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Nothing will happen until the DfT signs off on the deal.

No, but at least one other does. So, legally, the ORR has to determine all competing applications for rights at the same time. Because you can operate earlier than another applicant doesn’t put you at the head of the determination queue. The later operation may well be determined as best use of...

It may be a better use but the ROSCO will deal with whoever comes up with the best money. The ORR are now going to have to determine this application together with the ones from Virgin, Avanti, Lumo and anyone else who has put in for the paths. With this level of demand for paths they can’t...

Yes, they would, together with the cl.171 units for Waterloo-Exeter. The RR cl.158 total would have remained as the full build or added to.

Non (NR) agreed rights that are subsequently approved by the ORR are not uncommon, chiefly because NR is not that good at knowing what the real capacity of its network is. The NR “sale of access rights” process is, in law, an internal one and can be very long winded. The Act entitles any...

The problem here is that the required infrastructure improvements were cut back so the proposed timetable could never be implemented. The DfT wants a payback ”on the cheap”, as it were. The ORR (correctly) gave out rights on the basis of the full work package being completed and now all those...

The decision on Newton Aycliffe will be taken in Japan, which is where all commercial decisions go to. The management at Newton Aycliffe will not decide their own future. It is well known that Hitachi are concentrating on filling Japan and Italy with orders and unless the UK Government comes up...

Actually, there were very few peak only Turbo diagrams in the London area and their availability was much higher than it currently is in Bristol. They were worked hard over several years. The problem with the Turbos is that they are ageing and they overnight away from home depot far more than...

The press don’t usually publish anything that could compromise security arrangements so you rarely see vVIPs boarding or alighting from trains unless it is for a photo op. Regular travel arrangements are never publicised. For example, the general travelling public will usually be blissfully...

No, it’s just that the SO ESG ECML database hasn’t yet been completed. These timetables are also indicative (for the purposes of ORR evaluation) and will subject to change. The prime purpose of the identified paths is to extend services that originate from/go to London/Newcastle. There is one...

The engine inside the baby Deltic replica is ex-rail, last used in D5905.

That performance report was panned by operators because it only looked at 1400 to 2000 and several trains in that time period were missing from the analysis. The freight boys and girls were particularly unhappy. The excuse given by NR as to why a full day wasn’t done was generally regarded as...

The ECML has never been and is still not just for running long trains between the big cities that sit directly on it. It is a complex mix of direct services, through services to or from significant off route destinations, connecting and crossing local services, commuting services, together with...

They have an uphill task in getting the ORR to approve this scheme as it seems to cut across other’s existing rights to achieve it. That is something the ORR cannot legally approve. In the absence of those other’s rights being surrendered, Virgin have to prove that there is still room for their...

Should be 802114.

Getting back to the subject of rail strikes, an incoming Labour Government can fund the pay rises from the existing rail budget by the savings it will make from taking the TOCs into OLR, OLR being a cheaper form of funding and control than the NRC arrangement with the private sector. I suspect...

They can’t as they are not their units to sub-lease. They are on a daily train supply agreement from Agility, based on diagrams - all framed in a very restrictive contract over their use. There is no lease - the TOC just collects them daily off Agility, uses them and then hands them back to...

If he mentioned the words ORCATS raid, then he doesn’t know what he is talking about. It won’t be an ORCATS raid - that is so last century. ORCATS raiding is when you timetable your trains in front of a competitor so you gain their revenue from IA (Inter Available) tickets through the ORCATS...

Let’s be clear about this - Lumo is not going to Bradford via Rochdale.

The SOAR process can be regarded by applicants as an internal NR process which can be over-bureaucratic. The Regs do not preclude an applicant sticking in an application directly to the ORR, which is obliged to consider it on an equal basis as one that has gone through the SOAR process. The...