Not fit for purpose

Chris Bolt today announced that the Office of Rail Regulation would produce its own strategy for the railways.

Predicting record growth and growing role for the railways Bolt declared "At present, the industry lacks a clear vision of how it will meet that challenge. It does not have in place longer-term plans to transform the railways to meet increasing demand and service expectations. It needs to start to address this now, working in partnership.

"For our part, as the safety and economic regulator of Britain's railways, we will be reviewing how we can better contribute to the necessary transformation, and publishing our own strategy later this year." said Chris Bolt.

What a depressing day. The industry's economic and safety regulator has to tell DafT, NR and ATOC that they're not up to the job of planning for our future!

Pillow talk

It is well known that the Welsh Assembly Government and Arriva Trains Wales work closely together. But it took the press to discover quite how closely.

The Western Mail reports today that Tim Bell, MD of Arriva Trains Wales lives with a certain Alison Teague.

Ms Teague, when not living with Mr Bell, is tasked by the Welsh Assembly Government with monitoring the finance and performance of Mr Bell's franchise (ATW).

Defending the slightly unusual arrangement the TOC said “Arriva Trains Wales understands that the Welsh Assembly Government was made aware of this matter when Tim Bell was appointed managing director and has put processes into place to avoid potential conflict of interest.”.

So that's all right then.

The Fact Compiler understands that Ms Teague continues to be satisfied by Mr Bell's performance.

Planning ahead

***Determined not to be caught out by ORR again, Iain Coucher has summoned TOC owner groups to a meeting on the 1st July to discuss CP5 ! ***

Angel double counting?

***According to the latest Rail Business Intelligence the 14 five car Cl180 units are going to remain on-lease to First.***

This may come as a surprise to Virgin West Coast who believe they are getting two.

London to lose O'Toole?

A report from Railway Eye's International Correspondent:

Tim O'Toole, MD of LUL, looks set to return to his native America if a multi-billion dollar bid by UK Hedge Fund TCI for US Class 1 freight railroad CSX gets the green light.

O'Toole, 52, came to London in 2003 as part of a Mayor Ken Livingstone's inspired American invasion of Transport for London.

Recruited by controversial Transport Commisioner and vodka enthusiast Bob Kiley, O'Toole took the top Tube job after Gordon's ill-fated PPP had been imposed on the world's oldest metro. The resulting split between operations and infrastructure left O'Toole responsible for running the trains but not much more; a cause of frequent tensions with the new private sector infrastructure owners.

More at home with heavy freight than Oyster-card bearing Londoners he earned his spurs in Conrail, the cumbersome corporation created by the US government when the Penn Central ("Standard Railroad to the World") went tits up.

Conrail subsequently became part of CSX, the very corporation O'Toole is now tipped to be joining. He knows the patch, as they say. Or more likely where the bodies are buried.

O'Toole has been impressive at LU which carries over a billion passengers a year and he will be sorely missed. He was on duty when Islamic fundamentalists blew up three of his trains simultaneously and hardened LUL operators say he was a cool head in an unprecedented situation.

Finding a successor will be a challenge for BoJo and his New Best Mate Hendy.

Mike Brown (LUs current COO) has been headhunted by BAE to lift them out of the sticky brown stuff at Heathrow. Although his number two, Howard Collins, is made for the COO role the top job may elude him this time round..

Other possible contenders within the TfL empire include Ian Brown who currently runs the London Overground and DLR operations. Rumours continue to circulate that he is getting itchy feet after DfT blew a raspberry at TfL's plans to take over South London Metro services.

Perhaps the opportunity for Ian Brown to fold his "S-Bahn" empire into Tim O'Toole's "U-Bahn" may well keep him interested for a couple more years.

HMG sets NR an example

***HMG has decreed that Government ministers will give up their pay rise for the forthcoming year. A welcome development that would have been unthinkable in the days of the Tony & Cherie gravy train.***

Perhaps those Masters of the Trough - Messrs MacAllister, Coucher and the Henderson twins, can still be prevailed upon to withdraw their snouts from NR's bonus pot - bearing in mind the company's piss-poor performance over Christmas.

Rugby balls

***The Fact Compiler is being deluged with emails from passengers on the West Coast Main Line where yet another signal failure at Rugby is playing havoc with Virgin services. Top of the list of complaints is a complete lack of information on what is happening.***

The Fact Compiler hopes Beardie-rail remembers to keep passengers informed before putting the boot into NR

Sursum corda

***Alistair Osbourne in the Daily Telegraph is touting LCR's Rob Holden as a successor to NR's stay at home chairman Ian MacAllister.***

Railway Eye readers will recollect that The Times had previously suggested Tom Winsor for the role.

The Fact Compiler is gladdened that the bonus laden MacAllister's departure is now a matter of when, not if.

Surreal

***Martin Waller in The Times' City Diary reflects on the award, in The Queen's birthday honours list, of a "K" to Worst Group's Moir Lockhead***

IEP RIP?

It's almost July and the DafT boys and girls are looking forward to their summer holidays. And if there is a particular spring in their step it is almost certainly because they won't have to wade through IEP bid submissions on their return.

The original programme envisaged Civil Servants reviewing bid submissions in "Summer 2008" but it is becoming increasingly apparent that this timescale will not be met.

The IEP is already know as a Frankenstein Train having been beset by problems ever since the specification was drawn up and issued by Whitehall Mandarins. As befits the Masters of Compromise the train was to be both electric and diesel powered.

To their credit Network Rail quickly spotted that DafT was 'Talking Bollocks' and called at the end of last year for the diesel option to be abandoned.

Then Alstom, one of only three IEP bidders, abandoned the competition in February leaving just Hitachi and Express Rail Alliance (a Bombardier/Siemens JV) in the running.

Such is Hitachi's unhappiness with the IEP specification that it has had to issue constant denials that it was planning to give up on the competition. Meanwhile Express Rail Alliance, which was backed by RBS and Babcock & Brown, is suddenly looking very wobbly after last week's exit from the rail market by RBS (which sold Angel Trains to IEP partner Babcock & Brown).

Despite a collective raspberry from the market DafT continued to maintain that IEP was on track.

So it probably came as a shock to Mike Mitchell and his DafT chums when Ruth Kelly, in Rosa Klebb mode, stuck the stilleto into the project on the 9th June by recanting her previous faith in diesel traction and becoming a born again evangelist for electrification.

With Rosa having stiffed her own Department and thoroughly confused the supply chain it can't be long before the InterCity Express Programme derails

Meanwhile The Fact Compiler is keen to know exactly how much this barren process has cost the taxpayer to date?

Fares freeze?

David Cameron unveiled the Tories "Blue/Green Charter" today.

In his speech Cameron lamented "packed and expensive trains". In almost the very next sentance he identified the need for "High speed rail to connect the country quickly".

The Fact Compiler is very excited. Is this a Tory promise not to increase fares to pay for HS2? Somehow we doubt it.

Micromanagement

Much excitement at DafT this morning following reports from Down Under that Rio Tinto plans to introduce diverless trains on its 800 mile freight network.

For an investment of just $371m Rio hopes to be able to do away with drivers, increase capacity and control the network from Perth some 800 miles away.

The Fact Compiler looks forward to visiting the new DfT National Control Centre in Marsham Street.

Fare's fair

The gents of the press have an uncanny knack of plucking out the most expensive prices from the fares book when they want to run their favourite old chestnut about the the high cost of travelling by train.

But funny how you can prove the case the other way if the news editor so demands it.

Today's Guardian special supplement on How to Save Money quotes some staggeringly cheap train fares which beat even coach prices in the newspaper's comparison tables.

Bet you won't see these mentioned again next time a knocking story is on the agenda!

Dead greedy

National Express East Coast have a demanding subsidy profile and every penny counts.

So Eleanor Summers discovered when her husband Thomas dropped dead and NEEC refused to refund the £96 they has spent on pre-booked travel tickets.

The Summers, from Byker, Newcastle, had planned to visit their son in London on 6th June, but unfortunately Thomas suffered a severe stroke on the 21st May and died a week later.

When grieving widow Eleanor contacted NEEC they offered her a £52 travel voucher – worth £44 less than the original set of tickets - claiming the difference covered "administration charges".

“We are very private people, but they are making millions of pounds out of people like my lovely husband.” said Eleanor.

After local paper The Journal became involved NEEC admitted they were wrong not to refund the entire price of the ticket, and promised to do so if Mrs Summers returned the vouchers.

The Fact Compiler thinks NEEC has an absolute cheek to charge an administration fee of almost 50% on ticket refunds, especially after the Banks had their bottom's spanked for similar sharp practices!

Perhaps this explains how parent company National Express can continue to fund the salaries of displaced MDs from all the franchises they have lost?

Rail celebrities don't sell

A report from Railway Eye's independent Auction Expert:

A nameplate bearing the moniker of eminent train snapper Brian Morrison failed to reach its reserve at today's Sheffield Railwayana auction.

The nameplate, from a former Virgin Class 47, was priced at a relatively modest £1.200.

Brian, who was presented with one of the two plates when they were taken off the loco, remained philosophical. Instead of boosting his pension, the oldest snapper in the train biz is clearly going to have to carry on working.

Stingy lot these railwayana buffs.

A set of plates from the Wessex Electrics, donated by SWT in aid of a children's charity struggled to sell.

Most plates only achieved prices in the low hundreds despite much prompting from auctioneer Ian Wright.

Frying pan fire

***An interesting piece in tomorrow's (yep - tomorrow's) Sydney Morning Herald on Angel's new owners.***

Railway Eye readers will be aware of the recent volatile share price of former parent RBS.

It appears that all may not be well Down Under either.

You can read the SMH Business section here.

We Char Railway Company

Do you know this man?

He and his associates were seen in the vicinity of the Cumbrian Coast line on 26th May 2008.

After they had passed through the area a number of very serious fires were discovered on, or about, the railway.

One of these has caused severe damage to the historic Eskmeals Viaduct.

Witness David Moore, Fire Brigade watch manager at Seascale said "The 200 metre long viaduct was burning in three places, including right in the middle. Approximately 100 square metres of timber sleepers were burned.”

Repairing the damage is likely to cost several hundreds of thousands of pounds.

If you see this man please inform Network Rail, who are very keen not to talk to him, if possible, ever again.

Pith and wind

Rail editor Nigel Harris was quick off the mark and managed to secure the first interview with Mike Alexander the new Chairman of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC).

It was not a happy meeting, judging from the resulting Comment piece in the last issue of Rail.

The article ended with Harris demanding that Alexander and ATOC "Shape up" and push for further electrification (as Adrian Shooter, Alexander's predecessor at ATOC, had done).

The dust still hasn't settled on their row.

A copy of Alexander's follow up letter to Harris has reached the Fact Compiler, it is printed below:
-----------------------------

04 June 2008

Dear Nigel

Many thanks for the opportunity to “shape up” regarding the debate on electrification as outlined in your editorial of 4^th June.

ATOC has passengers and the railways at its heart. It represents train operators. The closest companies you can get to the passenger in today’s world. Our members survive on their success in meeting passenger requirements, often exceeding the constraints of their operating licences. The rapid growth in passenger numbers, over 40% in the last decade, is testament to TOCs’ and others’ success in meeting passengers’ desires. There are few other groups who care so passionately about the quality of the day-to-day service delivered to customers. So it is not surprising that ATOC takes a similar stance, and is pushing for today’s and tomorrow’s railway to meet customers’ needs. We are strong supporters of the benefit railways provide to the UK economy, and we are anxious that this advantageous position continues. Rail is generally more environmentally friendly (comfortable, time-productive, and speedier) than motor transport. So let’s pull together at getting the UK railways’ needs met now, to 2014 and well beyond.

Turning to electrification. A hot topic in the industry and with yourselves. I am not against it. In fact, I would be a supporter if/when we identify that this is the best economic and technical solution to provide a better railway for passengers. This may be an easy case to make – for certain lines and capacity constraints. So let’s get on with it. Customers are waiting. In the pursuit of this solution ATOC, together with the extremely capable TOC staff, acting jointly with Network Rail, will be right behind early planning, and competent and efficient delivery. But… as I said, we must start with the problem “how to improve the railways for the present and the future of UK plc – in particular, for passengers”. Get this right, and with a clear sight of the problem to resolve, we can then apply the correct solutions. We all need to stand tall in this debate, put our ‘favoured answers’ to one side, and ensure public money is spent wisely. Such clarity of thinking will ensure our requests are well-justified, and supported outside the industry and in government. We need to lead with an open mind, yet deliver what is needed for the economy and the passenger – starting now, and into the future. Electrification to the fore?

Yours sincerely

Mike Alexander

--------------------------------

The ATOC release announcing Alexander's appointment claimed he has a reputation "for making things happen and managing change".

The Fact Compiler cautions that electrification is a great totem to the railway industry. Alexander will need to manage the issue well, otherwise he may find that a reputation for "vacillation and wind-baggery" is more easily won.

Freightliner sold

***Freightliner has been bought by Arcapita***

3i Press Release here

Irish vote no!

Guido had it first