Monday's announcement.

So the Department will finally make its long awaited electrification announcement on Monday.

Despite the delays this is no mean achievement, bearing in mind the level of opposition from the Treasury.

No matter.

Sources differ as to what the Secretary of State will actually announce.

Pessimists suggest it will be a token gesture, a Paddington to Reading affair, deliverable within CP4 (riding on the back of Crossrail and taking advantage of the already funded Reading remodelling).

Meanwhile cynics suggest it will promise electrification of both the Great Western and Midland Main Lines as well as numerous infill schemes.

Such a bold announcement would offer the beleaguered Labour government many benefits; keeping the muesli munchers happy, diverting attention from the current "disastrous" state of TOC finances and nicely poisoning the well for the Tory Party, who after May 2010 will face funding or cancelling the programme. Oh, and it also allows the government to 'postpone' ordering any new, nasty, smelly but desperately needed additional DMU vehicles.

Of course the announcement could propose an electrification strategy that is both deliverable and affordable!

One that might even be welcomed by the new, improved, non-nasty, green Conservative Party.

In which case expect My Lord Adonis to cross the floor sooner rather than later.

UPDATE: This from the Major...

My sources suggest Monday may be delayed till Thursday.

Time will tell...

The Fact Compiler thought it might be helpful to point out that Parliament rises for the Summer Recess on Tuesday next week.

Surely the Department wouldn't be so foolish as to make such an important policy announcement without allowing it to be subjected to proper, democratic, scrutiny by the people's representatives?

Of course not! After all the decision to nationalise NXEC was announced by Adonis on Radio 4's Today programme.

Leaving MPs to twiddle their thumbs for a full 12 hours before Sadiq Khan could be bothered to make a statement in the Commons.

UPDATE: This from the BBC...

"John Penrose is concerned that plans to electrify the line between Paddington and Bristol do not include Weston."

Good to see that the lobbying has already started.

Tomorrow's papers

A big hand to Virgin Trains!

One possible headline for tomorrow's Sun.

UPDATE: As predicted.

Setback for Adonis, DafT and NXEC

This just in from our man on the frontline at the Battle of the Barriers...

Listed Building Consent application rejected by the City of York at Committee today, despite officer recommendation for approval.

A breakthrough!

Perhaps the other NXEC gating schemes could now also be quietly buried, along with the franchise?

UPDATE: This from the BBC.

2009 Railway Garden Competition #9 - Chester (again)

This from the Chester Chronicle...

FORMER Beirut hostage Terry Waite has criticised the state of Chester’s Railway Station.

He wrote: “Normally I visit by car but recently I decided to travel by train. I was totally depressed by the state of the railway station.

“Large weeds were growing between the tracks and the station, potentially a beautiful building, looked absolutely dreadful."

If only NR and ATW had paid attention to this and this!

Eye is sure the former Archbishop's Special Envoy will forgive this paraphrasing of Holy Writ:

What did you go out into Chester to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

Pointless signs #5

Pointless signs #4

2009 Railway Garden Competition #8

This offering from the North end of platform 6 at Sheffield Station.


What a splendid trip hazard.


Good effort EMT and Network Rail.

Lookalike XXII - Dark Lord?

White handbags at dawn

Good news from the ludicrously named C2C...

Essex train operator c2c has not only just become the best ever performing franchised train operator in Great Britain, but has also equalled the punctuality record set by the Swiss Federal Railways.

Good news indeed!

And to mark the occasion C2C helpfully provided this picture of Heidi and Helga draped with a Swiss flag (with a bowler tip to the IRJ).


When Swiss punctuality reaches C2C levels can we expect SBB staff to dress-down as Essex girls?

UPDATE: This just in from The International Rantiquarian...

Well Done to the Essex Girls of c2c for equalling the punctuality record of Swiss Railways.

That should put paid to the cuckoo clock smugness of my chums in the Cantons.

After all, c2c has to manage all the complications of a virtually self contained railway with just three physical connections to anywhere else on the network, no through trains beyond their boundaries, and a vanishingly small volume of freight traffic.

Meanwhile the Swiss enjoy the simplicity of international borders with Italy, Germany, Austria, and France, and have to coax their trains across and sometimes over the Alps.

Well done, Essex. Rule Britannia!

NXEA outsources revenue protection

What a deeply unpleasant company National Express East Anglia is.

This from the Londonist...

Sickened by freeloaders? Don't like the look of the bloke in the seat opposite? Worry no longer. National Express East Anglia have put up posters on the Stansted Express inviting you to report anyone you think might be fare evading.

Perhaps NXEA should get off its fat corporate derrier and check tickets, rather then encouraging this stasi-like snooping on fellow passengers?

UPDATE: This from Al...

Those posters have been up on the West Anglia for ages. There's a bit about it on the bottom of this page on their website.

You're not wrong though, I commute (admittedly over a short distance) from and to Cambridge every day and often use the WA at the weekends too, and I very, very rarely see any ticket checks.

UPDATE: This from Commuter...

Upon closer inspection of the sign, it actually starts with "if you believe a fellow customer..."

Perhaps if NX treats fare dodgers as customers then this may be the reason for their recent troubles.

I might just go and steal some food from Tescos and complain to their 'Customer services.'

Quite right too Commuter.

Just because you're innocent doesn't mean that you aren't guilty!*

*Taken from the Little Brown Book. Chapter 94 (with apologies to Private Eye)

Wind-up in the Willows #3 (or Laudate Bowker!)

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Good grief. How much faster does poor old Moley have to back pedal?

Here he is yesterday - eulogising the same bus bandits who reneged on their contracts - or not.

"Punctuality, which is passengers' No. 1 concern, has improved dramatically. It has risen steadily since National Express East Coast took over the franchise, with the moving annual average rising from 81.7 to 87.6 per cent. Daily punctuality levels are now frequently above 90 per cent., and several 100 per cent. days have been achieved."

"We have seen tremendous innovation on the route, with wi-fi being introduced first to 10 trains and then to the whole east coast inter-city fleet—I have ambitions to see that on the service that I use every week."

"Stations on the route have also benefited from substantial and sustained investment, with the quality of the facilities being offered being recognised at places such as Durham, which was declared station of the year at the 2008 national rail awards."

"Finally, we should remember that the inter-city east coast franchise is one of those rare breeds that return a premium to the Department, and that premium is reinvested in the railway industry. Events of the recent past may have reduced the premiums available, but we can still confidently expect a significant return."

The phrase 'Eating sh*t whilst smiling' springs to mind!

Wind-up in the Willows #2

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
More brown trouser laundering by Moley.

"The hon. Member for Peterborough asserted that other operators have received revenue support sooner than four years into the franchise.

"It is true that the First Great Western franchise included a provision whereby revenue support became available after two years, but that was an exceptional arrangement."

So DfT never renegotiates franchise - except when DfT got the franchise specification wrong and First Group have us over a barrel in which case it is an 'exceptional arrangement'.

First for benefitting from NatEx discomfort

Telegrammed by Ithuriel
When and if NXEC runs out of committed money and NatEx hands back the keys, it also gives DafT the £32 million performance bond.

Say it's going to cost DfT a couple of million to run its Holting (geddit) company until Inter-City East coast is re-let again, that 30 million will come in very handy when it comes to collaring FGW's revenue shortfall which is going to be well north of £60m in the current financial year.

How fortunate that DfT Rail's policy of not renegotiating franchises didn't apply to FGW when cap and collar was brought forward by two years.

Wind-up in the Willows

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
It looks as though poor Moley has been given the task of cleaning up after Lord Adonis.

With Marsham Street suffering a collective brown trouser moment after Lord Adonis gave Beau Bowker and his boyz in da NEG hood a very public dissing, there may be quite a bit of cleaning up to do.

This written answer from Chris Mole on the 13th July:

‘Under the National Express East Coast franchise agreement, National Express Group is obliged to meet its parent company loan obligation of a £40 million loan facility. It is also open to National Express Group, at their discretion, to make available support in excess of this’

So NatEx isn't 'walking away' from its contractual obligations, as the Noble Lord repeatedly proclaimed, after all.

Although if Lord Adonis went round with the hat any discretionary tips would be gratefully accepted. And who determined the size of the parent company loan obligation for this 'medium risk' franchise?

Er, DafT!

2009 Railway Garden Competition #7

A slightly off the wall contribution from our International Correspondent.

This railway has been subject to some neglect in recent weeks.

In its time considered quite a thriller, few could beat it. In fact it was almost invincible.

Is it scary? I hear you ask.

Not if you were on the line and you are not alone.

However, would you want to be startin' somethin' that could be quite dangerous?

(We've had enough. Ed).


At least NR can sleep easy over this one.

DafT - As you sow, so shall you reap

There is certain information that voters and taxpayers might reasonably expect a Government department to know.

Or at least have a reasonable stab at.

Such as just how risky NatEx's very aggressive bid for the East Coast franchise was; bearing in mind that the previous operator had failed to deliver with a lesser bid.

Chris Mole (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport):
The Intercity East Coast Franchise was let on 13 August 2007. A January 2007 version of the Franchise Evaluation Process Charts was used in the evaluation process.

National Express East Coast bid was categorised as medium financial risk.

So wide of the mark as to be almost laughable, if it wasn't going to be so damn expensive.

So what does the supine Department for Transport actually know?

Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley, Labour)
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether maintenance work is planned on the West Coast Main Line on the weekend of 28 and 29 August.

Chris Mole (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport)
Maintenance work is planned on the weekend of 28 and 29 August when all lines will be blocked between Watford Junction and Leighton Buzzard between Saturday morning and Monday lunchtime.

I understand that Virgin West Coast is proposing to operate additional services between London and Birmingham via an alternative route.

How re-assuring to know that DafT is at least competent enough to provide MPs with travel information.

Perhaps the Tories might like to consider outsourcing the entire sorry Marsham Street operation to Bombay or Bangalore?

Legal advice on Cross Default "privileged and confidential"

Eye wonders if the Noble Lord is beginning to rue his cocksure assertion that NatEx will loose all its franchises?

This written answer given on the 13th July (and just for Doubting Sim here's the source)

Stephen Hammond (Shadow Minister, Transport; Wimbledon, Conservative):
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport
(1) what legal advice he has received with regard to cross default provisions in rail franchise contracts;
(2) if he will publish any legal advice he has received with regard to cross default provisions in rail franchise contracts.

Chris Mole (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Ipswich, Labour):
Legal advice on the issue of cross default in the context of the franchise agreement is privileged and confidential; therefore, it will not be published or divulged.

This has all the makings of a Mottram Moment!

Pointless signs #3

Met guidelines on photography

This from the Metropolitan Police website (with a bowler tip to Obnoxio and The Register)

Freedom to photograph/film

Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.

Photography and Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000

The Terrorism Act 2000 does not prohibit people from taking photographs or digital images in an area where an authority under section 44 is in place.

Officers have the power to view digital images contained in mobile telephones or cameras carried by a person searched under S44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, provided that the viewing is to determine whether the images contained in the camera or mobile telephone are of a kind, which could be used in connection with terrorism. Officers also have the power to seize and retain any article found during the search which the officer reasonably suspects is intended to be used in connection with terrorism.

Photography and Section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000

Officers have the power to view digital images contained in mobile telephones or cameras carried by a person searched under S43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to discover whether they have in their possession anything which may constitute evidence that they are involved in terrorism. Officers also have the power to seize and retain any article found during the search which the officer reasonably suspects may constitute evidence that the person is involved in terrorism.

Section 58a of the Terrorism Act 2000

Section 58a of the Terrorism Act 2000 covers the offence of eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of the armed forces, intelligence services or police.

Any officer making an arrest for an offence under Section 58a must be able to demonstrate a reasonable suspicion that the information was of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

It should ordinarily be considered inappropriate to use Section 58a to arrest people photographing police officers in the course of normal policing activities, including protests, as without more, there is no link to terrorism.

There is however nothing preventing officers asking questions of an individual who appears to be taking photographs of someone who is or has been a member of Her Majesty’s Forces (HMF), Intelligence Services or a constable.

Network Rail and TOC employees please take note.

UPDATE: This from Rudi over at Merseyrail...

We welcome enthusiasts and don't have a problem with photography (as explained on our website).

Pointless signs #2