Lord Adonis is blogging as he inspects shabby stations.
Updates are being posted here.
Whilst not quite up to the standard of Tom Harris MP or the twitterings of Sadiq Khan it's a noble effort (geddit!).
Amount to be spent by the Government "in the near future"on the 10 worst stations identified by the Stationers to Lord DafT Vader - £50 million.
Amount spent by Ministers in the last four years on ministerial cars and chauffeurs: £24 million.
This from the BBC...
London commuters will be able to use pay-as-you-go Oyster cards on the city's suburban overland rail network by early next year, officials said.
The devil's in the detail - still no start date.
UPDATE: This from John Bull over at London Reconnections...
Official announcement is likely to happen next week - which is conveniently AFTER Mayor's Question time (tomorrow).
Means Boris doesn't have to answer awkward questions from his betters (Shawcross, Pidgeon etc.) on why he completely bottled it in the negotiations and allowed the TOCs to force Oyster Extension Permits on him.
This strange tale from Kris Ward over at the Middleton Railway...
Volunteers turning up at the Middleton Railway on Saturday morning were surprised to find an English Electric shunter in the car park.
We're not sure where it should have been delivered (possibly Hunslet Engine Co in the Midlands) but the shunter certainly had nothing to do with us (I gather putting your headboard on it isn't a legally binding claim).
It has been mentioned on various websites now and we are hoping someone will collect it before Wednesday otherwise it will really get in the way of a big shunt of workshop projects.
Have you misplaced a shunter. Alternatively can you give one a good home? If so contact the Middleton Railway...
UPDATE: This from Kris Ward...
The shunter was on its way to Hunslet Engine Co as we had guessed.
We have our shed in Hunslet, where as theirs is near Tamworth, hence the mistake.
I am sure we would gladly take in strays again, though ideally working ones on gala weekends :-)
Lord Adonis is indeed a wag.
The Secretary of State is racing round the country, escorted by Captain Deltic no less, to highlight the 10 worst stations on the network - as identified by Messrs Hall & Green, official Stationers to Lord DafT Vader.
To celebrate this mini Pilgrimage of Grice the DafT website has some words, apparently crafted by the Noble Lord himself:
And yes, I am travelling around on another national Rover ticket to minimise the cost. I confess that this time it is First Class – at a cost of £650 for seven days – because it also had to get me to and from York on Saturday for the first day of the new nationalised East Coast service and it also needs to get me to and from the regional Cabinet meeting in Nottingham on Friday (with official papers intact.)
So not as good value as my last Standard Class Rover (then £375) – but not bad for a week of unlimited First Class travel across the rail network.
Last time I publicised these Rover tickets, the train companies put up the price immediately, so buy yours now to avoid disappointment.
Nice, with an appropriate dig at ATOC.
Speaking of which do we know whether ATOC's "1.1% average increase in rail fares" includes a further hike in the price of the All Line Rover?
UPDATE: This from Scotch Corner...
Interesting the number of Virgin West Coast stations in the top ten worst list (Crewe, Stockport, Preston, Wigan North Western & Warrington Bank Quay).
Especially as we could all mention worse ones.
But who authored the report?
Step forward Chris Green, former Chief Executive of errr... Virgin Trains!
UPDATE: The report by the Stationers to Lord DafT Vader can be downloaded here.
And the Government's response here.
UPDATE: This from Globetrotter..
I note that media reports about the worst stations emphasise the fact that none are in Scotland, where steps had apparently been taken to invest in station modernisation over many years.
Those of us with long memories may remember who started the ball rolling by installing Terazzo flooring at Inverness some 25 years ago ... a certain C**** G**** if I recall correctly...
Eye suspects that the silence on the state of Jockanese stations has more to do with transport North of the border being devolved to the Scottish Executive.
UPDATE: This from @swlines via Twitter...
RE: Price increases to the All Line Rover:
ATOC supposedly not releasing NFM 05 data until 30th Nov on FRPP/The Manual so we'll find out then!
More splendid news from the deeply flawed St Ives Guided Bust-way!
This courtesy of Cambs24:
CAMBRIDGESHIRE County Council has confirmed a further delay in opening the St Ives-Cambridge guided bus link, which should have opened last April.
The likelihood of the troubled scheme's opening, even partially, this side of 2010 is practically zero.
Regular Eye readers will recall that the misguided busway, built on the route of the mothballed line from Cambridge to St Ives, has already exceeded its £116.7m budget.
Bus mad Cambridgeshire County Council has, of course, only itself to blame.
The county council decided to ignore local campaigners who had suggested that the mothballed railway could have been reopened for a mere £50m, and in far less time than it has taken contractor, BAM Nuttall, not to deliver the guided busway.
One piece of good news though.
Cambridgeshire County Council was recently named Transport Authority of the Year... at the UK Bus Awards.
Trebles all round and no shit Sherlock.
PPM for the last day of National Express East Coast - 100%
PPM for the first day of nationalised East Coast Main Line - 76%
As DafT sows, so shall it reap!
Hmmm... that didn't work then.
Channel 4 News: Rail companies 'mask' fares hike
Sky News: Train company chiefs have been accused of masking the full extent of the annual rail fares' increase in the New Year.
ITN News: Train company chiefs have been accused of "masking" the full extent of the annual rail fares' increase which will see passengers paying an average of 1.1 per cent more for their tickets in January.
Daily Telegraph: Rail passengers face fare rises of up to 15 per cent from January as train companies try to disguise the biggest inflation-busting increases.
The Grauniad: Atoc normally gives separate figures for the regulated and unregulated increases. But today the association would not say what the average unregulated fare increase would be, merely lumping the two figures together to make the 1.1% rise.
Daily Mail:The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) was also criticised for not publishing - as it usually does - a company-by-company breakdown of the increases.
Good to see that state owned East Coast Main Line has already overcome any rolling stock shortages.
Lord Adonis celebrated the start of nationalised East Coast Main Line by travelling to York on Saturday, aboard the 08:00 Kings Cross - Edinburgh (1S07) .
He then returned from York to London at 11:00 aboard 1E06.
Happily both journeys took place without incident.
But better to be safe than sorry.
As is evident from these two mysterious empty trains that also ran on Saturday
5Z07 08:04 Kings Cross – York
5Z06 10:55 York – Kings Cross (dep 11:02)
Eye wonders what on earth they were for?
Perhaps they were tasked with carrying the Noble Lord's official papers?
UPDATE: This from the Shunter...
The Noble Lord will soon be getting ideas above his station.
Not even Her Majesty the Queen has a 'spare' train in tow.
Last week the Eye prophesied that when the East Coast Main Line franchise is returned to the private sector it will not operate services beyond Edinburgh.
It appears that the Eye was wrong!
Judging by this cryptic statement from Elaine Holt picked up by The Herald on Saturday this may happen sooner rather than later...
Speaking yesterday before taking over from National Express just before midnight, Elaine Holt, chair of East Coast, said services would continue to Glasgow but they may be run by a different operator. However, she stressed that discussions over the route’s future were still active and no decision had been made.
Now what does that mean?
The Fact Compiler today apologised to the literally millions of people, now mostly dead, who were in any way hurt or offended by the following:
The death of Sir William Huskisson, the Tay Bridge Disaster and the BR Modernisation Plan.
The Fact Compiler said he was "deeply sorry" and that he hoped the apology would help "heal the pain".
Sid and Doris Bonkers welcomed the apology saying "This is a moment - a significant moment - in the history of the railways. The recognition is vital if people are to recover."
Lord Adonis is expected to jump on the same bandwagon shortly.
By the wonders of MMS this from Captain Deltic...
Or, indeed, ever!
Those on the NXEC database should have received the following email by now:
From: National Express Coaches [mailto:newsletter@update.nationalexpress.com]
Sent: 13 November 2009 22:07
To: thefactcompiler@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: The Fact, thank you for travelling with National Express East Coast
Fancy a job as a train driver?
Well Jobcentre plus is the place for you!.
Realise your dreams in six easy steps!
Step 1 Visit here - probably best to copy the link and post in a new browser:
Well done. You should now see this:
Step 2. Now tick 'Transport/Vehicle' and press next.
Well done, you should now see this:
Step 3 - Now tick 'Driver' and press next.
Well done. You should now see this:
Step 4. Now tick 'Train Driver' and press next.
Well done, you should now see this:
Step 5. Just press next.
Step 6. Just press next.
Well done!
Now select from any of the locations along FuCC's Great Northern route and bingo...
Here's your job! (click on the image in case its now been removed)
Someone's got to be having a larf - haven't they? (with a bowler tip to railforums.co.uk)
UPDATE: This from Charles Yerkes...
I note that the recruitment agency does work for Birse Civils - perhaps they're recruiting?
This from the Noble Lord's statement in the Upper House yesterday....
I spoke this morning to Mary Grant, the group rail manager of First Capital Connect, who assured me that every effort was being made to run as full a service as possible. I made clear to her our expectation that that would happen.
It is important that First Capital Connect continues to use all reasonable endeavours to restore the service, but this situation could be ended immediately if the concerted action on the part of the staff was ended. That step should be taken immediately.
Is First Group's lustre beginning to tarnish in Marsham Street?
Evidently Captain Sensible is unaware that there are more snakes than ladders in the railway industry .
This from thequietus posted on Tuesday...
One of these independent companies, Cotswold Rail, the owner is a punk fan. He called one of his locos Joe Strummer, another one called John Peel, and then there's mine. They invited me along on the unveiling of the name plaque, and we did it on an excursion from Gloucester to Brighton, where I live.
Sadly the problem child was damned.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!
This from the Daily Telegraph on the Nobel Lord's plans for state owned East Coast Main Line...
...Withdrawal of the planned gating of York station in order to maintain the existing through access for non-passengers, while accelerating the completion of gating at King's Cross to deter fare-dodgers.
A sort of glass half full moment.
UPDATE: This from Paul Scott...
Er... are you expecting the SofS to win some sort of international prize for all this - 'Nobel' Lord?
The Fact Compiler apologises. A case of posting in haste and repenting at leisure.
UPDATE: This from King Henry...
Does the noble Lord realise that by citing the pedestrian route across York Station as his reason for abandoning gating he has destroyed EMT's case at Sheffield ?
UPDATE: This from a Mr Mallins...
The Good Lord has indeed shafted EMT over Sheffield, where with over 1100 objections to their application for Listed Building Consent, the City must be poised to refuse it.
By citing through access as the reason (not something that planners can consider for Listed Building applications) it must now be accepted that barriers are not a good idea elsewhere too.
Perhaps EMT should be removing their nonsensical scheme at Derby which is an unnecessary obstacle to access across the station, in similar circumstances to York and Sheffield. The place is often full of students trying to get to and from the college on the old Loco Works site.
And as for King's Cross, they will be an ugly and dysfunctional feature of a "World Class" station, maximum inconvenience to boarding passengers and chaos when they alight - take a look at EMT's St Pancras scheme next door.
This shameless answer to a PQ from Moley
Written answers and statements, 10 November 2009
Chris Mole (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Ipswich, Labour)
There have been a very small number of instances during the last 12 months where tendering exercises have been cancelled prior to the award of the contract and thereby costs have been incurred with no contract awarded. For the Department for Transport, this would normally amount to the effort expended on the procurement exercise before its cancellation. The precise number and costs involved are not recorded.
The occasion where the Department has incurred nugatory costs was for the procurement of a fleet of new build diesel rolling stock which ceased in July, as it was superseded by the Government's announcement on rail electrification. The costs incurred for the use of external advisors was £1.6 million.
The Department has not reimbursed any supplier during the last 12 months for costs that they have incurred as a result of tendering for any contract advertised by the Department where the award process for that contract was subsequently cancelled.
Why for that amount you could have travelled with Arriva Cross Country from Newquay to Fort William almost 1,597 times!
UPDATE: This from Tom West...
So, the Department considers £1.6milllion to be 'nugatory' - a word which Google says means "of little or no importance; trifling, worthless".
Nice to see that it takes more than seven figures to be financially significant in the Department's eyes.
Posts
