Talk:East Midlands franchise

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I haven't got time to update this article myself but Stagecoach have been awarded the contract. See DfT press release http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=293825&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False and here's an article from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6229246.stm. Adambro 07:47, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Merger

I support the merger. We don't need separate articles for this and the operator: both would be better explained in one place. --RFBailey 22:36, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

I too support the merger. Both say almost exactly the same. Year1989 23:41, 22nd June 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to disagree with merger although i agree that most of the information should be merged but not all. This is because Stagecoach Midland Rail is the new TOC and they will be operating the East Midand Franchise. So maybe this should be both a merger and a split? Simply south 12:09, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

No. Having two articles overcomplicates the situation. While the franchise is technically separate from the company operating it, the two articles are essentially about the same topic. Fragmenting (or duplicating) information across two articles is unnecessary and potentially confusing: this is an unfortunate trait that appears across many UK railway articles (take the Central Citylink page for example). It is far better to explain things in context by just having all relevant information in one place. Once the TOC becomes operational, Stagecoach Midland Rail (or whatever brand name they decide upon: the article can be moved when this is known) will be the most common name for the subject, so that should be the article title. --RFBailey 22:20, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Ok, but maybe later recreate this article with sufficient information, but that of the franchise and not the TOC. Simply south 11:23, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Merge We know basically nothing about SMR, so it shouldn't have its own page yet. Once some TOC-specific details emerge (especially its brand name, which may well not be SMR), we can switch to the precedent of having a TOC article that also describes the franchise. At no point should there be two articles like this. --Dtcdthingy 08:47, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

Merged article into Stagecoach Midland Rail --Jorvik 10:15, 11 July 2007 (UTC)