So how many endorsements does this need before it takes effect?
This from DafT...
Plans for one of the country's most crucial transport projects to date, High Speed 2, were officially endorsed by the Department for Transport today (Tuesday 10 March).
Talk is cheap.
Enough!
Please close the door behind you on your way out.
It appears that the railway industry is not immune from the Chuggers!
This from Pip Dunn of Railway's Illustrated fame.
Pip writes....
Fancy sticking this on the Railway Eye to see if the lovely people in the railway industry fancy dipping into their pockets to help a worthy cause.
We already have donations from First GB Railfreight, DB Schenker, Network Rail, Riviera Trains, Electric Traction, The Railway Magazine, but more are welcomed...
As some of you may know our daughter Harriet was born moderately deaf and over the last year, the National Deaf Children's Society has been invaluable to us
On 5th July the NDCS is having its annual Big Walk Forward in London. It's a 10 mile walk taking in all the best sights and landmarks the capital has to offer, and my wife, Vicky, (along with Harriet's grandma and godparents) are taking part. Any money we raise goes directly to the PDDCS (Peterborough and District Deaf Childrens Society) of which Harriet is a proud member and has been so crucial to us and other families over the last year and will continue to be as time goes on.
You can sponsor Vicky and co on this walk. Donating through Justgiving website is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor them: The National Deaf Children's Society gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
So I'd like to ask if you would please sponsor them now!
To make a donation, no matter how small, visit www.justgiving.com/vickysd
Many thanks from Harriet, Pip, Vic and all the children from the PDDCS.
Hurrah for Parliamentary Privilege.
This from yesterday's House of Commons railway debate:
Graham Stringer (Manchester, Blackley) (Lab):
When Network Rail closes a line for improvements or because something has gone wrong, it puts on buses, and calls that — it is a dreadful word — “bustitution”.
Twelve of the 13 major rail franchises that bus companies run effectively use themselves as agents.
Arriva uses Arriva; National Express uses National Express; FirstGroup uses FirstGroup; Stagecoach uses Stagecoach and so on.
That means that anyone bidding does not get the bus service operator grant because it goes to the agent of the main company. There is very little control over the costs.
I have talked to representatives of bus operating companies that have been put out of business because they do not believe that they can compete with bodies that effectively award the contracts to themselves.
They are told that it is a matter of quality as well as price, but when one talks to the bus drivers, one finds that the agents pay two and three times what the competitors would pay.
There is a cost to Network Rail and there is, therefore, a cost to the public purse.
I have talked to several bus operators. One — Fraser Eagle — was recently put into administration. It believes that that has happened because of those unfair, if not corrupt practices by train operating companies that also run the buses
Here endeth Parliamentary Privilege...
This gem from yesterday's House of Commons debate on Railways.
Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con):
I called Mr. Bob Holland, the then chief executive of Arriva, and kept complaining about the situation so much that he finally agreed to accompany me on an Arriva service between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton.
Lo and behold, all of a sudden, when the chief executive appeared, the train arrived on time for the first time ever.
We had extra carriages and, amazingly, they served tea and coffee and sold cakes, which was an experience that I had never come across before. The whole service was extremely smooth.
It took me back to the days when I visited communist Romania and everything was prepared specially for President Ceausescu, to give him a false perspective on reality.
Eye readers may be interested to know that Spinning Bob avoided dear old Nikolae's grisly end and is currently Arriva's Managing Director UK Rail.
***Jade Goody helps Railway Children***
Max Clifford in action is something to behold!
Okay My Lord Adonis - how precisely will the exciting new gates that your Department is so keen to foist upon the network increase security and reduce fare evasion?
This from the RMT:
SWT "finally let slip to RMT reps that it intends to axe nearly 200 revenue-protection staff – double the number previously admitted."
As ticket barriers need staff to monitor them (for safety reasons) the relentless reduction in TOC platform and revenue protection staff will inevitably result in newly installed gates being left open at more and more locations.
As The Eye previously pointed out, this is already the case at Waterloo mere weeks after their introduction.
So for DafT to continue promoting their installation across the network, at the same time as TOCs reduce headcount, is at best foolish and at worst a criminal waste of money.
Care to suggest which it is My Lord?
The dead tree media appears convinced that the Crossrail Project Management concession will go to the Septics.
The Eye is less pessimistic - confident that the OESI will help TfL make the right decision, creating genuine British Jobs for British Workers, rather than exporting them across the Pond.
So The Fact Compiler has a pony on the nose for the homegrown Laing O'Rourke and Atkins team.
A sure fire winner...
Unless of course the Treasury defers tomorrow's decision for reasons of "affordability".
UPDATE: This from John B who gives a ringing endorsement to the North American family firm...
Odd use of 'pessimistic' there - given that Bechtel are the only people with a track record that indicates the slightest hope in hell of delivering, I hope to God the deal goes to them.
Fortunately, as God is an Englishman, He may have other ideas...
The proposal to extend Circle line services to Hammersmith is known within London Underground as the 'T-cup' service.
Announced to Londoners last week it received a surprisingly warm welcome, even earning a new popular sobriquet as the 'Lasso line' in the process .
Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a lynch mob's noose...
Good news for penny conscious travellers.
National Express has introduced further cost saving measures.
Let's see them do the same at Kings Cross...
***Derek Simpson wins Unite leadership poll. With a Bowler tip to Guido***
As the recession continues to bite it is not only the Train Operating Companies who are feeling the pain.
ATOC is believed to be looking to reduce headcount by 15% - a move which has been welcomed by its cash strapped TOC members.
Of course whilst thousands of jobs are being shed by the passenger facing railway the paper-pushers of Whitehall sleep safe in their beds.
Despite costing the industry many millions of pounds there are no equivalent headcount reductions planned by the Department for Transport and Office of Rail Regulation.
Alas.
Such a head in the sand approach to economic realities resulted in stormy scenes at a recent meeting between owner groups and the ORR.
When pressed on when it might reduce its bloated headcount the ORR made a half hearted offer to reduce staff numbers by 5%... over five years!
Unfortunately, for reasons of taste, it is not possible to print the industry's response to this generous offer.
You pays your money you takes your choice.
The RMT is convinced that Network Rail's deferral of maintenance works will lead to significant job losses throughout the industry.
Meanwhile The Mirror believes that 1,000 jobs will be created by the infrastructure owner.
The Eye would welcome evidence that proves the case either way.
Passenger Focus goes from strength to strength if this story from the BBC is anything to go by.
Geoff Hoon has suggested (that)... Passenger Focus will be the advocate for air passengers' interests - it currently does so for bus and rail.
This of course means one of two things.
Either Passenger Focus has proven a doughty defender of rail passengers and is fearless at holding the rail industry and Department for Transport to account.
Or its a toothless old windbag that ministers can happily ignore.
The Fact Compiler can't imagine which is closer to Geoff Hoon's view.
UPDATE: This from The City Insider...
Out of curiosity I went to the DafT website to read the “consultation” paper on this.
And I happened to notice who manages DafT’s publications for them (see page 2).
Why it’s none other than Nu Labour’s favourite outsourcing companies, our old friends Crapita!
Telegrammed by J Alfred Prufrock
Exciting news for the Competition Commission.
So DMUs 'r' Us are going to buy the 202 DMU vehicles and lease them onto the TOCs.
So when DafT sets the rentals the true scale of the rip-offs perpetrated the evil and rapacious Roscos will finally be exposed!
Simply subtract the monthly rental per vehicle charged by DMUs 'r' Us from that being charged by Porterbrook on its Class 172s.
Of course they will have to be be financially viable rentals because DafT intends to sell the contracts and leases on once the deal is in place.
And the money the taxpayer receives will be a function of the NPV of the rentals expressed as a return on the cost of DMUs 'r' Us.
Adjusted, naturally, for the Residual Value Risk on a number of DMUs with a book life of 30 years.
Doomed
Recession.
This from RailwayPeople.com...
Birse Rail has won a contract from British Rail to keep an eye on closed branch lines, disused building and bridges.
The value of the contract is £275,000!
On top of EMT's announcement yesterday that it is shedding 162 jobs come other strange rumours.
The latest of which is that the SWT and EMT press offices are being combined.
Is this good news for joined up communications or a disaster waiting to happen.
We'll probably never know as the new, improved, press desk is bound to be hopelessly understaffed!
UPDATE: This from a delighted Straitscoach employee...
You might also be interested to hear that Souter has taken to personally perusing all SWT driver workings.
The last time he took such a keen personal interest you may recollect SWT ended up short of drivers for about two years.
No matter - passengers are free to write to their MPs!
The good news is that Brian won't see those who contributed to his profits thrown on the scrapheap!
Those "displaced" are invited to apply for jobs elsewhere in the Stagecoach empire.
Managers, catering staff and booking clerks now have the unrivalled opportunity to tackle exciting new career challenges, such as errr... cleaning buses in Kettering.
Of course, were the DfT to sit down and re-organise figures and franchise payments in exchange for employment protection we might not be in this mess.
But with the Treasury having to pay all those bankers' pensions there just isn't the money...
This from a Mr Murray...
So farewell Fraser Eagle.
Off into administration you go.
Serves them right, I guess, for sponsoring Accrington Stanley (famous as the second football club ever to resign from the league in mid season)!
Telegrammed by our Independent Expert
The good folk from Passenger Focus conducting the National Passenger Survey were doing the business on Preston station this afternoon.
Among the questions was:
"What alternative method of transport would you have liked to use to get to Preston Station?"
One option offered by the interviewers was "By Underground Train"
Over to you Boris
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