More Open Access!

Now pay attention DfT!

This from the Centre for Policy Studies...



That is all.

Pointless signs - Class 455

This from Lost Carriage Return...

Not entirely pointless, but it looks as though proof reading has gone out the window at SWT.

These 'new' signs featuring the 'Guardon' are currently being rolled out across the fleet!

UPDATE: This from everybody...

'Infomation'?

DG Rail in the firing line?

This from an interview with Philip Rutnam in Civil Service World...

And what about Claire Moriarty, the director-general who oversaw the change programme and is now running the new rail directorate? Didn’t her reforms lead indirectly to the WCM problems? The reforms “made the context within which the department was operating more challenging, no doubt”, he concedes; but he maintains that these “background factors” were no more than contributory elements to a complex mix of causes. “It’s not as simple as saying: ‘It was the cause’,” Rutnam concludes.

Well worth a read.

Warning - may cause retina bleed!

This from the Hammer Man...

This horror passed across the misus' desk this morning.

With the above in mind the answer to this particular question from M'learned Friends has to be no!

HMQ celebrates 150 as LUL plans for more!

Good to see Her Majesty the Queen celebrating 150 years of London's Underground!

Happily HMQ appears in rude health aboard the Derby built S stock - with a bowler tip to the BBC.

Eye salutes you Ma'am!

Meanwhile, London's railway is clearly gearing up for the next 150 years, judging by this note sent out by TfL Rail supremo Mike Brown on Monday:

Organisation of London Underground & London Rail
I have decided to make some changes to the senior structure of the Rail and Underground team as follows:

Chief Operating Officer (COO), London Underground
Phil Hufton, the current Chief Asset Performance Officer will become the overall COO for LU combining his existing role with that soon to be vacated by Howard Collins. He plans to organise the team structure on a line group basis, following the principles already established for reorganisation of Tube Lines and APD.

Further details of the structure will be announced in due course, but for the time being Howard Collins remains as COO, with full operational control of London Underground services, and will work to support Phil to put this new structure in place over the next few months.

Director of Strategy and Service Development
Gareth Powell will take overall responsibility for London Rail, alongside his existing responsibilities.

Jonathan Fox will be the Acting Director of London Rail and will report to Gareth.
 
Rory O’Neill will become the Acting Director of the DLR and he along with Danny Price, Head of the Emirates Airline and Sharon Thompson, the Director of Tramlink will report to Jonathan.
 
Mike Stubbs, Director Overground, will continue to have a dual role for the Overground and Crossrail. He will have a direct reporting line to Howard Smith for the Crossrail responsibilities and to Jonathan for his Overground responsibilities.

Andrew McIntosh, Head of Concession Management will report to Howard Smith as most of Andrew’s role and that of his team is around the Crossrail concession.

Director of Capital Programmes
David Waboso will work across the Rail and Underground teams to bring a coherent model for the delivery of capital programmes.

There are many challenges ahead which, I am sure, will make use of all the many talents within the wider Underground and Rail teams and Phil, David and Gareth, with Jon Fox, Mike Stubbs and the rest of their teams will work to exploit synergies across our organisation.
 
Further details will be announced in due course.
Mike Brown, Managing Director

Very good. Carry on.

Silver Stump Watch - Manchester Piccadilly

This from Depot Master... 

Aww!

The 'new arrival'!!

All say 'Ah, hasn't he got the looks of his father!!!'

ORR parks tanks on RDG's lawn

Good news for fans of needless duplication on the railway!

This from the ORR and DfT:

ORR and DfT recognise that more can be done to improve the way performance of the rail industry as a whole is monitored and to promote stronger incentives for train operating companies to reduce costs and collaborate effectively with Network Rail. To facilitate this, ORR will do more to highlight whole industry performance and cost issues, and ensure they are addressed. These changes will help Government, the Regulator and the industry to improve performance, tackle waste and inefficiency and improve services for passengers.
 
Quite so.
 
So pray tell what is the role of the RDG in today's new, exciting, streamlined and post McNulty railway?

UPDATE: This from the Horseferry Inquisition...
 
In answer to Eye’s question of what RDG is for, I refer you to the published responses to the TSC Rail 2020 report, from DfT and ORR, as below:
 
Recommendation 7. We recommend that the DfT and ORR keep a close eye on the work of the RDG to ensure that it acts in the best interests of the farepayer and taxpayer, rather than of established rail interests. (Paragraph 38)

DfT response: 
The Department agrees with this recommendation. The Government welcomed the establishment of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). The establishment of an authoritative and effective voice, able to lead for the rail industry, is crucial if the industry is to meet the challenge of reducing the cost of running the railway. The formalisation of the RDG puts the organisation in the best place to take forward whole industry leadership.

ORR response:  
We support the formation of the RDG which was established in response to the McNulty report's view that many of the barriers to improving efficiency across the railway could be addressed by a high-level cross-industry leadership body charged with driving forward change. To facilitate formation of the RDG we implemented a new licence condition obliging Network Rail, and passenger and freight operators that use the mainline network, to actively support and participate in the work of the group. We have made clear that, to be effective, RDG will need to engage with wider industry stakeholders (including funders, suppliers, and employees). 

We believe that in order to deliver change across the railway, and therefore meet McNulty's aspirations, the industry should take responsibility for developing policies and strategies to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. It is for this reason that, along with industry funders, we are not members of the group and have no direct interaction in the workings or decision making of RDG. Our role is limited to keeping the overall arrangements under review, approving changes to the RDG articles of association, ensuring licence holder compliance with them and considering changes proposed by RDG to the existing industry change implementation processes (including the Network Code and track access contracts). We do however engage with the work of the RDG along with other stakeholders and are active members of the asset management/project management working group.

See, perfectly clear.

And good to see that such high levels of trust exist between Whitehall and the railway.

Pointless signs - Farringdon

Baker prepares for opposition!

Good to see Norm preparing for life outside of Parliament in 2015.

This from the Beeb...

Junior Transport Minister Norman Baker has released a pop single with his band The Reform Club.



Eye sees a great future for Norm! Mostly at the bottom of the escalator at Piccadilly Circus station...

Wise words from Patrick McLoughlin

This from a DfT press release today... 

"Pointless signs blot our landscape!"

Indeed!

Alas the remedies proposed by the DfT apply only to local authorities:

Town halls will be rewarded for taking action against the scourge of unnecessary traffic signs with a new prize launched today by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.

The award is part of the Government’s drive to cut the number of signs spoiling our towns, cities and countryside. Many local authorities are making good progress in getting rid of clutter from their roads but the Government wants to see more action being taken to make old and confusing signs a thing of the past. 

A shame a similar scheme could not be extended to the railways.

China in great leap forward!

This from Trailer Second...

It’s not often that China shows the political way ahead, but this one’s a winner.



Not only are we as an industry subject to more ministerial and civil service tinkering than when nationalised, but now we are even more heavily regulated than Chinese railways!

By the by has anyone noticed the remarkable similarity between former minister of Railways, Liu Zhijun, and our very own Philip Rutnam? (No! Ed)

How not to recover a train!

Eye is late to this, so a bowler tip to a Mr Frank Spencer...

Ah, time for plan B.

Chemin de fer Barbie!

LinkedIn is truly a wonderous thing!

A quick perusal today reveals that Elaine Holt is now 'UK Rail Franchise Director at Ratp Dev'.

Nope, Eye neither.

Congratulations none the less.

And Eye looks forward to hearing more about Ratp Dev's plans to enter the UK rail market.

UPDATE: This from Your Father Smelt of Elderberries...

Crossrail!!

You silly English. 

Wasted Waiting Shelters - Derby

This from Derbyshire Lad...

This has been like this for months.

Silver Stump Watch - Liverpool Street

This from Greg and Tonic...

All of these bollards are at the top of sets of steps, the 4 in the first 2 pictures are wedged between the “Hamilton Hall” pub & the stone pillars.

The rest are on the new West-side entrance, including not only up several steps, but some are behind iron railings, which are themselves on top of a brick wall...

No doubt worth every penny spent on them...

Silver Stump Watch - York

This from the Albatross...

What about this little beauty that’s appeared at York – Big Bold and Not Beautiful – one can only assume the Emergency Access is for the toilet in the rear.

Oh and how much has this cost ?

Dear National News Editors...

Bad news for lazy hacks across the land!

Apparently abroad is also completely useless at dealing with snow.

An honourable mention to Her Majesty's Daily Telegraph, therefore, for this.

And with Eurostar services caped, it's official once again...

Continent Cut Off!

Crossrail concession competition launched

Good news for fans of accountable and properly managed rail services!

Oh and also for all those hugely expensive bid teams currently twiddling their thumbs whilst DfT struggles to work out how to restart franchising after the ICWC fiasco, desperately hoping that at least one can be got out the door before the 2015 General Election when Maria Eagle will be the new Secretary of State for Transport and franchising policy is thrown up in the air once again... but I digress.

TfL has announced that it is seeking a train operator to run Crossrail services from May 2015, with potential operators having until the end of April to respond to today's OJEU listing.

 According to the TfL press release:

Crossrail services will be let as a concession by TfL, similar to the concession let by TfL for London Overground, which is now one of the most reliable railways with some of the highest levels of customer satisfaction across the UK. 

And once again for anyone hard of hearing at the Department for Transport...

Crossrail services will be let as a concession by TfL, similar to the concession let by TfL for London Overground, which is now one of the most reliable railways with some of the highest levels of customer satisfaction across the UK.

Did Eye mention that this would be a concession?

Piling drill burst onto Moorgate line

This unbelievable image was tweeted by @FirstCC this afternoon...

According to FCC the driver of the train in the picture, which was not in passenger service, 'did them proud' by managing to stop short of the obstruction on the line. 

Not half!

According to @NetworkRail: 

At 10:09, a train driver reported that water was flowing from the roof of the Moorgate Tunnel - between Old Street and Essex Road stations. Lines were immediately blocked and our response teams were sent to site.

At 11.05 our staff boarded a special empty train from Moorgate to investigate the problem. As the train approached the area at low speed, two large piling drills - which were being used above ground by a building contractor - penetrated the skin of the tunnel.

Repairs to the tunnel are ongoing but the line - which is normally closed at weekends - is expected to reopen in time for services on Monday morning.

FCC also confirmed by Twitter that the piling drills are 'not railway related'. 

It is believed that ground level drilling works at 'a private construction site' resulted in the breach to the tunnel wall.

Hopefully someone at said construction site will soon be helping the BTP with their inquiries...

UPDATE: Oh dear All Foundations, what have you done!

Silver Stump Watch - Fenchurch Street

This with a bowler tip to @AMonkster...



A noble Silver Stump defending the Fenchurch Place stairs.