The elephant in the room at Labour's Party Conference

Cynics might be tempted to suggest that Ed Balls wobble on HS2 is a smoke-screen for the non-debate of the year.

According to LabourList Maria the Eagle was forced to shelve a debate on rail renationalisation.

Good news for 'thinly capitalised equity profiteers' everywhere.

Instead, the Shadow Secretary of State has renewed her calls for DOR to be allowed to bid for the East Coast franchise and for rail services to be provided on a not for profit basis.

One owner group is clearly taking this to heart and has shipped its entire European management team to an away-day jolly in Majorca!

All right for some. 

But who could this generous owner be?

Eye just hopes they all arriva home safely.

New Chairman of HS2 announced!

This from Jeanne d'Arc de Triomphe... 

Attendees at Thursday's National Rail Awards were treated to a scoop in the event programme!

Apparently a suitable broom cupboard is already under construction...

Scotrail to run Manchester rail services - Shocker

This from the Vice Marshall... 

A small presentational error at Thursday's Greengauge 21 HS2 conference in Birmingham, when the Scottish Transport Minister was the speaker following Sir Richard Lees, leader of Manchester City Council.

 The slide was corrected after about 10 minutes.

HS2balls, or 'The Silence of the Lords'

Westminster and Brighton alight today with suggestions that Labour is wobbling on HS2

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said in his set piece conference speech:

"We continue to back the idea of a new north-south rail link.

"But under this government the HS2 project has been totally mismanaged and the costs have shot up to £50bn.

"David Cameron and George Osborne have made clear they will go full steam ahead with this project - no matter how much the costs spiral up and up. They seem willing to put their own pride and vanity above best value for money for the taxpayer.
 
"Labour will not take this irresponsible approach. So let me be clear, in tough times - when there is less money around and a big deficit to get down - there will be no blank cheque from me as a Labour Chancellor for this project or for any project.

"Because the question is - not just whether a new high-speed line is a good idea or a bad idea, but whether it is the best way to spend £50bn for the future of our country."

Andrew Adonis has mostly not been tweeting about HS2 today...

RMT unveils new negotiation tool - Shocker

This courtesy of @RMTLondon...

No surprises there then!

Railway Garden Competition - Victoria

This from Tiny Sleigh...

Note the bush growing on the station roof which compliments this platform 8 pastoral idyll.

HS2 - the fight back begins...

The Fact Compiler's latest column in Passenger Transport published on the 13th September...

The next edition of Passenger Transport is published on the 27th September.

Railway Garden Competition - Crossmyloof

This from The Raver...

This has to be the winner!

RSSB announces new CEO

This from RSSB...

RSSB announces new Chief Executive

RSSB has announced that Chris Fenton, formerly Director of Marketing and Strategy at Amey, is to be its new Chief Executive. Chris will join the organisation on 6 January 2014 and will take over from Len Porter who retires at the end of March 2014 as Chief Executive of RSSB.

As a Managing Director at Amey, Chris re-established Amey’s Business Services activities as a profitable and key activity for the company before taking responsibility for the company’s interest in Tube Lines in a complex period of political change and economic challenge. Prior to that, he was Managing Director for the testing and inspection division of BSI, after an early international career in Courtaulds. Common to all his roles has been a desire to get the most from an organisation through clear strategic goals and building strong teams. He trained as a material scientist at Cambridge and has an MBA from Manchester Business School.
 
Chris is also a Non-Executive Director at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority since March 2012 and sits on both their audit and remuneration committees.

Eye wishes Chris all the best in his new role. Len will be a hard act to follow...

First for listening to Shadow Ministers

Is Harriet Harman a regular user of First TransPennine Express? 

Commenting on the Newsnight presenter's decision to sport a beard Harriet said: "Its fine for Jeremy Paxman to go grey and grow a beard but not for a woman."

Evidently it's absolutely fine on First TPE!

Pointless signs - Manchester Airport

This from the Manxman... 

Spotted at Manchester Airport Station last week.

What must arriving visitors make of this (once they recover from walking into a solid wall!)?
 

Pointless signs - Moor Park

This from Old MacDonald...

 
Perhaps 'Dangerous signs' might be a more apposite description?

Pointless signs - York

This from Spreadbet...

It appears that East Coast are so concerned about the effects of passive smoking at York, they're now telling us where smoking hasn't taken place!

Pointless signs - Euston

This from 37025...

I took this picture yesterday morning on platform 1 at London Euston. 

Nobody was about except the usual catering staff.

How the Media works - bias at the Beeb?

Good to see that the fightback for capacity injecting HS2 has begun!

So what picture did the BBC's website use to illustrate the story?

As Newsnight might say: #fail

How the media works. No 94

This via @SarahKnapton, assistant news editor at Her Majesty's Daily Telegraph.

This 2002 picture has been doing the rounds of Twitter over the last week, so it might as well appear on Eye!

It shows a man who tolerates no opposition to his dictatorial style and is utterly ruthless in pursuit of his objectives.



He is talking to President Assad.

Strike a light!

The Fact Compiler's latest column in Passenger Transport published on the 30th August...

The next edition of Passenger Transport is published on the 13th September.

Strategy Leader or Master of Gibberish?

Good news for fans of plain English...

This gibberish from TSLG or FuTRO (nope, Eye neither)...

You're invited to FuTRO Monitor Jam (18th Sep 2013)

Come and make the future railway a reality. 

Following the successful launch of FuTRO, the TSLG has set the foundations for an ambitious open innovation programme. We are convening two Jam workshops for stakeholders in the rail industry and a diverse group of innovators to kick-start collaborations.

This first Jam will address The Universal Data Challenge - controlling the railway in a more joined-up and efficient manner by using multiple data sources in real time. 

Cont p94...

Presumably this drivel was written by someone for whom English is a second language? 

UPDATE: This from Fireman Sam...

Points for anyone who can identify a Jam (?) session.

Is that like the 07:18 from Winchester?

UPDATE: This from Pauline...
 
Sounds like they're all going to be making jam?

Perhaps as part of an innovative scheme to bring back on-board tea and scones?

NR appoints Mark Carne as new CEO

A big Eye welcome to Mark Carne, Network Rail's CEO designate!

This from Network Rail...


Network Rail announces new chief executive

Network Rail has announced that Mark Carne, formerly executive vice president for the Middle East and North Africa for Royal Dutch Shell, is to be its next chief executive.

Mark will join the organisation on 6th January 2014 before formally taking over as chief executive from David Higgins on 1st April 2014.

As executive vice president for Shell in the Middle East and North Africa, Mark was responsible for the company's business in a vital but volatile region at a time of significant political change. He placed particular emphasis on developing local staff and businesses, supporting each country as they addressed the issue of unemployment – and in the process helped Shell achieve a strong position in countries such as Iraq.

Before taking on that role he was executive vice president and managing director for BG Group in Europe and Central Asia following a 21-year period spent in a variety of roles with Shell including responsibility for Shell’s oil and gas platforms in the North Sea and as managing director for Brunei Shell Petroleum. Earlier in his career he helped to lead the company's response to the disaster on the Occidental-operated Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea.

Network Rail's chairman, Richard Parry Jones, said: "Each and every day, Network Rail has to provide a safe and reliable railway for the travelling public as well as the train and freight operating companies, at the same time as working to improve the network to help us meet unprecedented growth in demand. That poses a unique set of challenges for any chief executive, demanding the skill and experience to translate engineering excellence into daily operations safely and effectively, as well as keeping the public informed of what we are doing and why.

“Through his work with Shell and BG Group in very testing and difficult environments, Mark Carne has shown that he has the necessary skill and global experience to build on, and develop further, what Network Rail has already achieved in meeting these challenges under the leadership of David Higgins. We thank David for all he has done for the company."

Mark Carne said: "The success of Network Rail is vital for Britain’s economy and this is an exciting time for the whole rail industry. I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead Network Rail and look forward to working with the team to drive performance to new heights.”
 
Notes to editors

•  Mr Carne, 54, studied engineering at Exeter University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. He has strong Cornish roots and is an Independent Governor of Falmouth University. He is married with three children
• In overall terms the remuneration package for the new chief executive will not exceed that for the current chief executive
• Mr Carne’s base salary of £675,000 was determined following an exhaustive and independent process which compared the salaries of chief executives in both the public and private sectors given Network Rail's unique position as a not-for-dividend, independent company. The review concluded that the proposed salary reflected that unique status placing, as it does, the CEO's salary at a point between the two sectors
• Mr Carne will not take any potential annual incentive payment for 2013/14

Ends

It is worth noting that there are precedents for senior managers transferring from the petrochemical world to transport.

So Eye hopes Mr Carne will take after Bob Reid II, rather then Dr Beeching!

UPDATE: This from Hans Anderson...

Surely what the railways needs is a Network Rail Chief Executive that takes after Bob Reid I. 

But then given post holders to date I suspect previous railway experience is seen blot on the CV…

UPDATE: This, perhaps surprisingly, from a Dickie Davies...

Eye readers may recall that the first Chairman of a small and now expired company called 'Railtrack' also came from the swashbuckling world of petrochemicals.

Presumably it is the the heady mix of big budgets and big politics that lures them in?
  

Railway Garden Competition - Tottenham North Curve Tunnel