Shocking scenes from an Eye correspondent in Chester on Friday!
This member of staff is wilfully clearing the platforms of weeds and other detritus, risking Chester's elimination from this year's Railway Garden Competition!
This from The Times...
Transport secretary Chris Grayling is preparing to delay the electrification of huge swathes of the railway network amid a deepening funding crisis at Network Rail.
Plans to upgrade core stretches of track on the TransPennine, Midland Mainline and Great Western routes to run electric trains are set to be put back by years in favour of new “bi-mode” trains that run on both diesel and electricity.
Instead, the state-owned Network Rail will be told to focus on its day job of maintaining and repairing existing tracks, amid growing concern that this has been neglected in favour of “trophy” electrification projects.
Move along, nothing to see here.
This from Rolls-Royce...
Rolls-Royce today announces the appointment of Barney Wyld as Director, Corporate Affairs. Barney will join Rolls-Royce later this year in a new enhanced role.
Barney is currently Group Director, Corporate Communications at Network Rail. He is responsible for all internal and external communications, public affairs and community contact and relations. Barney joined Network Rail from Unilever where he was Global Vice President, Communications. He was initially responsible for global media relations and digital channels and, after that, global employee engagement and stakeholder campaigns. Barney began his career as a speechwriter for a frontbench MP in the UK parliament.
Barney will leave Network Rail in 'about five months time'.
Of course, as any ful kno, some of Royces most important engineering facilities are to be found in Derby - which just happens to be the city at the Heart of the Railway industry!
Yet further proof, should it be needed, that all roads ultimately lead to the Shire. That is all.
This from Adam the Gardner...
Just south of Finsbury Park:
This also from a Mr Greg Tingey...
Vauxhall – between the Windsor Lines.
This from a Mr Greg Tingey...
Stratford – westbound Central line is at left of picture, which is taken looking East (ish) – the Buddleia is growing up a good couple of yards or so!
Time for an exciting new Eye poll!
Using your skill and judgement, select who you think should be the new Chair of the Transport Select Committee.
These are the Labour runner and riders, in no particular order (I see what you did there. Ed):
A big Railway Eye welcome to the new Shadow Rail Minister Rachael Maskell!
RIA supremo Darren Caplan has taken to Conservativehome in a push for more Treasury funding.
This from First Group...
FirstGroup and MTR announce that Andy Mellors has been appointed as Managing Director of the new South Western rail franchise, which launches on 20 August.
Andy Mellors has 25 years of experience in the industry. He has held a number of senior leadership roles since joining FirstGroup in 2002 and is currently Engineering Director and Deputy Managing Director at Great Western Railway, having previously held a similar role at First ScotRail.
A good appointment and a loss to Great Western Railway
This from Freightliner...
LONDON – Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) today announced the appointment of Gary R. Long as Chief Executive Officer of its UK/Europe operating region, which is led by the UK’s Freightliner. He succeeds Russell Mears, who will transition to the role of Senior Advisor in the third quarter of 2017.
Long was President and CEO of the North American freight railroad holding company OmniTRAX, Inc., prior to joining G&W in 2013. He has nearly 35 years of transportation industry experience, including roles related to rail, motor carrier, port, maritime and intermodal terminals, and currently heads one of G&W’s U.S. operating regions. “Gary’s strong operational, commercial and management background in the rail, trucking and maritime industries make him particularly well suited to lead G&W’s UK/Europe businesses,” says Jack Hellmann, G&W Chairman, President and CEO.
Eye welcomes the news of Mears' 'transition'. Whatever that may mean.
Eye notes with interest that companies owned by the Chinese state are bidding for HS2 contracts.
Meanwhile, the same Chinese state is adopting an increasingly authoritarian approach towards Hong Kong citizens and has announced it has abandoned the joint declaration with Britain; the 1997 deal which guaranteed Hong Kong’s way of life and granted it a high degree of autonomy until 2047.
As a nation we still have a duty of care to the people of Hong Kong.
Whilst our options may be limited, it would be a great shame if our government rewarded China for this breach of faith with a slice of Britain's railway, or used UK taxes to procure Chinese manufactured equipment for HS2.
Just saying.
UPDATE: This from Howard Wade...
Having insisted on bidders for the West Coast Partnership including experience of high speed operations DfT seems to be taking a generous view of 'high speed' in the case of the Chinese team.
The 300km/h plus experience of Trenitalia (FirstGroup) and SNCF (Stagecoach/Virgin) contrasts with the 200km/h quoted on the Guangshen Railway web-site.
'But Minister, think of the embarrassment if there were only two bidders for this flagship franchise'.
This from the Samaritans...
15,000 rail staff trained by Samaritans in suicide prevention
Around 1 in 6 rail staff is now trained to prevent people taking their lives on the railway, as part of the suicide prevention partnership between Samaritans, Network Rail, British Transport Police (BTP) and the wider rail industry. Potentially life-saving interventions are increasing at the same time.
Between April 2016 and the end of March this year, 1,593* interventions were made across Britain’s rail network by staff, British Transport Police, local police and the public, an increase of 40 percent on the previous year.
In the same period, suicides and suspected suicides on the rail network dropped from 253 to 237**, showing a decline in rail suicides for the second year in a row. This is a fall of 18 percent in two years and 2016/17 represents the lowest yearly figure since 2010.
This from Alstom...
Alstom today opens the biggest and most sophisticated centre for train modernisation ever in the UK. In a major boost to the rail industry in the North West of the country, this facility was officially opened by Lord Prior of Brampton – Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and some of Alstom’s newest apprentices and graduates.
Of course, as any ful kno, Alstom are also hoping that the Widnes facility will give it the edge when bidding to supply new trains into the UK.
So it is good to see Alstom joining Hitachi and Bombardier in putting its money where its mouth is.
Come on Siemens, your turn next. (Unusual for the Germans to be late to a party. Ed)
The scene: A room at 221b Baker Street...
I say Holmes, what do you make of that whole VTEC thing? Pretty bullish of them to take so many hits on the nose?
But Watson, did you not notice the significance of Stagecoach’s reference in their market statement to Independent Economic Regulation?
Can't say I did Holmes, in fact I'm not even sure I saw the ORR mentioned at all.
That, Watson, is the significance.
This from E. L. Bowe...
Stagecoach's apparent sang froid in the face of the Virgin Trains East Coast losses is easily explained - they have been here before.
An infrastructure owner fails to deliver upgrades vital to an ambitious intercity franchise plan?
Sounds familiar? Of course, it's the West Coast Route Modernisation debacle all over again.
True, Stagecoach and Virgin don't have the nuclear option of the WCML PUG2 contract which could have holed Network Rail below the waterline, but that's not needed when Network Rail is on the job, with vital capacity schemes like freight loops, Werrington grade separation and Woodwalton four tracking are sliding to the right and are now well into the second half of CP6 .
We'll know it really is groundhog day when Mr Kipling is recalled to descope the scheme and devise a rescue timetable.
Latest list of ministerial roles and responsibilities:
Secretary of State – Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP
The SNP has decided to disaggregate the BTP!
Of course even in Scotland, it is rumoured that, fine Malts are watered down.Delighted to pass my first Bill with support from Greens. Will make Railway Policing more accountable & draw on wider pool of expertise— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) June 27, 2017
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