Has anyone seen the Rail Delivery Group?

This from Leo Pink...

At this critical time when the railway industry, standing shoulder to shoulder needs to take back its future from the so-called Department for Transport where is the notional leadership to lead the fight?

Wasn't the Rail Delivery Group set up at the behest of McNulty to provide just the very leadership we need in this time of turmoil?

But where is the RDG?  

Where are its views on the future of franchising? 

Why isn't the RDG leading the review of franchising? After all its members actually run franchises. 

Surely the RDG could have saved Richard Brown from being torn away from his comfy armchair and slippers?

On the other hand, does the silence of the RDG reveal it to be a fair weather talking shop?  

After all its Chairman and two senior Members are busy consulting M'Learned Friends. So agreeing a common position is presumably somewhat difficult to deliver?
 
Meanwhile, the brooding giant that is Network Rail awaits its hour...

BBC explains working of DfT franchise model

This from a Mr Say Wott...

Irony?

Writing on the wall for FCC at Luton

This from a Mr Hind...

During works on the Luton bus way the following was revealed...

Bearing in mind that the Thameslink franchise competition has been suspended there seems little point in covering it up again...

UPDATE: This from the Man by the Photocopier...

 

Sorry to be a party pooper, but the fact compiler has been misled. 

 

That BR sign on the bridge at Luton has been visible all along, and much treasured by those who knew it was there. 

 

Time to put it on the front of the station, though?

Eurostar e320 - tickets now available!

This from Citizen Smith...

Seen at one of the Edgware Road's more creative travel  agents.

Still it beats the usual Eurostar broom cupboard!

DfT officially not in panic mode - Don't panic!!!

No hint of panic then in DfT's decision to announce a change to the planned January fares increase yesterday.

A Sunday.

A Sunday that followed the week where the government's entire franchising policy came crashing down around its ears. 

A Sunday that isn't the 5th of December, which is when the Autumn Statement is due to be given.

A Sunday that just happened to coincide with the start of the Tory Party conference.

A Sunday where the tiniest piece of good news would be embraced by the party faithful as a drowning man clutches at straw.

So no panic at all.

No indeedy, absolutely none at all.

In related news Eye understands that the Pope is no longer Catholic and bears have ceased defecating in woods.

Mingay speaks!

This is the statement issued by Kate Mingay...

The PR Office issued the following statement today on behalf of Kate Mingay and her lawyers Mishcon de Reya:

5 October 2012

Statement by Mrs Kate Mingay (Director, Commercial and Technical Services, Department for Transport)

“While it has been widely reported in the context of the award of the franchise for the West Coast Mainline that I have been suspended, my role has been inaccurately portrayed mainly due to statements and other comment made by the Department for Transport itself.

I would like to make it clear that:

• I did not have lead responsibility for this project;
• Neither I nor any member of my team had any responsibility for the economic modelling for this project, or for any Department for Transport project;
• Nor did I have any responsibility for the financial modelling in respect of this project;
• I have not been involved in briefing Department for Transport ministers or other government ministers in respect of this project.

I will of course cooperate fully with all ongoing and future investigatory processes in relation to this matter, but wanted to correct the completely inaccurate portrayal of my role immediately.”

ENDS

Farewell - keep it McLean and good Knight

Yesterday saw a farewell do for two time served railway PRs.

Virgin men, Allan McLean and Steve Knight, held a retirement breakfast aboard the Pendolino which was later named Chad Varah (see post below) at Euston.

Pictured are Allan and Steve aboard the train, as they head of to the Dun Spinning Retirement Home.

Eye wishes both well and is sure it won't be the last we've heard of them!

Quadruple naming for Samaritans founder

Amidst all the negative noise some good news!

Yesterday four railway companies named rolling stock at Euston in honour of the Rev Chad Varah, founder of the Samaritans.

Virgin...

London Midland...

DRS...

And Network Rail - although their loco, a class 57, was called away to other duties...

No matter!

As the Samaritans do such sterling work Eye is happy to applaud all concerned.

Good effort!

New Irish Rail CEO appointed

So the UK brain drain to Ireland continues.

First Theresa Villiers took up the role of Northern Ireland Secretary, and perhaps not a minute too soon in light of recent developments at her former department!

Now Eye understands that David Franks, currently at Keolis, is heading across to the Emerald Isle to become CEO of Irish Rail when Dick Fearn retires in February.

A challenging role at a railway that is under significant financial pressure.

UPDATE: This the note circulated to Iarnród Éireann colleagues this morning...

Dear Colleagues,

In July, I informed you of my decision to retire from Iarnród Éireann in February 2013.

Yesterday, following a special meeting of the IE Board, the chairman announced the name of my successor.

He is Mr David Franks, a lifelong railwayman from England with extensive front line railway management experience, both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

David (55) began his railway career at just 16 years of age, as a junior member the station staff at Salisbury in the south of England.

Subsequently, following many years in line management positions with British Rail and its successor companies, David has, in more recent years, led a number of rail businesses, including the train operations of National Express in the UK and the Stockholm Metro system in Sweden.

He is currently employed by Keolis, the UK division of the French National Railways, SNCF.

David will join Iarnród Éireann early in the New Year and I do hope you will extend the same warm welcome to him as you did to me when I joined the company back in 2003.

Regards, Dick Fearn
 

Cap and Collar costs revealed

This from the RMT... 

Evidence unearthed by rail union RMT has revealed that all of the rail franchises currently eligible for receiving taxpayer financial support under loaded contract rules are now claiming it with the exception of Northern Rail and London Midland who could move onto the same special measures shortly.

RMT research also reveals today that the total level of revenue support paid back to the train companies has shot up to £451 million, meaning that nearly half the £1 billion paid to the government in premiums is returned to the operators in a revolving door of corporate welfare. The revenue support payments have gone up from £290 million in a year and are still rising.

The so-called system of “revenue support” – better known as “corporate welfare - is where under the franchising “cap and collar” procedures, private train operators can get more subsidy or pay less premium if their revenue undershoots original inflated projections.

The Parliamentary information shows that the following TOC’s are now being bailed out by the taxpayer because they and DFT have got their sums wrong,

• FGW
• Virgin West Coast
• FCC
• South Eastern
• South West trains
• East Midland
• Cross Country
• Southern (from 20/9/13)

That means that eight out of the current 19 rail franchises are on taxpayer bailouts and, whilst Northern Rail and London Midland are in revenue share at the moment (paying more premium or getting less subsidy) this is only by a marginal sum and they could also apply for a bailout at any time.

Yet another reason for Richard Brown's remit to be extended. 

Rather than reviewing 'the franchising programme', now is the time to look into whether franchising is working and if there are better ways to provide passenger services. Through 'concessions' for instance...

UPDATE This blatant piece of puffery from a Mr Chris Jackson...

Interested to see that RMT has now 'discovered' how many TOCs are getting revenue support. 

Subscribers to Rail Business Intelligence would already be well aware, as we published the full list in issue 422 a fortnight ago.

(Can I have a discount on my subscription now? Ed)

Railway Garden Competition - Liverpool Lime St

This from Lovely Rita...

I thought Eye readers might appreciate a picture of 'The Crumbling Edge of Quality'.

Perhaps our new LNW Route MD will address?

A word to the wise...

A number of colleagues at the Department for Transport have been suspended.

This is part of an on-going independent review into the lessons to be learned from the Department’s handling of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition.

This review is being overseen by Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw and former PricewaterhouseCoopers strategy chairman Ed Smith, both DfT non-executive directors.

According to the DfT the review aims to deliver an initial report by the end of October.

Whilst a number of names are circulating within the industry relating to recent events, as far as Eye is aware, nobody has been accused of anything and nobody has been found guilty of anything.

It is, therefore, entirely possible that those currently suspended may return to their duties with their reputations fully intact. 

With this in mind the Fact Compiler respectfully suggests to all industry colleagues that perhaps we should be hesitant before mentioning names in connection with recent events?

Excluding the Permanent Secretary and Ministers of course, who do carry the can...

That is all.

ICWC fiasco results in new Thameslink challenge

This from the Derby Telegraph...

Four Tory MPs have asked the Department for Transport to look again at its decision not to award Derby train-maker Bombardier a lucrative contract following yesterday's furore over its handling of the bidding process for the West Coast Main Line rail franchise.

One of the MPs, Mid Derbyshire's Pauline Latham, attacked the department as "not fit for purpose" following yesterday's announcement by the Tory-Lib Dem Government that it was scrapping the decision to award the franchise to FirstGroup.

Good to see Conservative MP's acting in the interests of their constituents and local industry.

Now who is going to take the lead in challenging the Incredibly Expensive Procurement - currently at £4.9bn and counting!

Pointless signs - Arriva XC Voyager at Reading

Railway Garden Competition - Derby

This from a Miss Edna Derby...

Some nicely manicured lawns at Derby... but the train behind exhibits some nice flora as well!
 

 DCR 31602 extracts some Mk 2s which had been vegetating in Chaddesden Yard.

NR restores Prize Length award!

This from the latest issue of Network Rail's internal magazine for maintenance teams...

Good effort!

Greening's accountancy skills explained

With the role of Justine Greening in the ICWC franchise scandal receiving increasing attention, Eye thought the following tale might be instructive.
 
It dates from the publication of the Command Paper in March this year and records an exchange between the then Secretary of State for Transport and the World's Greatest Living Transport Correspondent.

Christian Wolmar (for it is he) recorded it in RAIL as follows:

When I suggested that it was unclear where the savings were coming from, I was roundly slapped down by La Greening.  We were allowed one question each in the press briefing on the Command Paper and I had asked her where the £3.5 bn annual savings would come from in the rail industry as it seemed an incredibly high proportion of the overall costs and I had not found any details in the McNulty report on the industry’s finances published last year. ‘Well’ she said, staring hard at me, ‘I’m glad you didn’t write the paper as it is clear that these saving can be made’.

Quite so minister, quite so.

Perhaps similar words of comfort relating to the ICWC franchise award, and in written form, sit in Philip Rutnam's desk?

UPDATE: This from the Prophet Job...

According to Conservative Home...

"It seems that auditors from PriceWaterhouseCoopers were called in by Justine Greening one week before the reshuffle. Those auditors discovered that officials hadn't properly accounted for inflation in their decision to award the West Coast Mainline to FirstGroup rather than Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains."

With one bound she was free! 

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

Hold on!

According to Politics Home...

A Downing Street spokesman said she should not have been expected to know of the issues earlier, as they involved extremely complex minutiae that ministers would not be involved in.  

Nonsense. Greening is/was accountable for the process!

I told you so... No 2

This from Captain Deltic...

May I join in Eye's exciting new feature?

From the Modern Railways editorial in the October 2012 edition...

With eight franchise to go out to tender in the next 11 months it can’t go on like this, irrespective of the outcome of Virgin’s challenge. In one of his outburst Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson repeated the famous dictum that insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome.  

Twenty years after rail franchising was created, it is time to end the insanity and try a more rational approach to running the railway.

Concessions anyone?

Eye's exciting new feature: I told you so... No 1

This from a Mr Robert Wright of the Pink'un... 

One doesn't like to blow one's own trumpet (actually, one does, but it's not polite to say so), but here is a column from Rail Professional magazine back in March 2011 about franchising policy.

It suggests the government may have trouble under the new policy finding people to bid the big premia they want (this was obviously partly wrong, but the columnist didn't know they would keep approving over-optimistic bids by just doing the sums wrong).

It concludes that the poorly worked-out bits of the policy "will also almost certainly produce greater problems than the government anticipates".

It's a pity really that Rail Professional no longer features some of these astute columnists. But no doubt they've gone on to better things...

3rd October - A day that keeps on giving

This from Trailer Second...
 
What a way to celebrate 10 years since Network Rail took over Railtrack on 3rd October 2002!

Will Richard Brown have the courage to go where McNulty feared to tread and blow the whistle on franchising?

Eye will be watching with interest to see what Richard Brown pulls out of that famous broom cupboard in December!