Fans of Wolmayor will recollect his original implacable opposition to Crossrail.
Therefore, Eye is confident in saying that as night follows day, Wolmar will embrace HS2!
This from Leo Rubine-Redd...
It looks as though time is already withering the legacy of Rail Barbie.
Apparently the famous Barbie Pink - more properly known as Rubine Red, has been dropped from the colour palette for the refurbished First Capital Connect Class 365 EMUs.
As ever, politics abhors a vacuum!
With the Shadow Transport team adopting an almost Trappist-like silence on NR nationalisation, an erstwhile rail minister has stepped in to fill the policy void.
This EDM from Tom Harris MP:
That this House notes that the Office for National Statistics is to
reclassify Network Rail as a central government body from 1 September
2014, adding Network Rail's £30 billion debt to the national debt;
recognises that since Network Rail's creation, Ministers have respected
the company's status as a private company by not exercising executive
authority over Network Rail's management or operational activity;
further recognises that the reclassification of Network Rail as a
central government body offers the opportunity for a new relationship
between the company and ministers; and believes this new relationship
should begin with an instruction from the Secretary of State for
Transport to Network Rail's directors that any future proposal for
executive bonuses must be approved by Ministers.
And so it begins...
This from the Department for Transport...
The
shortlist of bidders that will be invited to deliver proposals for improved
services for passengers on the InterCity East Coast rail franchise was
announced by the government today (17 January).
The
companies that have successfully passed the Pre-Qualification Evaluation stage
and can now start working on developing their plans for the franchise, before
they receive the government’s Invitation to Tender are:
This from the Daily Telegraph...
Travers Cosgrove
, who has died aged 93, was awarded an MC in Germany in 1945;
he subsequently worked for LNER and British Rail and was responsible for the
design and introduction of innovatory equipment and safety measures...
After LNER was nationalised in 1948, he worked for British Railways Scottish
Region until 1955 and then for the Western Region. He was the Materials
Handling Officer on the British Railways Board from 1962 to 1976. Cosgrove
introduced a number of innovations which became familiar sights to railway
travellers in Britain. Among these were the luggage trolleys at main-line
stations and the multifunctional cages (known as BRUTES) for the parcel
service, which he researched and designed.
Who knew?
Good effort.
This from the Transport Select Committee...
Transport
Committee invites ideas for future inquiries
The
Transport Committee today invites the public to suggest subjects for inquiries
to take place later in the year.
Topics
should relate to the work of the Department for Transport or one of its related
bodies, such as the Highways Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency or Network
Rail.
The
Committee Chair, Louise Ellman MP, has said:
“If you have an issue which you think we should look at we would like to hear
from you. Please write to us, email, or submit your suggestion using our
website or Twitter.
“Your
suggestions will be important in shaping our future work programme. Once we
have decided on which inquiries to hold we will publish all of the suggestions
we received and what we decided in relation to each of them”.
“That said,
I must also emphasise that the Committee does not take up individual cases and
will not look at local transport issues or specific transport projects unless
they raise issues of national significance.”
The
Committee last invited the public to suggest inquiry ideas in March 2013. The
suggestions received and the Committee’s decisions about its programme were
published in June 2013.
Future
programme: 2013-14
Further
information
Submissions
should be 250 words or less and sent by e-mail to transcom@parliament.uk or via Twitter
using @CommonsTrans
Nothing to see here, move along.
This from Leo Pink...
As
these written answers show, DfT continues to play the 'nothing to do with us,
Guv' card when asked questions relating to Network Rail.
They should make
the most of it because NR becomes a Departmental responsibility from 1st
September 2014.
Railways:
Cumbria
Mr Jamie Reed asked the Secretary of State for
Transport (1) what steps he plans to take to ensure that the Cumbrian Coast
railway line is protected from severe storm damage; (2) what steps he is taking
to ensure that rail services in West Cumbria will be less affected by adverse
weather conditions in future.
Stephen Hammond replied that Network Rail own
and operate Britain's rail infrastructure. Included in their plans for Control
Period 5 (2014-19) is a weather mitigation strategy, to help reduce the impact
of severe weather on the network.
Mr Jamie Reed asked the Secretary of State for
Transport how many Network Rail delay minutes have been caused by adverse
weather in Cumbria in each of the last five years.
Stephen Hammond replied that the Department
does not hold the data at this level of disaggregation. This is a matter for
Network Rail.
Tick, tick, tick...
This from the Highways Agency...
Elaine Holt and Tom Smith will provide valuable insight and leadership in helping the Highways Agency to maintain, operate and improve England’s major roads, as well as preparing for the biggest investment in the country’s road network for 40 years. Both take up their roles this month.
A marriage made in heaven!
Meanwhile, come 1st September - Network Rail, be afraid, be very afraid...
This from the Sleeper...
This has been installed at Huddersfield station:
This from Leo Pink...
It looks as though the soi disant veteran observer is even more of
a veteran than we first thought!
It turns out that he is chairing the Derby175 group tasked with delivering celebrations to mark the 175th anniversary of
the railway's arrival in Derby.
Presumably he was appointed because he is the only person who can
remember what happened at the time?
Or more likely, because he is a silly old... (that's quite enough history! Ed)
This from Howard Wade...
Reacting to today’s news that the government is to build a dedicated further education college to train the next generation of train engineers for HS2, Alistair Dormer, Hitachi Rail Europe's Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said:
"We are very pleased the government recognises the importance of good infrastructure. Hitachi Rail Europe is investing in Britain’s future through a new factory at Newton Aycliffe, in County Durham, which will employ 730 people building trains for the home and export market with Made in Britain stamped on them."
Where will this proud claim be 'stamped', we wonder?
No doubt some journalist with an inconveniently long memory will ask to be shown the precise location?
This from Ithuriel...
In an article in the Sunday Express, Stagecoach CEO, Martin Griffiths, launched his Chairmanship of the RDG (What that? Ed) with a fighting article headed: 'Railways are still on track'.
No, it wasn't a riposte to busway conversions, but a paen to the newly nationalised railway (Shurely 'triumph of Privatisation'? Ed)
Martin showed his Finance Director background with this statistical claim:
"Train companies last year switched from being net recipients of Government support to net contributors. Overall industry subsidy per journey is lower than or the same as in six of the 12 years leading up to privatisation."
Good news indeed!
But what's this?
Note that Mr Griffiths is comparing 'now' (after 20 years of privatisation) with 12 years then, conveniently ignoring the post Railtrack years when subsidy was indeed four to five times BR at its best (Where is this going? Ed).
Griffith's comparison is also based on passenger journeys not passenger kilometers.
Since Clapham Junction to Waterloo and Kings Cross to Aberdeen are both 'journeys', the average cost measure is meaningless (Got you! Ed).
So what about comparing cost per passenger kilometre?
In 1982, before the revival of BR's fortunes under Sir Bob Reid, the subsidy per passenger kilometre at today's prices was 8.1p.
In 2006-07, when subsidy peaked at £6.3 billion - three times BR's 1982 subsidy, this equated to 15.8 p per passenger km!
Nice try. But sadly, no cigar!
Update: This from The Horn of Plenty...
Shurely it was Sir Robert Reid who revived BR's fortunes, paving the way for Shell's Sir Bob later?
On a more serious point, do we honestly think that we were at a sustainable level of spend in 1982, the era before Clapham, Hidden, Hatfield, DDA, Interoperability, Climate Change Levy, Pension Protection Levy, TPWS, GSMR, etc...?
Hopefully we are now where Sir Robert may have wished us to be, with the Government treating:
"... the network according to its importance to the nation rather than its financial value..."
Where "...safety must be 'top of the agenda': the only answer [is] high standards, efficient systems and constant vigilance."
Does anyone on today's railway really believe that our old nationalised industry could have delivered this?
This from the Graun...
Stephen Hammond, the minister for buses and rail, who lives
six miles from Westminster, used the government's "top up" cars 138
times in a year. These cars are at the call of ministers if an official
departmental vehicle is unavailable. On 19 occasions Hammond used the
service to move his red boxes unaccompanied from one place to another.
Where have we heard that before?
This from a Mr Whitley...
Spotted in a Wetherspoons' loo..
This from Northern Spirit...
This "Emergency Door Release" sticker on a Northern Rail Class 153 says the emergency handle is to the right (if looking at the arrow).
This from Underground Ernie...
I see that TfL slipped this out on New Years Eve...
London Underground (LU) and Bombardier Transportation today announced that the signalling contract for the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines (Sub Surface lines) will be re-let by LU following discussions between the two companies
To lose one signalling supplier, Mr. Brown, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.
This via Network Rail...
Very good. Tick.
This from a Ms High Society...
I find myself feeling a bit sorry for any elderly or disabled men who, presumably, have to fend for themselves.
If you are in London at lunchtime...
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