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The ORR decision isn’t “final”. It can be appealed, to the High Court. But a JR costs a fortune and you have to prove the ORR were at procedural fault, not an easy thing to do, as GNER found to their cost.

The superfasts were off peak so taking units out for HST replacement was mainly achieved by reductions in formation as well as all the Bedwyn changes. There isn’t that much slack in the fleet inter-peak as that is when quite a few mandatory maintenance windows have to be taken. The 175...

That is what I said! Renewal is when your costs go up but, crucially, not before. The complete opposite to when you owned the stock where overhauls and heavy repairs were significant and lumpy items to fund. Most of the 15x are not on dry leases so there is protection there but in every case...

The balkanisation started before then - Sectorisation was balkanisation on speed! I lived it and was part of it. The amazing thing is some people actually would like to go back to it. The real problem is that there isn’t the spare stock at weekends like we used to have. So coping with seasonal...

But they are not wasting their own money. The costs fall on the ROSCO, in the case of the majority of the 15x fleet. That’s one of the advantages of the system - your lease prices do not rise if the ROSCO has to do more overhaul/corrosion work. Only when you go for a new lease does your non-cap...

And for the uplift to half hourly on the off peak Norwich services. They worked a variety of services when they were new and shortly afterwards found themselves working KX to Hull as well! 170270-3 had a small first class “snug” from new for the Norwich-Cambridge service introduction. I spec’d...

I worked for nearly twenty years on depots in North and West London and if this had happened at least two of those, he would have been “given a slap” by his workmates before he got hauled away. It isn’t regular horseplay, it’s a sadistic assault and he got off lightly.

It’s poor reporting and maintenance procedures that leads to lights being left on, if there is a fault. Time was the local ODM would be rung up and an electrician would be dispatched to investigate and hopefully sort it out. If there was a problem with an individual (raise and lower) column...

I don’t think the Treasury has yet signed off any money for ordering new trains. And whether they are in full public ownership or not doesn’t matter - the DfT (& therefore the Treasury) still have to sign off any order.

Once parliament comes back from its bank holiday break in early June , the expectation is that we shall get some idea on when we will see report stage and third reading. Industry participants are already gearing up what amendments they want to see proposed in the Lords, via their “friendly” Lords.

And if the state gets a benefit out of the “franchise” arrangement, a private body making a profit may be a good deal. However, the post 2020 situation has exposed the arrangement as providing little value as the DfT are taking all the financial risks and paying the private sector to act purely...

First of all you need to understand that franchises don’t now exist. They were all finished in 2020 and converted into management agreements. People still refer to them as franchises but they really aren’t anymore. They are now all on “National Rail Contracts”. This means the government takes...

That’s a DfT decision now and has been for years. There is no shareholder extraction either - FG are on DfT contract management fees, not taking any cut of revenue or cost savings.

Track circuit occupation was the issue that stopped any thought of regular 10 car operation. From that decision, there was no need to do the necessary work to the platforms to allow for 10 car operation or put in walking routes at any place that they could turn back.

Track Access Charges really don’t come into it when deciding train length. Variable charges are relatively minor. It’s the rolling stock lease and maintenance costs, on a per vehicle basis, that matters. You get 80x Hitachi sets in 5, 7 and 9 car sets so your business plan needs to hit the...

Even if there was space on the graph, HT going hourly is a commercial no-no, the demand isn’t there. Far better to lengthen existing services when needed. KX/Huntingdon/Peterborough/Lincoln/Market Rasen/Grimsby/Cleethorpes two hourly is the one to look at.

It doesn’t matter whose watch it was on, if the DfT won’t authorise the payment, that is it.

From the M&EE perspective, I was a big user of J6 1, A9 5 and E3 1 for quick enquiries. E3 1 2 1 gave me the full details for a loco, including physical and maintenance/overhaul data. AB enquiries were great fun. They were individually tailored enquiries using keywords. What you had to do was...

Scotrail don’t have to go through the DfT/Treasury approval process. There always has been a degree of DfT control over rolling stock but it has definitely got worse since COVID because not leasing rolling stock or authorising overhauls is a decent saving when it comes to meeting the DfT rail...

If there is a battle between HAL and Khan, I know who is going to win and it isn’t any Mayor of London. HAL interfaces at the highest levels of Government, not even at DfT level, let alone any regional Mayor. They are major players. The value to HAL is it is an asset on the Airport RAB. How...