Pilgrimage of Grice sets ministerial precedent

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Exciting news from Labour Party HQ in Victoria Street!

Eye understands that following the success of Transport secretary Lord Adonis' whirlwind one-day whistle stop tour of England's 10 worst stations in Labour constituencies, the party's Election 'Grid' now includes the following:

Andy Burnam, Secretary of State for Health to visit the top 10 hospitals in Labour constituencies with the worst post operation fatality rate (Mode: Air Ambulance).

Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to visit the top 10 schools in Labour constituencies with the worst GCSE results (Mode: First Yellow school buses).

Baron Mandelson of Foy in the county of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the county of Durham, First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, Minister of Information, Lord President of the Council (cont. p94) to visit the top 10 car factories in Labour constituencies making the most unreliable/any cars (Mode: Ministerial Jag)

With friends like these...

Aslef gives Lilley a good kicking

Oh dear!

Peter Lilley, the MP for Harpenden, has upset the brothers by criticising FCC ‘militants taking coordinated action to prevent trains running’.

Arkwright Road's finest don't pull any punches!

The union is pleased that Peter Lilley is not having to suffer like his constituents. This is because in 2007/08 he claimed the full Parliamentary £23,083 ‘second homes’ allowance – which is understandable as otherwise the train journey from his constituency is either a whopping 27 minutes from Harpenden to London or a massive 34 minutes from Hitchen. A rail season ticket would have cost the taxpayer £3,640.

There's more...

Or maybe (Lilley)... just doesn’t like trains. Last year he claimed £2,353 in car mileage. But at least we know Peter drove on sensible routes, as he claimed £109.94 for a Tom-Tom sat nav - with western Europe included.

Ouch!

But you know, they sort of have a point...

St Pancras Oecumenical

Guido claims Pilgrimage of Pork

Telegrammed by Lobby Fodder
So Guido's not convinced about yesterday's Pilgrimage of Grice, detecting the sulpherous whiff of Porkbarrel politics.

This interesting list from Guido's blog:

• Manchester Victoria – Tony Lloyd LAB
• Clapham Junction – Martin Linton LAB
• Barking – Margaret Hodge LAB
• Warrington Bank Quay – Helen Southworth LAB
• Preston – Mark Hendrick LAB
• Wigan North Western – Neil Turner LAB
• Luton - Margaret Moran LAB
• Liverpool Central – Louise Ellman LAB
• Stockport – Ann Coffey LAB
• Crewe – Edward Timpson CON

Of course yesterday's jolly round the network had little to do with the top ten worst stations and rather more to do with what could be reached in a day's travel from London.

Which may explain why five of the 10 "worst" stations the Noble Lord visited actually belong to Virgin.

As the total number of Beardie Rail run stations is just 17 this means that roughly one third of them are substandard. Perhaps more deserving of a bollocking than a bung?

To be fair none of the stations selected were truly representative of Britain's worst.

Aides to the Noble Lord were seen imploring various strange deities to open the heavens as the media pack descended on Manchester Victoria - as apart from a leaky roof the station is more down at heel than truly grotty.

Meanwhile the magical figure of £50m to tart up the ten stations is already in question.

In his blog Adonis claimed the money would come from Network Rail, a suggestion that was quickly denied by the infrastructure controller.

So yesterday was a triumph of spin over substance (again). Eye salutes all involved.

UPDATE: This just in from Secret Squirrel...

I hear Stockport was added at the very last minute at the insistence of the Noble Lord.

Interesting to see whether, when HS2 reports, the route it proposes will scythe through Tory constituencies in the Chilterns (without stopping of course)...

Adonis leaves Marsham Street standing

Poor old DafT really haven't got their heads round Social Media yet.

The following two twitter posts have just emerged from slumbering Marsham Street.


Almost 12 hours after Lord Adonis started blogging his Pilgrimage of Grice.

Hacks set agenda on Pilgrimage of Grice - Official

The Noble Lord reveals the following on his blog...

I've just been speaking on the train to rail journalists Roger Ford and Phil Haig - who know the rail industry backwards.

Can it be long before Captain Deltic's 'InterCity Manifesto' receives the Adonis Imprimatur?

First class travel for third class education?

Lord Adonis must be rejoicing that he is no longer in the Department for Education and Skills.

The LibDems are claiming that civil servants in the education sector have spent £10 million on first class rail fares over the last three years.

According to the website of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, shameless Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Diana Johnson MP claimed that education officials needed to travel first class to ensure they have enough peace and quiet to work during their journey.

Indeed.

Eye is uncertain if the peace and quiet is achieved by travelling first class or by not having to teach in the four schools that the £10m would have built.

Clear the line! - Priority given to the Noble Lord

Has Lord Adonis his own headcode?

Eye revealed yesterday that a spare train shadowed Adonis when he travelled to York on Saturday.

Now we hear that the Pendolino on which he is currently travelling to Stockport was routed past two local trains after a track circuit failure outside Crewe.

On the privatised railway all trains are equal but evidently some passengers are more equal than others!

UPDATE: This from Lobby Fodder...

Looks like Adonis will soon be doomed to having his oflactory system bombarded by the smell of fresh paint wherever on the network he goes.

Adonis blogs on latest Pilgrimage of Grice

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!).

Number crunching - Ministerial cars and station investment

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.

Oyster to be valid on National Rail someday soon - Official

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.

Anyone lost a shunter?

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 embarks on mini Pilgrimage of Grice

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!

St Ives guided busway a triumph says no-one!

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.

ECML delivers step improvement from day one!

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!

ATOC January fares announcement

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.

ThisisWiltshire.co.uk: Train company chiefs were accused of masking the full extent of today's announced annual rail fares' increase which will see passengers paying an average of 1.1 per cent more for their tickets in January.

Eastbourne Herald: Rail firms accused of hiding increases

Etc...

Mind you the Murdoch rags have been spectacularly quiet.

Adonis has Cameron moment on Saturday

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.

East Coast Main Line to Glasgow or not?

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?

Fact Compiler "deeply sorry" - Shocker

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.

Brown like that

With a bowler tip to Obnoxio