Villiers vignettes - Sorry the hardest word?

Something to warm the heart of Captain Deltic!

This from Cruella...

Theresa Villiers (Minister of State (Rail and Aviation); Chipping Barnet, Conservative)
I regret to inform the House that there was an inaccuracy in the answer I gave to parliamentary question 58263 on 20 June 2011, Hansard, column 20W, about rolling stock.

The variable track access charges that were contained in the table were incorrect.

The corrected table is reproduced below.

£
	Maintenance	Fuel	Variable Track Access Charge
Bi-mode
When under diesel power	2.74	1.72	0.63
When under electric power	1.78	1.34	((1)) -
Electric	1.78	1.32	0.57
((1) )Indicates brace.

No shit Sherlock.
.
Isn't it time that someone in the Department actually fessed up to dissimulation?

No surprises as another DafT procurement fails

Regular Eye readers will not be surprised to see that yet another DafT procurement exercise has gone tits-up.

This from the Beeb...

Plans to privatise the search and rescue helicopter service have been suspended amid concerns about the bidding process to find a supplier.

Of course DafT has a fine reputation for running cost effective procurement exercises.

Who can forget the abandoned process to procure 202 DMU vehicles, the continuing saga of the InterCity Express Programme (costs currently running at £27m and without a single vehicle ordered!) or the long drawn out saga of the new Thameslink fleet?

No doubt Petrol-head will address his own department's failings before demanding ever greater efficiencies from pained suppliers?

UPDATE: This from Chionanthus Virginicus...

Can we hope that a decision not to replace Sea King helicopters with foreign ones (Sikorsky) via the aborted search & rescue privatisation, will be followed by a decision to support UK jobs at the last remaining UK helicopter plant - AgustaWestland at Yeovil (Lib-Dem) ?

And will the same principle to protect UK jobs also apply to IEP?

"Chopper" Hammond to the rescue?