Nothing yet...
...to this story on Guido's blog:
Transport Minister Sadiq Khan is in hot water this afternoon after it has been revealed that he lied to the press and to the Parliamentary authorities.
Ooops!
UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...
Will just one of these bent MPs do the honourable thing and resign?
Much excitement amongst the brothers.
The RMT has discovered that Network Rail is holding tomorrow's board meeting at the tres-piss-elegant Langham Hotel.
Obviously the "arrogant" infrastructure owner's brand new King's Place headquarters doesn't have a room large enough to squeeze in all those inflated egos and their wallets.
Meanwhile, back on planet earth, 1500 essential safety maintenance staff are facing redundancy as NR makes swinging cuts to maintenance budgets.
No matter.
NR's well padded board members have standards to maintain (if not infrastructure) as can be seen from the picture below, taken just before their last meeting.
However, mindful of the need to make economies, Eye wonders if NR's Chief Executive might like to pick up the tab for tomorrow's Langham jolly from his own £1,244,000 annual package?
UPDATE: This from Network Rail's Internet Rapid Rebuttal Unit...
This is not just a board meeting but a meeting for which over 100 of our members have been invited. And, no, our office at King's Place cannot accommodate a meeting of that size. Nobody from Network Rail is actually staying overnight at the hotel, we simply are using for a meeting.
We regularly have meetings with our members at locations all over the country and often use hotels. Mr Crow, before he allowed to let his membership lapse, used to be invited to these meetings.
Network Rail is not going to take any lessons from the RMT in hotel booking policy - recent RMT conferences have been held in Douglas, Isle of Man and Dublin.
Perhaps Mr Crow should stick to his comedy act. Viewers of HIGNFY will agree it needs some work.
The politics of thefactcompiler continue to puzzle this reader - one minute minor public school right-wing reactionary and the next a sort of anarcho-Poujadism!!!
UPDATE: This from 5741 Duck...
Is the Fact Compiler into some form of strange deviancy?
At best "swinging cuts" sound delightfully random and temporary.
We must be happy for the people affected that the cuts aren't also swingeing.
UPDATE: This just in from our man at 222 Marylebone Road...
Clearly new Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite is working on a shock and awe approach to his Public Members.
The Langham describes itself as "a veritable icon among London hotels, offering impeccably luxurious surroundings on Regent Street".
The ancien regime policy of schmoozing the public members to death amidst awe-inspiring luxury is now combined with the shock of a rolling information barrage include two meetings a year with Mr Angry.
UPDATE: This from a Mr Saltaire...
So Network Rail claims there was insufficient space at King's Place to host 100 Public Members and attendant NR schmoozers.
Could this be the same King's Place where Steer Davies Gleave recently held its High Speed Rail Summit, attended by over 200 enthusiastic railway industry people and one Secretary of State?
I think we should be told!
UPDATE: This, unbelievably, from former Prime Minister Tony Blair (allegedly Cherie, allegedly...)
Is that my old pardner President Bush sitting one away from the former head of the No 10 Policy Unit?
It was nice of Dubya to keep a seat for me. Shoulder to shoulder 'n' all that.
(Right. Stop this! It's now getting silly. Ed)
Guess the story...
Unbelievable.
UPDATE: And now it gets surreal!
Network Rail and the Royal Northern College of Music are to offer the world premier of 'The End of the Line' (A Brief Encounter), a free one-off music and theatre installation at Manchester Piccadilly station this weekend.
The Fact Compiler suggests that they finish off with a spirited rendition of this particular ditty, and dedicate it to NR Board members.
What a shameless bunch.
What bit of the current climate don't train operators get?
There is a recession on.
Everyone is feeling the squeeze.
So what in God's name made Worst Group think they could get away with this increase to First Class weekend upgrades, revealed in The Times...
On Sunday the cost of a one-way upgrade increased from £10 to £25 for journeys between stations in Cornwall and South Wales to London. On many other routes the price doubled to £20.
The public furore over troughing MPs with their tax payer funded clean moats, third homes and duck islands should have given them a clue.
The fact that Iain Coucher had the wit and gumption to sense the public mood and abandon a sizeable part of his annual bonus, should have shown them the way.
But no - in bus bandit land the mantra is 'screw the passenger for all we can get'.
Be of no doubt there is mounting fury over the avaraciousness of the 'service' sector.
The passengers (think voters, possibly as soon as October) will not put up with this cynical milking of their hard earned cash for long.
They will kick back and the railway will suffer, not that our short term TOC owner groups could care. After all they are merely "thinly capitalised equity profiteers of the worst kind".
No matter.
So what did Worst Group have to say for itself?
“We’ve changed the way Weekend First works to reflect the distance travelled rather than one, catch-all fare, which saw customers travelling from, for example, London to Reading paying the same price as someone going from London to Penzance."
So based on the fact that First have milked local passengers at the same rate as long-distance travellers over many years, does this mean that Weekend First prices between Reading and London have actually decreased.
Errr... no.
They of course remain the same.
Meanwhile those travelling to London from two of the most economically disadvantaged parts of our nation - Cornwall and South Wales - will be hit by the full 150% increase.
This complete disconnection between our industry and the world it is there to serve makes you weep.
This from the Scotsman...
Transport Scotland's former chief executive Dr Malcolm Reed told the Scottish Parliament in January that his finance chief Guy Houston, a shareholder with FirstGroup, had only taken part in two meetings "after the deal had been struck" on the contract to run ScotRail.
But the agency has now admitted that Houston actually attended several other internal meetings at Transport Scotland when the decision over the lucrative ScotRail contract was still being discussed.
Last week, it emerged that when Transport Scotland was discussing the deal with the firm, Houston was increasing his shareholding.
Perhaps there is a chapter devoted to this disgraceful affair in Moir's lovely book?
Good news for those who like to be dry shafted.
This from the Yorkshire Post:
A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) hinted yesterday that rail companies could press for the current arrangements to be altered so they are not forced to reduce fares.
No shit sherlock
This from the BBC...
Gordon Brown is to order Labour MPs to back a controversial plan to exempt details of MPs' expenses from the Freedom of Information Act.
And these wise words from Nick Clegg:
"At a time when families are having to count every penny, it is outrageous that MPs are seeking to hide how they spend their money.
"MPs should stop trying to hide their work in secrecy and accept that the same rules that apply to everybody else should also apply to them."
Readers of Railway Eye who would like MPs to show how they spend OUR money are invited to sign up to the Facebook Group - I object to MPs concealing their expenses
UPDATE: Bloody hell - that was quick!
Good to see Transport Scotland setting the very highest standards of public probity. "Opposition politicians and unions last night called for an inquiry after a report raised questions of conflict of interest in the award of Scotland's £2.5bn railway franchise. "Concerns arose after Guy Houston quit as finance and corporate services director of Transport Scotland following publication of a report by Audit Scotland. "Mr Houston, thought to earn £90,000 a year, stepped down on Thursday night after it emerged he held shares and share options in FirstGroup, which will receive the £2.5bn in government subsidies over the next 10 years." Frankly unbelievable. This stinks.
This from The Herald
Telegrammed by The Master
***BBC reporting NR's 'stay at home chairman' Sir Ian McAlasiter soon to do just that - permanently.***
With services through the Chunnel severely restricted BA is busy making hay whilst the sun shines.
According to the Evening Standard the airline is quoting fares of £600 between London and Paris.
It's nice to know the spirit of Lord King lives on.
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