Monday 8 November 2010

How many managers does it take to run a franchise?

Telegrammed by The High Tea Party
So. Directly Operated Railways has published its accounts.


Amidst the usual self congratulatory PR puff there are one or two hard numbers.


Like the directors' remuneration for example.



Perhaps at some point the Department for Transport could explain why, in the Age of Austerity, we need an organisation like DOR to second guess the management decisions of East Coast's own well paid directors?


Meanwhile, trebles all round!

UPDATE: This from a reader who wishes to remain Anonymous...

Whilst the DfT Business Plan published today claims that:

We will also pursue our wider transparency agenda through publishing details of:

  • Pay (senior staff salaries online from October 2010)
It would appear that such transparency does not extend to state owned East Coast.

According to yesterday's Mail on Sunday...

East Coast Main Line (ECML), which runs the troubled London-to-Edinburgh high-speed route, claimed that publishing the [salary] details ‘could lead to unrest within our workforce’.

Perhaps the DfT hopes that by having DOR manage East Coast it will make the nationalised operator look sufficiently arms length.

A worth while use of taxpayers money to save ministerial blushes?

UPDATE: This from Anonymous 2...

There was a robust justification for Barbie Rail, by Rail Barbie. in the Guardian on Friday.

Although reading the article it seemed to be all about East Coast rather than Directly Operated Railways.


Are they perhaps related?