DMUs 'r' Us delayed?

Telegrammed by Ithuriel
Specify in haste, procure at leisure...

...is the lesson for today!

Apparently all three bidders for the DMU contract 'brought forward' under the Chancellor's fiscal stimulus programme had different ideas of what ranked as compliance.

So they have all been given a chance to have another go in response to a blizzard of clarification questions from those wonderful folk who brought you the IEP.

At this rate we'll be lucky to have them delivered in time for CP5.

RPI hits minus figures

The UK is experiencing the first period of deflation since 1960, according to the Retail Prices Index.

In March the index fell to -0.4%, down from zero in February.

Doomed!

Help stop cable theft

This from Network Rail...

Network Rail is offering a reward of up to £1,000 for information leading to the conviction of cable thieves and anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Bolt sheds light

Chris Bolt the outgoing chairman of the Office of Rail Regulation has defended NR's bonus scheme.

This from the FT:

Chris Bolt, of the Office of Rail Regulation, said it was “clearly important” that management at the company that owns Britain’s rail network was made to focus on meeting its targets.

If that's what bonuses are for, then presumably salaries are merely a reward for darkening the office door (or not).

The Fact Compiler wishes to offer his unreserved apologies to readers for having led them astray in recent weeks.

Obviously it's only large bonuses that keeps Network Rail senior management focused on the day job.

Perhaps they should keep the bonuses but surrender their evidently superfluous, but extremely large, salaries.

Thameslink trains shocker!

The bid process for the 1,200 new Thameslink vehicles goes from strength to strength.

Or so it would appear judging by the number of keyword searches that have delivered readers to this site.

Surprisingly several contained the terms: "Hitachi+thameslink+withdrawal".

Do readers know something we don't?