Hammond Eggs - On Open Access

Time for an exciting new Eye feature!

Hammond Eggs records the searing insights of the latest member of the ministerial transport team to take responsibility for rail.

This from a written answer on the 14th October:

Christopher Pincher (Tamworth, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the contribution of open-access operators on the East Coast Main Line in support of the franchised operator.

Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon, Conservative)
The impacts of open access operation have been assessed against three criteria: (a) performance; (b) network utilisation; and (c) revenue of the InterCity East Coast franchise.

(a) Open access operators on the east coast route have typically delivered lower levels of performance than the franchised operator, in part because one of them operates relatively old diesel trains;

(b) Open access operation has had no material adverse impact on network utilisation, although the constraints on platform occupancy at Kings Cross, in particular, and Doncaster, to a lesser extent, have complicated operations at those two stations;

(c) Open access operators have generally tended to abstract revenue from the franchised operator. Furthermore, where bidders in the forthcoming InterCity East Coast franchise competition perceive a risk of additional open access competition causing further abstraction, they are likely to offer lower bids.

No sources cited of course.

Good to see that Stephen Hammond (of all people) is happy to repeat the prejudices of his civil servant masters (is this right? Ed).

As usual that old 'abstraction' canard gets an airing - perhaps Pete Wilkinson (Director Franchising and late of Renaissance Trains) can explain to Mr Hammond the 'not primarily abstractive' test, which the ORR uses to validate all Open Access bids?

At the same time the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State may even wish to read the Office of Rail Regulation's June 2013 consultation on On-rail competition, which states:

Despite the very limited role that competition currently plays, there is evidence that it drives passenger benefits including lower fares increases, higher growth in passenger numbers, direct services to new destinations, and various service quality benefits.

Open access entrants, who always face strong competition from franchised operators, have higher passenger satisfaction scores than franchised operators, including other intercity operators, who in the main do not face on-rail competition.

Quite so.

But then, since when have the residents of Great Minster House ever been interested in driving passenger benefits?

UPDATE: This from Depot Lad... 

On the subject of “old diesel trains”.

I thought the following key points might be helpful for Mr Hammond who is evidently new to his brief.

• Grand Central operates the same type of “old diesel trains” as those operated by both East Coast and Great Western, and some that are significantly newer than East Coast’s diesel and electric fleets;

• Hull Trains operates diesel trains that are significantly newer than East Coast’s diesel and electric fleets;

• Grand Central’s HSTs were the last on the network to be re-powered and upgraded and as such, are in a newer “mod state” than those operated by East Coast;

• Open access operators need less cancellations than franchised operators to seriously adversely impact on the stats;

• East Coast’s cancellations rate is well in excess of that of Great Western, who exclusively operate “old diesel trains”.

Note: Grand Central and Hull Trains are 'evil open access operators'. Great Western is a 'wonderful franchised operator'. Whilst East Coast is run by the minister's own department.

As our North American cousins might say - go figure!

UPDATE: This from Data Minor...

I thought Eye readers and the minister might be interested in the latest NFRIP figures below:

Operator	Fleet	Primary DPI	Primary DPI MAA	MTIN	MTIN MAA
Grand Central	Class 180	25.4	24.3	13,118	8,641
East Coast	IC225	38.4	33.3	11,537	12,326
Grand Central	HST Set	0	19.3	41,421	13,188
Hull	Class 180	18	27.9	14,380	14,561
East Coast	HST Set	34.9	47.3	18,653	18,619

Hull Trains class 180s and Grand Central HSTs are both more reliable than East Coast's IC225 fleet. 

UPDATE: This from a source close to DOR...

For the record:

1. EC's HSTs currently have the best MTIN MAA of all the HST fleets, and this is on an improving trend

2. Second spot in the HST MTIN MAA table is occupied by the XC HSTs, which just happen to be maintained by EC

3. The poor design of the 225 fleet leading to historically chronic levels of reliability is well documented by all operators including BR, GNER, NXEC and now EC.

MTIN MAA is currently at its highest level since this measure was introduced, and on a rising trend, despite the utilisation of the fleet being substantially higher than ever before.

Eye biased towards Open Access Operators? Just fancy that!!!
 

 

Tom Clift RIP - Passenger Champion

Eye was shocked to hear today that Tom Clift had passed away.

Tom recently described himself as follows:

Tom Clift has worked in the railway industry since 1972.

He has covered many roles including Operations, General Management, Business and Resources (including whilst MD of one company - being passed out as a Guard!).

Most recently Tom was MD of Open Access operator Grand Central, which he joined in August 2007, shortly before passenger services commenced. Before this he was MD of Valley Lines.

In 2011 Grand Central was judged by passengers to be Britain's most popular rail company (according to Passenger Focus).

At the beginning of 2012 Tom left Grand Central and is now advising rail companies facing similar challenges.

Tom is married, has a daughter and a Westie and lives in Caerphilly, South Wales.

Tom supports Sheffield United FC, Caerphilly and Wales Rugby teams.

He is misguided enough to own a former British Rail Class 26 diesel locomotive.
 
Many readers will remember Tom for his dry humour, enthusiasm, care for colleagues and attention to detail.
 
Residents of Great Minster House, Kemble Street, King's Place and Bernard Street will remember him for his tenacity!

Tom - Eye salutes you. 

WSMRballs - Thought crime!

This from Steve Strong...

Does today's announcement mean that Adrian Shooter is the last BR Director to close an entire route?

Naughty!

WSMRballs - RMT

And this codswallop from Crow Bar Bob...

"This is a bitter blow to the UK rail industry and it is a scandal that a giant company like Deutsche Bahn can play fast and loose with our rail services in this way and then and cut run when they decide the profit margins aren't fat enough for their liking.

"The UK Government should now step in and nationalise the route to protect both the jobs and the popular Wrexham & Shropshire services and there should be a full inquiry into how this operation, set up with Welsh government and taxpayer support, has been ground into the dust by Deutsche Bahn. Public ownership would protect that public investment rather than allowing the private rail asset strippers to walk away from the wreckage."

Where to begin?

Knee-jerk Bob appears to confuse a thumping loss with a “fat profit margins”.

If the service was as “popular” as Bob believes then it wouldn’t be closing.

As for "nationalising" the route - Hellooooo. Earth to Bob. Come in Bob.

Do any of RMT's members actually believe any of this guff that is being spouted in their name?

WSMRballs - Beardie Rail

This tosh from Beardie Rail...

Virgin Trains to the rescue for stranded WSMR passengers

Virgin Trains has today confirmed that it will carry passengers who will be left stranded by the cancellation of all train services by open access train operator Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway (WSMR).

The announcement comes as German State Railway-backed WSMR said that it will cease operations at the end of this week. The last day of operations will be Friday 28 January 2011.

Would this be the same Virgin Trains that prevented WSMR calling at anywhere useful like Birmingham?

It surely is!

Wolmarballs - Wrexham and Shropshire

This from the Worlds Greatest Living Transport Correspondent, via the BBC...

ANALYSIS Rail expert and journalist Christian Wolmar

I'm afraid that it was always likely.

Originally this was set up by a rival company to Chiltern, which runs most of the services on that line, and eventually they both became owned by Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway.

So it was no longer really viable for Deutsche Bahn to be running services that were rival to its main franchise services.

So that's cleared that up then!

So. Farewell WSMR!

This from Chiltern chairman, Adrian Shooter...

It is with great regret that I am writing to tell you that we are intending to close the Wrexham & Shropshire railway company.

This has been a very difficult decision to take, but having thoroughly investigated all possible options, we feel there is no alternative but to cease operations

I am sure you are aware that the unprecedented economic environment has severely delayed the business’s move into profit. While we have worked extremely hard to increase passenger numbers, a loss of £2.8m was made in 2010 and it has been concluded that the potential for further changes to the company’s operations, including any synergy with Arriva Trains Wales, will not improve the financial position sufficiently, and there is no prospect of reaching profitability.

It is therefore intended that the service will cease on Friday 28th January 2011.

Any passengers who have already booked tickets for travel after this date will be offered alternative travel.

I must make it clear that Wrexham & Shropshire is not insolvent nor is it being placed in administration. The shareholders have ensured funding to ensure that all outstanding financial commitments can be met and all suppliers will be paid in full.

Alternative employment opportunities within the railway industry are being sought for employees, and all staff wages and full redundancy entitlements will be paid.

We are already seeking to find alternative employment within the railway industry for our staff.

We also intend to hold a recruitment fair at Wrexham on Tuesday 1st February.

Even though we are forced to close the business, we remain extremely proud of what we have achieved with Wrexham & Shropshire; with many stating that we set the standard for all other train companies to follow.

Our people are central to this and we believe they are some of the very best in the industry.

Their unfailing attention to detail and their sincere, personal interest in passengers has become the Wrexham & Shropshire way.

They are the reason we achieved 99% customer satisfaction in the National Passenger Survey of Autumn 2010, the highest ever recorded.

I would like to pay tribute to Andy Hamilton, Managing Director, and everyone in the Wrexham & Shropshire team.

UPDATE: This from today's Passenger Focus press release on the Autumn 2010 Passenger Satisfaction figures...

The highest ratings for overall satisfaction were achieved by Wrexham & Shropshire (96%) and Grand Central (95%). First Hull Trains, Heathrow Express and Merseyrail all had 93% of passengers satisfied.

Is this what is called 'going out with a bang'?