Burns lighter!

Simon Burns, transport minister stepping down to run for Dep Speaker, No.10 source tells me
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) October 4, 2013

Developing...

UPDATE: This from Patrick McLoughlin, via the DfT website...

I’d like to thank Simon for his hard work, support and leadership during his time at the department. He has been instrumental in driving forward progress on HS2. 

He has also worked tirelessly to put the department’s rail franchise programme on track, ensuring it delivers value for money for the tax-payer and supports the ongoing multi-billion pound investment in our railways.

Who knew!

Burns Lite - Seeing the light on DOR

Has Simon Burns had a Damescene conversion?

Regular readers of Eye will recall that Third Degree Burns recently described nationalised East Coast as having 'plateaued', and compared it unfavourably with the triumph of private sector innovation that is Beardie Rail.

So what are we to make of these saccharine words from Mr Toad, made during the 5th June Westminster Hall debate on the East Coast Main Line...

"...after an extended and successful period of public ownership..."

"East Coast has delivered a great deal in the past three-and-a-half years of public ownership..."

"The operation of train services by DOR is an essential part of the privatised franchising model."

Words that will no doubt do something to restore the battered morale of his own people holed up in One Kemble Street.

And perhaps more to the point ensuring that DOR has at least some chance of recruiting the skilled people needed to run future franchises, such as errr.. Great Western, for instance!

UPDATE: This from Ithuriel...

It is interesting to note how the civil servants have been desperately trying to re-chip Simon Burns as they realise that rubbishing East Coast and, by implication operator of last resort Directly Operated Railways, reduces the effectiveness of their deterrent against the rapacious bus bandits when it comes to negotiating  franchise extensions.

All this is rather akin to the Defence Secretary saying, "Frankly old boy, our missiles are so rubbish that even if they launched we'd be lucky to hit Russia let alone Moscow and anyway, the warheads can't be guaranteed to go off if it's raining"...

But we suspect the new tone is a wasted effort since even this Government must have worked out  that if they called the bus bandits bluff and installed DOR then Labour would have a political field day over yet another renationalisation.

With a general election less than two years away there is no way DfT can afford to admit that franchising has failed, again.

So fill your boots bus-bandits, because Burns has all but conceded that DOR is now a paper tiger!

Burns Lite - RMT unspins the big man

This from the Brothers...

RMT research and answers to parliamentary questions have revealed that in an effort to justify the government’s decision to privatise the successful publicly owned East Coast Mainline the Rail Minister Simon Burns has recently deliberately mislead Parliament about the performance of East Coast Mainline in the public sector.

The Minister wrongly told the Transport Select Committee on 24th April that the West Coast Mainline operated by Virgin pays more in premium payments than the publicly owned East Coast Mainline. The Minister then repeated the misinformation the following day at Transport Questions.

Yet Parliamentary answers and official figures recorded by the Office of Rail Regulation show that, Publicly owned East Coast Mainline through Directly Operated Railways has paid the taxpayer significantly higher premium payments than Richard Branson’s Virgin on the West Coast Mainline.

• Publicly owned East Coast paid the Treasury £411 million between 2009 and 2012 whilst Virgin’s West Coast paid £282 million during the same period. A difference of £129m.

• Publicly owned East Coast through Directly Operated railways also paid almost twice as more (£602m) than its predecessor National Express (£370m) over a four year period.

Just fancy that!

Eye awaits with interest to see whether Mr Toad is required to apologise for misleading the House...

UPDATE: This from the Editorial Team at Rail Business Intelligence
 
Simon Burns is also convinced that returning East Coast to “the private sector” will bring about improved punctuality.

According to the details of an interview on BBC Two's Daily Politics contained on the Minister's own website:

[Mr Burns] said there have been improvements on the East Coast Mainline since it was taken into public ownership into 2009, but said there had now been a "plateau".

He said now was the time to return it to the private sector "for a number of reasons".

"...Firstly, because the improvements have now plateaued and we believe that passengers should get even better service from it, better punctuality..."

"We now believe it is the right time to move forward so we can get a new franchise holder coming in, providing the service, using their innovative skills to improve the service for passengers."
 
Readers of tomorrow’s Rail Business Intelligence will no doubt find the following table of interest.

 
RBI readers will of course draw their own conclusions about how much better the private sector is at delivering a more punctual railway.

UPDATE: This from Alecto...

Here is some ORR Data which tells us a lot about the Department for Transport's commitment to 'transparency':

In this Table premia paid to government are shown as a negative number.
 
So when Mr Burns says that West Coast pays more in premium he is clearly right.

BUT under Cap & Collar Virgin gets revenue support because the fare revenue coming in is less than forecast.

So the Treasury got £209.7 million, but paid back £44 million, thus vindicating the RMT claim and showing that Mr Burns either can't do difficult sums or is a political weasel (Shurely: political colossus! Ed)

And here are the comparative net payment figures for the three years (premia shown positive)

Of course the real issue is not about the Minister, but whether the Permanent Secretary is party to this dissimulation.

Burns Lite: A week is a long time in politics

More wise words from Third Degree Burns.

This written answer given yesterday...

Chris Williamson (Derby North, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons are for the time taken to agree the signing of the Thameslink contract; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns (Chelmsford, Conservative)
The Department intends to award the contract for Thameslink Rolling Stock shortly. Transactions of this size necessarily include a significant volume of both project and finance documentation. The Department is working with Siemens and Cross London Trains to finalise these arrangements.

Eye has temporarily lost the office copy of Dods Guide to Parliamentary Obfuscation, but from memory "shortly" is further away than "imminent" but perhaps not as close as "Later this month". 

Burns Lite - Stabbing your own TOC in the back

Good to see Simon Burns MP acknowledging the herculean efforts of his own employees!

Despite East Coast operating on a railway that last received significant investment in the 1980s and sweating a train fleet with an even older age profile our Burnsy is apparently peeved that the state owned operator isn't run by Beardie Rail.

Mr Toad opined in the House of Commons yesterday that East Coast performed ‘reasonably well’ but it is ‘plateauing’. "What it needs is an infusion of innovation and a stimulus, which I believe only the private sector can do".

Quite so minister, quite so.

And all those franchises in revenue support are clearly a testament to the private sector's skill at both innovation and stimulus!

Meanwhile the searing intellect that resides in the Honourable Member for Poop-Poop claimed he 'did not accept the premise' of an ORR report which last week announced that East Coast made the second highest TOC payment into Treasury coffers.

Still, a pleasure to see that Third Degree Burns is keen to throw good money after bad whilst belittling his own workforce.

Burns Lite on Cumbrian services

This from Captain Deltic...

There's nothing like a straight answer to a straight question.

This reply from Simon Burns on the 16th April...

John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the statement of 26 March 2013, Official Report, columns 1487-99, on rail franchising, if he will ensure that the franchise extensions for the TransPennine and Northern franchises will be negotiated on the basis of at least maintaining the current level of service on the Manchester Airport to Lancaster to Barrow-in-Furness route.

Simon Burns (Chelmsford, Conservative)
The Secretary of State for Transport has a duty to secure the best deal for both the passenger and the tax payer when negotiating with the incumbent operators. Taking in to consideration value for money and affordability; the primary aim is to ensure that passengers are not adversely impacted and that current service levels are protected as far as possible

And this is nothing like a straight answer!

Burns Lite - on Waterloo International

An occasional series celebrating the genius that is Simon Burns MP, the Minister of State for Transport...

This from the 4th of February:

Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress his Department has made on re-opening the platforms at the former Waterloo International Terminal for domestic commuter services; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns (Chelmsford, Conservative)
The Government is committed to bringing the former International platforms at Waterloo station into domestic use, commencing with platform 20 being brought back into use by 2014 to assist South West Trains in delivering additional capacity into this busy station. In advance of this, work to refurbish the roof is already under way.

With regard to the other four former international platforms, previous plans to bring these back into use have now been subject to detailed evaluation which has shown them to be too short-term in respect of the efficient overall expansion of Waterloo station. A more comprehensive and longer term plan is required. On 16 July 2012 the Secretary of State published the High Level Output Specification (HLOS), which included recognition that major works are likely to be required at London Waterloo and made provision for this as part of a wider rail strategy for Control Period 5 (2014-19).

Network Rail published its Strategic Business Plan (SBP) in January 2013 setting out how the rail industry proposes to deliver the Government's HLOS rail strategy for 2014-19. The SBP proposes a £300 million investment to increase capacity into London Waterloo in CP5 as part of a longer term enhancement programme that will deliver significant capacity improvements into CP6 and beyond. During CP5, improvements will focus on suburban routes into London with platform extensions to accommodate longer 10 car trains and the integration of the former Waterloo International Terminal and its platforms to increase capacity within the station.

What on earth does Third Degree Burns mean when he says the four other platforms at Waterloo International station are "too short-term in respect of the efficient overall expansion of Waterloo station"?

Does he think these platforms are planning to move somewhere in the near future? 

Or perhaps, at over a quarter of a mile in length, they will be unable to handle whatever trains SWT can throw at them?

Almost completely meaningless - Cruella would have been proud of him.

Burns Lite - McLoughlin in jobshare Shocker

This from the blog of the Rt Hon David Lidington MP, with a bowler tip to @PrimlyStable...

So perhaps officials could tell us precisely how many Secretary of States we now have in the DfT?

Burns Lite - Don't know, don't care

Burns Lite - an occasional series highlighting the breadth and depth of knowledge held by officials in the Department for Transport.

This from Simon Burns, Minister of Transport, given in the House of Commons yesterday (with a bowler tip to Ithuriel)...

Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the level of public subsidy was for each year of the West Coast Mainline franchise when operated by Virgin Trains; what the level was of fare box revenue in each year of that franchise when operated by Virgin Trains; and what the at-risk investment was from Virgin Trains for the duration of that franchise.

Simon Burns (Chelmsford, Conservative)
All of this information will be contained in Virgin Rail Group's statutory accounts, which can be obtained from Companies House at: http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk

Once Eye would have castigated DfT for such a shockingly lazy answer.  

Now we assume that either DfT just doesn't know or worse still, doesn't even care.

UPDATE: This from Chartist Bob...

Burns Lite seems a very good title for Eye's new feature.

You may also be interested to know that the Minister of State's academic prowess has already been honoured by the awarding of the sobriquet: 'Third Degree Burns'.

Update: This from the Haywain...

Before I dash off to buy umpteen years of Annual accounts for Virgin Rail Group Limited, I note that the press release put out by Virgin on 28th August clearly states that: "Virgin Trains Limited commences proceedings in respect of West Coast Mainline franchise award".

So which of the two company's accounts are the details in?

Unless of course they are in those for Virgin Rail Group Holdings Ltd?