[4] During January 1997, Prism Rail was forced to abandon a £30 million bonus share scheme intended for its management after several of the company's investors expressed their dissatisfaction, with some claiming it to have been excessively generous.

[6] The terms of franchise included its potential to be curtailed to only seven years if the operator did not fulfil bid commitments to replace the existing rolling stock with new trains.

[7] Accordingly, during 1997, Prism Rail placed an order valued at £92 million with the multinational rolling stock manufacturer Adtranz for the production of 44 Class 357 "Electrostar" EMUs.

[12] In July 2000, the company had agreed to invest £20.5m into the network, and had reported that the Great Northern portion of the franchise' operations were running at a profit.

[19] On 1 August 2003, in spite of National Express's bid to retain it, the Strategic Rail Authority awarded the new franchise to Arriva UK Trains.