Lords a lying

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Do they take us for fools?

Lord Adonis (Minister of State, Department for Transport; Labour) Hansard source
"The Department for Transport does not determine the amount of rolling stock for First Great Western (FGW) or any other train operator".

This from the South Central ITT published just a few days later:
"From December 2011 until September 2013 the South Central Franchisee will need to make available to First Capital Connect ("FCC") 3 x 4 car dual-voltage 377 units per weekday".

How does one go about impeaching a minister?

Un-Micromanagement

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
As is well rehearsed by rail ministers DafT does not get involved in the detail of running franchises.

Here's a non-example from the South Central Franchise Invitation to Tender.

"Bidders’ attention is drawn to the problem of delays between train arrival and door opening at Victoria associated with problems with the GPS signal at that station. This often means that whilst a train is at a stand passengers have to wait 20-30 seconds before the doors are opened.

"Proposals are sought as to how this issue can be remedied with a view to a solution early within the life of the franchise."

Not a sparrow falls

ECML wires down...

...again.

Doh!

Daft peerless!

My Lord Adonis is starting to have fun at the expense of his officials.

Or so it would appear from this exchange in the Upper House on Tuesday 4th November:

The Earl of Mar and Kellie (Spokesperson in the Lords, Transport; Liberal Democrat) Hansard source
My Lords, the Minister will have seen the Rail Regulator's determination. Does he agree that the rolling stock plan is an incomprehensible muddle, as stated in paragraphs 9.82 and 28.22?

Lord Adonis (Minister of State, Department for Transport; Labour)
No, my Lords, it was all crystal clear to me.

So a 'comprehensible muddle' M'lord?

Keep up!

RMT has welcomed the publication of TfL's 10 year Business Plan.

General Secretary Bob Crow said

“TfL has made vague statements about the need to reduce headcount across TfL and that can only cause alarm among our members.

“Reducing the use of over-priced outside consultants is all well and good, but there can be no question of any job losses among the people who deliver the services that London depends on".

And delivering is key Bob - hint

Oh dear

Following the previous post an angry email reaches Railway Eye.

It reads:

"Not content with using Derbyshire taxes to fund schemes that solely benefit the south, like Crossrail and the Olympics, it now appears that Londoners are determined to bugger up Duffield's local road network as well!"

By way of explanation the provincial gentleman was kind enough to furnish an article from last Friday's Derby Evening Telegraph.

The Fact Compiler doesn't understand the problem. L21 could have powered the hamlet of Duffield for a week!

Boris the Proud?

Good news for pyramid of piffle fans.

London Mayor Boris Johnson today launched his personal vision for transport in the capital in a document entitled 'Way to Go!'.

If only it were so.

There is no mention of the future of the Underground PPP, or the cross-river tram and precious little on Crossrail; all of which will consume vast amounts of public dosh.

However, amongst this very thin gruel is one bit of good news.

Boris has decided to rechristen the Thames Tideway tunnel as the Cloaca Maxima.

An interesting choice as, under the guiding hand of Tarquin the Proud, the original claca drained the swamp that allowed the Forum to become the centre of Rome's civic life

But what's this? Tarquin the Proud's rule was so corrupt that his system of government was abolished and he died in exile.

Way to Go! Boris.

Holding to account

This for Railway Eye's enthusiast friends, who appear to be bearing the brunt of our headlong rush into tyranny.



Wishing all Railway Eye readers a happy commemoration of the 5th of November!

Clue's in the name

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
The whole point about the High Level Output Specification was that the civil serpents who drafted the 2005 Railways Act were determined to nail ministers down.

That is why it's called a SPECIFICATION.

So who drafted Paul Clark's 3rd November Written Answer?

Paul Clark (PPS (Rt Hon Ed Balls, Secretary of State), Department for Children, Schools and Families; Gillingham, Labour) | Hansard source

"The Department for Transport is in the early stages of discussions with First Great Western on plans to implement capacity increases to which the Government committed in their High Level Output Statement of July 2007"

Is it possible for DafT to get any more sloppy?

Wright track?

Telegrammed by an 'anonymous' reader
"Railway Eye's man at 222 Marylebone Road makes the schoolboy error of many commentators.

"It is not pro free-market (see previous post) to think that unsustainable, flawed private-sector businesses should be given free government money to stay in existence - quite the opposite.

"The point about capitalism is that companies - whether Metronet or Railtrack - should be allowed to fail when they make mistakes.

"They should then be replaced with other companies.

"They should preferably be private-sector ones, but the world's a messy place and sometimes strange hybrids such as Network Rail are the only answer.

"It's certainly hard to argue they've done a worse job than Railtrack, isn't it?"

This is splendid. Railway Eye is now being 'sockpuppeted' - just like a real blog!

Conundrum

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Is Mr Wright dazed and confused?

How can Chris Randle's successor be pro-free market while supporting the creation of Railtrack's successor as a Company Limited by Guaranteed State Subsidy?

Has the 'Insider' won another comment franchise?

Penny counting

Today's early morning press call at Paddington saw Lord Adonis announce a £240m commitment to Crossrail from BAA.

In return, according to the press release, there will be 'four fast-train services an hour' to Heathrow.

These will apparently run direct from Heathrow airport to the City and Canary Wharf and out to Shenfield and Abbey Wood (stations omitted by these fast trains were not mentioned in the release).

So with the government offering £5.6bn to the project and BAA £240m that leaves only another £9bn to find!

Finnished off?

Finnish company M-real may start to regret taking on the kettle community.

Railway Eye readers will recollect that M-real has threatened the Sittingbourne Railway with closure.

Undaunted the steam men of Kent have mounted a stout defence of their line.

First up to the barricades was MP Derek Wyatt who took up the cudgels on their behalf.

And now the board of the Heritage Railway Association has donated £1,000 to the SKLR’s fighting fund.

Of course it's not the money that should worry M-real.

Formed of senior lawyers, business people and parliamentarians the HRA Board is extremely well connected.

They could make Gordon's treatment of the Icelandic banks look like a Manse picnic.

No FT No Comment

The recent thread on Chris Randall's departure to Cyprus has excited further reader comment.

A Mr Wright writes from Southwark Bridge:

"You shouldn't worry about the future of Chris Randall's column. I have no doubt at all as to his successor's quality.

"However, I expect his column to become a little more pro free-market and a little less convinced that Railtrack could have survived... "

Who could this mystery man be?

Very Crossrail

Much excitement late this evening as a DafT press release hurtles into The Fact Compiler's inbox.

It is an early morning invitation to a "Photocall with Transport Minister Andrew Adonis to illustrate a major announcement regarding Crossrail"

The Fact Compiler will stay in bed. He doesn't want to be lynched when an increase in the Crossrail business levy is announced.

Back to the future again

In the bad old days of British Rail the industry was rife with Spanish Practices.

For our younger readers these were "irregular or restrictive practices... not in accord with modern business practice" (Thanks Wikipedia).

Fortunately privitisation swept all this bad practice away and heralded a new dawn of partnership where the needs of the customer come first.

Therefore, The Fact Compiler was surprised to receive the following from a reader:

"Heard an excellent spanish practice from (Toc X) last week.

"Depot standbys can only be used to cover work at their home depot, so even if there is a cross cover agreement, the work has to be covered by the home depot.

"Result trains cancelled and passengers pissed off."

Thank goodness that sort of thing doesn't go on today. (Is this right? Ed)

Come out Max, we know you're there!

The Fact Compiler had occasion to read Hello! magazine today and was delighted to see so many people who are famous, for being famous.

Good news, therefore, from the Department for Transport.

Today Lord Adonis announced that he had appointed "Millie Banerjee as Chair and Member of the British Transport Police (BTP) Authority".

The press release continued:

"Millie Banerjee CBE is experienced at Board level with a very strong track record in operations management, consumer service and Human Resources policy, mainly in the communications sector."

"She is presently a Board member of Ofcom, and recently Chair of Postwatch until it merged with Consumer Focus. She is also a Trustee of the Peabody Trust. Previously Millie has had numerous non-Executive Director positions on public bodies, including one in the Strategic Rail Authority and one with the Cabinet Office Strategy Board."

But the press release is too modest.

For in Notes to Editors we read:

Millie remains a Non-Executive Board member of Consumer Focus, for which she is paid £29k

As well as being a Non-Executive Board Member of Ofcom, for which she receives £53k

This on top of her role at the BTP Authority for which she now receives £32,100.00 per annum.

In total ministers have appointed her into roles that grant an income of over £114k a year!

Max Clifford has to be at the bottom of this somewhere.

Old fart's lament

Wonderful!



The Fact Compiler is wiping a tear from his eye!

Little bang

The Fact Compiler is grateful to a reader for bringing this splendidly base-lined survey to his attention.

"Remember the happy days when you closed a branch line by doing a passenger survey on a half day closing in the school holidays...

"Manchester Metrolink obviously have no intention of being caught out in similar fashion..."

Crossrail's consultation team needs to sign up the genius behind this one!

Holy Smoke!

This from Driver Potter's website

Large bang.

It's hot, damn hot!