Stop complaining fatty

Good news from the Department for Transport which, rather than doing what it says on the tin and worrying about how to get us from A to B, is now more concerned about our girth.

As DafT is plainly unable to meet the Cartesian requirement for sentience (I think therefore I am) it has cleverly devised an alternative - I print therefore I am.

Latest publication off the Melton Street presses is 'Towards a Sustainable Transport System'.

Alongside a whole load of tosh plainly designed to justify Civil Serpent inactivity is the following entry under "Goal Narratives - Challenge" (I kid you not)!

Improve health outcomes for individuals through encouraging and enabling more physically active travel

Under Possible Metrics are a number of suggestions as to how DafT might respond to this 'Challenge'

Increased levels of walking and cycling

Reduction in obesity levels (child & adult)

Increase in % of adults meeting recommended minimum physical exercise

So there you have it. All those fatties seen standing on trains due to a lack of seats (or waiting on platforms due to lack of trains) are actually helping Daft deliver "transport solutions that address non-transport challenges".

To read this, and further Daft existential clap-trap, click here

Thamesfunk

From our man at 222 Marylebone Road
If DafT reckons it can spend £1.4bn on 1100 vehicles to a specification no current design can meet...

...and with the first of these Technicolour Dream Trains (TDTs) reliable enough to dive into the Thameslink tunnels after only five months testing it could be in for a nasty shock.

Well tried Bombardier Electrostars off a live production line are costing £1.5million per vehicle. compared with DafT's estimate of £1.27 (recurring) million.

And that's before you allow for price inflation as the Chinese buy up all the steel, copper, aluminium and other raw materials they use at Litchurch Lane.

Is there a Doctor in the house

More mutterings about the PassengerFocus National Passenger Survey.

Regular readers will recollect that publication of the survey was delayed for two months to allow figures to be massaged and that when published National Express cried foul when it's East Coast franchise with spanked with other dire operators despite a claimed 4% improvement in NEEC passenger satisfaction.

The saga gets murkier still.

The Fact Compiler has received the following note from a TOC source:

"NPS is somewhat flawed as they hang-around stations giving out surveys indiscriminately to people - a certain percentage of whom actually work for TOCs.

"The easiest way to get your score up is to find a survey team, flood the station with people in suits from HQ and pretend to work for the NHS!!"

The Fact Compiler awaits the PassengerFocus press release celebrating the record numbers of NHS staff travelling to York with interest.

Derby lightweight

With an incredibly tight timetable for introduction of the new Thameslink fleet the smart money must be on Bombardier.

The first units are due for testing in Autumn of 2011.

The company already has dual voltage electric trains operating on the Southern and the work done on developing a lightweight Turbostar for London Midland and Loo-Roll could presumably read-across to their Electrostar production lines.

Sources close to Litchurch Lane also indicate that capacity at Derby would not be a problem (despite the company talking up full order books).

Siemens may be in with a chance with the lard-butt Desiros but the Fact Compiler hears disturbing rumours that the company is quoting silly prices for desperately needed Trans-Pennine infill vehicles. Which may explain why no orders have yet been placed.

Alstom looks like also-rans as they haven't yet got a design.

Of course it would be dangerous for Bombardier to get too complacent as the inclusion of Hitachi in the pre-qualification list will require some serious sharpening of Derby pencils.

I know, but ask him to tell me

It is an established fact that the Department for Transport does not micro-manage the railway.

As is well known DafT would rather set broad policy but expects franchises to take day-to-day responsibility for their businesses.

Without interference from Whitehall - of course.

But what's this?

David Laws, LibDem MP for Yeovil has become much agitated over SWT plans to reduce staffing at Crewkerne and Yeovil Junction stations, particularly their potential effect on disabled access

Laws met Rail Minister Tom Harris yesterday

"The Minister told me that he understood these concerns, and encouraged anyone who shares them to write to Passenger Focus. If enough complaints are received, they will write to the Minister and he will be able to consider the case for vetoing the plans." he said.

What a Labyrinthine way to go about it. Write to Passenger Focus so that they can tell the Minister something he already knows? The Fact Compiler recommends writing direct to the Organ Grinder rather than the Monkeys.

Mind you, at least it would give PassengerFocus something to do whilst they ponder how long to delay publication of the next Passenger Satisfaction Survey.

Thameslink fleet

***DfT Press Release***

Bidders announced for new fleet of Thameslink trains

The Department for Transport today announced shortlisted applicants to build an entirely new fleet of trains for Thameslink routes, valued at around £1.4bn. They are:

• ALSTOM Transport
• Bombardier Transportation UK Limited
• Hitachi Europe Limited
• Siemens Transportation Systems
  

Bidders will be asked to produce 1,100 new carriages for Thameslink routes which will increase the current fleet size by around 380 carriages. This means that passengers will see around 14,500 extra seats.

The trains will be more energy efficient and lighter in weight than current vehicles to minimise potentially disruptive track maintenance works. Network Rail and Train Operating Companies have been extensively involved in the development of plans for the new fleet, and passenger groups have also been consulted on the design features for the new trains.

Rail Minister Tom Harris said:

"These new lighter, greener trains will benefit passengers on some of the busiest commuter services.

"They are a vital part of our £5.5bn plan to significantly increase capacity on Thameslink routes. When they arrive in 2012, passengers will see peak time trains lengthened from 8 to 12 carriages. By 2015, they will provide 24 services an hour through central London."

Further details on the specification for the new fleet of trains will be included in the Invitation to Tender which is expected to be issued to shortlisted bidders in September this year, with the award of the contract expected in summer 2009.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. The routes which will be operated by Thamelink from 2015 currently use around 720 vehicles, this will increase to 1,100. The fleet incorporates additional capacity as provided by the Rolling Stock Plan announced this January.

2. The new Thameslink trains will operate through the central London core route between St Pancras International and Blackfriars, providing inner and outer urban services to destinations to the north of London on the Midland and East Coast Main Lines and via London Bridge and Elephant and Castle to destinations to the south of London on the Brighton Main Line and other routes in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

3. It is intended that the first train available for testing in autumn 2011, with the first train in passenger service by spring 2012.

4. To make effective use of the new trains the platforms at Blackfriars station will be extended to make it the first station to span the width of the Thames. There will be additional improvements at Farringdon and London Bridge stations to enable the increased services.

5. By December 2015 bottlenecks at London Bridge will be eased to enable 18 Thameslink trains per hour to serve this station. Six more trains per hour running via Elephant & Castle will increase capacity through central London to 24 trains an hour between Blackfriars and St Pancras International. The majority of the 24 trains per hour will be 12 carriages long.

ENDS

Kettles exempt

The European Parliament approved an agreement reached with the Council on the EU-wide approval of different types of railway rolling stock.

Under the new legislation, any rolling stock already approved for use in one Member State will have to be accepted in the other states. This will cut red tape and should boost the development of rail transport in Europe.

Heritage, museum and tourist railways are exempted from the directive, as the result of another successful demand by Parliament.

Let's see them try to run a TGV on the ECML then!

EU press release here

Labour discovers Transport

***Over on Tom Harris' blog there is an announcement about the formation of a new Labour Transport Group who are "organising to promote debate on transport policy within the party".***

Tom provides a contact email for those interested in further details.

The Fact Compiler has already signed up but wonders if after 11 years this may be too little too late...

Electification

From our International Correspondent

The Atkins sponsored "Case for Electrification" supplement in the July issue of Modern Railways has a forward by Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly.

A good thing, as it is so incoherent and financially illiterate that your Treasury will almost certainly use it to justify never again having to electrifying a single chain of your network.

In one article RSSB is quoted as costing electrification at between £550k - £650k per single track-km.

On that basis Tier 1 alone (London-Bristol, Bedford-Sheffield and Edinburgh-Glasgow) would cost somewhere in the region of £400 million. And remember that's just for the wires. The cost of trains isn't included.

The £400 million "investment" would need to be serviced at a minimum rate of 4% per annum.

Servicing the debt would be achieved through a number of ways:

Savings by not running diesel trains (approx £40,000 maintenance saving per train per annum), additional "sparks effect" tickets sales and a reduction in carbon emissions which, according to supplement sponsor Atkins, delivers just 20% efficiencies over diesel - i.e pretty much what you get if you cruise your elderly HST at 100mph vice 125mph (or run it smoothly without signal checks, TSRs. or delays whilst the wires are down).

Deduct the loss of income during the endless weekend possessions whilst engineers do the knitting unmolested by trains and you have a pretty big income hole to be plastered over using Cost Benefit Analysis (i.e think of a number, get an academic to double it and then a Transport Planner to add the number originally thought of plus an optimism bias).

Now in Europe we just build the damn things and count the Euros rolling in afterwards.

'Allo 'allo

Whilst DafT occupies itself with moving the deckchairs around it is instructive to see how our continental cousins are meeting the challenge of encouraging modal shift from air to rail.

The FT revealed last week that national-flag carrier Air France is looking to move short-haul flight passengers onto Europe’s high-speed railways.

The company is holding discussions with Paris-based Veolia Transport with the aim of having Veolia run Air France branded trains from the airline’s hub at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport to destinations across Europe.

The potential for such services can only increase as the number of electrified high speed lines in Europe multiply. Last year the LGV Est opened between Paris and Strasbourg and a new line linking Antwerp and Amsterdam is due to open next year.

If the plan succeeds AirFrance will reduce both fuel costs and carbon emissions.

Meanwhile in the UK electrification policy can be summed up by the word "maybe", additional lines to address capacity have been kicked into the long grass whilst NR (at DafT's behest) undertakes a "study" and procurement of a 21st Century UK high speed train is mired in non-compliant bids and late reshuffles to bid consortia.

C'est Magnifique, Mais Ce N'est Pas la Gare

Fix!

More mutterings following the late publication yesterday of the National Passenger Survey.

InterCity operator National Express East Coast is absolutely furious with watchdog PassengerFocus .

When the survey was published the PassengerFocus press office went into overdrive, screaming that the survey was a "red alert" to a number of long distance operators where overall passenger satisfaction "had plummeted 4% points."

But what's this?

Amongst the list of dire operators singled out for attention was NEEC - this despite the fact that their rating had actually gone up by 4%.

Meanwhile no mention was made of piss-poor operator Worst Great Western who are so loathed by passengers that they have been told more than once by Daft that they are drinking at the last chance saloon.

If the Fact Compiler didn't know better he might be tempted to think that the two month delay in publishing the figures had something to do with their being massaged. As PassengerFocus is funded by DafT one wonders who might do such a thing?

More examples of spin over substance please.

Quid est veritas

It is no surprise that Parliament is held in such low esteem when Ministers and their Civil Servants can't be bothered to get their facts right.

Here a response, published yesterday (7th July 2008), to a question from LibDem Transport Spokesman Norman Baker.

Baker had asked for an update on the progress of the Competition Commission's investigation into the ROSCOs.

In a written answer Tom Harris (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Glasgow South, Labour) said:
The Competition Commission are due to notify their provisional findings during the course of this month. The investigation timetable is set out on their website:
www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2007/roscos/pdf/core-timetable.pdf

Don't bother following the link because the one given in the written answer doesn't work.

Perhaps just as well because the date given by the Minister for the publication of the provisional findings is at variance with that published on the CoCo website.

On the 7th July Tom said:
"The Competition Commission are due to notify their provisional findings during the course of this month (July)".

The Competition Commission says:
"August - Notifying provisional findings and (if required) possible remedies."

As misleading Parliament is a grave offence perhaps an apology from the Minister might be in order; followed by the ritual disembowelment of some of his more Spencer like Civil Servants who, it would appear, couldn't be arsed to read what the CoCo website actually said.

Hymen to that

What's come over Virgin?

A passenger on this morning's fast 10.29 to Glasgow (which in more glamorous days was known as the Royal Scot) reports that staff along the platform were lined up to say "good morning" even to those in standard class.

Pity the same courtesy isn't extended to users of surly Virgin Media, whose Broadband operation was castigated this week for misleading customers over speed and miserable customer relations.

Sauce for the Goose is...

Much media coverage today of the PassengerFocus report into passenger satisfaction.

According to its survey only 40% of customers believe rail journeys offer value for money.

Whilst just 34% were satisfied with the way TOCs dealt with delays.

The Fact Compiler wonders how PassengerFocus itself might score in terms of delay management, bearing in mind the publication of this report was originally due to take place on the 14th May.

That’s a whopping 80,000 delay minutes in railway speak - how do you plead PassengerFocus?

Popular Wrexham

***Seen passing Coventry the 06:45 Wrexham and Shropshire service from London had just one passenger aboard.***

To be fair the other one could have been in the loo…

New LU COO

***Howard Collins to be new London Underground Chief Operating Officer. Bob Thorogood to be new Deputy COO and continue with 'Metronet Liaison' role.***

Revenue protection?

***SWT deny new fare evasion policy heavy handed.***

Dorset Daily Echo story here

UPDATE: Police apologise over gunpoint arrest

Enlightening

Telegrammed from our man in 222 Marylebone Road

Network Rail Public members were invited to a briefing at the ORR in Kemble Street last Thursday.

The possibility of Network Rail being excessively risk averse was just being discussed when a six foot long light-fitting suddenly fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Tony Berkeley's head.

Fortunately the Noble Lord was unharmed.

All the same, nervous Labour party managers must be pleased that the demise of a life peer doesn't yet trigger a Commons' style by-election, despite their constitutional tinkering.

Martin Sixsmith?

Occasional users of the railway are confused by the superabundance of TLAs (three letter acronyms).

It is heartening, therefore, to see that much maligned First Great Western is doing its level best to communicate with passengers in a language they understand.

Pictured below is a note seen taped to the nappy changing facilities on FGW unit 158955 last weekend.

Clearly attempting to avoid the use of OOU an unknown FGW wag has helpfully clarified the problem by hand.


Nice to see the use of the bracketed expression, which not only explains the precise condition of the nappy changing facility but also of the mother who wished to use it.

Campaign for Plain English 'Crystal Marks' all round!

Airway Mag

The nation's oldest and biggest circulation specialist rail title, The Railway Magazine, looks to be planning a radical change to its editorial coverage, judging from a letter sent to those on their controlled circulation list.

Members of the list have been asked to make a choice between the following two options.

What does one do if you have an interest in railways AND the areas covered in the magazine?

Has The Railway Magazine taken the DafT shilling and gone "modally agnostic"?