Has c2c been forgotten?

So what has Petrol-head got planned for the franchise with the silliest name?

C2C wasn't mentioned in recent franchise announcements and the staff are still working on the DfT instruction that the franchise ends in May 2011.

Meanwhile, according to DfT, the new Essex Thameside franchise isn't due to be tendered until 2012

With no refranchising process announced will the trains stop running in six months time?

Unsettling times for the staff who operate the railway as their future is looking somewhat uncertain.

Meanwhile expect performance to collapse as anyone who is any good heads for pastures new.

Hard times for the new Permanent Secretary?

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
According to the indefatigable Whitehall winer-and-diner Sue Cameron, writing in the Financial Times, Ms Lin Homer's move from the UK Border Agency to be the new Permanent Secretary at Transport will involve some sacrifice.

Her pay scale at the Agency was £205,000-£209,999.

At Transport it will be a mere £160,000-£164,999.

That should make for some interesting insights when the subject of Network Rail bonuses arise.

Given that conventional wisdom has it that Network Rail's Directors need the prospect of doubling their salaries to get out of bed in the morning and do the job they are paid for, presumably Ms Homer will be motivated be resentment rather than greed.

Or, dare one hope, a good old fashioned 'public service' ethos?

UPDATE: This from the Velopodist...

If I might apply a little logic to the question of Lin Homer's pay, I guess the proof of whether her pay package has been successful is how well the UK Border Agency has run and how well the DfT runs after she takes over.

Looking at how removals of asylum seekers and other sensitive issues have been handled under her watch at the Border Agency, one might ponder whether a more imaginative, performance-oriented pay policy might have incentivised senior staff to get the mess sorted out more quickly?

Heaven help us, meanwhile, if the pay cut leads her to make any less effort as she tries to clean out the Augean stables she'll find at the DfT...