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Utter wibble, MM. The reason the service has been poor in the last few days is down to the current industrial action, coupled with a disruptive derailment of 158766 at Fratton. If you have not enough crew to attach, detach, get the units on and off depot, runs the service without spinning short...

If you can’t get 10 out of 12 on a class of mainline EMU, there is something wrong. They shouldn’t need much servicing and repair downtime overnight, even if they are doing 1k a day. If it was a DMU or bi-mode, the downtime would play in the availability target but I would still be looking at...

The forecasted loading in the TFCP will be an average, not a maximum so that’s where the 6.1 and 6.2 clauses in Chapter 4.1 come in. Every NRC TOC, according to 6.1, should be planning to give every off-peak punter a seat and a peak punter should not be planned to stand for more than 20 minutes...

No, that’s not how it works. Each Operator that has an NRC with the DfT has to compile a “Train Formation Capacity Plan” (TFCP) for each timetable period (i.e. every six months) that the DfT has to sign off. This is what the DfT measures short form performance against, not the daily variations...

That was probably the 12th supplemental to HT’s old TAA, done for the 2013 KX blockade. That would have been done under the old rules where you had to list all your diversionary routes in your TAA. Iirc, NR and HT did it under the Short Term approvals process so those rights, which would have...

Sorry, the Train Plaaning Rules are the Train Planning Rules - they are not optional because someone doesn’t like them. If the train fits on the planning graph, that’s it. The capacity clearly exists so it’s going to be used. The network isn’t there for just one set of usual users with plenty of...

No, the HT rights are firm by right of the Schedule 2 diversionary provisions in their TAA. You used to have to put in alternative routes/termini in your Schedule 5 rights but that was simplified out years ago. Interestingly, HT originally had Liverpool St as its alternative terminus but getting...

Howden is now a railhead for a large area. Check out the roads to Howden. HT grew the London-Howden flows alone from just over £50 a year (!) to £750k a year, nearly all new business to rail.

No, HT has never put up a proposal to stop at Peterborough - it would've been commercial suicide for them to do that. A word about Abstraction. Abstraction only applies to current business - future new business is always up for grabs, if it isn't directly linked to investment. So you can never...

Newark was never really in Hull Trains plans. With the initial timetable, there was only time for one regular stop at a station between Peterborough and Doncaster. Grantham was chosen because of some business connections towards and at Hull together with the then gaps in the London-Grantham and...

No, it isn’t in their interests as London-Peterborough is low yield business which has the potential to crowd off better yield punters. For that reason, both Lumo and Hull Trains have absolutely no interest in stopping at Peterborough. The amount of inter available revenue on the ECML is now...

No, it’s not a myth. Each DfT operator has to submit a Train Formation Capacity Plan (TFCP) for each timetable change period that states the train, the formation (by class of vehicle), seating capacity and expected demand. The DfT can demand changes to it, depending on the situation with the...

Forget about the contract end dates if you want to take them back in house - It is the core term expiry dates in each contract that you should look for. That is the earliest a contract can be taken back,. From then to the expiry date you only need to give three periods notice.. So for GWR the...

Yes, there is no “acceptance” from any TOC because they are not now in a position to accept or reject. You are there to do what you are told and not make waves. For that you get a management fee.

Despite trying to explain how stock swaps happen, I don’t think you have a clue how the railway works. The biggest problem that an on the day controller has is infrastructure failures. That means units will step up or step down through non-identically formed workings to prevent cancellations or...

Unfortunately Sectorisation promoted a “beggar my neighbour” approach as well as a rush by sub sectors to control assets for their own use only. When the money got short, the sub sectors (and sectors) couldn’t really cope to change things as quickly and effectively as the former BR regions would...

The ER loco casualty report for the period concluded “1562 13/3 - sparks from brake blocks ignited deposits” (responsibility code X2). So it looks as if something significant then ignited and, as a result, it went bang in a big way. It was a standard 2580hp 47, running on diesel.

Not quite - usually seven to twelve years with new stock, depending on the business plan you submit to the ORR. You also lease the units, you don’t hire them and it isn’t the passenger licence that is renewed (that is something completely different), it’s the Track Access Agreement and the...

Firstly, there are no such things as franchises anymore. All the TOCs are effectively Government controlled entities with the private sector just acting as management consultants. As the owning groups now just get a fee for “minding the store”, as it were, they cannot “bleed the system”. They...

Your application to be a stock controller on GWR is awaited. It’s not a case of “adding extra carriages” but having to deal with what you have on the day when you get numerous NR and external issues that alter your plan (as well as the usual unit and crew related problems) and very little...