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Can we move the discussion back to the proposal please? For some of the reasons mentioned above, there is no current desire to go beyond Rochdale. Rochdale is where the service ends.

Abstraction is only one thing that the ORR looks at when it judges OA applications.

It considers them all at the same time and applies its criteria. The same as they have been doing since 1999 when WAGN, LNER and what became Hull Trains were looking at the same paths.

Not going to happen because that is not how Government procurement works and in any event, in the now very likely event of Labour winning the next GE, it will move from partial Government control to full public ownership in or shortly after October 2026. Avanti have just been running it on...

Of course not - “conversations” have been taking place.

They will not - they are not in the business of committing that amount of capital to rolling stock. They view Rail companies as largely cash flow businesses, hence their attractiveness. They will be leased. The Lumo and Hull units are leased for their full TAA terms so there are no...

Yes, this Government has been quietly encouraging OA applications, hoping to dent Labour’s plans for GBR and keeping the private sector in the rail operations business. If it also compels Labour to say something negative about OA before the election, the Conservatives can make it a “wedge”...

That is exactly how it’s done.

First won’t be able to lease anything unless they obtain a track access agreement. The financiers and/or ROSCOs won’t sign a deal with any OA operator unless they have one.

No, it is age and mileage related, coupled with wheel wear. The end (DPT) vehicles tend to go through wheelsets more than the intermediate vehicles, both motored and trailer.

Wear on the anti roll bar bushes and dampers result in a rapidly deteriorating ride quality at a certain point. Hitachi then change them out.

Occupational hazard with a cl.180. There a few possible causes for smoke or fires on these units, most having nothing to do with the standard of maintenance by the TOC.

The real comparison is what trains LNER are timetabling now as opposed to the rights they hold in Schedule 5 of their TAA. Currently, for SX trains, it is 78% in both directions. They would like to run more but there are problems accommodating the trains. Likewise, GTR have unused rights, about...

Legally, the ORR cannot grant rights to part of a network where the infrastructure provider is unable to accommodate existing operators who hold existing firm rights. The only way those existing rights could be surrendered is either via Part J of the Network Code (under the better use...

The timing load is always for the slowest train you could possibly use. The current uncertainty over the ECML timetable is going to lead to a delay in the ORR opining on this (and other) track access applications.

I did and others would have done as well. Then it gets repeated by someone as fact and so on. When I am being sarcastic on social media, I usually use italics, which is in some places referred to as “sarcastic font”. Anyway, nice to see that 701501 has re-emerged. What we now want to see...

No, it wasn’t - it had been in passenger service for over 4 years!

Dividing production units up by business within Region would be chaotic. Sure, do the commercial side that way but on the ground, geographical Area management will lead to clearer lines and potentially the minimum of structural costs. For example, the TSGN stations north of KX would be run by...

If maximum savings need to be achieved, then the Regional set up is the most efficient way to achieve them because you are not having to duplicate at the production level. The problem with the commercial side in BR Regional days was that BR had to be a production led organisation but when they...

They can’t. There is a legal procurement process now in progress to start a new NRC when the current NRC ends in 2025. Presumably Labour will cancel that before the implementation date and just hand it to DOHL. On another post, the DfT hold regular meetings with TOCs on a variety of subjects as...