Wednesday 29 October 2008

Andrew in HLOS land

Telegrammed by our man in 222 Marylebone Road
Lord Adonis is now being creamed regularly by the feared Railway Lords as his civil serpents keep on giving him hospital passes.

Here's a typical exchange.

Written answers, Tuesday, 28 October 2008, House of Lords


Lord Bradshaw (Spokesperson in the Lords, Transport; Liberal Democrat)
Whether the figure published in the Department for Transport's Rolling Stock Plan for additional vehicles required for TransPennine Express services is correct.

Lord Adonis (Minister of State, Department for Transport; Labour)
The Department for Transport recently published High Level Output Specification (HLOS) plan update July 2008, which described the process for implementing the Rolling Stock Plan. This stated that it would announce a number of vehicles different from that shown in the plan only if and when it contracted with a train operating company for a different number.

This was a subtle question because the number of vehicles for Trans Pennine Express is shown as 42 when the actual number is 24.

Since the Noble Lord can't admit that one of his minions suffers from dyscalculia he has to come up with the Alice in Wonderland statement that the numbers in the HLOS are correct until they aren't!