EGIP costs contained - sort of?

This from 'My Laird'...

Truly, the world has gone mad. And budgets madder?

EGIP taking over a public path to Plean south of Stirling!

Cross-hatch Madness - Templecombe

This with a bowler tip to a Mr Tingey...


 
Why?

The story of a pole - McNulty cost creep explained

This from Citizen Smith...

Once there was a mirror on a pole on a platform.

Then bits of it were painted yellow, then a small fence was put up round it. Bits of the fence were also painted yellow.

Then someone realised the fence meant that anyone passing the mirror might walk in an area behind a yellow line.

They put up signs so that people walked the other way. They made sure these signs were branded.

Great Western Route and FGW - delivering a Value for Money railway...

TPE introduces PEDs!

Exciting news for fans of Platform Edge Doors! (shurely Platform Edge Designs? Ed)

This from 'Northern Spirit'... 

Obviously the standard yellow line with white platform edge is not sufficient at Dewsbury (this is the slow line with fast trains in this direction using the through line). 

Good to see that in these times of austerity First TPE has discovered a cheap way to keep passengers away from platform edges, or an expensive way to waste paint...

Eye identifies first saving of New Year!

In the spirit of the Age of Austerity, Eye is delighted to identify the first significant cost saving of 2013.

Ithuriel reports that on the 27th December DfT slipped out an OJEU Notice for The Provision of Financial Advice to the Intercity Express Programme.

As the slam of a stable door closing echoes round the thinly populated office of Great Minster House perhaps we can save DfT hundreds of thousands in bankers consultancy fees in just four words. 

'Don't buy any more.'

Confirmed - IEP twice as expensive as Pendolino

Readers may have thought Eye's latest survey on IEP diagrammed vehicle costs was a little tongue in cheek.

Sadly not, according to the latest issue of Rail Business Intelligence (No 425, 1st November 2012).

Under the headline "IEP will cost twice as much as a Pendolino" it reports:

"Before the lengthening programme and delivery of the four new trains, Alstom was covering 48 Pendolino diagrams from 52 sets. On this basis the cost per diagrammed vehicle per month was £37,000.

"Based on the total cost in the written answer (Earl Attlee on 15th October) IEP will cost twice as much per diagrammed vehicle as the Class 390."

A table in the article gave the cost per diagrammed IEP vehicle per month as £74,500.

'You cannot be serious!' indeed.

Rutnam ducks the first volley

This from the DfT...

“Three officials involved in the West Coast franchise competition were today suspended by the Permanent Secretary while the full facts are established. No further details will be issued at this time about the suspensions.”

So Rutnam apparently lives to fight another day, whilst junior officials carry the can.

No doubt the Chairs of both the PAC and TSC will want to have a word with the Permanent Secretary, as the DfT's Principal Accounting Officer, about his department's squandering of over £40m of public money and the complete derailment of the franchising process.

Perhaps Francis Maude also has a view?

Osborne calls a halt to rolling stock deals?

This from Sir Roderick Orr-Watt...

I was delighted to see in this morning's FT that young Osborne has listened to the concerns of the Treasury Select Committee and the National Audit Office and is launching a 'fundamental review' of the way public projects are funded .

I can only concur with the view of Jesse Norman, a member of the Select committee, who told the FT: 'This is the end of PFI as we know it'.


With the financiers of the Thameslink rolling stock deal demanding high returns for the funding package one can only hope that Osborne will place Thameslink fleet procurement on immediate hold, as well as that for the even more expensive Intercity Express Programme. That is, if Justine Greening, who I mentored during her MBA at the London Business School and who is bringing a welcome breath of Yorkshire common sense to Marsham Street, doesn't do it off her own bat.

As a non-executive director of Angerholt Leasing I am confident that all the rolling stock companies are ready, willing and able to to provide the private funding and take on the risk through conventional operating leases, which have served the rolling stock market so well since privatisation.

Meanwhile, my colleagues and I will of course respond graciously when the new Transport Secretary initiates the long overdue rapprochement with the Roscos.

UPDATE: This from Leo Pink...

Is Eye's contributor above the same as 'Bonkers' Orr-Watt, who as a young finance whiz was responsible for the 'Bidwatch' section in Modern Railways during the early days of passenger rail franchising?

If so, I am not surprised to see that he has subsequently flourished since he brought a refreshingly unstuffy and lightly worn expertise to the interminable pages of Informed Sources.

UPDATE: This from a Mr Tony Miles...

Oh dear.

This won't please politicos in the North West awaiting the wiring of the Manchester - Liverpool route. As they are already due to wait at least 2 years after the wires go live for cascaded rolling stock, a further delay on releasing exThameslink trains will have them up in arms.

Of course an initial fleet of 9 x 4-car Class 317/7 sets is due to become available in February 2012, released by Abellio Greater Anglia. Once these have been put through a heavy overhaul to make them PRM-TSI compliant they will be ready to start work in 2014 for Northern Rail.

As that franchise is 50% owned by Abellio does that mean the Cloggies have already developed their own Rolling Stock Strategy?

DafT - High on the Hog on HS2

Listeners to Radio 4's Today programme were treated to a short debate between fans and opponents of HS2 this morning.

On the side of the angels was David 'Beggy' Begg of the Campaign for High Speed Rail, whilst the anti's were represented Jerry Marshall of Aghast.

Sadly, for fans of knock-about wireless, the discussion was remarkably good natured.

Interestingly, the piece also contained several claims that Train Operating Companies have been asked to fund the Campaign for High Speed Rail.

As Petrol-head still hasn't ordered a single new vehicle that TOCs could lease to address overcrowding, this is presumably the next best use of passengers' fares or taxpayers' income?

ORR - qui custodiet ipsos custodes?

Telegrammed by Bulldog Drummond
The Sunday Times today features Anna 'Pollyanna' Walker as its page 5 girl.

Perhaps not a surprise that in the accompanying photo Pollyanna has such a big grin.

As the Sunday Times notes she left the Healthcare Commission with a bung of £250k plus pension payments before gliding into the ORR on £120k a year.

Not bad for someone whose knowledge of railways is limited to rail journeys from Paddington to Ludlow, supplemented by occasional visits to hear Iain Coucher's excellent and balanced views on how the railways should be run.

Meanwhile, as We Are All In It Together, anyone care to speculate how much Pollyanna has trimmed from ORR's budget and headcount over the last year?

Waterloo International sees early return to use

Splendid news about the disused Waterloo International station which is currently costing taxpayers £2m a year.

Apparently it is to return to use within a matter of months!

This from luvvie rag The Stage...

A new stage adaptation of E. Nesbit’s novel The Railway Children is to be performed in the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station.

Timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the film version of the book, the production will run from July 4, with press night on July 12, and is booking until September 4, 2010.

Eye is surprised that a children's play was selected.

Surely a good old fashioned British farce would have been more apposite.

Number crunching - Ministerial cars and station investment

Amount to be spent by the Government "in the near future"on the 10 worst stations identified by the Stationers to Lord DafT Vader - £50 million.

Amount spent by Ministers in the last four years on ministerial cars and chauffeurs: £24 million.

You and whose money?

Telegrammed by Ithuriel
According to a London Midland press release:

Train operator London Midland is investing £190m in a fleet of 37 Siemens Desiro Class 350/2 trains.

Funny, I thought some firm called Porterhouse or something owned those trains. Talk about biting the hand that funds you

And isn't that price a real blast from the past?

I can remember when you could buy a new Siemens EMU vehicle, give all the depot staff at Northampton a fish and chip supper and a taxi home and still have change from £1.3 million.

Aye, those were the days.

Ghost bus

This from The Times...

"The 'ghost bus' runs simply to allow the Government to escape the embarrassment of admitting that it has closed several sections of railway in West London to passenger trains."

Network Rail did a splendid job yesterday of closing the rest...

Masters and servants

FCC certainly knows how to win friends and influence people.

As Enfield North MP, Joan Ryan, discovered when she handed out leaflets at Enfield Chase station, encouraging passengers to complain to FCC about a lack of ticket issuing facilities.

So enraged was the sweary-sounding-franchise that it threatened to charge the MP for processing any resulting complaints!

But wait a minute, perhaps such an arrangement might prove beneficial to hard pressed tax payers.

Were FCC to charge Ms Ryan for processing any complaints resulting from her leafleting campaign, then it would only be fair for Ms Ryan to charge FCC for handling the not inconsiderable number of complaints her office receives about their services.

In 2006 Joan Ryan MP claimed expenses and allowances of £173,691 - making her the third most expensive MP in Parliament.

Bring it on FCC!