute-long ad


An ad shown during the Superbowl to promote tourism at Colonial Williamsburg has provoked outrage after using footage of the 9/11 attacks.
The commercial was shown across some areas of the U.S. including New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. and was produced by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The minute-long promo for the 'living museum' showed some of the defining moments in American history in reverse such as the first flight, missions to space, suffragettes and even the inauguration of President of Barack Obama.

The voice-over, narrated by NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, asks where the American spirit first started to take shape, and answers that it was in Colonial Williamsburg.
However, one of the moments used in the ad, showed one of the towers of the World Trade Centre after it was hit by a plane.


It then shows in the reverse, one of the towers then collapsing to the ground, in the attack which killed almost 3,000.
It came as the voice-over states: 'When you reflect upon our sacrifices, our breakthroughs and yes, our heartbreaks, how is it possible that an entire country came to believe anything is possible.'

But after the commercial was broadcast during the Superbowl coverage, viewers flocked to social media branding the ad as 'shocking'.
Saturday Night Live star Taran Killam wrote: 'Did Colonial Williamsberg just show 9/11 footage in reverse? Seems a bit unearned.' (sic)
Matt Binder tweeted: 'Major superbowl commercial fail by Colonial Williamsburg. 9/11 shouldn't be used to sell anything but war.'
Michele Weisman said: 'Wow did that Colonial Williamsburg ad just show the twin towers go back up? #whatwereyouthinking #notcool'

Bob McKee wrote: 'I have never been to Colonial Williamsburg and thanks to their #superbowl50 I never will. Sept 11 should not be used to sell anything.'
While Costa Costidis added: 'Yea the terrible quality of both offenses is shocking, but not nearly as shocking as Colonial Williamsburg putting 9/11 footage in an ad.'
However, despite the the outrage, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation stood by their ad.
In a statement the Foundation's spokesman Joe Straw said: 'We understand and respect that some of the images in the ad are jarring
'However, the small data point of people who objected to some of the imagery in the ad does not represent the total viewership. Not even close.'
'All that is past is prologue. Our ad is meant to walk viewers backwards through time, challenging them to reflect on how our collective history and struggles shape who we are as Americans today. We cannot forget our sacrifices or our tragedies even as we celebrate our accomplishments.'