Number crunching - Beardie Rail

Compare and contrast...
 
80% - the decline in Virgin Rail profits due to the ICWC shambles

90% - the Stagecoach share in the new joint venture with Virgin bidding for ICEC

Fancy.

Toton Engineman book launch

This from a Mr Harris...

Would you mind plugging this splendid tome on your mighty organ?

Toton Engineman is the railway story of the late John Woolley, who started as an engine cleaner at Toton MPD in October 1954. He was 15 years old. John retired from Toton 40 years later in 1994 on the eve of Privatisation.

John recalls everyday life at one of Britain’s biggest steam sheds - the banter, pranks and hard work required to become a fireman. He also recalls firing the biggest engines at Toton - the mighty ‘Garratts’ and their massive London coal trains. As well as the steam age John also writes about the new depot and the diesels he drove.

At just £19.95 this is the perfect 2013 Christmas present!

Toton Engineman will be launched between 13:00 and 15:00 on Saturday the 14th December at the Westgate Suite, Westgate, Long Eaton, NG10 1EF.

All welcome.

Pointless signs - Balcombe

This from Prof Bunsen Honeydew...
 
Welcome to Gatwick Airport!

Seen in the Balcombe up platform bus shelter early Saturday morning.

World's best value line upgrade - Ever

This from @ECMLfan...

One person has become extremely rich in the WCML upgrade as it clearly can be done for just £70!

That's one hell of a scoop by the IRJ!

Pointless signs - Oxford

This from a Mrs Honeyman...

Spotted at the Upper Crust, Oxford on Saturday.

Oh dear - no doubt someone will be picking up their cards over this!

Railway Bothy at Stevenage

This from Oliver Cromwell...

For some bizarre reason they've decided to install garden sheds on both platforms at Stevenage...

To avoid confusion there is even a sign showing that the pointy bit goes at the top!

So does this qualify as a Railway Bothy or a Pointless Sign?

NR nationalised - almost...

This from the Office for Budget Responsibility - Economic and fiscal outlook, Box 4.2, page 98...

the classification of Network Rail:
Network Rail is currently classified as a private sector body. The ONS is reviewing that classification against the revised guidance in ESA10. Network Rail had £30 billion of debt recorded in its latest accounts, up from £8 billion at formation in 2002. Based on published plans, its operations imply the equivalent of around £3 billion of borrowing a year on average over the coming years. A change of classification could therefore increase PSND by about 2 per cent of GDP and PSNB by 0.2 per cent of GDP on average, with implications for future debt;

No doubt both TfL and Scotland are looking forward to managing, maintaining and upgrading their devolved railway assets?

Great Western Railway Band at Paddington

This via @NetworkRailPad...

The Great Western Railway Band performs at Paddington Station every Friday between Easter and Christmas. The concerts start at 19.30 every week, finishing at 21.00hrs.



Accompanied by band mascot Patch the dog, the GWR Band delights passengers at Network Rail managed Paddington Station with a different playlist each Friday

Good effort.

ORR fixes railway's finances in a stroke!

Good news for fans of the bleedin' obvious!

This searing insight from an ORR press release issued today:

Richard Price, Chief Executive of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), today gave a keynote speech at the Future of Rail Conference in London.
 
He said: “Spending the right amount of money, in the right place, at the right time, will reduce delays, bring down costs and secure a safe and sustainable railway now, and for the future.”

Who'd have thunk it?

DfT - a lesson in being careful what you wish for

This from Ithuriel...
 
The Invitations to Tender for the new replacement franchises, sees bidders get brownie points for quality improvements. 

One good way to improve quality is to promise new trains, which generates points and, of course, points mean prizes!

But, new trains cost more money.

And the word on the tracks is that DfT is facing the prospect of all the bids for Thameslink Southern Great Northern being of such high quality that they are all unaffordable.

Autumn statement on Fares

This from the Chancellor's Autumn Statement:

Rail Fares
1.272 To help households with living costs the government will further cap the average increase in regulated rail fares for the 2014 calendar year to RPI. This will benefit over a quarter of a million annual season ticket holders who will, on average in 2014, save £25. For instance, an annual season ticket from Chelmsford to London should be around £35 less in 2014 than it would have been without this change whilst an annual season ticket from Oxford to London should be around £45 less. This measure will complement the decision by the Mayor of London to cap the average increase in Transport for London fares at RPI for 2014.

1.273 Autumn Statement 2013 confirms that the permitted 'flex’ above the overall cap on average rail fares will be reduced to 2%. A commuter with a £2,000 season ticket could save up to £60 because of this measure, in a scenario in which the operator had chosen to apply the maximum permitted increase.
 
1.274 Autumn Statement 2013 also confirms a trial of flexible rail season ticketing that will take place in the South East. The innovative products being tested will benefit those who work flexibly or part-time.

Hmmm...

Putting aside the challenge of recalculating every fare before tomorrow, this is good news for passengers.
 
Note that our Chancellor even has a sense of humour - focusing on fares from Chelmsford, the home to erstwhile rail minister and the notoriously train-shy Simon Burns MP.

Greater Anglia colleagues, therefore, will be best placed to advise whether this particular policy innovation has been a success

Argos - kettle alert

This via @13milepost...

Dual Fuel?

Converted to run on surplus catalogues?

Who knew?

Eurostar sale - another test for 'risk transfer'

So. Government intends to sell its 40% stake in Eurostar. 

Danny Alexander said the following on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning (courtesy of the Guardian):

"We've set out already, we've started to sell off some of the student loan book, that would be another area, there are assets owned by the London and Continental Railways, things that a lot of people wouldn't have thought the state owned in the first place.

"What I'm setting out today is an ambition with some examples of things we think we could sell. Clearly no final decisions have been made about any of those assets, but clearly the point is that where government owns assets that could be better managed in the private sector, could be more efficiently managed in the private sector and where we can get money in to reinvest in vital infrastructure projects that get this country moving, that support the long-term economic growth of this country, they can back up the vote of confidence that we're seeing from the private sector." 

Quite so.

No doubt this announcement came as little surprise to London and Continental, what with government being all joined up and all!

No matter.

Eye expects there will be vast queues of private investors keen to take on LCR's stake in Eurostar... as well as the obligations of the 1987 Rail Usage Contract, which remains in force till 2052:

After privatisation, Eurostar and English Welsh and Scottish Railway assumed British Rail's preferences and liabilities under the contract through 'back-to-back' agreements, which account for 50% of Eurotunnel's capacity. The contract guarantees a minimum level of income for Eurotunnel, which helped it meet its liabilities for construction costs and now also serves as the basis for how access charges are levied on all railway undertakings using the Channel Tunnel. 

Joined up government indeed. 

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

Well if they do succeed in flogging off the government stake in Eurostar it will save some embarrassment on the East Coast franchise competition.

What with DfT planning to boot off today's state owned operator and possibly replace it with Eurostar, which is errr... another state owned operator!
 

King's Cross - NR sinks to new depths

This courtesy of Wolmayor...

What is wrong with the perfectly good English word 'lift'?

Eh, Network Railroad?

UPDATE: This, unofficially, from the News Bunker...

Howdy, y'all!

Now just wait a cotton picking minute.

With regard to your elevating tale from Wolmayor: when faced with an increasing number of passengers who carry large amounts of baggage on escalators, often with unfortunate consequences, clarity of message is crucial. Hence, the universally well-known Americanism from our virtual nannies.

Along with platform edge fences and yellow lines everywhere, it is one of those developments you wouldn't think a railway would need - but sadly it does.

Yes siree, bob!

Nope. Not convinced. Why not in French, German or for that matter Chinese. Looks like fanny covering to Eye! Ed.

A voice crying in the wilderness?

The Fact Compiler's latest impression of a broken record was published in Passenger Transport on the 22nd November...

The next edition of Passenger Transport is published on the 6th December.

Mediaballs - Grauniad on Dave's China jolly

This from the Gruaniad...

China wants involvement in Britain's first high-speed rail line and an increased role in civil nuclear power, the country's premier said in Beijing after talks with David Cameron on the first day of the prime minister's visit.

Hmmm... admittedly UK PLC may be a little behind the People's Republic on high speed rail but Li Keqiang may find a clue in the new railway's title: HS2.

No matter.

Meanwhile, there is one area where Britain could certainly learn from our Chinese friends.

An equally robust approach to our own former railway ministers would do much pour encourager les autres!

Pointless signs - Woking

This from Henry Hassocks...

One hopes its convalescence was properly completed before returning to duty…

All bets are ons for a unified railway

The Department for Transport, a clarification...

Regular readers may have gained the impression that Railway Eye has less than the very highest regard for the Permanent Secretary and team at the Department for Transport.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Headlines such as You're all bloody useless!, Marsham Street couldn't organise a soiree in a brewery! and Fire the lot of them! were merely motivational posts, designed to shine a light upon the intellectual powerhouse and strategic acumen that resides in Great Minster House.

In fact Eye would go further and say that the very best possible outcome for the railway would be for Philip Rutnam to have direct oversight of both infrastructure and operators, so that the entire industry can face in one direction, led by a single guiding mind.

In Eye's view this is a statistical certainty and cannot happen soon enough! (Will this do? Ed).

Hammond Eggs - I've got a little secret

As Leonard Cohen used to sing: I've got a little secret!

A tune evidently close to the heart of Eye favourite Stephen 'Gone-native' Hammond, as evidenced by this written answer given on the 26th November: 

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2013, Official Report, column 45W, on railways: south west, for what reasons lease costs for rolling stock are considered to be commercially sensitive. 

Stephen Hammond: The leasing costs for rolling stock are the result of negotiations between two private sector commercial entities, the train operating company and the rolling stock leasing company. Putting such information in the public sphere would give advantage to each party's competitors and hinder future negotiations between such commercial entities throughout the industry. 

Hmm... Advantage and Hinder?

Surely the name of an act in this year's DfT Christmas panto?

No matter!

Of course the real hindrance 'to future negotiations' on allocation of scarce trains is done by DfT's random-rolling-stock-cascade-generator, which inhibits the effective operation of the entire train leasing market.

A point made transparently clear from section 25 on page 9 of the summary section of the Competition Commission's 2007 'Rolling Stock Leasing market investigation'. 

Go figure!

IEA's Wellings boots commuters off seats

The friend of railway users across the nation has offered its latest wheeze to delight regular travellers.

Not content with providing spurious costings for HS2, the Institute of Economic Affairs latest brainwave is to call for less seats on trains (Less seats? Try fewer pounds in your pocket! You're fired!!! Ed)

According to the Metro...

Seats should be ripped out on the most overcrowded train services to create cheaper, standing-only carriages, a report suggests.
The return to third-class travel would see passengers pay up to 20 per cent less than in standard class, under the Institute of Economic Affairs proposal.

Head of transport Dr Richard Wellings said: ‘For too long, the government has squandered taxpayers’ money on the wrong transport projects and failed to deliver value for commuters."

Forcing more passengers to stand? A novel way to 'deliver value for commuters'.