SWT MD stepping down.

[Matt Taylor]

Reported by the Railway Gazette that Christian Roth is to step down and be replaced by Margaret Kay from Sheffield Supertram. More details to follow I expect but that's all I have for now.

https://twitter.com/railwaygazette/status/837638718034960385

UK: #SouthWestTrains Managing Director Christian Roth is to step down; he will be succeeded by Margaret Kay, Managing Director of #Supertram

Let the franchise speculation begin.

 

[Monty]

Reported by the Railway Gazette that Christian Roth is to step down and be replaced by Margaret Kay from Sheffield Supertram. More details to follow I expect but that's all I have for now.

https://twitter.com/railwaygazette/status/837638718034960385

Let the franchise speculation begin.

People shouldn't read too much into this regarding the next franchise, if Christian's departure did have anything to do with who will be awarded the next franchise it would be a serious breach of the secrecy that surrounds the franchise tendering system, the ramifications would be massive as the announcement isn't due for nearly another month.

I suspect the real reason for Christian Roth's departure is far less sensational, many were suprised when he was appointed to the position of SWT MD given his engineering background. It may simply be he has decided (or words to that effect) that the job was not for him.

 

[capital12]

Hopefully SWT will ditch the awful new version of the livery on the 159s now then, apparently this mess was 'designed' by said exiting MD!

 

[vikingdriver]

Hopefully SWT will ditch the awful new version of the livery on the 159s now then, apparently this mess was 'designed' by said exiting MD!

I reckon they'll be ditching the 159s as well as the livery if they retain the franchise!

 

[SamYeager]

Hopefully SWT will ditch the awful new version of the livery on the 159s now then, apparently this mess was 'designed' by said exiting MD!

More likely "approved" by said MD rather than "designed" I would have thought.

 

[Olaf]

People shouldn't read too much into this regarding the next franchise, if Christian's departure did have anything to do with who will be awarded the next franchise it would be a serious breach of the secrecy that surrounds the franchise tendering system, the ramifications would be massive as the announcement isn't due for nearly another month.

I suspect the real reason for Christian Roth's departure is far less sensational, many were suprised when he was appointed to the position of SWT MD given his engineering background. It may simply be he has decided (or words to that effect) that the job was not for him.

Not really; they will probably already know if the contract has been won or lost. If it has been lost, it will have a significant impact on Stagecoach.

 

[cjmillsnun]

Not really; they will probably already know if the contract has been won or lost. If it has been lost, it will have a significant impact on Stagecoach.

There is no chance they know. If they do, then there are problems that are worse then when First was awarded the West Coast contract.

 

[Monty]

There is no chance they know. If they do, then there are problems that are worse then when First was awarded the West Coast contract.

This, even the bid/franchise delivery teams don't know who has one and they aren't allowed to talk to anyone about the bid until there has been announcement.

Even if Stagecoach were to loose the bid it would seem a little harsh to remove a person who has been MD for a very short amount of time has probably had nothing to do with the bid for the next franchise (all handled by a completely separate team).

 

[DerekC]

There is no chance they know. If they do, then there are problems that are worse then when First was awarded the West Coast contract.

Having been in this sort of situation, it is sometimes possible to read between the lines of the questions you are being asked (or not).

 

[broadgage]

I reckon they'll be ditching the 159s as well as the livery if they retain the franchise!

Why ? I don't much like them, but then I am not keen on DMUs in general, I don't feel that 159s are worse than any reasonably likely alternative.

I would much prefer to see a longish set of mark 3 coaches including a full buffet, hauled by any modern and reliable locomotive. I do however fully accept that the chances of getting that is virtually zero, DMUs of one sort or another are here to stay, if not forever at least for the next rolling stock replacement and probably thereafter.

What are the likely alternatives ? Voyagers perhaps ? they are IMHO worse than 159s.
Or perhaps IEPs ? I suspect that in terms of comfort that they will be at least as bad as voyagers, and they certainly have no buffet, and certainly DO have underfloor engines.

 

[Bigfoot]

Why ? I don't much like them, but then I am not keen on DMUs in general, I don't feel that 159s are worse than any reasonably likely alternative.

I would much prefer to see a longish set of mark 3 coaches including a full buffet, hauled by any modern and reliable locomotive. I do however fully accept that the chances of getting that is virtually zero, DMUs of one sort or another are here to stay, if not forever at least for the next rolling stock replacement and probably thereafter.

What are the likely alternatives ? Voyagers perhaps ? they are IMHO worse than 159s.
Or perhaps IEPs ? I suspect that in terms of comfort that they will be at least as bad as voyagers, and they certainly have no buffet, and certainly DO have underfloor engines.

This is a thread about a change of MD. Not liveries or replacement stock or franchise specifications!

 

[theironroad]

"Christian Roth has decided to step down as Managing Director after nearly a decade with South West Trains"

With introduction of 707s scheduled to start next month, major planned disruption due to Waterloo upgrade and franchise expiring in under 6 months, I guess it could have been his own wish rather than being moved.

 

[fgwrich]

Hopefully SWT will ditch the awful new version of the livery on the 159s now then, apparently this mess was 'designed' by said exiting MD!

Ah, the I'm not sure what version we'll have today livery. Just chuck a bit of clip-art onto the original version and it'll be fine...

I do find it bizarre too. Equally, I hope that the next franchise will spend some money on the Desiro fleet. It's held up
Very well for 12 years, but could do with a refresh now.

Ultimately I agree with The Iron Road though, with the Waterloo blockade coming up and a new franchise, it's understandable for Mr Roth if these are included in the reasons for his departure.

 

[The Ham]

This, even the bid/franchise delivery teams don't know who has one and they aren't allowed to talk to anyone about the bid until there has been announcement.

Even if Stagecoach were to loose the bid it would seem a little harsh to remove a person who has been MD for a very short amount of time has probably had nothing to do with the bid for the next franchise (all handled by a completely separate team).

However it does seem a little odd for the MD to be standing down with a replacement announced about a month out from the franchise announcement. Why not just accept their resignation and have plans for a interim person to cover until August if the franchise is lost
With plans to have a new MD in place for the start of the new franchise if they do win.

 

[DarloRich]

Hopefully SWT will ditch the awful new version of the livery on the 159s now then, apparently this mess was 'designed' by said exiting MD!

Guess how much time the md will have spent on livery decisions? That's right less time than it took to read these sentences!

 

[Matt Taylor]

The Waterloo upgrade works and the delivery of the 707s has been known about for over two years, long before Christian Roth was appointed.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

However it does seem a little odd for the MD to be standing down with a replacement announced about a month out from the franchise announcement. Why not just accept their resignation and have plans for a interim person to cover until August if the franchise is lost
With plans to have a new MD in place for the start of the new franchise if they do win.

It may just have been a personal decision, but Stagecoach will need to get ready for future franchise bids, whatever happens to SWT (eg West Coast Partnership).
Roth also has a background with rolling stock (Siemens) so could easily be going to a Rosco or manufacturer.
CAF and Stadler both need UK expertise at the moment, to handle their deliveries.

 

[Olaf]

There is no chance they know. If they do, then there are problems that are worse then when First was awarded the West Coast contract.

Sorry, but you can quite easily get a feeling for how such conversations have go, though you are correct - they will not definitively know.

 

[Olaf]

Part of the problem will be the significant drop-off in numbers - I have not looked at the details yet, but that would a problem for the C-Team.

 

[3141]

During the evaluation of some previous franchise bids, news has come out that one of the bidders is still in discussion with the DfT, indicating that its bid is still a possible winner, or that a company is no longer receiving questions, indicating that the DfT has decided that one isn't good enough.

This situation is unusual as there are only two bidders, but I imagine there will come a stage where one of them realises that the DfT appears to be losing interest, while the other feels encouraged because the DfT is still in frequent contact. People with experience of bidding can probably sense the way things are going.

Having said that, I don't believe the announcement of Christian Roth's departure will have anything to do with the not yet known outcome of the South Western franchise competition.

 

[Monty]

It may just have been a personal decision, but Stagecoach will need to get ready for future franchise bids, whatever happens to SWT (eg West Coast Partnership).
Roth also has a background with rolling stock (Siemens) so could easily be going to a Rosco or manufacturer.
CAF and Stadler both need UK expertise at the moment, to handle their deliveries.

This is my opinion on what has likely happened also.

 

[HH]

There is no chance they know. If they do, then there are problems that are worse then when First was awarded the West Coast contract.

LOL. They know. I'm not sure what you think goes on, but DfT will be negotiating the final terms with the winner. It is always possible that these talks will break down completely (for the first time ever), but they'll only be having them with the winner by now (and likely for some time).

Some will know officially by now, but other people will definitely be aware. I've been on both winning and losing teams, and you know which camp you're in long before any official announcement.

Given this situation, DfT have done an excellent job on recent franchise competitions of keeping the result out of the papers.

I feel certain that SWT must have spoken to DfT before this announcement and therefore DfT obviously felt that this didn't give anything away. It might have been better to give more information though, if that was the case, so that people didn't jump to conclusions.