So Philip Hammond has been on the election trail in Derby...
The Chancellor Philip Hammond has been visiting Bombardier in Derby. pic.twitter.com/LTCox6Wfg9
— Chris Doidge (@BBCChrisD) May 22, 2017
Let's hope nobody mentioned his role in the Thameslink fleet award!
Hurrah for ATOC!
Finally someone in the industry has had the cojones to challenge the Secretary of State on his spectacularly ill advised suggestion that the railways are a "rich man's toy"!
Happily the BBC was there to record the words of ATOC's newly emboldened CEO at a LibDem fringe event tonight:
"Philip Hammond needs to read his brief a bit more closely before making these kind of comments."
Of course had Michael followed Eye's coverage of Derbygate he would not have been surprised by Petrol-head's strange utterances and inability to read from the Departmental script.
For as any ful kno, Paper-knife is only trusted by his officials to 'open envelopes'.
UPDATE: This from Croesus...
I rather think everyone has missed the point of my good friend Philip's most witty quip.
He is rich.
The railway is his toy.
N'est pas?
UPDATE: This from El Sureño...
Muy Estimado Señor Compilador,
Surely it should be ‘someone in the industry has the cojones to challenge the Secretary of State’.
Unless you are implying that our brave railwaymen have literally been emasculated by the dead hand of DfT.
Today we join the Treasury in celebrating 900 days since anyone signed a contract for new passenger trains.
Eye would like to thank: Lord Adonis, Alistair Darling, Philip Hammond, George Osborne and their officials, for delivering on the new trains they endlessly and repetitively promised in the HLOS.
Perhaps their sofa is broken?
That is all.
Cautious congratulations to the Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP for today's announcement on restructuring the industry.
In particular his decision to chair the new High Level Group tasked with examining:
"...the options for getting those responsible for track and train to work together to drive down the cost of the railway for the benefit of passengers and taxpayers, while improving the quality of services."
Two wins here.
Philip Hammond has put his personal reputation for delivery on the line. It will not be an easy task corralling and refocusing all the vested interests that benefit so much from today's bloated industry structure.
Secondly, and no less importantly, Mr Hammond has decided not to entrust leadership of the HLG to a civil servant.
Mandarins, by their nature, like to accrue power.
By taking political leadership of the HLG Mr Hammond appears to believe it will have a finite life.
Once it has delivered the industry's new structure it can cease to exist. Allowing the railway to manage its own affairs, within parameters, but without micromanagement.
So far, so good.
However, it is worth remembering that when the Tories were last in power they gifted the country the dysfunctional and costly railway we have today.
Whilst applauding the future direction outlined by the Secretary of State, Eye hopes he is able to learn from the mistakes of the past.
Evidently the new Transport Secretary's interview in yesterday's Standard has done nothing to reassure Wolmar.
So enervated was the push biking hack by Petrol-head Hammond's disdain for cycling that he has issued a challenge via his blog.
Wolmar invites Transport Secretary Philip Hammond to:
"jump on your bike and come for a ride with me around the West End on a busy Friday evening and I will show you how its done".
As an enticement, the text is accompanied by this fruity image.
'Nuff said!
This just in from the Wickerman...
Just been to the opening of Kings Cross' new platform, which was attended by our new Transport Secretary.
In his speech he gave a commitment to HS2, although on the proviso it goes through Heathrow.
For the first official train into the new platform, East Coast obliged by providing a manky mk4 set with a mouldy tea towel stuck to the front of the leading class 91.
And here our new Secretary of State shows his in-depth railway knowledge by safely exiting a Class 91 cab...
A picture paints a thousand words...
Whilst the new government warns that transport will not be immune from swingeing spending cuts it appears that not all civil servants are on message.
This from The Journal...
Elaine Holt, chairman of state-owned rail company East Coast, told The Journal new trains were needed to cope with rising passenger numbers and the needs of travellers in the coming years.
Presumably Elaine's new boss, Philip Hammond, will shortly be summoning her for a meeting, sans coffee?
Telegrammed by the Raver
Sadly Mr Hammond’s little tete a tete yesterday was missing a couple of the more illustrious railway hacks.
Neither Wolmar nor Captain Deltic saw fit to join the Marsham Street love-in with the new Secretary of State.
Presumably both were, ah..., too busy?
Or perhaps they thought that being summoned to bathe in Hammond's glow with just two hours notice showed a little too much of the "old Tory" style?
Despite his busy diary Wolmar still found time to scribble a disparaging blogpost ridiculing Hammond's early surrender to the carbon hungry road lobby.
Eye fears that Christian's first invite to meet Hammond may already be his last.
Nigel Harris of RAIL has the following to say about Philip Hammond's first exposure to the transport media yesterday:
You have to admire the brio and assertive approach of a brand new SoS who invites the specialist media into his department for an unplanned chat on an entirely new brief within 24 hours of his appointment in Downing Street and before he had even been to Buckingham Palace to ‘kiss hands’ and collect his seals of office from HM the Queen.
As expected Hammond's overall message on funding was bleak.
Good news, however, for those with "new and innovative ways of funding things".
Words that will no doubt delight the open access operators!
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