Laura Shoaf appointed as GBR chair

[KNN]

Indeed.

You’d think that someone with experience from London would be seen as desirable, given that it has by far the best and most integrated transport network in the UK. Surely that’s something other regions would want to emulate?!

It sounds like Laura Shoaf has some good experience to draw from, though, so let’s hope she can make a positive difference.

I articulated the point in post #6 that because it is by far the best network in the country it gives people who have only experience of London a completely different perspective on the challenges, in my opinion.

It's not the same world the rest of us deal with, they get twice the money spent that every other region gets. And people still seem to complain about it, which suggests to me they don't have a clue about how the rest of us get around.

London always gets represented in these things, I don't think anyone is saying it shouldn't only that it's a good thing that someone who has had to negotiate life in the "poor relation" regions is prominently involved.

 

[Scanderina]

Can someone please explain to me what Shadow GBR is, and how it differs from GBRTT?

GBRTT is a subsidiary company of Network Rail. It has funding from the government, it has its own board of directors and it employs people to help decide what the new organisation will look like, what it'll do on ticketing etc. Shadow GBR is the chief execs of NR, DfT OLR Holdings and DfT's DG for Rail Services (i.e. covering track and DfT trains), and now the new Chair. I've not yet seen a clear explanation of what Shadow GBR will do. As another commenter says, it would make sense for Shadow GBR and GBRTT to work closely together!

 

[BRX]

I articulated the point in post #6 that because it is by far the best network in the country it gives people who have only experience of London a completely different perspective on the challenges, in my opinion.

It's not the same world the rest of us deal with, they get twice the money spent that every other region gets. And people still seem to complain about it, which suggests to me they don't have a clue about how the rest of us get around.

London always gets represented in these things, I don't think anyone is saying it shouldn't only that it's a good thing that someone who has had to negotiate life in the "poor relation" regions is prominently involved.

People complain about it more, because they depend on it more, because London has much lower car dependency and therefore higher public transport dependency. This is not a bad thing.

You want *more* places where people really complain about public transport issues, because that's what creates the political incentive to provide a better service. It's a virtuous circle. I don't think it's really the case that Londoners are oblivious to how rubbish public transport is elsewhere. Many of us are actually aware of it and it's one of the reasons we choose to live in London.

Unfortunately in many other parts of the UK there's little political incentive to really improve public transport because the majority of the electorate are car dependent and are therefore more interested in voting for improvements to road infrastructure instead. A vicious cycle.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Don't know about Shoaf, but the other three appointees are doing their old jobs (ie heads of DfT Rail [Hynes], DOLR [Gisby] and Network Rail [Haines]), as well as their new SGBR role.

Yeah stuck in there three silos not changing anything despite the previous govt encouraging them to get on with doing what they could without legislation.

 

[43066]

I articulated the point in post #6 that because it is by far the best network in the country it gives people who have only experience of London a completely different perspective on the challenges, in my opinion.

In which case arguably people with experience of creating an excellent system would be more useful. Look at London Overground, for example, and the experience of transforming that into something that was a basket case into what it is today.

It's not the same world the rest of us deal with, they get twice the money spent that every other region gets. And people still seem to complain about it, which suggests to me they don't have a clue about how the rest of us get around.

The system is London is good but no means perfect. Why does the fact things are worse elsewhere mean people shouldn’t complain about it? And why would Londoners have (or need) a clue about what things are like elsewhere in order to complain about the shortcomings of their own system?

Saying “Don’t complain in London because things are worse in Birmingham” is what’s known as racing to the bottom. I also completely agree with @BRX - people in the regions have consistently voted for governments and politicians who have not favoured public transport. So it’s a little odd to complain when the system ends up worse as a result.

 

[D1024]

Ignore/delete - posted in error

 

[TUC]

Should the chair not be representative of where the majority of the customer-base is from?

No, because there is too much of a default by civil servants and politicians to listening to London without any effort being required. The rest of the country needs a voice.

 

[Meerkat]

Seems to be an urban planner who has lead some transport quangos- not much operational railway experience there.
Whether thats a bad thing, or whether being untainted by operating tradition is an advantage depends on your viewpoint I guess…..

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Shoaf should be a good appointment as she brings clear experience of how the rail sector feels both from a local/regional authority and passenger perspective, something that really wasn't coming through clearly with GBR TT (from what one could see of it).

Operations/timetables are important, but the vexed area of ticketing and fares could be changed fairly quickly by making changes to the franchise contracts and the ticketing and settlement agreement, provided (in the case of the latter) that TfW, Transport Scotland and TfL can be brought on board to at least tacitly accept change). Some early changes in this area might help convince the public that GBR is actually 'on their side'.

 

[Clarence Yard]

She has to tame some big egos and push the Government's agenda forward. Not easy.

Her experience in being a Chair is what counts here, not just her overall knowledge of Transport, which seems good. She is not there to be an expert on all matters rail.

 

[Goldfish62]

She has to tame some big egos and push the Government's agenda forward. Not easy.

Her experience in being a Chair is what counts here, not just her overall knowledge of Transport, which seems good. She is not there to be an expert on all matters rail.

Quite.