***Bowler tip to Nigel Harris for exposing the secret home of Network Rail's Remuneration Committee***
UPDATE: It looks this morning as if an unholy triumvirate of Adonis, Webster and Wolmar will succeed in releasing this building for other uses...
Telegrammed by our Independent Expert
Blogs take over from dead trees
Not strictly George Stephenson world, but the success of political blogger Guido Fawkes in bringing down Gordon Brown's "McPoison" this weekend is seen by media academics as a sign of the growing maturity of the blogosphere, which can score direct explosive hits where the ailing and cash-strapped dead tree media are increasingly impotent (or in the case of the BBC being pressured by the Government).
More power to the gimlet Railway Eye.
So beware.
They may be watching us, but we are watching them...
Mixed news from the Grauniad this morning.
According to Dan Milmo...
The government is considering a £250m stimulus package for the railways aimed at boosting revenues and passenger numbers.
But what's this?
The piece continues...
Network Rail is also considering bringing forward investment in ticket barriers. Fare dodging is thought to cost the industry 5% of its annual revenues, or about £270m, and the transport secretary, Geoff Hoon, has asked train operators to propose gating schemes. Lord Adonis, the rail minister, told the Guardian last month that such a scheme would be popular. "There is wide support from passengers for gating because they don't like huge amounts of people not paying for fares that they then have to subsidise."
'Wide support'?
We think not.
Of course we have come to expect half truths from the department but it's disappointing that the Guardian is conniving in the spin.
Had the Guardian done a modicum of research it would have discovered that recent proposals to gate two major stations in the North are hugely unpopular (Sheffield and York).
In both cities opponents of the scheme make the same points: Gates will make it difficult for passengers with luggage, disadvantage the mobility impaired, exclude meeters and greeters, deny access to enthusiasts (the eyes and ears of the railway) and split both cities in half.
Needless to say our elected masters say one thing and mean another.
To discover what is really behind DafT's conversion to gating the network it is helpful to read the detailed justification for barriers which National Express supplied to Newcastle City Council's Planning Committee (another major station where gates are planned).
“...post the 7/7 attacks there is a requirement for coverage of entry and exit points at all stations, and in order to achieve identification/recognition standards...”.
In pursuit of the surveillance society it is quite clear that the first victim is truth. Shame on you Lord Adonis and shame on this dishonest government.
UPDATE: This from Richard Malins...
This needs to be exposed before a wider audience.
Someone must persuade Adonis to see through the nonsense DaFT are peddling and call a halt to gating schemes because:
a) The proposition is basically contradictory. Installing barriers will not make rail travel more accessible - particularly for the elderly and mothers with children.
b) The estimated 5% of revenue is an unsubstantiated number. True figures will be more complicated and vary according to circumstances. Measurement is difficult and usually not done properly, if at all.
c) Barriers only protect a minimum fare. Their effectiveness declines with length of journey and are believed to reduce short distance fare evasion by around half.
d) Outside the London commuter area the magnetic ticket technology does not properly support gating systems. Thus it is highly unreliable where system geography and fares structures are complex.
The Eye looks forward to hearing a counter view from the legions who, as Adonis assures us, support gating. Meanwhile the latest exciting Eye poll refers.
So it rather looks as if the McBride scandal will put paid to Gordon's plans for an early election!
Big tip of the Bowler to Guido for exposing this disgraceful episode!
UPDATE: Tom Harris tells it like it is...
We screwed up, big time. We have no-one — absolutely no-one at all — to blame for this but ourselves. The damage the Labour Party and the government have sustained this last 24 hours has been entirely self-inflicted.
There is at least one honest man in politics.
Christus Resurrexit!
And for the more secular amongst you...
Either way, Railway Eye wishes all readers a joyful Easter.
Is East Midland Trains about to be in trouble with the passenger watchdog?
Yesterday's Gruaniad ran a profile piece praising the role of Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of Passenger Focus.
Accompanying the article was a picture of Smith, taken at St Pancras station, which clearly shows him grimacing at EMT's departure boards.
Or perhaps Anthony was photographed en-route to Specsavers...
Telegrammed by Thirsty Hack
An amusing piece in the Pink 'Un today on Virgin's decision to take its tanks off WSMR's lawn.
The FT solemnly intones:
Virgin began to take a hammering in bad publicity. The buccaneering balloonist was morphing into a bearded bully in the eyes of the public. Newspaper editorials blasted Virgin with salvoes against anti-competitive behaviour.
Could the FT's opaque reference to "bad publicity" have anything to do with a highly amusing email doing the rounds from the transport correspondent of another broadsheet, who took umbridge with BeardieRail's PR supremo?
The email thundered: "You have made it very difficult for me to trust you... I regret to say that this is the worst betrayal by a PR person which I have come across... I am copying this to other transport correspondents because this kind of behaviour causes problems for all of us."
No love lost there then.
In these troubled times probably just as well BeardieRail has decided to lay low for a while.
Readers may recollect that National Express East Anglia is to receive 120 new Electrostar vehicles.
In these financially straitened times the Eye thought it might be helpful to translate these vehicles into real monetary value.
Below are the additional subsidy payments that NXEA will receive from DafT to take on these new £160m trains:
| 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Total |
| £7.176m | £22.895m | £40.931m | £44.449m | £40.961m | £156.412m |
It was with great sadness that the Eye heard this morning of the death of Bernard Staite.
As predicted by the Eye way back on the 6th January National Express is to start charging for reservations.
From 17th May both National Express East Coast and National Express East Anglia will introduce a £2.50 fee for certain seat reservations.
The Eye understands that the reservation charge will only apply to standard class tickets where reservations are not already required.
So if you want to secure a seat - you pay.
At the moment it looks like season ticket holders can continue to book rezzies with impunity.
Status pass holders - no chance!
UPDATE: This from an 'Anonymous' reader...
One piece of good news.
NatEx have finally given in to customer demand and started accepting American Express Cards as a means of payment.
As AmEx charge a higher amount to the retailer perhaps passengers can vote with their credit cards when paying this additional travel tax?
That'll do nicely!
Telegrammed by Lord Peter Whimsy
Make your own here...
More angry letters in the latest issue of Rail over the IEP award to Hitachi.
One reader, a Dr M J Provost who writes from Nottingham, makes the following point...
"...before the matter can be laid to rest I feel that the whole issue will need to be fully addressed so we know the reason why Bombardier didn't deserve the contract."
A very fair point Dr Provost.
And the Eye agrees that the Secretary of State should answer your question immediately!
However, Rail only gives your address as Nottingham, and it's a big place.
Would it be okay if Mr Hoon sent his answer care of your namesake, at Litchurch Lane, Derby?
This from The Times...
No red signal when minister plays with train set
All aboard the Adonis Express. Frustrated commuters will get direct access to the Transport Minister next week when Lord Adonis embarks upon a railway voyage to criss-cross Britain in six days.
The Minister will board the Paddington to Truro sleeper service on Easter Monday, just one man, his laptop and a £375 standard class Rail Rover ticket. On Saturday he will arrive in York after a 1,500-mile Michael Palin-style trip, involving 45 trains and extensive knowledge of the timetable.Has Bob Crow had a Damascene conversion?
This just in from the RMT...
“We are available for talks to sort this problem out, but blatantly bullying management is not acceptable,” Bob Crow said.
HR directors across the industry were too shocked to comment.
This from the latest 'Rail Users Express', edited by Tony Smale...
"The North Devon Rail Users’ Group is to change its name to the Tarka Rail Association, principally to reflect the fact that it represents the whole of the Exeter-Barnstaple line and not just the northern part. The committee also reports problems that have resulted from internet filters latching on to the DRUG element of NDRUG!"
In a previous issue Tony reported that a group with the words “Travellers’ Association” in its title was contacted by a tabloid grubbing for dirt about caravan dwellers!
Telegrammed by Ithuriel
When it comes to re-writing the past, DafT makes the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia look like the King James Bible for timeless consistency.
On the DafT web site, the April 2009 press release announcing that NXEA has signed up to acquire new and cascaded train is described thus:
East Anglian Rail Service improvements - Correction
CORRECTED VERSION
2 April 2009 15:10
Corrected? It has been massively re-written and respun.
The original opening line read:
"Jobs will be safeguarded at Derby based train builder, Bombardier Transportation UK Ltd, thanks to a new agreement between the Department for Transport and National Express East Anglia, (NXEA.), Transport Secretary, Geoff Hoon, announced today."
In the 'corrected' version it reads
"Jobs will be created or safeguarded and rail travel in East Anglia will be improved thanks to a new agreement between the Department for Transport and National Express East Anglia (NXEA), Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced today."
And after the first two paragraphs there follows 400 words of brand new purple prose.
Among the many deletions was the reference to the new vehicles being owned by 'Lloyds TSB General Leasing (No.8) Limited, a subsidiary of Lloyds TSB Bank'. (Fortunately Hansard is not so easy to rewrite. Ed)
The message is clear - you can't believe a word DafT or its ministers say.
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