Eye solves NR's recruitment problem

This from Leo Pink...

I note that Network Rail is advertising for Managing Directors on its website.

Would not it make more sense to advertise for these new Regional Managing Directors in the Australian or Irish press, since those seem to be the countries of choice for ex British Rail senior managers who know how to run a railway?

Advertising in the UK press will only get applications from TOC directors (much to the annoyance of Philip Hammond) or people from other industries who think running a railway is easy (much to the annoyance of everyone else).

And we all recall where importing such thrusting new executives left Railtrack in days gone by...

Rail privatisation failed - Official

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
The Government's response to the Franchising Consultation appears to mark a clean break with the policies of the discredited Major, Blair and Brown years.

Or so it would appear from this:

• A significant part of revenue growth that has occurred on past franchises has been due to macroeconomic growth rather than solely a result of good management on the part of the operator.

Quite a startling piece of revisionism that.

And then there is this:

• Demand growth is largely outside an operator’s control.

Presumably demand shrink too, so National Express East Coast was a hapless victim of economic forces?

And best of all this:

• The devolution of rail services in Merseyside and London has had an extremely positive effect on patronage.

So state control beats market forces!

Should we read this as an apology from Petrol-head and his Marsham Street minions?

Hard times for the new Permanent Secretary?

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
According to the indefatigable Whitehall winer-and-diner Sue Cameron, writing in the Financial Times, Ms Lin Homer's move from the UK Border Agency to be the new Permanent Secretary at Transport will involve some sacrifice.

Her pay scale at the Agency was £205,000-£209,999.

At Transport it will be a mere £160,000-£164,999.

That should make for some interesting insights when the subject of Network Rail bonuses arise.

Given that conventional wisdom has it that Network Rail's Directors need the prospect of doubling their salaries to get out of bed in the morning and do the job they are paid for, presumably Ms Homer will be motivated be resentment rather than greed.

Or, dare one hope, a good old fashioned 'public service' ethos?

UPDATE: This from the Velopodist...

If I might apply a little logic to the question of Lin Homer's pay, I guess the proof of whether her pay package has been successful is how well the UK Border Agency has run and how well the DfT runs after she takes over.

Looking at how removals of asylum seekers and other sensitive issues have been handled under her watch at the Border Agency, one might ponder whether a more imaginative, performance-oriented pay policy might have incentivised senior staff to get the mess sorted out more quickly?

Heaven help us, meanwhile, if the pay cut leads her to make any less effort as she tries to clean out the Augean stables she'll find at the DfT...

Alstom cannot tell its farce from its elbow

Telegrammed by Leo Pink...
As L'affaire Eurostar moves from Paris to London it is casting a fascinating light on national comedic stereotypes.

It began as pure Feydeau farce, with the two comedy detectives Borloo et Bussereau bursting out of the wardrobe to find Eurostar and Siemens in a clinch to cries of 'Ooh lal la, zey have bought ze forbidden trains!!'

But in Alstom's current hearing in the High Court in London we are seeing a comedy of embarrassment best typified by 'The Office'. Alstom's latest arguaments against the Siemens order are even more cringe-making than David Brent's dancing.

Of course, no strangers to national self delusion, Alstom may see themselves as heir's to Dumas' Three musketeers riding to London to rescue the Queen's diamonds.

Sadly Alstom is no D'Artangnan, more Brian Rix!

Eye looks forward to seeing the Frenchies' trousers fall down.

UPDATE: This from @DriverPotter...

Alstom for IEP - Gallic farce would add a new shine to an otherwise very British Balls-up.

UPDATE: This from the Answer = 42...

You've got it all wrong about Alstom.

They know their legal action against Eurostar is a waste of time and money but what can they do? They owe President Sarko (you remember, Carla Bruni's current husband) a favour!

You might remember a few years ago, Sarko, when Minister of Finances, bailed Alstom out when they got into a spot of bother. All very legal under EU rules, as the French Republic acted as an investor - he made a nice profit for the French taxpayer to prove it. And goodness knows the French taxpayer needs all the help he can get.

But the problem is that Alstom undeniably owes the little guy a favour. And right now, he's the one in a spot of bother. You know, strikes, riots, that sort of thing.

So his cunning plan is to use the Eurostar tender to work the French public into a righteous nationalistic snit against the Germans, British or, even better, both.

So he leans on Alstom to get stuck in against Siemens and Eurostar. Which they do but then 'forget' to tell the French media.

Here is the headline from Alstom's only press release on the subject published on the 7th October:

"Regarding Eurostar's purchase of new trains, Alstom will make no comment on today's commercial discussions announced by the company".

The future of rail... is bleak!

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Flyers have just been circulated for the 2010 Future of Rail conference in mid November.

Closing the morning session will be a presentation by Elaine Holt on turning around the East Coast Main Line.

Among the questions she will be answering will be:

1) What action has been taken to turn the line around?
2) What is still to come?
3) What can other TOCs take on board from the East Coast experience?
4) What wider implications do the East coast events have for franchising in the UK?

For those who can't wait for the answers, or think the conference a little pricey, Railway Eye can save you £992.28 (including VAT)

The answers are:

1) Sack anyone with any experience (the Pol Pot strategy)
2) More sackings
3) Treat it as an awful warning
4) Treat is as an awful warning

Of course those really keen to know the future of rail post CSR could always attend the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum annual conference, headlined by Sir Roy McNulty on the 4th November, for the princely sum of £100!

The IEP is dead - long live Mercury

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Full marks for timing to Industrial Stylists Priestmangoode.

The whizzy design house obviously had some spare time on the Computer Graphics terminal and come up with this totally impractical, but amazingly sexy, front end for what they claim is the concept for the UK’s newest high speed train.

We love the six inch high multipane windscreen which looks as if it was cribbed from the Starship Enterprise.

Or, could those be disco lights underneath an amazingly swept back windscreen.


It's been unveiled as a pre-emptive move to persuade the government of the urgent need to move forward as soon as possible with the high speed line project.

Called Mercury, its progenitors say it could be the 'new Great British design icon, following in the footsteps of Concorde, the Spitfire, Rolls Royce and the Routemaster bus and reawakening Britain’s authority as a global leader in design and technology'.

Shouldn't Kenneth Grange's timeless IC125 front end be in that list?

According to the aponymous Paul Priestman, 'designer of the iconic Virgin Pendolino' "whilst the economic and political benefits of a world-class high speed rail network are clearly understood, having a train to be proud of is equally important".

If only Stuart Baker had thought of building national pride into IEP's incredible shrinking Benefit Cost Ratio!

But forget the exterior of the train, "designed to emulate design classics such as Concorde, the Spitfire and Rolls Royce", what about the interior? Grab this!!

Introducing an entirely new concept in the way we travel, the train will incorporate a flexible, open plan design allowing for interaction, space and relaxation without compromising privacy. Both commuting and longer haul journeys will be more relaxed, comfortable and akin to modern living, featuring traditional commuter seats (designed to incorporate in-transit entertainment systems) alongside private berths – for families, private parties or business meetings echoing the nostalgia of compartmental train travel. A children’s play area will be integrated into the train and a luxury first class section will mirror the choice offered to air travellers with a luxury lounge and bar.

At last the pleas of the sage of Effingham Junction for compartmental stock have fallen on a receptive ear.

Can it ever happen?

Well as Priestmangoode point out. "Britain has an unrivalled record of great transport engineering projects – a record that died with Concorde".

Along with 75 Germans, if we recall rightly.

ORR fails to look gift horse in mouth

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
It seems that Polyanna Walker , the new-ish ORR Chair, doesn't really understand what Sir Roy McNulty is about.

Here she is responding to the latest passenger dissatisfaction survey.

"The railway quickly needs to get a handle on these issues. Over the coming months, the Rail Value for Money review led by Sir Roy McNulty will provide the entire rail industry with a platform to explore ways in which we can work together to help deliver the improvements that passengers are calling for."

No, Polyanna, you need to work out the difference between Knights on White Horses and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Sir Roy is one of the latter and his job is not to provide platforms but take at least £2 billion out of the taxpayer's support for the railway.

Adonis exposed - Shocker

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
According to Wikipedia...

Adonis (we presume they mean our transport secretary) "is a central cult figure in various mystery religions".

Sounds about right.

The First Church of the Live Catenary, Community Rail, The Blessed Congregation of the Elevated Velocity, not to mention the Cult of the TramTrain.

Noble Lord we believe, help thou our unbelief.

More Buy-us claims - Shocker

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
In next week's Sunday Tymes - more Buy-us revelations

"I told Adonis IEP had to die"

Also revealed by the hottest lobbyist in the Westminster circus (shurley 'circuit'. Ed)

"Electrification was my idea" claims ex Transport minister

"Give Rocket a blast pipe and you'll walk the Rainhill Trials" - My advice to George Stephenson recalls Buy-us

"Think big! £5 billion subsidy is nowhere near enough" said my secret consultancy report for ATOC.

Latest OJEU reveals massive UK rail investment

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
In this week's list of Railway related invitations to tender published in the Official Journal of the European Union, only one, just one, is for a project in the UK.

Read it and weep.

UK-York: consultative engineering and construction services
Title attributed to the contract: NRM+ The Great Hall Exhibition Refurbishment. The NRM+ vision is to renew the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum and create a dynamic new visitor experience which delivers a better understanding of the significance of the railway story to the world in which we live. To help deliver phase one of this vision, the organisation has decided to engage the services of a Building Services and Structural Engineering Consultancy. These consultants will work alongside the Project Manager, architect, Exhibition Designers and NRM stakeholder teams to develop a detailed design proposal which builds on the extensive development work that NRM has commissioned to date

Eheu fugaces labuntur anni (with a bowler tip to Horace).

Snow plays havoc with Adonis plans for NatEx!

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Let's hope that Lord Lenin Adonis is keeping his promise to monitor closely the performance of the remaining franchises operated by evil National Express.

Under cover of the snow chaos those back-sliders and recidivists at ludicrously named c2c are not only operating a full timetable but as at 12.00 the PPM for the day is a risible 97.67%, with three trains arriving outside the TOC's 4 minute target!

The sooner Elaine Holt takes over, the better...

UPDATE: This just in from Rudi over at Merseyrail...

Merseyrail trains are running normally (as they did yesterday) to the normal (not revised!) timetable with PPM for today at 94% at the moment.

And remember, our trains are 3rd rail and there is lots of snow on the ground; not usually a good combo...

There have been no buses at all on Merseyside since 1700 last night and a lot of roads are closed or impassable so we are virtually the only way of travelling into and out of the city.

All of our staff got to work first thing this morning, a lot of them on foot, and all stations are open.

Good effort!

UPDATE: This from a Mr Patrick...

Down here we have cars stuck in driveways and at the side of the road, airport closed and all local buses suspended but 4 trains per hour from my local station to the city centre with minimal delays!

Just goes to show what the real 21st century mode of transport is!

UPDATE: This just in from Captain Deltic (for it is he)...

What a strange coincidence, the two TOCs with the highest PPM scores also seem to cope best with the worst weather conditions since the last ice age - and on busy commuter routes.

Could this be a reflection on the quality of the management by any chance?

Foodbottom joins NR Public Members. Again!

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
In Network Rail's list of newly appointed public members, issued today, I note the name of J Bray.

Is this Jonathan Bray of PTEG fame?

And would that be the same J Bray who was on the previous list of public members helpfully provided by NR's Internet Rapid Rebuttal Unit?

I think we should be told!

Perhaps J Bray is in danger of becoming like Peter Simple's Alderman Foodbottom; the 'perpetual' Chairman of the Bradford Tramways and Fine Arts Committee.

Network Rail greenwash?

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Much greenwash from Network Rail over the long awaited works to the 'Poacher line':

Passengers on the Boston to Skegness line are set to benefit from a £21m injection of new track on the route. The overall project will see 32 miles of track replaced using recycled materials making the railways even greener.

How much greener it would be if the rails and sleepers had been recycled, as used to be the case, instead of reusable rail being sliced up into 10m lengths for removal by road..

Green?

Perhaps a pale tint of eau de nil!

Network Rail Bullsh*t Bingo

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Term of ill omen?

In his letter summing up the results of the the two workshops held with Public Members earlier this month new Network Rail Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite refers to a facilitator present at the events as "a thought leader in institutional investment governance".

Just what NR needs - state of the art management jargon.

Pistols at dawn

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Isn't it typical, you wait for years for a proposals for a new UK high speed line network then two come along.

Next week Network Rail will pre-empt the report from the Department of Transport's own company High speed Two Ltd, promised by the end of the year, with its own "costed and detailed business case for a new high speed line".

DfT Rail is reported to be puzzled by this. 'What have high speed lines got to do with Network Rail' is the view in Marsham Street?'

Network Rail point out that their High Speed Line study was underway long before HS2 Ltd was even thought of.

So a tip of the bowler to Iain Coucher for yet again being the only railwayman willing to plant his tanks on DfT Rail's lawn.

Rail Amatuer offers CV rewriting service

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Will the real Chris Green please stand up?

The August edition of Rail Professional (sic) publishes a list of 'Those from outside industry who have done most for the railways in the last 10 years'.

In second place we have a certain Chris Green.

Presumably this is a completely different Chris Green to the life long railwayman C.E.W. Green who joined British Rail as a graduate trainee, headed up Scotrail, created Network South East (London's integrated overground railway), ran Intercity when the West Coast main line was reliable before moving on to lead Virgin Trains and become a non-Executive Director of Network Rail?

So who then can this Chris Green from outside the industry be?

Unless RailPro's readership is made up of teeny-boppers for whom anything pre-1994 is ancient history!

O tempora o mores

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'.

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!

DafT slips out electrification announcement

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
Clearly more and more Government decisions are being slipped out without a formal announcement.

Here is Transport Minister Sadiq Khan in a Debate on 1 July:

On the question whether we want to keep the service in Government hands through a holding company or a permanent holding company, or to tender for a new franchise, let us be clear: one reason why we are able to invest record sums in our railway service is the revenues that the franchises bring in and the premiums that they pay; one reason why we are able to do the work on High Speed 2, which will lead to a high-speed link from the south to the north, is the system that we have in place; and one reason why we are able to electrify lines as fast as we possibly can is the investment that we receive from that structure.

Must say I'm impressed by the ability of Network Rail to be already getting the wires up on the MML and GWML with no apparent service disruption and within the CP4 settlement.