Railcare enters Administration

This from the RMT...

RAIL UNION RMT today called for urgent intervention by Business Secretary Vince Cable to save 500 skilled engineering jobs in Glasgow and Milton Keynes after it was confirmed that rail fleet repairs and refurbishment company Railcare has been placed in administration.

RMT understands that the Government have been approached by the company for assistance in getting Railcare through a short-term cash flow crisis but that they were turned down. The union is pointing out that for want of what is estimated to be not much more than a million pounds in cash flow, the Government have turned their backs, whilst at the same time wasting an estimated £100 million on the aborted franchising timetable – a shambles which looks like it is the main cause of the crisis at Railcare.

Unions had been made aware earlier this week that Railcare was in trouble after it failed to pay staff wages and after a planned takeover by a German company collapsed. Crisis talks this morning with another potential buyer are thought to have collapsed forcing the company into administration with BDO appointed as the administrators.

RMT understands that although Railcare has a full order book and plenty of work in the pipeline from the train operators via the rail fleet leasing companies they ran into a cash-flow problem which has forced the move into administration threatening the jobs at the former British Rail plants at Springburn near Glasgow and Wolverton near Milton Keynes. RMT also understands that the key delays with moving the order book forwards have been caused by the franchising chaos in the wake of the West Coast fiasco which has held back fleet refurbishment plans while costing the taxpayer £100 million.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:
“RMT is today calling on Vince Cable and the Government to step in to secure the future of these 500 key rail fleet engineering jobs following the collapse of Railcare, the Government cannot sit on their hands and watch this situation play out for the want of what we believe is not much more than a million pounds of cash flow finance. Reports that Railcare have already been turned down for assistance make a mockery of the Government’s business strategy and their stated objective of protecting skilled jobs.

“This crisis has left 500 staff unpaid and without any security and the root cause appears to be the franchising shambles in the wake of the West Coast fiasco. Vince Cable and the Government have a moral and economic duty to intervene urgently to save these jobs and protect the scheduled work and RMT will meet with him at any time to assist in moving this on. All of us now need to work together to secure these jobs and the important work that the company is involved in.”
 
ENDS 

Pointless signs - Crewe

DfT's HS2 Taskforce recruits... Waterman!

This from the Independent...

Pop music producer Pete Waterman is a surprise inclusion on a new taskforce set up to maximise the economic benefits of the High Speed Two (HS2) rail project.

Says it all really.

Please. Someone. Get a grip of HS2! 

ORR declines Blackpool and Shrewsbury paths

This from the ORR...

ORR decision on West Coast track access application

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has decided at this stage not to grant access for additional services to Blackpool and Shrewsbury on the West Coast Main Line (WCML).

Extensive analysis of Virgin Trains' recent application for new passenger services on the WCML showed that there is not currently sufficient space on the line to run all of the additional services. The proposals would have also caused further deterioration in punctuality by adding traffic to what is already a very busy route, on which Network Rail is currently not meeting the punctuality targets it has been funded to deliver. The proposals would have a detrimental impact on the journeys of millions of passengers travelling on the route.

Note. This announcement has been made in advance of the adjudication of the Access Disputes Committee, which was due to give its view on Friday...

UPDATE: This from Messrs Dot & Tittle...

Presumably NR will, under the terms of the Access and Management Regs 2005, now have to declare the West Coast to be congested infrastructure

23.—(1) Where, after the co-ordination of requests for capacity and consultation with the applicants in accordance with regulation 20(4), it is not possible for the infrastructure manager to satisfy requests for infrastructure adequately, the infrastructure manager must declare that element of the infrastructure on which such requests cannot be satisfied to be congested.

This then triggers a series of actions, including,

(3) In seeking to determine measures to alleviate congestion the infrastructure manager must consider, in particular—
(a) re-routing of services;
(b) re-timing of services;
(c) alterations to the line-speed; and
(d) infrastructure improvements.

Sadly there doesn’t appear to be a clause in the Regs which allows them to do nothing for 13 years in the hopeful expectation that HS2 will solve everything!

Bring on PUG3!

Kelly's Heroes gains a deputy

A big Eye welcome to Dominic Cheetham, NR's new Deputy Director of Communications!

A quick glance at Linkedin reveals that Dominic previously worked at Serco as Communications Director and before that fulfilled a similar role at British Gas. 

His background is in newspapers, radio and TV.

Lots of experience, therefore, in regulated industries as we approach CP5!

Pointless signs - Reading

Pointless signs - Cambridge

This from @Al_S...

This sign is at Kings Hedges Road, Cambridge (at the junction for Cambridge Regional College).

The railway it warns of last saw a train in the early '90s.

It is now the Cambridge Guided Busway.

On the plus side, perhaps it wants to be a proper railway when it grows up?

Wattage Watch - Paddington

This, perhaps surprisingly, from I.K.Brunel...

When departing my fine terminus on the hottest day of the year, in the mid afternoon sun, I noted that the station management seem to be unable to turn the platform lights off!

 
Is this worthy of Eye's attention?

Yes indeed Mr Brunel! 

Time for an exciting new Eye feature...

Eye gives you Wattage Watch!

Piccies please of the railway unnecessarily running up utility bills.

RDG embraces 'Transparency'

Good news for fans of openness and transparency!

This from the Rail Delivery Group's summary of proceedings from its July meeting...

Industry Structure and Strategy – transparency
The RDG agreed that the industry should take control of the transparency agenda rather than leaving it to the ORR. Various industry parties were pursuing different initiatives. The Group agreed that nominated RDG Members agree a cross-industry approach.

And quite right too.

But what's this?

The rest of the summary document contains no reference to discussions about simplifying the number of organisations at the 'top' of the railway industry!

Perhaps they just didn't take place, or became so 'transparent' that they were rendered invisible?

Founder of Railway Children honoured

Colas and Network Rail have honoured the founder of the Railway Children.

A Colas class 66 was named David Maidment OBE at the National Track Plant Exhibition at Long Marston last Thursday.

The event was attended by 219 exhibitors from all areas of the rail industry, many of whom have long been supporters of Railway Children. Exhibitors gave donations on the day, with a total of £8,750 being raised for the charity.

David set up Railway Children in 1996, following an encounter with a young girl begging on a railway station in India. For the past 18 years, he has dedicated his life to raising awareness of the plight of children living alone and at risk on the streets and railway platforms.

To this day, across Railway Children’s geographical reach of India, East Africa and the UK, over 50,000 children are contacted and supported by the charity each year. 

Good effort!

Verster explains Lean Management in the Midlands

This from the power-house of PR that exists in Network Rail's LNE/EM Route... 

Phil Verster, Route Managing Director of Network Rail (LNE & EM) volunteering at East Midlands Parkway station today helping passengers navigate their way around the rail replacement services while Network Rail invests £100m to completely renew the railway around Nottingham.  

More than a mile of track is being relayed as well as replacing a series of junctions.  A new platform is being constructed, three signal boxes and two level crossings closed, and more than 140 new signals erected.

Recent visitors to NR's HQ in York will immediately recognise that Phil is clutching yet another design for a Visualisation Board! 

Pointless signs - Beckenham Junction

With a bowler tip to @DickiesTicker.

Railway Garden Competition - Lincoln

This from a Mr Barrett Houzing...

I thought Eye readers might enjoy an update on how the platform 8 garden at Lincoln is doing.

2009...

 2012...

And here, in all its glory, the same Railway Garden today!

Surely worthy of a Lifetime Achievement Award?

Bob gets all hot under the collar...

This from the RMT...

RAIL UNION RMT revealed today that while cattle get legal protection from overheated trains, British passengers, paying the highest fares in Europe, do not as the private rail companies are once again allowed to get away with doing just what they like as they extract massive profits from the network.
 
Welfare legislation sets a legal minimum of 5C (41F) and 30C (86F) for the transport of farm animals. In addition vehicles must be fitted with sensors and a warning system to tell drivers when the limits have been breached.

But no such standards are in place for commuters, the Office of Rail Regulation confirmed over the weekend, with parliament once again failing to put basic measures into rail franchise contracts to protect people using public transport.

RMT also revealed a month ago that there is no requirement in rail franchise agreements to provide toilets on trains.
 
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

"The more we look at the rail franchising system the more we find that the most basic protections for the travelling public have been ignored with the whole racket designed and built to maximise private profit.
 
"Cattle get protection in the hot weather that humans don't, that is simply outrageous and as fares go through the roof to travel on rammed, sweltering and creaking trains the case for an end to this grotesque exploitation is overwhelming. Public ownership of our railways is the only solution to this scandal."

All good points Bob.

But what's this?

Strangely no mention of sweltering heat and loo-less trains on the public sector London Underground!

Perhaps it is in the notes to Editors? (Nope. Ed)

Less is more...

The Fact Compiler's latest column in Passenger Transport published on the 19th July... 

The next edition of Passenger Transport will be published on the 2nd August.

RMT flies a kite... out of control

This from a Mr Ivy... 

I guess you've seen this from the RMT: 

Nothing highlights the growing rail fares scandal more than the fact a walk-on return fare from London to Newcastle costs £301, more than a round trip flight to New York. Skyscanner are advertising return trips to the States for £298 today.

I'm sure the 'Eye' would like to point out how blatantly misleading the RMT is being – by comparing a walk-on rail-fare with an advance booking air fare! It's appalling how they spin. Trouble is, people will believe them….

Out of interest I've checked Skyscanner now, and 'walk-on' fare (I.e. For travel today is £1,133 (the headline price of £796 is not available). I'd like to give Bob Crow £298 and tell him to get to New York with that as a 'walk-on' fare.

Is ATOC fuming. I'll bet not….!

Railway Garden Competition - Harrow and Wealdstone

This from the Ward Room... 

This is NR infrastructure...

One wonders if TfL would permit this on their own tracks?

Innovation? Freighties lead the way!

Good news for fans of keeping the lights on! 

British designed.

British built! 

This from Drax...

DRAX UNVEILS UK’S FIRST BIOMASS RAIL FREIGHT WAGON

Drax has unveiled the UK’s first purpose-built biomass rail freight wagon at the National Railway Museum in York.

Developed by designers at Lloyd’s Register Rail and manufactured by WH Davis, it is the largest ever produced and pushes the boundaries of rail engineering.

The wagon will transport sustainable biomass from the Ports of Tyne, Hull and Immingham to Drax Power Station, near Selby for use in generating low carbon, cost effective, and reliable renewable electricity.

At 18.9m long with top doors stretching 18.2m and bottom doors of 3.7m, the supersize wagon has a capacity of 116 cubic metres allowing a biomass load weighing 71.6 tonnes. Its volume is almost 30 per cent bigger than any freight wagon currently used in the UK

Good effort! 

Staying at NRM for a couple of weeks if you're passing by...

Railway Garden Competition - Waterloo

Higgins keeps his word - Shocker!

Much amusement in the industry over today's coverage of David Higgins decision 'to resign'!

Take this, from the usually well informed David Millward in Her Majesty's Daily Telegraph.... 

The decision to resign, which was broken by Sky News, came within days of a fresh row erupting over the bonus package offered to Sir David and four other senior executives at the helm of the company responsible for the country’s train and track infrastructure.

However according to Network Rail, Sir David, 58, has chosen to leave his post to allow his successor to steer through a five year investment package worth more than £35 billion.

“David always made it clear that he didn’t plan to stay on until 2019,” a Network Rail source said. 

Errrr... quite so.

So if Higgins had always made clear that he didn't plan to stay on for CP5 (which he did, even within earshot of the lowly Fact Compiler) then what is the story?

Of course there is a much more interesting tale lurking beneath these lazy headlines: Will the next CEO of Network Rail be an engineer?

Meanwhile, back in the silly season, our next Monarch but two (DV) will be His Majesty King George.

Sire, please could you fix it for Eye to have sloppy journalists' heads lopped off. Ta.