Dunstone on HS2

This from Cable.co.uk... 

Money from the HS2 scheme could be better spent on broadband, Sir Charles Dunstone has argued.

Sir Charles Dunstone, the Chairman of TalkTalk and Carphone Warehouse, has called for the government to spend a chunk of its huge budget for the High-Speed 2 (HS2) rail network on improving the UK's broadband infrastructure. 

Just fancy that. 

And in other news: Bears advocate defecating in woods and the Pope remains resolutely Catholic. 

John Knox alive and well at Scotrail

Good news for fans of the New Puritanism! 

The McKilljoys of Scotrail have banned e-fags!

According to The Herald...

SCOTRAIL has banned e-cigarettes from its trains and railway stations as concerns over their safety continue to grow.

The train company this week confirmed staff and passengers were no longer allowed to use the smoking devices on their services.

And they said there was concern other passengers might think they could smoke real cigarettes on the trains, if they saw someone using the alternative product.

FFS!

Where to start? 

Good to see First Group doing their level best to make rail travel that little less bearable.

Lookalike - In the Nightmare Garden

Shopping the NR way!

This from a Former NR Sleeper...

Thought readers might enjoy this handy Network Rail guide to shopping.

Simples!

ORR goes in for mystic accounting?

This from Alecto...

What a marvelous piece of fiddle factor in ORRs determination of Network Rail's net revenue requirement (p 29):

• "We then look at financial indicators and adjust the level of amortisation so that Network Rail‟s financial sustainability is not unduly affected by this approach (hence the term "financial sustainability adjustment")."

But "financial sustainability adjustment" sounds so much more professional. 

As in: "Here you go guv', including parts, labour and err... financial sustainability adjustment that'll cost you £37.9bn."

ORR back-tracks on Biomass charging

This from the Rail Freight Group...

Rail Freight Group (RFG) today welcomed the ORR’s decisions on freight charges announced as part of the Draft Determination of the Periodic Review 2013.

As part of a package of reforms, ORR have concluded that;

• Biomass will not be subject to a new freight specific charge in control period 5.
• Increases in the variable access charges for freight will be capped at an average 10% compared to the 23% previously announced.  This is likely to reduce charges for intermodal traffic, and limits the impact of rises in the bulk markets such as aggregates and steel.
• The proposed 400% increase to the capacity charge for freight will not be implemented and a revised approach will be developed.
• The previously announced caps on the freight specific charge for ESI coal, iron ore and spent nuclear fuel will be reduced.  For ESI Coal, for example, the cap will reduce from £4.04 to £1.04 per kgtm.

Maggie Simpson, RFG Executive Director said today "We are pleased that ORR has listened to the concerns of the industry and has taken a balanced decision that is affordable and fair.  This will be a great relief to rail freight operators, customers and those seeking to invest in the sector who can now develop their business plans with confidence."

A good result!

RfG showing how lobbying should be done.

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

Bit of an embarrassing climb down from ORR then?

Presumably no one bothered to salute this when they ran it up the flag pole?

Burns Lite - Seeing the light on DOR

Has Simon Burns had a Damescene conversion?

Regular readers of Eye will recall that Third Degree Burns recently described nationalised East Coast as having 'plateaued', and compared it unfavourably with the triumph of private sector innovation that is Beardie Rail.

So what are we to make of these saccharine words from Mr Toad, made during the 5th June Westminster Hall debate on the East Coast Main Line...

"...after an extended and successful period of public ownership..."

"East Coast has delivered a great deal in the past three-and-a-half years of public ownership..."

"The operation of train services by DOR is an essential part of the privatised franchising model."

Words that will no doubt do something to restore the battered morale of his own people holed up in One Kemble Street.

And perhaps more to the point ensuring that DOR has at least some chance of recruiting the skilled people needed to run future franchises, such as errr.. Great Western, for instance!

UPDATE: This from Ithuriel...

It is interesting to note how the civil servants have been desperately trying to re-chip Simon Burns as they realise that rubbishing East Coast and, by implication operator of last resort Directly Operated Railways, reduces the effectiveness of their deterrent against the rapacious bus bandits when it comes to negotiating  franchise extensions.

All this is rather akin to the Defence Secretary saying, "Frankly old boy, our missiles are so rubbish that even if they launched we'd be lucky to hit Russia let alone Moscow and anyway, the warheads can't be guaranteed to go off if it's raining"...

But we suspect the new tone is a wasted effort since even this Government must have worked out  that if they called the bus bandits bluff and installed DOR then Labour would have a political field day over yet another renationalisation.

With a general election less than two years away there is no way DfT can afford to admit that franchising has failed, again.

So fill your boots bus-bandits, because Burns has all but conceded that DOR is now a paper tiger!

ORR Draft Determination exposes inflation - Shocker!

This from Captain Deltic...

The Office of Rail Regulation's Draft Determination under Periodic Review 13  (PR13) published today occupies a staggering 813 pages.

The PR08 Draft Determination required just 372 pages.

So that is an 118% increase in five years.

The draft conclusions for the PR03 interim review required a mere 211 pages - and that in the aftermath of  the collapse of Railtrack.

So Richard Price, running a well established process for a relatively stable industry, needs four times the space of Tom Winsor whose interim review was written at a time of near anarchy when the government maintained radio silence on its requirements.

As Flanders and Swann nearly wrote:  "It all makes work for the Regulatory man to do".

Perhaps time for an efficiency review of ORR?

Great Western franchise - DOR activated

This from The Brothers...

RAIL UNION RMT revealed today that it has been officially notified of a rescue plan to bring in the publicly owned Directly Operated Railways to run the major Great Western franchise between London, Wales and the South West, fuelling speculation that talks on a contract extension with First Group, due to be announced in the next few weeks, are in trouble.

RMT has received the following notification from DOR:

“GW Railway Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Directly Operated Railways, has today submitted applications to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for a Safety Certificate (Part A and Part B) and Safety Authorisation in respect of undertaking train and station operations on the Great Western Franchise (i.e. the line of route currently operated by First Greater Western), should current negotiations between the Department for Transport and First Group, on a short term extension to the franchise commencing in October 2013, fail to reach a satisfactory conclusion.“

Interesting... 

UPDATE: This from First Group...

Our negotiations with the DfT in respect of an extension to the First Great Western franchise are, contrary to claims by the RMT, progressing well.  Our proposal is not due to be submitted to the DfT until next month.

The step taken by DOR to register a safety certificate is usual practice and reflects the fact that the process to achieve a safety certificate takes sixteen weeks.  This process is expected to take place in respect of all potential single tender agreement awards for franchises.

First Great Western has also registered for a safety certificate in respect of an extension to the franchise.

UPDATE: This delightful non-sequitur from Maria the Eagle..

David Cameron and his Ministers must come clean if they are preparing to take over Great Western rail services. Passengers deserve to know the truth about the future of the rail services on which they depend.
 
The plan to extend existing franchises is collapsing into chaos. This is a direct consequence of the misguided decision by Ministers to prioritise a costly and unnecessary privatisation of rail services on the East Coast ahead of getting the rest of the rail network back on track. 

The Government should accept it has got this wrong and allow East Coast services to continue to be run on a not for private profit basis. It will be a scandal if even more taxpayers’ money is wasted, adding to the £55 million that has already gone down the drain thanks to the franchising fiasco for which David Cameron and his Ministers were responsible.

UPDATE: This from a source close to DOR...

You know of course that DOR went through exactly the same process during the negotiations to extend both the West Coast and Essex Thameside (C2C) franchise?

Still, not like the RMT to let the facts get in the way of a good story...

Pointless sign - Waterloo

This from a Mr Lost the Will to Live...

So where else might a balcony be then?

Veitch off to Upsidedown-land!

So farewell Jon Veitch, the latest loss to the Dominions!

After more than 26 years working on Britain's Railways Jon will be leaving these hallowed shores to take up the role of General Manager, Freight, for the Downer Group in Australia.

Jon, currently Fleet Manager at East Midlands Trains, is due to become a 'Ten Pound Pom' at the end of August.

Fans of esoteric traction will recall that Jon has played a key role in restoring prototype HST power car 41001, as well as naming all four 08's at Neville Hill.

Amidst other claims to fame he oversaw the return to service of  a 'bubble car' to Wales, the introduction of the WAG Express, the transition of the West Coast from classic locomotives to the Pendolinos and played a leading role in the infamous Intercity Express Programme.

Eye wonders how we will survive without him!

Wishing you all the best Jon. Oh, and any chance you can take the IEPs with you?

Pendocycle200 from Manchester to Euston

This from the Pendocycle200 Team...

 

Virgin Trains staff at Manchester Piccadilly are organising a charity event in support of The Christie, a specialist cancer centre based in Manchester.

The Christie charity raises money to fund projects which are outside the scope of the NHS. This includes cancer research, new facilities and extra patient services. Howard Newhall, community fund raising officer at The Christie charity, will join Virgin Trains in the activity.

The event, which takes place on 28th June 2013, involves cycling 220miles between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston railway stations. Participants must leave Manchester at 0505 (with the first train to London) and finish their journey in time to catch the last train back to Manchester, at 2200 – giving cyclists a pedalling time of 16 hours 55 minutes to cover the distance. Not easy!

In the run up to the event, the organising team will arrange for items to be auctioned on a dedicated eBay account and all money raised there will go towards the final amount. 
 
For more information on Pendocyle visit: www.pendocycle200.com. To contribute visit: www.justgiving.com/pendocycle200

Railway Garden Competition - Norwich

This via @NoddingDonkey...

Lawn mower required for recovery of these 158's at Norwich!

What's 'hundreds of millions of pounds' between friends?

Good to see partnership is alive and well on the LNW Route!

Apparently Beardie Rail is threatening to take NR to court over poor performance.

According to Virgin Rail's CEO, Tony Collins, in the FT...

“We have been trying to work with Network Rail to sort things out but this has been going on for 15 years and we have been left with no alternative,” he said, adding that it was damaging the Virgin brand.

Errr...

No matter.

Meanwhile in the Birmingham Mail Collins is quoted as saying
 
“We have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on a fleet of reliable trains and we pay NR nearly £200 million a year to maintain the West Coast line for us. We feel that we are not getting value for money in this respect and our customers have been let down and deserve more consistency.”

Virgin has spent 'hundreds of millions of pounds' on its train fleet, eh?

Who knew?

Pity the poor old Rolling Stock Leasing Companies!

In Beardie World they now assume the mantle of Trotsky - suitable only for being air-brushed out of history.

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

Virgin obviously shares the same view of Roscos as the DfT.

Perhaps this explains the recent rapprochement?

A threat to the NRM - time for an industry response?

"A nation that forgets its past has no future."

Wise words from Winston Churchill!

So what are we to make of threats to the National Railway Museum?

According to the Beeb... 

One of three museums in the north of England will close if further cuts to budgets are made, their owner has said.

The Science Museum Group (SMG) said it was in a "weak" financial position.

As well as the Science Museum in London, SMG runs the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the National Railway Museum in York and the National Media Museum in Bradford.

Director Ian Blatchford said as well as the closure, "big cuts" may also be made to the museum in London.

He said the prospect of a further 10% cut in funding in the next round of government spending proposals meant "almost certainly" one museum would shut.

Meanwhile York's The Press is mounting a campaign to Save the NRM.

Who is leading the industry response to this threat and how can Eye readers support?

National Express in vote rigging shocker!

This from NatEx owned C2C...

National Express train company c2c is backing Leanne Jarvis, daughter of train driver Dave, in the live finals of the BBC One show ‘The Voice’.

Dave, who has been driving c2c passengers for the past 10 years, has been making tannoy announcements each time he drives a train urging passengers to vote for his daughter, who is one of the final 12 contestants in the television programme.

And now c2c is putting posters up at its stations urging the 90,000 passengers who use c2c every day to support Leanne in this weekend’s live programme, in the hope she makes it through to next week’s semi-finals of the competition.

Disgraceful! And good effort.

Harnessing the power of new media and the web

They're a cheeky lot in Derby!

This from RVEL - a nice little video package about a visit from Patrick McLoughlin on Monday.



Whilst 'RVEL-vision' is a little bit corny (a little bit!?! Ed), this is a great example of disintermediation!

Why go broadcast to get your message out, when Narrowcast is the future!

New Rail Supply Chain Forum!

This from George Ramshaw Curry...

Given that one remit of the new and exciting DfT and BIS backed 'Rail Supply Chain Forum' is to:

• Promote the UK rail industry, improving export coordination and exploring other opportunities for UK companies to successfully engage in both the UK and International rail sector and supply chains

you might have expected that the Director General of the Railway Industry Association would have been present at the meeting on June 4 where Messrs McLoughlin and Cable opened the proceedings.

Unfortunately said DG had something more important to do that day.

He was leading an overseas trade mission to Taiwan!

Happily none of the speakers introducing the various topics were actually from the manufacturing industry either.

So that's all right then!

UPDATE: This from the Railway Industry Association...

Perhaps churlish to suggest actually selling things overseas might meet our remit quite well...

Nonetheless, it should be noted that RIA was well represented at this meeting by its Chairman, Policy Director, and several Council members.
 
UPDATE: George Ramshaw Curry replies...
 
But what is this fantastic new body actually for?

What will it do that RIA doesn't already do, and why was nobody from the supply chain asked to be a speaker at the event?

Is this yet another industry talking shop?

UPDATE: This allegedly, and perhaps surprisingly, from Henry Kissinger...

 Getting DfT and BIS in the same room is no mean achievement!

Pointless signs - Victoria

This with a bowler tip to @sinminkles via twitter...

QR Codes - a solution in search of a problem?

Why uniform standards need to be standard...

The Fact Compiler's latest column in Passenger Transport published on the 24th May...

The next edition of Passenger Transport will be published on the 7th June.