Sedgefield MP exposes massive cuts to IEP

Oh dear!

It looks like the IEP project has been reduced to plumping the cushions and painting the buffers of the HST fleet.

This from Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson yesterday:

I also wish to discuss Hitachi, which I always mention when I can because it provides a massive boost to the north-east economy; it is providing the biggest private sector investment in the north-east since Nissan. Hitachi is going to build a £90 million factory—a train-building facility—in my constituency at Newton Aycliffe. 

The company is going to refurbish the rolling stock for the east coast main line and for the great western line into Wales. Hitachi is going to create 500 jobs, with thousands in the supply chain. 

Either a little knowledge is a dangerous thing or Marsham Street is to be saluted for its frugal perspicacity. 

UPDATE: This from The Cynic, who has discovered even greater savings... 

Well, it won't take them very long to paint the 'buffers of the HST fleet'

The remaining power cars have has just 16 buffers fitted between them!

Stormin' Norman bulldozes TramTrain through

According to the Department for Transport...

Transport Minister Norman Baker today gave the green light to a £58m pilot scheme to run revolutionary Tram Trains on both rail and tram networks, making them ideal for the eight mile non-stop journeys of no more than 25 minutes between, suburb and city centres from Sheffield to Rotherham.

As well as providing a boost to the regional economy thanks to improved connections across the region, the project is also expected to create 35 new jobs locally as well.

Full marks to Norman Baker for championing this, no doubt to the delight of local MP and DPM Nick Clegg.

And with Tram Train due to "commence in 2015" what a fitting memorial it will make to the ConDem government, as it leaves office...

UPDATE: This from Captain Deltic...

According to Stormin' Norman:

The knowledge that we obtain from the pilot will enable us to understand the technical and operational challenges involved in this project so that the concept can potentially be rolled out elsewhere in the UK.

Presumaly these are the same 'technical and operational challenges' that had to be understood before the successful operation of Tyne & Wear Metro cars over Network Rail infrastructure to Sunderland? (shurely 'already mastered by LUL's Met and District lines, whose stock have long shared routes with 'heavy' rail operators'? Ed).
 
Still, however dodgy the justification, who cares if the Treasury buys it and a lot of people should benefit - unlike the original bonkers proposal back in 2008 to run diesel tram trains as Pacer replacement over the Penistone Line. 

NR Scotland solves passenger train shortage!

This from Network Rail's Scotland Route...

Wagons, carriages, who cares as long as we can cram 'em in!

A degree of interoperability that will no doubt delight the penny conscious inhabitants of Buchanan House?

Pointless wires - Wolverhampton

As any fule kno Electrification is the way forward!

 

And good to see that you don't need any of that annoying and costly track nonsense to achieve the full benefit.

Depot pride - Neville Hill

This from Leeds Finest...

Further to your piece on Depot Pride.

Could I point out that NL was the first to start the depot allocation renaissance?

The 08's getting the plush brushed metal versions of course!

Greening Gobbleygook - Operations Stepchange

Eye is a little late to this but here is the Captain of Netball in all her glory...

Remode?

Remode!

With this sort of wibble apparently drawn without irony from 'The Thick Of It' someone's 'remode' in the forthcoming reshuffle cannot come soon enough!

UPDATE: Wise words from the Beeb...

The wags have already compared it to The Thick Of It, the political satire which coined terms such as the "infiltration matrix" and "plasmic data modelling".

Just fancy that!

Update: This from the Video Producer...
Norman Baker's suggests making use of Video Conferencing to avoid using public transport for the following reasons:

1. To save money - doesn't that say something about government fares policy (maybe he could look at split ticketing); and

2. Because it's good for the environment, lowering carbon emissions etc.

However, Stormin' Norman is standing in a video studio in front of a background lit with a pair of old-type 800w (each) "redhead" video lamps which use conventional, un-green, incandescent lamps that create loads of wasteful heat in their inefficient operation.

Why isn't the DfT studio set up with the new LED-based video lights which are hugely more energy efficient and "greener".

Practice what you preach, eh Norm?

Railway Garden Competition - Waterloo East

This from a Mr Tingey...

Perhaps not so much a garden, more Railway Bonsai?

Pointless signs - Swindon

Pointless signs - Paddington

Hammond advises Greening on IEP!

Sage advice from Philip Hammond!

The defence secretary has been on the airwaves to defend a change in Government procurement policy.

No doubt these wise words will resonate in Marsham Street... 

'You can either close your eyes and plough on regardless, which, I am afraid, is something that has happened all too often in the past in big public procurement projects, or you can stand up and say, honestly, the facts have changed, I'll review the decision I made, however painful that may be for me, and I will take the decision that is right now in the light of the facts as we have discovered them'.

But is the Captain of Netball listening?

New NR campaign warns of on-track danger

Dai Greene, the world 400m hurdles champion, fails to beat an 80mph train. 

That is all.

FGW mark HM Queen's Diamond Jubilee

This from First Great Western...

Good effort.

Voyager achieves light speed!

 And all that remained was a faint malodorous smell...

Wouldn't happen on the Underground...

Eye wonders whether adverts are subject to any approval process before they appear on the network?

It's a strange industry that allows such knocking copy free reign.

Surely time to say enough to this sort of cant?

ClogRail waves flag for Diamond Jubilee

Greater Anglia have named 90009 in honour of HMQ's Diamond Jubilee.

The loco (complete with traditional Stratford style silver roof) is adorned with Union flags and emblazoned with the name 'Diamond Jubilee'.

Here the Crown Point team who prep'ed the loco present a replica nameplate to the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk.

Good on ClogRail!

No doubt Holland's Queen Beatrix also approves.

Pointless signs - Loughborough

This from the Mad Hatter...

And the building immediately behind the sign? That would be the station!

Pointless signs - Ely

ORR a shoe-in for franchise regulation

This from Rose Hill...

So. Congratulations to the ORR for their latest novel proposals aimed at reducing industry costs and improving efficiency. 

The Regulator's latest tome, ‘2013 Periodic Review : Financial and Incentive Framework’ confirms that from 2014, access charges will be geographically based, reflecting the different costs of maintaining the track and signalling on various Network Rail routes. 

As yet, Network Rail haven't actually managed to produce any data upon which these charges could be based, but you might of course expect that costs will be higher in some parts of the country, for example areas that are hillier, flatter, colder, wetter, hotter, prettier or possibly with smarter postcodes (is this right? Ed).

To be fair some routes are busier, some less well used, some quicker, whilst others are errr... slower (get on with it! Ed).  So making access charges reflect this will, say the ORR, incentivise operators to be more efficient.

Now of course franchised passenger services are held neutral to any changes by DfT and Transport Scotland. 

So these reforms only apply to freight and open access services (around 10% of traffic), who will now be in the happy position of being able to plan their services avoiding the most expensive parts of the country. 

Indeed, there is some suggestion that railfreight customers are so keen to embrace these changes and do their bit to reduce wear and tear on the network, that they are giving serious thought to relocating their quarries, blast furnaces and deep-water ports (you're just not taking this seriously, are you? Ed)

Happily these exciting ORR proposals will also do their bit to generate new jobs, mainly amongst desk jockeys calculating the new charges and drivers of ever heavier HGV vehicles.

Well done ORR. With a document as well thought out as this the DfT will be only too delighted to hand over responsibility for regulating franchises.

UPDATE: This from Sir William Ackworth...

Is one of the objectives of geographical track access charging to ensure that a much higher proportion of national rail infrastructure costs is transferred  to Mr Salmond and his jocular friends north of the border ASAP – certainly prior to any independence referendum?

The Scottish network is disproportionately blessed with very expensive infrastructure, including the 2 longest estuarial rail crossings in GB (and other structures needing careful monitoring), and significant stretches of line requiring extensive coastal defence and mitigation measures, or susceptible to flooding or rock-falls, or suffering from unstable formations (e.g. in former mining areas or across bogs and moors.) 

In due course, the same approach might be adopted to transfer 50% of the costs of the Severn Tunnel and 100% of the costs of the Cambrian Coast (lots of flooding, rock falls & estuarial crossings there!) and Central Wales lines to the WAG in Cardiff.
 
If this were to happen, then by deploying the same analysis of the second-order effects of differentiated TACs as the fragrant Rose, and also looking at C18th and 19th Scottish history, we can confidently expect the cross-Border migration of many able but destitute Scottish economists and administrators who cannot afford cost-reflective rail fares in their homeland, travelling on cheaper parts of the rail network to seek employment in organisations such as ORR and DfT and willing to accept salaries well below those currently enjoyed by incumbents.

This would significantly reduce rail industry costs and contribute to closing the efficiency gap identified by Sir Roy McNulty (by coincidence, also a Celt). 
 
I feel sure that the occupants of Kemble and Marsham Streets would consider the loss of their current posts to cheaper competitors, or the option of a significant reduction in their salaries to remain employed, to be a small price to pay to facilitate the efficient working of the infrastructure charging and labour markets.

SWT passenger petitions Pope

This with a bowler tip to the genius that is  @LeeMarkDavies...

To set the scene: Mr Davies experienced significant delay following the lightning strike at Wandsworth last month, which caused major disruption to Waterloo and Victoria services.

He approached SWT, requesting compensation, only to be told that the lightning strike was an 'act of God'.

Of course being a good Catholic he immediately appealed to higher powers and yesterday sent the following epistle to the Pope:

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI
The Apostolic Palace
001 20 Vatican City

1st May 2012

Most Holy Father,

My sincere apologies for writing to you on this matter, but you will see that it causes me great concern. On the 19th April in the year of our Lord 2012, a lightning strike caused major power problems to Waterloo and Victoria stations in London.

There were significant disruptions to travel resulting in an almost six hour journey with several changes of train. My journey from London to my home station is scheduled to take just under 90 minutes, so you will appreciate the distress and discomfort I experienced.

On approaching South West Trains for compensation, I was informed that it was not their responsibility as this was an ‘act of God’.

Whilst I cannot for one moment accept that He would single out commuters for a single act of retribution in this way, it is clear that the train operating company believes the fault lies with our Lord and Master.

It is, therefore, with the deepest regret that I must ask Your Holiness, as His representative on Earth, for compensation. My monthly cost of travel is in the region of £550, so compensation of £30 would seem appropriate to cover travel and out of pocket expenses.

I am terribly apologetic for having to contact you on this matter. South West Trains is never to blame for any disruption to its services and as often these are the result of weather conditions it would seem that God is to blame most of the time. 

May I humbly suggest you establish a customer services department specifically for this purpose as I am sure you will receive many such compensation claims in the future.

Yours in reverence,

Lee Davies

PS If you wish to be warned in advance of South West Trains travel problems and other interesting matters you could do a lot worse that follow me on Twitter @LeeMarkDavies

No doubt Mr Davies will now be excommunicated, or made a Papal Knight!

Either way, Good effort!

Eye at InfraRail

Eye has been busy at InfraRail.

See what you're missing here:

Still two more days in which to come down and enjoy the fun.