An end to spin?

Has SWT renounced the dark arts?

Stagecoach has announced that its popular Comms Director Jane Lee is to leave her post at the end of April.

As she leaves Jane will turn out the lights at SWT's press and public affairs department for the last time.

In a move destined to delight hard working hacks in London and Surrey all future media enquiries will be handled by either EMT's Derby press office or Stagecoach's head office in Perth!

Souter's no fool so the Eye suspects that he's twigged to the fact that the Dead Tree Media is finished in London and the South East and that bloggers are too lazy to verify their stories before posting them.

So no need for a press office.

The Fact Compiler thought about calling Stagecoach to check his theory but couldn't be arsed.

TSC to interview new ORR Chairman

The Transport Select Committee will hold a pre-appointment hearing with Anna Walker, the Government's preferred candidate for Chairwoman of the Office of Rail Regulation.

The hearing will take place on Wednesday, 29th April at 2.45 pm in Committee Room 6, Palace of Westminster.

Into the limelight steps Chris Bolt!

Doomed, recession, doomed, budget, God help us all, Darling disaster and it's all the fault of that maniacal son of the manse the OESI!

Enough!

Steady the buffs!

As Darling confirmed today that it really has all gone terribly wrong The Evening Standard picked up the following (with a Bowler tip to Sri Carmichael):

The cuts include £538 million from Network Rail by reducing its grant and cutting the amount spent on operation, maintenance and renewal of infrastructure.

Interesting.

If this is money generously gifted by DafT then of course it is free to slash and burn at will.

BUT if it is part of ORRs regulatory settlement then there may be a small, but intractable problem.

Would the ORR care to clarify?

UPDATE: This just in from the ORR...

With the Chancellor's Red Book clocking in at a whopping 268 pages, some could be excused for not picking up the following roughly half-way through:

'Saving... £538 million from Network Rail as a result of the Office of Rail Regulation setting strict efficiency targets, reducing the grant which the department pays Network Rail, delivering greater value for money from public investment in the operation, maintenance and renewal of rail infrastructure'

We at ORR however know that the devil is in the detail; and reference to our 447-page Periodic Review 2008 determinations will show just how we expect Network Rail to spend less of the UK's cash, while delivering more capacity, greater reliability and an all-round safer railway for your buck.

Goodness me. Surely the Treasury hasn't been caught out recycling old news, yet again!

UPDATE: This from Ithuriel...

But Network Rail's CP4 Delivery Plan, in a scanty 76 pages, makes it equally clear that Iain Coucher and chums are still wondering how they are going to close the whopping gap between what Chris Bolt says the railway ought to cost and what Network Rail's engineers say it is going to cost to provide the railway specified in the HLOS.

The general theme appears to be that something will probably turn up in the form of a big yellow deus ex machina!

After all, bonuses depend on it and ORR believes that bonuses work...

Return of beer and sandwiches?

This from Humber Business...

Rail union leaders are to hold a "crisis summit" with the Government to discuss a wave of job cuts as well as fare rises, it has been revealed.

Unions have been embroiled in increasing rows with rail firms over job cuts, ticket office closures and fares and will urge Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon to intervene during next Tuesday's meeting.

Massive national debt, taxes up and the Unions calling the shots. It's just like the old days!

Happy St George's Day

And here a homily from his Grace, Archbishop Cranmer...

TOCs shaft Andrew's big idea

Despite depressing headlines about greedy TOCs increasing fares by 11% it's good to know that the All Line Rail Rover still offers good value for money.

Indeed, on his recent rail odyssey Lord Adonis felt moved to write:

"As for cost, I am expecting to do the whole trip, standard class, for £375... using a seven-day 'all-line rail rover'. This is a ticket no one seems to have heard of, perhaps because it is so poorly advertised."

Poorly advertised it may have been, but after all the media coverage surrounding Adonis' trip the All Line Rail Rover is better known now than ever.

So what better time for ATOC to increase the Rovers price by a massive 14.5% !

From 17th May the 7 day version of the All Line Rover will increase from £375 to an eye-watering £430.00!


And you can forget taking Adonis up on his idea of buying one so the kids can "get to know their own country". The childrens version goes up by whopping £39, from £245 to £284!

What a splendid way to take the wind straight out of the Transport Minister's sails!

Let the Eye be first to congratulate ATOC's new team for mastering their brief so quickly.

London TravelWatch struggles to make its point

London's travel watchdog has accused TfL and DafT of conniving in a shadowy 'backroom' deal.

In a badly written press release Sharon Grant, Chairwoman of London TravelWatch, said:
“We are appalled that when the go-ahead for the second phase of the East London Line extension was announced, no mention was made that passengers would be losing out in this way and that undertakings previously given were being abandoned. It is nothing short of deceitful: deliberately not telling the public is 'spin’ at its worst.”

At this point The Fact Compiler lost the will to live.

But if you travel to Victoria from Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Clapham, Wandsworth Road and East Dulwich you may still be interested so have a look yourself.

Meanwhile the Eye recommends that London TravelWatch invests in a course on press release writing.

UPDATE: Transport Briefing explains

Faith, tradition and reason

Old Mother Damnable has spoken!

"This Synod urges Her Majesty's Government ... to sustain employment opportunities, further environmental targets and strengthen future economic and social development by implementing the planning and development of a high-speed rail line from London to the North-West and Scotland".

The Fact Compiler cannot put it better than Lord Adonis himself:

"Now that the high-speed line has Divine sanction, nothing can stand in its way."

OFFICIAL: Hitachi out of Thameslink

As predicted by the Eye yesterday, Hitachi have thrown in the towel on bidding for the 1,200 new Thameslink vehicles.

This from their press release:

Hitachi Europe Rail Group today confirmed that it will not progress in bidding for the provision of new trains for the Thameslink service. By doing so, the company is able to continue its focus on current and future commitments.

Remember, you heard it here first!

DMUs 'r' Us delayed?

Telegrammed by Ithuriel
Specify in haste, procure at leisure...

...is the lesson for today!

Apparently all three bidders for the DMU contract 'brought forward' under the Chancellor's fiscal stimulus programme had different ideas of what ranked as compliance.

So they have all been given a chance to have another go in response to a blizzard of clarification questions from those wonderful folk who brought you the IEP.

At this rate we'll be lucky to have them delivered in time for CP5.

RPI hits minus figures

The UK is experiencing the first period of deflation since 1960, according to the Retail Prices Index.

In March the index fell to -0.4%, down from zero in February.

Doomed!

Help stop cable theft

This from Network Rail...

Network Rail is offering a reward of up to £1,000 for information leading to the conviction of cable thieves and anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Bolt sheds light

Chris Bolt the outgoing chairman of the Office of Rail Regulation has defended NR's bonus scheme.

This from the FT:

Chris Bolt, of the Office of Rail Regulation, said it was “clearly important” that management at the company that owns Britain’s rail network was made to focus on meeting its targets.

If that's what bonuses are for, then presumably salaries are merely a reward for darkening the office door (or not).

The Fact Compiler wishes to offer his unreserved apologies to readers for having led them astray in recent weeks.

Obviously it's only large bonuses that keeps Network Rail senior management focused on the day job.

Perhaps they should keep the bonuses but surrender their evidently superfluous, but extremely large, salaries.

Thameslink trains shocker!

The bid process for the 1,200 new Thameslink vehicles goes from strength to strength.

Or so it would appear judging by the number of keyword searches that have delivered readers to this site.

Surprisingly several contained the terms: "Hitachi+thameslink+withdrawal".

Do readers know something we don't?

We are most definitely not amused...

***RMT to disrupt the Vic line Tuesday/Wednesday of this week***

Harwich for the continent, Frinton for the discontent

***Gone, gone, gone!***

UPDATE: This from Tom over at Blairwatch...

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the Telegraph's site, a blogger is berating 'National Express' for *not* conducting East Anglian engineering works under cover of darkness.

Ah, you lose some, you lose some.

Notes and queries

This just in from J Peasmold Gruntfruttock...

Sir

Could you clarify some confusion over the illustration in your two latest postings.

Is that a member of the famed CoucherPender consultancy pictured with Sir Richard Branson and, if so, ought they to be wearing a high visibility vest when engaging in such dangerous activities?

Yours etc...

No and yes. And in that order.

Park and taken for a ride

Good news for Beardie Rail profits.

Car parking charges at Crewe Station are being increased today from £6 to £8.

As car parking charges are not regulated Virgin is of course free to charge whatever it feels the market will stomach.

However, chairman Sir Richard Branson may not have had rail passengers' stomachs in mind... judging by this photo from today's Mail on Sunday...




Any additional comment would be pure sour grapes!

UPDATE: This from David at Railtalk:

I think that you will find that the charges are only going up by £2.00 to £8.00, they have been £6.00 for quite some time.

Whilst any increase is unwelcome, pity the poor souls on the East Coast, who have to pay considerably more.

York for example is £12.00 per day. Rip off GNER prices, and National Express has carried them on.

Duly corrected, thank you David. The Fact Compiler's mind may have been on other things at the time of posting...

There may be troubles ahead...

Oh dear, oh dear.

Has there been a falling out between DMGT (Daily Mail and General Trust) and Network Rail?

Judging by the number of stories in today's Mail on Sunday it certainly appears so.

To quote just one:

"Ian Coucher was hired as deputy chief executive and Victoria Pender as head of government affairs. At the time, both were working for London Underground as ‘freelances’, via their consultancy Coucher Pender.

"The firm, registered to Ms Pender’s home in West Sussex, was also used as the conduit for the pair’s payments from Network Rail.

"Their freelance status allowed them to qualify for bonuses paid only to employees and entitled them to tax breaks, a situation that continued until 2007 when Coucher became chief executive. Ms Pender is believed to have retained her freelance status."

Perhaps NR should try suing for peace...

Groucho has the answer!

Telegrammed by Barry Spotter
I note that whilst tourists are being told to delete pictures of bus stations, government ministers are allowed to broadcast their travel movements on the internet.

Am I alone in spotting a slight hint of total f**king nonsense in this anti-terrorist bollocks?

Or is it just that the Police no longer know the difference between right and wrong?

Or perhaps, perish the thought, the entire Surveillance State serves a purpose that has nothing to do with the security of its citizens?

Oh sod this. I'm too annoyed to write any more.

I'm going to go and read Marx in readiness for the revolution!