Pinky and Perky announce the HLOS

Despite having been extensively leaked over the weekend, Cameron and Clegg were in the West Midlands today to officially launch the HLOS.

It would be churlish not to recognise that the proposed investment plan for the period 2014-19 contains some good news for passengers, freight and the industry, but the devil remains in the detail, so a cautious welcome from Eye.

Of perhaps greater interest to students of the railway scene are the revised directions and guidance that DfT has issued to the ORR, which were also published today.

Section 24 should make Open Access chums a little nervous...

Thursday is cancelled

Clearly Petrol-head and his minions are getting the hang of this railway malarkey.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody last Thursday's big interdependency announcement (HLOS, New Trains, Thameslink, IEP, Electrification, etc...) was errr... postponed.

Eye understands that it is also likely to suffer further delays this Thursday.

Whitehall watchers now claim that all will become clear next Thursday, although that too might be caped.

Therefore probably best not to hold your breath, unless of course you are rammed solid on an overcrowded train, owing to a shortage of much needed new rolling stock.

UPDATE: This from the Great Shunter Who Oversees All...

Surely you mean PINE?

Has DfT Rail policy actually left the station yet?

What with so many NOGO'ed vehicles (IEP, Thameslink, the 1,300 etc...) in the consist.

UPDATE: This from the Major...

If we're to dig out the BR code book, might I suggest that passenger managers telegram Marsham Street with:

REGUP

which, in case you've mislaid your copy, means:

'The undermentioned train is booked up. Can you increase our allocation to...........'

Do not, however, be surprised if the answer is a short NO.

Sir Humphrey reveals Olympian thinking!

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
You have to hand it to DafT when it comes to long term thinking.

Over a particularly dry Amontillado, Sir Humphrey Beeching - the Eye's source at the Department, whispered that the next HLOS will form part of a Transport white paper, rather than the dedicated Railway white paper approach used in 2007.

The next High Level Output Specification is due to be published in July 2012.

What's the betting that it's sneaked out during the week of the London Olympics (or Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee. Ed) so that massive cut backs are lost in a rush of golden euphoria?

Eye raises a collective bowler to the DafT spin doctors.

Clue's in the name

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
The whole point about the High Level Output Specification was that the civil serpents who drafted the 2005 Railways Act were determined to nail ministers down.

That is why it's called a SPECIFICATION.

So who drafted Paul Clark's 3rd November Written Answer?

Paul Clark (PPS (Rt Hon Ed Balls, Secretary of State), Department for Children, Schools and Families; Gillingham, Labour) | Hansard source

"The Department for Transport is in the early stages of discussions with First Great Western on plans to implement capacity increases to which the Government committed in their High Level Output Statement of July 2007"

Is it possible for DafT to get any more sloppy?