National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT)

RMT: February 28 2008

Further ballots to defend transfer agreement to commence on Monday

THE SECOND 24-hour strike by more than 50 RMT signallers in the Lincoln area over Network Rail's failure to honour an agreement covering displaced staff will start at 22:00 on Tuesday night.

The stoppage has been moved from Saturday (March 1) to maximise its impact after the company used hastily-trained managers to staff boxes during last Saturday's strike.

Signallers in the Lincoln area voted by a four-to-one margin to strike after a colleague with 33 years' experience was made redundant rather than offered suitable options, in breach of the long-standing Promotion, Transfer Redundancy and Resettlement (PTR&R) agreement.

A ballot of more than 400 signallers and signalling supervisors in the Great Northern area between Doncaster and King's Cross over the same dispute will begin on Monday (March 3) and will close on March 13.

More than 500 signallers and supervisors in the North East area are also to be balloted from Monday in a separate dispute sparked by the treatment of a signalling manager in York, with the result also due on March 13.

"Network Rail has brought these disputes on itself by failing to honour an agreement that is one of the cornerstones of our members' conditions," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Rather than throwing hastily trained managers into signal boxes they should be putting their efforts into settling a dispute that is entirely of the company's own making.

"For a company that claims to be world class it is behaving more like a Victorian mill-owner.

"After keeping our member in York in fear of losing his job for a year the company miraculously him a suitable post after we told them we were balloting, but we have told NR that we need an assurance that the PTR&R agreement will be honoured in future.

"These are separate disputes but the principle in both is the same, and we are asking our signalling members in both the Great Northern and North East areas to vote decisively to defend their colleagues and their conditions," Bob Crow said.

ends

To view earlier RMT releases on this issues, please visit

Lincoln signallers to strike in support of colleague (February 14)
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101549&int1stParentNodeID=89732

Lincoln signallers' strike goes ahead
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101822&int1stParentNodeID=89732

Posted on 4:43 PM | Permalink

International Transport Workers' Federation: 27 February 2008

Hundreds of thousands of trade unionists across the world will unite in a day of action next week to call for the release of Iranian bus workers’ union leader Mansour Osanloo. To join in our local solidarity activity in Bristol, meet in front of Bristol Temple Meads station from 07.30 hrs, Thursday 6 March 2008 - contact RMT Regional Organiser, Brendan Kelly or call 0117 9255018 for more details.

Events on 6 March will take place worldwide, including London, UK, where trade unionists and human rights activists will participate in a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy. The ITF campaign day, supported by the UK trade union movement as well as Amnesty International, will also see a red double decker bus visit London protest sites during the day.

Solidarity actions, including demonstrations, will also be held at Iranian embassies, in cities, railway stations and at border crossings in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and Turkey. Other countries are planning activities.

The “free Osanloo day” is receiving particular backing from railway workers and their unions who have voted to dedicate a planned rail action day – which traditionally promotes rail safety – to campaigning on Osanloo’s behalf.

David Cockroft, ITF General Secretary, commented: “The Iranian government’s continuing mistreatment of Mansour is a running sore. He has asked only for his basic rights and has been answered with fists, truncheons and manacles – but he has not been forgotten. On 6 March we will once again prove that he has friends and supporters around the world.”

Mansour Osanloo is President of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, which has been targeted by the Iranian authorities. He is being held in Tehran’s Evin prison on trumped up charges. The ITF and International Trade Union Confederation have spearheaded the campaign to defend him and he has been declared a prisoner of conscience by Anmesty International.

Posted on 9:45 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 28 2008

THE £14 million fine imposed on Network Rail today is pointless and counterproductive, according to the industry’s biggest union.

The record fine, imposed by the Office for Rail Regulation for engineering overruns over Christmas and the New Year, will have no impact on the fundamental problems of fragmentation and reliance on private contractors, RMT says.

"At the very best this is simply robbing Peter to pay Paul, but taking funds away from Network Rail when it is has already seen its spending targets cut by 30 per cent in the last five years can only make the situation worse," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Recycling public money like this will not alter the stark fact that Network Rail remains dependent on a maze of profit-hungry contractors and subcontractors.

"The private sector has leeched well over £10 billion from the railways since privatisation, yet for the contractors it will be 'big business as usual'.

"The central problem remains that Network Rail needs to take proper control of its assets, and that must mean bringing its renewals contracts back in-house, as it already has with most maintenance work," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 9:36 AM | Permalink

The Press Association: 28 February 2008

Rail infrastructure company Network Rail (NR) has been fined a record £14 million following serious engineering work overruns at the New Year.

The fine was imposed by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) which had been investigating the overruns, the most serious of which was on the West Coast Main Line.

The ORR decision comes on the day that NR chairman Sir Ian McAllister, who stayed at home during the overrun crisis saying he would only get in the way if he went into work, is officially knighted at Buckingham Palace.

See also:

Rail fiasco? Let's shunt cash around

The Times: February 28, 2008
Martin Waller: City Diary

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is expected to hand out a swingeing fine today to Network Rail - where Sir Ian McAllister, the chairman, has yet to hand back his knighthood - for the appalling blunders that shut much of the rail system over Christmas. I am reminded that the company was fined £2.4 million for similar failings during Christmas 2006. The money goes to the Department for Transport. The ORR insists that fines send a clear message and may impact on executive bonuses.

Yet given that Network Rail is now back in the public sector, a fact admitted apparently by mistake by no less than three government ministers over the years, what is the point of transferring money from one public body to another? And when, may I ask, is the ORR or anyone else going to do something about the public scandal of a rail network, large chunks of which shut down over the weekend? Something that would not have been tolerated by British Rail.

See also:

Network Rail fined £14m for new year delays

Guardian Online: February 28 2008
Matthew Weaver and agencies

A Virgin Trains staff member with a commuter at Manchester Piccadilly station during the January chaos. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

Network Rail was today fined a record £14m for late-finishing line work that caused "totally unacceptable" disruption to trains over the new year.

The Office of Rail Regulation imposed the penalty for the overruns, the most serious of which was on the west coast mainline. But Network Rail (NR) has warned of further weekend closures of the line as the work runs far behind schedule.

Sections will be closed on up to 13 weekends this summer, as well as the Easter weekend, to finish the upgrade, which is 315 hours behind schedule.

Over the new year, work at Rugby in the West Midlands took four extra days, closing the line and forcing thousands of passengers on to coaches between Northampton and Birmingham.

At the same time, delayed work closed London Liverpool Street station and Shields Junction near Glasgow.

Announcing the fine, Ofrail chief executive Bill Emery criticised the rail infrastructure company. "What happened over the new year was totally unacceptable for passengers and freight customers, and to train operating companies," he said.

"NR is failing to manage major engineering work as consistently well as it should. This is due particularly to weaknesses in the company's planning, risk assessment and site management of projects as well as to failures of communication within the company and with train operators."

The regulator has ordered NR to address the failings and produce an urgent plan on how it can deliver the west coast upgrade on time.

The Ofrail decision comes on the day that the NR chairman, Sir Ian McAllister - who stayed at home during the crisis, saying he would only get in the way if he went in to work - is officially knighted at Buckingham Palace.

Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA rail union, dismissed the fines as "a merry-go-round of taxpayers' money".

"I would rather see the top directors lose their annual bonus for failing to provide a proper service for hundreds of thousands of passengers during the most important family holiday of the year."

Announcing the further delays, an NR spokesman said: "Like any company, we obviously have to look at how projects are going.

"We have looked at [the west coast line] and realised we needed 315 more hours of (line) possessions. That's going to mean about 13 weekends."

See also:

Network Rail hit with record £14m fine

Financial Times: February 28 2008
By Robert Wright, Transport Correspondent

The owner of Britain’s rail network has been fined a record £14m after an investigation into engineering work delays over New Year that left three major lines closed for days. Regulators also ordered Network Rail to improve its planning of projects so that such delays never occurred again.

The Office of Rail Regulation’s fine is the largest against a UK rail company since the system’s privatisation in the mid-1990s.

The regulators also ordered Network Rail to produce a robust plan to complete modernisation of the key London-Glasgow West Coast Main Line in time for a planned timetable change in December. Network Rail accepted it did not currently have such a plan, the regulator said. The highest-profile engineering work over-run, at Rugby, was part of the long-running upgrade.

Iain Coucher, Network Rail’s chief executive, said the company accepted the findings and the insistence of the regulator that such delays should never recur. He said: “We agree and accept the findings in the report. We will make changes in the way we plan and manage future work on the railways.”

As well as Rugby, where the railway reopened only on January 4 after originally being scheduled to reopen on December 31, engineering work over-ran at London Liverpool St and Shields Junction in Glasgow.

The investigation found that, while Network Rail had good planning and project management in place for the work at Rugby, it had inadequate site management and was unaware in some cases of the extent of the problems on the ground.

At Liverpool St, it said there had been inadequate assessment of the risks involved in the work to renew overhead lines at the busy terminus and inadequate site management, with similar results to those at Rugby. At Shields Junction, where installation of signalling went wrong after track work, there had also been insufficient assessment of the risks.

Bill Emery, ORR’s chief executive, said it was clear from the investigation Network Rail was failing to manage major engineering work as well as it should.

He said: "What happened over the New Year was totally unacceptable for passengers and freight customers, and to train operating companies. The weakness in Network Rail's management of these projects had a serious impact on all of them and on the reputation of the railway.”

Network Rail said it had taken steps since the New Year to rectify some of the problems identified by the regulator. It would be applying the lessons to major work planned for Easter. It would be also lobbying to change the decision on the fine so that the money could be spent on benefiting rail users instead.

Posted on 9:30 AM | Permalink

BBC News: 27 February 2008

Train services in the East of England are operating under a new name.

Trains across East Anglia will sport the new livery

One Railway, which runs trains across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, has become National Express East Anglia.

Events marking the occasion have been taking place on Wednesday in Norwich and Cambridge.

The company said it would implement a programme of improvements to raise performance and improve comfort, ticket purchases and station facilities.

Unloved brand

National Express Group chief executive Richard Bowker said: "The transition from One to National Express East Anglia is more than a change of name and livery, it's about how we do things.

"Directly tackling those issues which matter most to customers.

"We wanted a brand that makes sense to our customers and is easily recognisable as National Express - whichever of our services they travel on."

Guy Dangerfield, from the watchdog Passenger Focus, said earlier: "I think at the end of the day passengers are not hugely concerned what the train looks like as long as it's clean inside and out and runs on time.

"One was an unloved brand right from the day it was unveiled. I doubt there will be many passengers who will mourn its passing."

See also:

Rail growth buoys National Express

Press Association: 28 February 2008

National Express has said profits at its UK rail arm jumped nearly 30% as environmental concerns helped boost passenger levels.

Underlying operating profits from the division - featuring Gatwick Express, Midland Mainline and London commuter services c2c and National Express East Anglia - rose to £63.3 million after passenger growth of 6% last year. Underlying rail revenues were up 11%.

National's UK coach division - primarily the National Express network - saw revenues rise 6%, with 3% passenger growth. And bus revenues lifted 7%, with profits from the division also increasing for the first time in six years.

The company's bus division operates more than 2,000 buses, employing 7,250 people in the West Midlands, Dundee and London.

Chairman David Ross said: "It is becoming clear that wider recognition of the environmental credentials of public transport over the car and the plane is contributing to the increased use of our services."

Underlying profits for the group, which also runs services in the US and Spain, came in slightly ahead of market expectations at £205.6 million, up 11% from 2006.

Mr Ross said: "Despite the current economic backdrop, all operations have started the year well and we have seen no adverse impact on current trading."

Underlining his confidence about the future, he committed to increasing dividends by 10% a year for the next three years.

National Express said its c2c train franchise - which operates between London and Essex - was the best performing railway in Britain, currently holding the industry's annual average punctuality record of 94.63%.

The group's National Express East Anglia route - which has been renamed from "One" - also made an "excellent" contribution to profits as punctuality levels rose to more than 90% last year. The group said winning the flagship East Coast Main Line route between London and Edinburgh in December would strengthen its train business.

Posted on 12:36 AM | Permalink

Construction News: 20 February 2008

Network Rail is stepping up its selection criteria for contractors by asking them to take part in psychometric testing.

The results will be used to determine whether key staff at contractors are suited to working with the rail operator on major projects.

Network Rail's director of infrastructure and investment Simon Kirby said: "We are looking more and more at people's behaviours and how they operate. It's more important than the price of a job."

Bidders for the delivery partner role for the £550 million revamp of Birmingham's New Street station have already attended day-long assessments that have also included team-building exercises and interviews with Network Rail.

The rail operator also wants to ensure that the people assessed are actually those that will be working on the job.

One of the contractors who attended said: "They're trying to make sure they get the right team on board - that can only be a good thing. But sometimes they can end up with too much information and get confused about who should get the job."

Contractors usually spend three to four weeks preparing bids for large Network Rail jobs and the process is already an expensive one. There are fears that additional assessment could delay the tender process.

But Network Rail is sticking to the idea and plans on using psychometric testing on contractors bidding on the £3.5 billion Thameslink jobs as well as future framework agreements.

Mr Kirby said: "These are long-term projects and it's more down to people and behaviours rather than the bid proposal."

In future contractors will also be given more of a heads-up before future projects are put out to tender.

Network Rail wants suppliers to have a better understanding of what is required ahead of a job being advertised.

What is a psychometric test?

A psychometric test is a way of assessing a person's ability or personality in a measured and structured way.

There are two main types of tests and these look at ability and personality.

Ability tests examine numerical and verbal reasoning.

Personality assessments require candidates to answer multiple-choice questions on how they perceive themselves.

Analysis: Network Rail needs clear targets

By Lea Brindle

Users of psychometric testing need to be clear what characteristics they are seeking. For instance, being an organised team player might be considered a positive quality for successful contractors.

A psychometric personality test can assess these characteristics more quickly and more accurately than the average manager.

But Network Rail needs to be aware there are dangers.

For instance, how organised must a contractor be? If highly organised, they may be too inflexible. If too team-centred, they may be just a "yeah sayer" leaving everyone happy but contributing nothing.

Apart from psychometrics, assessors often use structured exercises to assess problem-solving, team playing or influencing skills. These exercises often fail because of the lack of proper training of assessors.

Contractors can help by being clear about their key skills and personal qualities and having confidence that these will be assets to the organisation, even if contrary to the managers' initial views.

Dr Lea Brindle is a chartered occupational psychologist and runs Value Added Business Psychology

Posted on 12:23 AM | Permalink

Western Mail: Feb 27 2008
by Rhodri Clark,

AN INVESTMENT of £32m of Welsh public money appeared to be in tatters last night as it emerged 10 rail coaches destined for the nation’s commuters will be moved to England.

A total of £13.2m has been used to extend station platforms in South Wales for longer commuter trains from April, while a further £18.8m will allow trains on the Merthyr Tydfil line to operate half-hourly instead of hourly.

The Assembly Government previously said it had secured nine Sprinter units – each made up of two rail coaches – to lengthen the busiest commuter trains from Treherbert, Rhymney and Maesteg, and for Merthyr’s improved service. But yesterday it emerged that five of those nine units will be moved to First Great Western (FGW), as part of a £29m package to stop the company losing its franchise.

Overcrowding and cancellations on the Cardiff-Portsmouth route have been a political embarrassment for FGW and the UK Government, leading some Bristol passengers to stage a highly publicised fares strike last month.

Those trains will now revert to three coaches each, thanks to the five two-car Sprinters that were destined for the Valley Lines.

They will be used in England, releasing other units for the Portsmouth line.

Conservative transport spokesman in the Assembly Andrew Davies said that was robbing Peter to pay Paul. “It’s taking much-needed rolling stock off already under-pressure Valley Lines to supplement the failing FGW franchise.

“Rolling stock is moving out of Wales. That’s a failure on the part of Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones. We learned recently that none of the 1,300 new carriages announced by the Government is coming to Wales. We’re left playing catch-up because we’re not on the field of play.”

Jenny Willott, Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, said, “If these trains are permanently diverted to FGW, it seems that the WAG’s plans have been hugely undermined.

“Train services in the Valleys need investment. To take the trains out so that the investment doesn’t do what it’s meant to do is completely counter-productive.

“They [the five Sprinter units] are having to prop up FGW, to help FGW achieve the service they should already be providing. It’s outrageous.”

Rail users’ group Railfuture South Wales said the Cardiff- Portsmouth service had more political clout in Westminster than the Valleys. Chairman Guy Hardy said, “It seems that the position of Welsh rail travellers is inferior to that of English rail travellers, and the Department for Transport (DfT) look on us as second-raters.”

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said the five Sprinter units would be sub-leased from Arriva Trains Wales to FGW. Asked if the DfT was involved in this change, she said, “I think the answer is probably no.” She said it was a matter for the WAG and FGW.

An FGW spokesman said, “I can’t provide you with any detail on that. It’s not going to be in the public domain.”

South East Wales Transport Alliance, implementing the £32m investment, said, “We’re concerned to hear this news and will be raising the matter with the WAG next week.”

From this summer until summer 2011, every Cardiff-Portsmouth train will have an additional third carriage to provide a 40% increase in capacity. But Vale of Glamorgan resident Ian Hume, a regular on the route, said, “It’s nothing to celebrate. Around two years ago the DfT took the three-car units on that line and redistributed them somewhere in northern England. That brought them down to two-car units, with only one or two three-car units for the whole service. There will still be overcrowding.”

A WAG spokesman said the lease of the five train units was a “short term” measure that would benefit many of FGW’s customers in Wales.

Yellow card for FGW

Train operator First Great Western (FGW) was shown a yellow card yesterday and warned it will lose its franchise unless it reduces cancellations.

The Government also said FGW had “misreported” its cancellations.

FGW operates services to London from Swansea and Cardiff, where Network Rail’s infrastructure problems have compounded delays and cancellations of FGW’s making. It also runs trains from Cardiff to Bristol, Taunton and Portsmouth.

The RMT rail union urged the Government to end FGW’s franchise now, for breaching the franchise agreement which took effect in April 2006, but Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly gave FGW another chance.

“The performance of FGW has fallen persistently short of customers’ expectations and has been unacceptable to passengers and Government,” she said.

“The £29m package of benefits agreed with FGW will make a real difference to passengers. It includes more than 500,000 cheaper tickets on the busiest routes, extra carriages between Cardiff and Portsmouth and vastly increases investment in the refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains.”

A new Remedial Plan includes milestones for reducing cancellations which the Department for Transport will monitor and review. It also outlines additional rolling stock and employment of more drivers, guards and technicians “to secure a more reliable service and drastically reduce the number of cancellations”.

FGW is also being issued with a Breach Notice for misreporting its cancellations.

Posted on 9:46 AM | Permalink

The Times: February 27, 2008
Leader Comment

A railway franchising system that is losing credibility

Stripping a rail company of its franchise is a serious business. Since the railways were privatised 12 years ago, this has happened only once, when Connex, the hapless operator of the Kent franchise, was penalised for its failure to run a service that met even minimum standards of punctuality and reliability. It took two years, however, to find a replacement for the interim state-operated service, and there is clear reluctance to go through the costly procedure again. By all accounts, First Great Western, operating on the old Great Western route and widely regarded as Britain's worst rail service, has now come very close to losing its licence. It has been saved only because the Government is more concerned to cut its subsidies to the railways than to ensure a reliable service, and has colluded in concealing the company's appalling true figures.

For the past year there has been a stream of complaints about FGW. Its trains are less punctual than any others, are often cancelled and are so overcrowded that recently a schoolgirl fainted because of the crush. Relations with its passengers are so poor that passengers have twice staged fare strikes, refusing to pay for tickets until the service is improved. The company is handicapped by operating on track that is largely worn out and overdue for comprehensive renewal. But many of its woes are self-inflicted. The management has been crass, a cut in the number of coaches to save money has worsened overcrowding and public relations need improvement. The Department for Transport has taken the first steps in terminating the franchise, issuing formal warnings and demanding improvements. And FGW has recruited a new management team.

It is now clear, however, that the company knowingly misreported the number of trains cancelled last year, falsely blaming unspecified factors beyond its control. This is serious, since a failure to run the full posted service is a key factor in determining whether a train operator is in breach of its franchise contract. If the poor performance triggers a default, the company's owner, First Group, could also lose the right to operate other franchises - which amount to around a quarter of all those on the national network. Collectively, First's train companies are contracted to pay the Treasury a premium of £2 billion over the next ten years. The Government is worried that, should these franchises be terminated, other companies would be unwilling to pay the high premiums that have already caused the collapse of GNER, and are causing real difficulty for some other operators.

Turning a blind eye, therefore, to the misreporting is the easiest way of avoiding a confrontation. The Treasury, though, is clearly worried. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor and former Transport Secretary, recently told FGW to “get a grip”. Passengers share his sentiment. But it would be better addressed to the Department for Transport and to the Treasury itself. The franchise system is costly and inefficient. It costs millions to prepare a bidding round every seven years or so, and those given a lease of as little as seven years have scant incentive to invest in improvements. Clawing back subsidies to some by premium payments from others is unreliable and often unfair. What are needed are transparency in regulations and consistency in operations. These are not helped by fudging the figures.

See also:

Ministers ‘helped train company to hide failures and keep its franchise’

The Times: February 27, 2008
Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

Ministers have colluded with Britain’s worst-performing train company to conceal the true extent of its failures and exaggerate the compensation package for passengers, according to a passenger watchdog.

First Great Western (FGW) admitted yesterday that it had misled the Department for Transport over the number of trains that it had cancelled.

The true number was so high that the company was in breach of limits set in its franchise agreement in the five months to the end of December.

Under the law governing rail franchises, submitting false figures is punishable by heavy fines. But Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, said yesterday that she had agreed with FGW that it would provide a £29 million package of passenger benefits as an alternative to a “monetary penalty”. She said that the package would be better for passengers than a fine.

However, FGW admitted that the package included “several million pounds” of benefits that it had already announced under another scheme to compensate passengers for running a fifth of its trains late. FGW said that the DfT had been aware that some of the £29 million was not new money. A spokesman said: “They were happy to give us the credit for doing what we had already done.”

Brian Cooke, chairman of London TravelWatch and a board member of Passenger Focus, said that the Government appeared to be protecting FGW because it did not want to jeopardise the £1.1 billion that the company had agreed to pay over its ten-year franchise. He said: “It is amazing that the Government knew about this several months ago but waited until yesterday to inform passengers and the publicly funded passenger watchdogs.

“It shows a worrying level of complicity and raises the question about whether the Government are the right people to be auditing train companies’ performance and statistics.”

The false cancellation figures came to light after FGW, under pressure from angry passengers who organised fares strikes, installed a new senior management team. An FGW spokesman said: “We blew the whistle on ourselves and we have put in place remedial measures to ensure the errors won’t happen again.” He refused to say how many cancellations it had failed to report. However, the DfT said that the figure was 311 over 11 months.

Last month FGW said that it would double the minimum compensation payable for long delays this year. Yesterday the company said that it would offer 50 per cent more than the minimum for delays incurred next year. FGW also agreed to offer 500,000 additional off-peak tickets at the cheapest price. A spokesman admitted that passengers were likely to have to book in advance to get the tickets. He refused to say how many of the cheapest tickets FGW had already been planning to offer.

The company has agreed to hire ten extra carriages from May to relieve overcrowding on the Portsmouth to Cardiff line and to employ more train drivers to reduce cancellations arising from staff shortages.

Posted on 9:20 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 26 2008

THE SPECTACULAR failure of the First Great Western franchise underlines the need to end a private rail experiment that has failed by every measure, the rail industry’s biggest union says today.

FGW is already in breach of its franchise agreement by exceeding cancellation limits, and rather than pursue a remedial agreement the government should take steps to stop the rot for good and bring its services back into the public sector, RMT says.

"Ruth Kelly has quite rightly declared that FGW has broken its franchise agreement, but the remedial plan amounts to little more than a £29 million sticking plaster," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"I have no doubt that First Group won't allow the package announced today to make too big a dent in its massive rail profits, but every penny of it will ultimately come from taxpayers' and fare-payers' pockets anyway.

"Rail franchising is a king-sized con-trick that is about taking public money out of the industry, not putting it in, and when things go wrong the shareholders walk away leaving the public to pick up the bill.

"That's what happened when GNER went bust, when Connex performed so badly it was sacked from the south eastern franchise, and of course when Metronet left the taxpayer with a £2 billion tab.

"Since privatisation the private sector has taken well over £10 billion out of the industry, yet even with public subsidy running at three times the level British Rail got, performance is still worse, fares are racing ahead of inflation and overcrowding is the norm.

"Last year First group told its shareholders that it had a 'clear strategy for delivering results', but like every private rail franchisee the only result it cares about delivering is the profit it can squeeze out of its passengers and its workforce.

"If we are to see the growing and affordable railway that the environment and economy need and passengers want, franchising must end and First Great Western's failure gives us that opportunity," Bob Crow said.

ends

FIRST GREAT WESTERN RAIL SERVICES

Tabled by David Drew MP and signed by 30 others at February 26

That this House notes with continuing concern the performance of First Great Western rail services; is alarmed that the new December 2007 timetable will see the replacement of exisiting rolling stock with inferior rolling stock which could result in slower, less comfortable and more crowded conditions for passengers; and calls on the Government to intervene urgently to protect the interests of passengers and to conduct an urgent and public review to determine whether the interests of passengers would be better served by bringing the franchise back into public ownership.

For an up-to-date list of signatories visit:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=34687&SESSION=891

Posted on 1:51 PM | Permalink

RMT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP: 26 February 2008
Convenor: John McDonnell MP

RMT Parliamentary Group welcomes sanctions on FGW, but public control is the only solution

The Secretary of State for Transport has today announced a series of sanctions on failing rail franchise First Great Western (FGW), which has breached its franchise agreement and been issued with a Remedial Plan Notice for its service failures, and a Breach Notice for misreporting its cancellations.

John McDonnell, RMT Parliamentary Convenor and MP for Hayes & Harlington, said:

"The measures announced today won't resolve the problem. The only solution is for this franchise to be brought back into public ownership.

"If we can nationalise failing banks, we can nationalise failing rail franchises."

David Drew, MP for Stroud, said:

"I'm really pleased that the Government is taking steps against this franchise, but actions must follow words. I praise the RMT Parliamentary Group and the union for representing the voice of commuters and the local community and we must now step up the campaign for public ownership."

-Ends-

RMT Parliamentary Group office: 020 7219 1626

The RMT Parliamentary Group has led calls in Parliament for the service to be taken back into public ownership, and has tabled EDM 546 'FGW Rail services':

That this House notes with continuing concern the performance of First Great Western rail services; is alarmed that the new December 2007 timetable will see the replacement of exisiting rolling stock with inferior rolling stock which could result in slower, less comfortable and more crowded conditions for passengers; and calls on the Government to intervene urgently to protect the interests of passengers and to conduct an urgent and public review to determine whether the interests of passengers would be better served by bringing the franchise back into public ownership.

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=34687&SESSION=891

Posted on 1:44 PM | Permalink

Bloomberg: Feb. 26
By Tracy Alloway

FirstGroup Plc, Britain's biggest train operator, may lose the First Great Western rail franchise if it doesn't improve service, the U.K. Department for Transport said.

FirstGroup was given a "remedial plan notice'' that demands that the train operator make improvements, the department said today in a statement. The Aberdeen, Scotland-based company also was issued a "breach notice'' for misreporting cancellations. First Group has agreed to invest another 29 million pounds ($57 million) in the franchise.

The Scottish company took over First Great Western in 2006 in a combination of several rail services. The franchise includes commuter trains into London and a route from the U.K. capital to Cardiff, Wales. The service, called "Worst Great Western'' by some passengers, is the poorest-performing franchise for punctuality and reliability, according to the U.K. Office of Rail Regulation.

"The performance of First Great Western has fallen persistently short of customers' expectations and has been unacceptable to both passengers and government,'' Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said in the statement. "The 29 million-pound package of benefits agreed with First Great Western will make a real difference to passengers.''

The company said it will invest in new train carriages, boosting capacity on the Cardiff-Portsmouth service by 40 percent. It will also increase the compensation passengers receive for delays and cancellations. FirstGroup also will accelerate refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains that link Reading, Oxford and other cities to London.

"Given that FirstGroup have invested more than 200 million pounds in the franchise to date, the cost of the additional measures are relatively small-scale,'' Ben Maurer, a credit analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland, wrote in a note.

"Nevertheless, the government intervention is clearly a slap on the wrists and failure to deliver on the commitments could in theory result in FirstGroup losing the First Great Western franchise,'' the London-based analyst said.

See also:

UK reprimands FirstGroup for Gt Western failings

Reuters: February 26 2008
By Dan Lalor

LONDON - British bus and train operator FirstGroup Plc promised to invest an extra 29 million pounds ($57 million) on its underperforming First Great Western train franchise after being reprimanded by the government.

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said on Tuesday she had announced measures to "address unacceptably high levels of train cancellations" on First Great Western, which operates services in west and southwest England and south Wales.

First Great Western, which by its own admission has "deep-rooted performance issues", made headlines earlier this year when passengers staged a ticket strike to protest about overcrowding, cancelled services, train delays and the rising cost of travel.

Kelly said FirstGroup was being issued with a so-called Breach Notice for misreporting its cancellations, and also a Remedial Plan Notice for exceeding the cancellations threshold in the second half of 2007.

The latter notice includes milestones which the Department for Transport will monitor, and failure to deliver these new commitments would be a default of the franchise agreement which could lead to it being ended by the government.

JP Morgan analyst Damian Brewer said while the action on First Great Western would help clear the air, it also "highlights the political risks in all of the UK rail operators" running high-profile services.

FirstGroup said it will take measures that include plans to lease extra rolling stock, provide more off-peak tickets at the most discounted rates, recruit new drivers, and invest in customer information systems at stations.

FirstGroup shares, which had outperformed the UK travel and leisure sector by 28 percent over the past 12 months, were down 0.3 percent at 596.5 pence by 0930 GMT, with the broader blue-chip FTSE 100 index up 1.2 percent.

FirstGroup stock has fallen 15 percent in value this month, mostly since Feb. 15 when domestic rival Go-Ahead Group Plc warned investors that the impact of rising fuel costs and reduced subsidies would hurt its full-year profit, sending shares in the transport sector lower.

Transport companies generally are having to face the potential impact of an economic slowdown after a period of rapid growth in rail passenger numbers.

On Jan. 9, FirstGroup reported that revenue at its rail business rose 10 percent in its third quarter, to end-December.

FirstGroup also operates the First Capital Connect, First ScotRail, TransPennine Express and Hull Trains franchises.

First-half operating profit from its UK Rail business rose 9.8 percent to 48.2 million pounds in the six months to end-September, out of a group total of 103 million pounds.

FirstGroup said overall trading was in line with expectations. And its fuel exposure for 2008/09 was now fully hedged at $76 per barrel in Britain and at $85 per barrel for the "at risk" portion of its North American need.

See also:

Rail firm promises to do better

Press Association:

Long-suffering passengers using First Great Western rail services have been offered some hope as the company running the franchise pledged to improve its "poor performance".

Aberdeen-based First Group said it plans to invest an extra £29 million on improved customer service and increased capacity.

Some disgruntled passengers using its services held fare strikes in January after being hit with a 4.8% average rise in peak fares.

The company, which runs services to Reading, Bristol, South Wales and the West Country, said: "The group acknowledges that the performance of FGW has fallen short of its own standards and the expectations of passengers."

First Group said the investment followed discussions with the Department for Transport (DfT).

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, who described the current performance of FGW as "unacceptable", has issued the operator with a remedial notice for cancelling more trains than permitted under the franchise in the second half of 2007.

The DfT has also rapped the company for misreporting its cancellations.

First Great Western will now offer more than 500,000 cheaper tickets to more popular destinations on FGW routes, and double its compensation rates to passengers this year.

Ms Kelly said: "The performance of First Great Western has fallen persistently short of customers' expectations and has been unacceptable to both passengers and Government.

"The measures I have announced today will lead to a reduction in train cancellations and also provide a substantial package of benefits to customers."

See also:

Rail firm ordered to lay on more trains

Times Online: February 26, 2008

Julie Boston, secretary of the Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways, protests at Bristol Temple Meads station (Barry Batchelor/PA)

Julie Boston, secretary of the Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways, protests at Bristol Temple Meads station over unreliable services and rising fares provided by First Great Western (Barry Batchelor/PA)
Times Online and agencies

The troubled First Great Western train company has been ordered to lay on more drivers and carriages and to double the compensation to customers it has let down or face losing its franchise.

The Government has imposed a remedial plan on First Group to bring its services up to standard after months of criticism for under-performance. The Department for Transport (DfT) also issued the company with a breach notice for misreporting its cancellations.

The Remedial Plan, whose terms have been agreed with the company, demands more rolling stock and drivers, guards and technicians, to “secure a more reliable service and drastically reduce the number of cancellations”.

In addition to the plan, the bus and train operator is to pay for a £29 million package of passenger benefits including doubled passenger compensation rates by next January, fares offers including providing an extra 500,000 of the cheapest off-peak tickets for several destinations, and more trains on the under-fire Cardiff-Portsmouth route.

First Group has also agreed to upgrade its station information systems so that passengers are not left in the dark about why their train has not arrived, and speed up the refurbishment of scruffy, outdated Thames Valley commuter trains. Angry commuters have renamed the franchise 'Worst Late Western'.

The DfT said that failure to deliver these commitments would be a default of the franchise agreement and could therefore lead to the government terminating FGW’s franchise.

Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, said that First Great Western's performance had been unacceptable.

Ms Kelly said: “The performance of First Great Western has fallen persistently short of customers’ expectations and has been unacceptable to both passengers and Government.

“The measures I have announced today will lead to a reduction in train cancellations and also provide a substantial package of benefits to customers.”

The service has at times been so unpopular that customers resorted to fare strikes in January after peak fares were raised by an average of 4.8 per cent.

In a statement, FirstGroup acknowledged that “the performance of FGW has fallen short of its own standards and the expectations of passengers”.

It said that performance in January 2008 improved after new measures were put into place, with cancellations at their lowest level for 18 months.

Moir Lockheed, the chief executive of FirstGroup, also that said its UK and North American operations have been performing well and in line with expectations.

First Group shares fell this morning by 14 1/2p to 583 1/2p after news of the remedial plan notice was announced.

See also:

FirstGroup forced to improve rail service

Financial Times: February 26 2008
By Robert Wright, Transport Correspondent

FirstGroup, the UK’s largest train operator, faces the threat of losing its most important franchise unless it abides by an unprecedented set of performance improvement measures imposed by the government.

The Department for Transport announced on Tuesday morning it was serving a formal notice on First Great Western, which operates trains from London Paddington to the Thames Valley, Wales and the West Country, requiring it to reduce the number of trains it cancels and make changes to its service at an estimated cost of £29m.

Ruth Kelly, transport secretary, issued First Great Western with a separate notice that it had breached its franchise agreement by misreporting the number of trains it cancelled.

Under the improvement notice, FirstGroup has agreed to lease more trains made available by other train operators, employ more technicians and drivers, increase the number of cheap tickets it makes available and increase passenger compensation.

In a House of Commons statement, Ms Kelly said First Great Western’s performance had fallen persistently short of customers’ expectations and had been unacceptable to both passengers and the government.

“The measures I have announced today will lead to a reduction in train cancellations and also provide a substantial package of benefits to First Great Western's customers,” she said.

If First Great Western failed to fulfill the terms of the improvement plan, it would be in breach of its franchise agreement and the franchise could be terminated, the DfT said.

Last month a group of West Country commuters protested against the poor puntuality on the First Great Western service by issuing 10,000 fake tickets.

First Great Western has regularly been the worst performer in recent years in train punctuality statistics published by the Office of Rail Regulation, although figures for the end of last year showed GNER, then operator of the East Coast Main Line, was worse. The franchise has suffered from a range of problems, including the poor state of infrastructure on its main line out of London and a nationwide shortage of the diesel trains it uses.

Andrew Haines, chief operating officer of First Great Western, said the company had put together a robust and realistic plan that set out its broader vision for re-establishing the First Great Western franchise and delivering good performance.

Tuesday’s announcement marks the first time the DfT has served such notices on a train operator, although the Strategic Rail Authority, which issued rail franchises between 2000 and 2005, stripped Connex, part of France’s Veolia Transport group, of its south-central and south-eastern franchises over performance and accounting problems.

See also:

First Great Western close to losing its franchise

Guardian: February 26 2008
Dan Milmo, transport correspondent

First Great Western trains at Paddington station. Photograph: Martin Godwin

Britain's least popular rail service, First Great Western, is close to being stripped of its franchise after it misled the public over service standards.

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly today ordered FGW to buy more carriages, increase passenger compensation payments and hire more staff or else the franchise will be terminated. The Department for Transport found that FGW, voted the worst service in Britain last month, misled passengers by under-reporting the number of service cancellations last year.

"First Great Western has breached its franchise agreement by exceeding the limits on cancellations, and also by misreporting those cancellations," she said.

FGW's reputation among passengers and ministers has reached a nadir after the company admitted that it had miscalculated the number of train cancellations between August and December last year. After blowing the whistle on the error, FGW subsequently accepted that it had breached the cancellation threshold in its contract.

Kelly effectively issued a yellow card to FGW, saying that failure to comply with a series of service changes worth £29m "could lead to the Government terminating First Great Western's franchise".

She added that instead of fining the franchise, which operates throughout the west country as well as the London-to-Cardiff route, she had imposed an improvements package including higher compensation for commuters affected by endemic punctuality problems.

"Any penalty would be paid to central Government. Having considered this carefully, and given that a penalty would not, itself, help passengers, I have opted instead for passengers to receive a better benefits package," she said.

FirstGroup, FGW's owner, declined to reveal how many "cancellations" had been misreported, but it is understood that FGW overshot the cancellation threshold in the run-up to Christmas when a shortage of drivers and crew forced it pull a slew of services. Sources close to the group said the miscalculation was "more cock-up than conspiracy" and FGW staff had not attempted to cover up cancellation levels in order to avoid a punishment notice.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of commuter watchdog Passenger Focus said: "Passengers have for some time been telling us about the consistent failures of First Great Western to deliver and our National Passenger Survey showed them as the worst performing train company. We have consistently fed back this information and pushed for improvements. We welcome the action being taken by the DfT and we will be watching First Great Western's progress very closely. Clearly if First Great Western cannot get this right then they should not continue with the franchise".

Andrew Haines, FGW's chief operating officer, told the Guardian last week that the company had underestimated the task it faced when it renewed the franchise in 2006: "First Great Western underestimated the scale of the challenge. It underestimated the strength of passenger feeling ... be it timetable changes, be it fare rises, be it service levels. It was a complex task, integrating three franchises into one, re-engineering and refurbishing a high-speed train fleet in three years."

Posted on 11:32 AM | Permalink

Department for Transport: 26 February 2008

The Secretary of State for Transport (Ruth Kelly): The performance of First Great Western has persistently fallen short of its customers' expectations and has been unacceptable to both passengers and Government.

I can inform the House today that First Great Western has breached its franchise agreement by exceeding the limits on cancellations, and also by misreporting those cancellations.

I can now outline the measures I have taken, and the actions I have agreed with First Great Western, which were reported in an announcement by First plc to the Stock Exchange before the markets opened this morning.

First, I am today issuing First Great Western with a Remedial Plan Notice for exceeding the threshold on cancellations which resulted in a Breach of its franchise agreement. In response to this notice, First Great Western will submit a Remedial Plan for addressing this level of cancellations. Discussions are at an advanced stage on what the plan will contain.

Second, I am also today issuing First Great Western with a Breach Notice for misreporting its cancellations.

Third, and importantly for those using First Great Western services, a substantial package of additional benefits for passengers has been agreed.

First Great Western’s franchise contains strict limits on delays and cancellations; specifies the circumstances in which the franchise is in breach, and more seriously still, those circumstances which constitute an event of default; and it sets out the remedies for correcting poor performance.

Every four weeks, the company reports the number of cancellations, and may claim adjustments to the headline number in line with the provisions of the franchise. My Department tests any such claims, allowing only those we agree with. Typically we reach final agreement on performance within six weeks of the end of the reporting period.

For the period ending in mid-September 2007, there were a substantial number of claimed cancellation adjustments, which were then scrutinised by my Department. Early in November 2007, before a conclusion could be reached, First Great Western informed the Department that it had discovered that it had been miscalculating the base numbers of train cancellations. Over subsequent weeks it carried out an internal audit of its method of calculating cancellations which uncovered several errors in the methodology, which First Great Western has now corrected.

First Great Western now accept that they breached the franchise agreement from August to December 2007 in respect of cancellations. I will therefore be issuing later today a Remedial Plan notice.

This requires First Great Western to submit to me a Remedial Plan, to bring the standard of services back to acceptable levels, and it will be contractualised as a Remedial Agreement. Material non-compliance with the Remedial Agreement would be a default of the franchise agreement, which could lead to the Government terminating First Great Western’s franchise

In order to prepare an acceptable Remedial Plan, First Great Western has committed to employ more drivers and other train crew, to deploy extra carriages and to implement a range of other measures to reduce the number of cancellations. First Great Western has already commenced implementation of several of the initiatives.

In addition to the Remedial Plan, First Great Western has offered a package of passenger benefits amounting to £29m.

First Great Western has already announced that it has doubled passenger compensation for this year.

But First Great Western has also now committed to the following benefits, as described today to the Stock Exchange:

* further improved passenger compensation from 2009 to 2010;
* an additional 500,000 cheap off-peak tickets on some of the most popular routes from April of this year;
* additional carriages on the Cardiff-Portsmouth route from this summer, to provide extra capacity;
* new, and additional, high-quality information equipment to be installed at more stations than already committed in the franchise agreement; and
* refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains to a higher standard than committed in the franchise agreement to commence this year and to be completed by 2011.

It is also open to me to impose a monetary penalty on First Great Western for under-reporting their performance last year. Any penalty would be paid to central Government. Having considered this carefully, and given that a penalty would not, itself, help passengers, I have opted instead for passengers to receive a better benefits package as described above.

The franchising system has encouraged good performance from operators, with many train companies operating above target performance levels. However, in the light of the errors in self reporting which First Great Western brought to light, I have asked my officials to audit reported performance on a risk basis, in particular for those train operating companies whose performance is close to their franchise benchmarks.

See also:

Improving performance on First Great Western

Department for Transport:

The Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, has today announced measures to address unacceptably high levels of train cancellations on the First Great Western franchise.

First Great Western is being issued with a Remedial Plan Notice for exceeding the threshold on cancellations in the second half of last year.

The Remedial Plan sets out a plan for reducing cancellations. This includes milestones which the Department for Transport will monitor and review. It also outlines additional rolling stock and employment of more drivers, guards and technicians to secure a more reliable service and drastically reduce the number of cancellations.

The company is also being issued with a Breach Notice for misreporting its cancellations. This stipulates the steps First Great Western must take to rectify the problem.

In addition a £29m package of passenger benefits, fully funded by First Great Western, has been agreed. This will address areas of passenger concern and tackle the high level of train cancellations. These include:

* Passenger compensation – as previously announced, between January 2008 and January 2009 First Great Western will double its compensation rates under the passenger charter. This will benefit any passengers who suffer disruption as well as season ticket holders who renew their tickets. These are the customers who have been most affected by the unacceptable performance. From January 2009 to January 2010 there will be a fifty per cent increase in compensation rates.
* Fares offers – an additional 500,000 of the cheapest off-peak tickets will be made available for a selection of First Great Western’s most popular destinations. Fares offers will commence from 1 April of this year until 31 March 2009.
* Additional trains on the Cardiff-Portsmouth route – from summer 2008 until summer 2011 every through train will have an additional carriage to provide extra capacity. This will increase trains from 2 carriages to 3, an aggregate increase of 40% capacity. This will mitigate the crowding on one of First Great Western’s most popular routes, which runs through Bristol.
* Upgrade of station customer information systems – new and additional high quality information equipment will be installed at more stations. This will include additional modern monitors. This will finish by end of December 2010.
* Accelerating the refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains – First Great Western will refurbish these trains earlier than contracted and will spend double the previously agreed amount. Refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains will commence this year and will be completed by 2011. Refurbishment will include the modernisation of carriage interiors to a far higher standard than originally planned. Lines to benefit will include London to Reading, Oxford, Newbury and Reading to Gatwick.

Failure to deliver these new commitments would be a default of the franchise agreement which could lead to the Government terminating First Great Western's franchise.

Ruth Kelly said:

“The performance of First Great Western has fallen persistently short of customers' expectations and has been unacceptable to both passengers and Government.

"The £29m package of benefits agreed with First Great Western will make a real difference to passengers. It includes over 500,000 cheaper tickets on the busiest routes, extra carriages between Cardiff and Portsmouth and vastly increases investment in the refurbishment of Thames Valley commuter trains.

“The measures I have announced today will lead to a reduction in train cancellations and also provide a substantial package of benefits to First Great Western's customers."

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. A Remedial Plan is a function of an operator's Franchise Agreement.

2. The Breach Notice has been issued under Section 55 of the Railways Act.

3. More information on the First Great Western franchise is available on the DfT website.

See also:

First Great Western

Posted on 11:18 AM | Permalink

Earthtimes: 24 Feb 2008

Budapest - Hungarian rail workers from the Railway Workers' Free Trade Union (VDSZSZ) will restart a strike at midnight as wage talks remain in deadlock, union chief Istvan Gasko said on Sunday.

Workers have walked out several times recently, the longest being a four-day stoppage in earlier this month, due to a dispute with Hungarian State Railways (MAV).

The union wants a wage increase of 10 per cent and a bonus payment of 250,000 forints (1,434 dollars) for its members, which it says is due after MAV sold off its cargo division for 102.5 billion forints.

The state-owned MAV however is only offering 6.9 per cent and refuses to pay out the bonus.

Gasko said the latest strike had no time limit.

Posted on 10:50 PM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle: 22 February 2008

Pressure is mounting on under-fire train company First Great Western over its services between the west and London.

The Government is continuing to express deep concern over the performance of the firm, which yesterday unveiled a management shake-up.

Ministers have revealed they have been bombarded with complaints about the firm, and are demanding improvements.

Only last week, Chancellor Alistair Darling told the train operator to "get a grip" - or risk losing its franchise.

Hard-pressed rail customers say they have had to endure severe overcrowding, soaring fare increases, poor levels of punctuality, and cuts in services.

And further criticism has now been heaped on the beleaguered rail firm on the floor of the Commons.

Responding to a question over the level of complaints made against FGW, Transport Minister Tom Harris said: "In the last 12 months ministers and officials at the Department for Transport have received many representations regarding various aspects of First Great Western operations.

"Ministers remain very concerned about First Great Western's performance, and want to see improvements matching those seen elsewhere in the industry."

A spokesman for the train operator said: "First Great Western is investing £200 million in its franchise and is refreshing all its fleet.

"We are providing more trains with more seats and urgently seeking extra rolling stock to address capacity needs.

"We have doubled our compensation offer in recognition that there have been performance issues and are working hard to improve our services.

"The benefits of our investments are beginning to show and First Great Western's latest performance figure is a punctuality rate of 85 per cent - six percentage points higher than this time last year - but we realise that our customers want to see sustained improvements consistently across our network and we are committed to achieving this."

The firm yesterday said it was "re-energising and strengthening its high level management team", with new appointments to five directors' roles - including customer service director and performance director.

Chief operating officer Andrew Haines said: "We've secured some of the best people in their fields to join me in turning First Great Western round. I'm delighted that they have shown confidence in our plans by joining the team and together we are determined that passengers will see real improvements in the coming months."

Posted on 11:54 PM | Permalink

The Guardian: February 22 2008
Dan Milmo interviews Andrew Haines

First Great Western has been voted the UK's worst train service. Its new boss has a huge task ahead of him

First Great Western's chief operating officer, Andrew Haines, in Paddington station, London. Photograph: Anna Gordon

Passengers on First Great Western are used to hearing the word "sorry" from Andrew Haines. The boss of Britain's least popular rail franchise sometimes gets an earthier reply from the most disgruntled customers on the rail network, especially when he is stranded with them on the 6.30pm from Paddington to Weston-super-Mare.

"Last night on the train we were stuck for 30 minutes and I had to listen to another customer's language, which probably even the Guardian would not print. Plenty of use of the c word."

Oaths have been muttered up and down the London-to-Cardiff line over the past year as FGW struggles with overcrowding, passenger protests and endemic tardiness. Last month it was voted the UK's worst rail service, hence its inevitable rechristening as "Worst Late Western", and the situation must be bad when the man who presided over the first run on a high street bank in more than a century, chancellor Alistair Darling, urges managers to "get a grip".

Haines was drafted in as chief operating officer of FGW by its parent, FirstGroup, five months ago and is working a six-day week as he toils over the franchise, alongside executing his responsibilities for four other rail services as the head of FirstGroup's rail division. He is affable, but does not exude sunny optimism about the franchise. This is in contrast with his predecessor, Alison Forster, who told the Guardian last year that "it will be a very different place in a year's time", adding that "it will be seen as one of the best operations in the UK rather than one of the worst".

Sat in a boardroom at FGW's Paddington station office, the 43-year-old Welshman mutters about finding the most diplomatic response to an impossible pledge. He outlines a turnaround plan measured in inches rather than leaps, starting with a lowering of the sights.

"Alison was clearly setting out an aspiration that, with the benefit of hindsight, was probably too ambitious and not realistic. There are big issues to tackle and we are absolutely on the right ground to do that now. But I will not promise that it will be top of the league next year. It will not be. My experience of business transformation is that it does not happen overnight."

Ripe language

Haines insists that the cussing customer on the Weston-super-Mare service is not representative of most passengers. Rail users angered at being shoehorned on to trains have registered their concerns: two fare strikes in the past year have made their point and FGW allowed hundreds of passengers with protest tickets, most of whom were season ticket holders anyway, to board trains. Haines finds the abusive stuff harder to take.

"You feel physically sick. I didn't feel I could do anything for that customer," he says, referring to the fact that their train was being held up by a service from another franchise. But Haines is not expecting a consoling pat on the back. Perhaps a little less ripe language would be appreciated, but FGW will lose the franchise if excuses continue to outweigh improvements.

Haines has prostrated himself since taking over. Stations on the FGW routes have been adorned with posters carrying apologies from the FGW boss and his team and passenger compensation has been doubled - 10% off their season tickets. Some of the excuses are sounding tired, no matter how impressive the promises attached to them, particularly the repeated references to the £200m investment in train and station refurbishments that are part of the 10-year franchise. The £200m investment was announced when FirstGroup renewed the franchise two years ago and many passengers argue it has not worked.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of commuter watchdog Passenger Focus, says Haines, a lifelong railway man who joined British Rail as a graduate manager in 1985, has the pedigree to turn around FGW. "He is universally trusted and respected throughout the industry. There is relief that he has arrived but it is a pity he has not arrived earlier." Smith adds that the £200m programme has been crushingly ambitious, combining the overhaul of 53 high-speed train sets with a £1.1bn government payment schedule that imposes hefty fare increases on fed-up customers.

"The task is huge, absolutely huge," Smith says. "The scale of the ambition was correct, but given the size of the task it had to be done quickly in order to get a return. First Great Western did everything very quickly at once. The company came badly unstuck, doing things too quickly on top of very shaky infrastructure, old track and old signals."

So, has FGW committed a fatal misjudgment in promising a miraculous performance? "I fundamentally disagree with Anthony Smith," says Haines. "But I can understand why he says that because our delivery has not been strong. If we are not ambitious someone else will win the franchise."

Smith insists that the sums don't add up. FGW has charged the highest fare increases in the UK over the past decade, but the £1.1bn contract with the Department for Transport, which defines timetables and carriage numbers as well as demanding a lofty premium, is constraining the company's ability to fix its problems.

"Everyone recognises that it was a bad deal," Smith says. "Is the investment enough or does more money need to go in from First Great Western, the government or a partnership? We are getting to halfway through the franchise and it's a question of who is going to blink first."

There is not much of a staring contest to be had when government railway policy states that annual public subsidy across the network will fall from £4.5bn to £3bn from 2009, while the farepayers' contribution will nearly double to £9bn. Haines says FGW will put more money in over and above the £200m, but won't say how much or where it will be invested, although FGW is hunting down more rolling stock. He adds that the "vast majority" of FGW's profits, which represent around a third of the rail division's £109m annual surplus, is being reinvested in the franchise. Haines won't reveal explicit figures, but one financial certainty in all of this is that fares will continue to rise above inflation into the next decade.

"We are all big boys and we decided to bid for the franchise. The government wanted to rebalance the contribution by taxpayers and we accepted that. Will there be some passenger pain? Yes."

More Trains Less Strain, the passenger group that called the fare strikes, believes the service has improved since the dark days of 2007, when FGW fumbled the introduction of a new timetable and failed to put enough carriages on. But punctuality - more than a quarter of all peaktime FGW trains arrive late - and high fares still annoy.

"It is good that Andrew Haines is there," says More Trains Less Strain's Peter Andrews. "We are pleased that he is a railway man, but until we get a franchise that is punctual, affordable and reliable, we will keep on rebelling. At the moment we are seeing none of those things."

Haines is exasperated at the group's plucky appropriation of the dark arts: "I agree to meet them and they put out a press release saying I'm 'rattled'," he says, before admitting that the company has become disconnected from its customers.

Network Rail has also driven a considerable wedge between Haines and the farepayers. The owner of Britain's rail infrastructure is responsible for maintaining a great western route whose track dates from the 1970s and whose signalling systems are a decade older. Half the delays on the consistently shoddy Oxford-to-Paddington section are due to Network Rail problems. The replacement of Forster was accompanied by a new route manager at Network Rail, confirmation that both companies had got it wrong since 2006. Haines says the relationship is much better and incremental improvements are being made all over the route, which covers the West Country down to Penzance as well as the Cardiff and Oxford routes. However, he won't put the boot into Network Rail. "Would it make the customers feel any better?" And he accepts that FGW got a lot wrong .

Under a microscope

"First Great Western underestimated the scale of the challenge. It underestimated the strength of passenger feeling ... be it timetable changes, be it fare rises, be it service levels. It was a complex task, integrating three franchises into one, re-engineering and refurbishing a high-speed train fleet in three years."

Government sources say FGW's performance is "under a microscope", which threatens the corporate and personal humiliation of FirstGroup being stripped of the franchise. Haines says he is a turnaround specialist who restored South West Trains from a much criticised business to an award-winning franchise within years. A former British Rail colleague, Virgin Trains' chief operating officer, Chris Gibbs, says: "Passengers should know that Andrew will be leaving no stone unturned in the quest for better performance on First Great Western, and should not doubt his sheer energy and personal commitment." That reputation faces its biggest test with this franchise.

"Is it a tough job? Yes," says Haines. "Do I have phenomenal support from the top of the group? Absolutely. Our customers can be mightily unhappy and I cannot say my wife is happy either with the time I have been spending on it. But I don't feel browbeaten."

CV

Born

Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, April 21 1964

Education

Cyfarthfa high school, Merthyr Tydfil. King's College London (BA). Kingston University (MBA)

Career

1985 British Rail graduate manager

1994 Joined Railtrack as an account manager in London and the south-east

1997 Joined South West Trains as general manager, becoming operations director in 1999 and then managing director in 2000

2005 Joined FirstGroup as managing director, UK Rail division, in July 2005

Family

Married to Caroline, with one son and one daughter

Home

Oxfordshire

Hobbies

Architecture, gardening

Posted on 11:49 AM | Permalink

Evening Standard: 22.02.08
Valentine Low

The boss of Britain's worst rail service has admitted the company did not know what it was letting itself in for when it won the franchise.

Andrew Haines, who last autumn was given the job of turning round First Great Western, said: "We underestimated the scale of the challenge."

He also predicted more "passenger pain" ahead and said the company's previous managing director, Alison Forster, was "unrealistic" when she predicted by this year First Great Western would be seen as one of the best operations in the country. Mr Haines, who is head of FirstGroup's rail division, recently had first-hand experience when he was stuck for 30 minutes on the 6.30pm from Paddington to Weston-super-Mare.

He told the Guardian he was subjected to one customer's bad language. He said such passengers were a rarity, but admitted he found such levels of abuse hard to take. "You feel physically sick. I didn't feel I could do anything for that customer."

FGW, which in 2005 successfully bid for the expanded franchise to run Intercity and commuter routes out of Paddington, has come in for criticism for overcrowding, unpunctuality and exorbitant fare increases.

Mr Haines said: "First Great Western underestimated the scale of the challenge. It underestimated the strength of passenger feeling ... be it timetable changes, be it fare rises, be it service levels. It was a complex task, integrating three franchises into one, reengineering and refurbishing a high-speed train fleet in three years."

Voted the worst train service in the country in a survey by the commuter watchdog Passenger Focus, FGW consistently comes bottom of the punctuality table. Recent figures showed almost a fifth of its trains ran late last year. It also regularly fails to provide enough carriages, resulting in severe overcrowding.

Since 1995 the average standard single fare has risen by 145 per cent, well above the inflation rate over the period of 41 per cent. When it raised fares for many passengers in January by 10 per cent, they mounted a fares strike in Bristol and Bath.

Mr Haines took over from Ms Forster five months ago as head of FGW, which came into being in 1998 when the bus operator FirstGroup bought and rebranded Great Western Trains.

Last year she predicted FGW "will be a very different place in a year's time" - only to be moved sideways to make way for Mr Haines. He said: "Alison was clearly setting out an aspiration that, with the benefit of hindsight, was probably too ambitious and not realistic.

"There are big issues to tackle and we are absolutely on the right ground to do that now. But I will not promise that it will be top of the league next year. It will not be. My experience of business transformation is that it does not happen overnight."

With the Government committed to slashing the subsidy to rail services and increasing the contribution made by farepayers, Mr Haines made it clear that fare levels will continue to rise above inflation. "Will there be some passenger pain? Yes."

But he also made clear that he refused to be beaten by the challenge.

See also:

Train service branded ‘Worst Great Western’

South Wales Echo: Feb 23 2008
by Abby Alford

THE First Great Western London to Cardiff railway service has been branded WORST Great Western.

Cardiff Central AM Jenny Randerson launched the attack on the rail operator after trains were hit by problems on 15 out of 20 working days.

But the company has hit back saying that while it has its problems, delays are often beyond its control.

“First Great Western is rapidly gaining the title of the worst train company in Britain.

“It is now the Worst Great Western,” said Mrs Randerson.

She said, according to First Great Western’s own passenger alert system, services in and out of Cardiff experienced serious problems on 15 out of 20 weekdays between the end of January and middle of February.

On many occasions faults led to trains having just one or two carriages instead of three or four.

On other days, faults with the train resulted in service changes. One example cited by Mrs Randerson was the 4pm Cardiff Central to Taunton service on February 13, which had to start from Bristol Temple Meads due to a train fault.

Mrs Randerson said: “This is having a serious affect on the economy of South Wales and I want to challenge Transport Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones to join me in condemning First Great Western. With the huge fare rises announced recently, this is just unacceptable.

“I believe it is time FGW was told to shape up or risk losing all of its rail franchises.”

FGW’s manager for Wales, John Pockett, said he was disappointed that service problems in addition to those experienced on the 15 days, were also included in a press release issued by Mrs Randerson. He said they had been due to track or signalling failures beyond their control.

“Not for the first time, she has gone running to the media without checking her facts,” he said.

“We hold our hands up to what has gone wrong, but many problems have not been of our making.”

No-one from the Welsh Assembly Government was available for comment today.

See also:

All parties call FGW to account

Reading Evening Post: 21/2/08

POLITICAL differences were set aside as Reading councillors united in their condemnation of First Great Western (FGW).

Lib Dem transport spokesman councillor Ricky Duveen signalled the start of the attack on the train company with a motion expressing the Reading Borough Council’s “dismay at the poor service and overpriced fares” and asked what improvements could be expected following the disastrous year of 2007.

He also wanted the council to invite FGW to a public meeting in Reading to meet “long-suffering commuters face to face”. His motion was backed by the whole council on Tuesday night.
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Labour’s Tony Page said First Great Western had been warned it was in “the last chance saloon” and could face the loss of its franchise if services did not improve.

Councillors by contrast praised the service offered by Virgin Trains.

Tory Richard Willis said Reading needed an “effective and affordable train service” and Lib Dem Daisy Benson pointed out FGW had the worst customer satisfaction levels in the UK.

Cllr Duveen’s motion said the council “believes that First Great Western’s performance in running the commuter route to London is well below par and that its fares are overpriced”.

He went on: “The council recognises the bottleneck that is Reading station and is 100 per cent behind the rebuilding project but also recognises that thousands of commuters should not have to wait till this project is completed before receiving a fair deal.”

His criticisms included the fact FGW increased fares by 9.5 per cent, taking the cost of commuting to 38p a mile or twice the cost of the cheapest routes into London, that it ran the most overcrowded trains at 8.2 per cent over capacity in 2006 and made £108.8 million profit in the same year.

After the full council meeting, Cllr Duveen said: “We are pleased that the council has backed the Lib Dem motion and will now organise a public meeting to which senior managers of First Great Western will be invited to answer questions not just from politicians, but most importantly from Reading commuters – the people who have been on the receiving end of such poor service over the years.”

See also:

Laws to meet rail bosses

Yeovil Express: 21st February 2008
By Steve Sowden

YEOVIL MP David Laws is to meet with a delegation from First Great Western tomorrow to discuss train services in the area.

The latest available quarterly statistics from the Office of the Rail Regulator show that only 83 per cent of First Great Western trains arrived on time in July-September 2007.

During this period the figure for peak time trains was 71 per cent, the worst of any train operating company.

Mr Laws will meet chief operating officer Andrew Haines and Julian Crow, operations manager for the South West.

Mr Laws said: "The standard of First Great Western train services in our area continues to be unacceptable, and I am pleased to have the chance to raise the issue directly with the company.

"Many of my constituents have written to me sharing their concerns about their performance, and I know that this is an issue which affects a very large number of people."

See also:

UNDER-FIRE RAIL FIRM PLEDGES PROGRESS UPDATE

Exeter Express & Echo: 23 February 2008

The chairman of rail firm First Great Western has pledged to return to Exeter in 100 days to give an update on his company's performance.Charles Howeson made his promise to business leaders at the Innovation Centre at Exeter University yesterday at a special meeting about the rail operator's running of the franchise.

The meeting was called by the Exeter Business Forum and Exeter Chamber of Commerce, whose members and other business people quizzed Mr Howeson and the firm's chief operating officer Andrew Haines about punctuality, reliability, rolling stock and staffing levels. Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw chaired the meeting, which came just days after Chancellor Alastair Darling warned FGW it could lose its franchise unless it got its act together.

Forum chairman Geoff Myers said: "We extended an invitation to Charles Howeson to come back in 100 days to advise us on what progress has been made. They have made some positive noises about their plans."

Derek Phillips, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, said: "The chairman apologised for the performance and agreed it was not up to standard."

Posted on 11:42 AM | Permalink

Middle East Business Intelligence: 22 February 2008
Hugh Tomlinson

Iraq's Transport Ministry has begun work on renovating a stretch of railway track from Bayji to Al-Anbar to link the two critical industrial regions of the country.

The line, which stretches almost 1,000 kilometres, will link the Bayji oil refinery in the north with the refinery in Al-Anbar province in the west of the country, via Baghdad. With the Bayji site working close to capacity, the refurbished line will enable crude oil to be delivered to Al-Anbar for refining, and for quicker delivery of refined products to the capital for export.

Work is also under way by the Oil Ministry to overhaul the Al-Anbar refinery, which is currently not functioning. The work should be completed, with refineries and rail network fully functional, by the end of April. No estimated costs for the work are available.

"This line will mean there can be much faster exchange of goods around the country," says a senior transport policy adviser to the government. "The work should be completed in 45-60 days."

Plans are ongoing to renovate and reopen Iraq's minerals railway network in Al-Anbar, enabling the transportation of cement and fertiliser to the rest of the country.

With Iraq's energy sector showing slow but steady signs of improvement and increased production, Baghdad is keen to establish a functioning rail network across the country. The government has budgeted $250m to get the five existing rail lines up and running. However, it has struggled to find funding for a proposed $10bn redevelopment of the nation's railways.

See also:

Railways of Iraq

Iraqi railway history

Locomotives and rolling stock in Iraq

Trams and metros in Iraq

See also:

Worksop firm helps rebuild Iraq railways

Worksop Guardian: 22 February 2008
By Jen Foster

A WORKSOP company has won a contract to help rebuild the railways of Iraq that the conflict has left in tatters.

Pandrol UK, which is based on Bone Mill Lane, fought off stiff competition from Germany and China to win the contract to supply and manufacture rail fastenings.

The world-leading company makes the fittings that fasten railway sleepers to the track and has become a major force in the industry since it was established 70 years ago.

“It is a team effort, pulling together to meet the challenge of developing railway markets and in doing so, ensuring Pandrol’s future in Worksop,” said managing director David Hampton.

“However, the railway industry is a challenging market sector and the Pandrol business cannot rest on its laurels.”

Pandrol has been long established in
supplying fastenings to the UK and exports to more than 100 countries across the globe.

About 150 people work at the Worksop site, just off Gateford Road, close to Tesco supermarket.

“We export about 70 per cent of our product. We don’t have much direct contact with Iraq as we deal with them through an agency,” added Mr Hampton.

“The Iraq rail network is going to involve laying about 200,000 sleepers and a rail fastening every 0.6m.”

“The country has adopted the Pandrol fastclip elastic rail fastening as its standard. It is a massive project and will take a long, long time to complete.”

“I understand that they are beginning to put our fastenings out onto the tracks.”

Other major projects for Pandrol include supplying Saudi Arabia, where they are building a heavy haul track to support transporting mineral deposits in the north of the country to Ra’s Az Zawr on The Gulf.

Posted on 11:35 AM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 21, 2008
By Mohammed Abbas and Haider Salahuddin

BAGHDAD - Like a stitch across a deep wound, the train between Iraq's two biggest cities reminds people of a more peaceful time before sectarian carnage nearly tore their country apart.

The service between Baghdad and Basra resumed with little fanfare in December after a hiatus of 18 months. Few dared use it at first, but word has spread of a safe and cheap journey, and railway officials are scrambling for funds for more carriages.

A man shovels the ground at the Central railway station in Baghdad February 11, 2008.

"There's been a great acceptance of the service ... People do not feel anxious. They're coming with their families," said Abdul-Ameen Mahmoud, the railway company's head of passenger transport.

The Iraqi General Railways Company halted the service in 2006 after killings, bombings and kidnappings intensified in the infamous "Triangle of Death", an area south of the capital through which the line passes.

Built by imperial German and British engineers in the first two decades of the 20th century in a race between Berlin and London to control the region, Iraq's railways were once a vital link between Europe and the Middle East.

The Baghdad-Basra line passes through a part of Iraq that became a notorious al Qaeda stronghold until U.S. and Iraqi forces poured more troops into it last year.

Attacks overall in Iraq have fallen 60 percent since last June when 30,000 extra U.S. troops became fully deployed and Sunni Arab tribal leaders turned against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda because of its indiscriminate violence.

Aboard the diesel-powered train, passengers settled in for the trip, oblivious to whether fellow travelers were Sunni or Shi'ite.

Women jiggled children on their knees and men chatted as the gleaming carriages pulled away from a spotless Baghdad platform, a picture of cleanliness and order in a country racked by chaos.

"Praise God, praise God for the return of the train. I was a bit afraid at first, but now I call on everyone to use it," said a man who gave his name only as Mehdi, traveling with his family.

VITAL LINK

Iraq has 3,300 km (2,000 miles) of railway track stretching across the country. The line reaches to Syria in the west and the railway company said it planned to extend it east to Iran and south to Kuwait.

The Baghdad-Basra journey takes 11 or 12 hours, stopping at about 40 stations.

"When the train goes by, people feel safe and feel that things are going back to how they were," said Colonel Ali al-Tamimi, the railway company's head of security.

"The railways are for all of us ... Do you think passengers declare their sect when they get on the train?"

Passenger after passenger praised the comfort of traveling on the train compared with stopping at checkpoints on the road from Baghdad to Basra, a grueling journey of 550 km (340 miles).

"First of all, it's the cost. And it's comfortable and safe," said Um Khaled, surrounded by her children, explaining why she was happy to be making the journey.

Baghdad's green-domed Central railway station is seen February 11, 2008. The train service between Baghdad and Basra resumed with little fanfare in December after a hiatus of 18 months. Few dared use it at first, but word has spread of a safe and cheap journey, and railway officials are scrambling for funds for more carriages. REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz

Passengers were also thrilled about the government-subsidized price.

At 4,000 dinars ($3.33) for a seat, the trip is almost a quarter of the price of the lowest fare to Basra by public minivan, the more common form of transport. A sleeper ticket costs 10,000 dinars.

The cost of petrol has rocketed to 450 dinars per liter from about 50 dinars before the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"This is not the true ticket price, which does not cover the service cost at all. It's priced low as a service to the Iraqi people," Baghdad rail chief Mohammed Hashem said. "They're tired of going by car and constantly stopping at checkpoints."

Passengers are searched before boarding the train and the railway company's guards in blue uniforms patrol the carriages.

Even so, only four carriages are available on the Baghdad-Basra service, compared with six or seven before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Hashem said.

A man walks along the Central railway station February 11, 2008. The train service between Baghdad and Basra resumed with little fanfare in December after a hiatus of 18 months. Few dared use it at first, but word has spread of a safe and cheap journey, and railway officials are scrambling for funds for more carriages. REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz

Since then, trains, stations and tracks suffered from sabotage, looting and coalition and Iraqi army security operations, the railway company said.

While services from the capital to Basra have just restarted, the Baghdad railway company has kept many other lines open throughout the violence, with some services resuming as little as two weeks after the overthrow of Saddam five years ago.

The company's 11,000 employees -- a patchwork of Iraq's ethnic groups including Sunnis, Shi'ites, Kurds and Christians -- have braved bombs and violence to keep at least some of the network going during that time, Hashem said.

"Truth be told, we never really stopped the service," said Hashem. "Even when the situation was at its most dangerous, we kept going. It's our job."

Posted on 11:26 AM | Permalink

AFX News Limited: 02.22.08

BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) - Hungarian police say they have opened an investigation into an alleged 7.1 million euro slush fund in the privatisation of the country's rail freight business last year.

MAV Cargo was sold to a consortium led by Rail Cargo Austria, the freight unit of Austrian Railways, for about 400 million euros last November.

The police say they will investigate the payment made to a small local company called Geuronet for mediation services in the run up to privatisation. They will focus on whether the money was used to bribe officials.

'The police have informed the minister of justice and have ordered the opening of a probe into (alleged) corruption in the sale of MAV Cargo,' said government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai.

The Austrians, together with their Hungarian partner GYSEV, beat off strong competition from a host of international investors eager to gain control of the valuable logistics asset in the heart of Europe's fastest-growing region.

Rail Cargo Austria, which mandated Geuronet, insisted today that the contract was above board. 'The sum was paid for real services,' Gustav Poschalko, a company director, told the website of Austrian weekly Format.

Hungarian state railways MAV said it in a statement today that it had never had any dealings with Geuronet. It said: 'we carried out the privatisation according to the law and with full transparency.'

A spokeswoman for Geuronet refused to comment on events.

Posted on 11:25 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 22 2008

A YEAR after the fatal Grayrigg derailment, Britain’s biggest rail union has renewed its call for a joint public inquiry into the Cumbria crash and the 2002 Potters Bar crash, in which seven people died.

On the eve of tomorrow's Grayrigg anniversary, RMT also renewed its pleas for an end the 'contract culture' still prevalent on the railways, and for a reversal of funding cuts that had resulted in tighter targets and increased workloads and pressure on front-line maintenance staff.

"The improvement notice served on Network Rail's inspection regime last December made it clear that experienced track-inspection staff were being hampered by systematic management failings," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"The contract culture, budget cuts and slashed targets mean that there remains too much emphasis on getting things done quickly and cheaply rather than properly and safely.

"Despite shabby attempts to point the finger of blame elsewhere, Network Rail's own investigation into Grayrigg and the interim accident report both pointed clearly to management failings and lack of resources.

"We need an inquiry into Potters Bar and Grayrigg with a remit that will include the structure and continued fragmentation of the industry

"I have no doubt whatsoever that such an inquiry will conclude that the fragmentation and contract culture have to go, and that the railways need a single command structure and proper control over both operations and infrastructure," Bob Crow said.

ends

Posted on 4:58 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 22 2008

RMT to ballot hundreds more to defend transfer agreement

THE FIRST of two 24-hour strikes by more than 50 RMT signallers in the Lincoln area is to go ahead from midnight tonight after Network Rail made no move to settle a dispute over the company's failure to honour an agreement covering displaced staff.

Signallers in the Lincoln area voted by a four-to-one margin to strike after a colleague with 33 years' experience was made redundant rather than offered suitable options, in breach of the long-standing Promotion, Transfer Redundancy and Resettlement (PTR&R) agreement. A second strike there is already scheduled for Saturday March 1.

The union will now proceed with a ballot of more than 400 signallers and signalling supervisors in the Great Northern area between Doncaster and King's Cross over the dispute, and has told Network Rail that it intends to ballot all signallers in the North East area after a similar case came to light at York.

"We made it clear to Network Rail that if they did not settle this within a week the Lincoln strike would go ahead and we would ballot every signaller between Doncaster and King's Cross," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Now we have a signalling manager in York being told that the PTR&R doesn't apply to him either and that he is also being dealt with under a procedure that has never been agreed with the union.

"This is shaping up to be a concerted attack on the PTR&R agreement, which is corner-stone of our members' conditions, and there is no way we can accept it being torn up.

"Network Rail has so far refused to settle this around the table and that leaves us with no alternative but to put in place ballots of our members in the Great Northern and North East areas with recommendations that our members vote for action to defend their colleagues and their agreements," Bob Crow said.

ends

To view the earlier RMT release on this issues, please visit
Lincoln signallers to strike in support of colleague (February 14)
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101549&int1stParentNodeID=89732

Posted on 4:56 PM | Permalink

Lincolnshire Echo: 22 February 2008

After Network Rail and the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers' union failed to reach a resolution, signal workers from 13 boxes across the county will be stepping down from their posts in the first of two 24 hour strikes from midnight tonight.

The second action will be from midnight the following Friday.

Union members will mount a picket line outside Lincoln Central.

They are striking over the treatment of a member of staff who has been made redundant from his job as a signal manager and forced to take a lower paid position.

Network Rail says it has contingency plans to make sure trains can still operate, but the union claims this would result in a serious breach of health and safety rules.

see also:

Rail redundancy strike could spread

Press Association:

A jobs dispute involving railway signallers is set to spread after a union announced that hundreds more workers are to be balloted for strikes.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union said a 24-hour walkout by 50 signallers in the Lincoln area will go ahead on Saturday, while hundreds more workers along the East Coast Main Line will now vote on whether to take industrial action.

The union is in dispute with Network Rail after claims that a Lincoln worker with 33 years' experience was made redundant rather than being offered an alternative job.

Posted on 4:51 PM | Permalink

AFX News Limited: 02.22.08

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Veolia Verkehr, a unit of the French utilities group, has won a contract to provide a passenger rail service in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state, Veolia Transport managing director Cyrille du Peloux told Le Figaro.

The contract is worth 500 mln eur per year over 16 years, the newspaper said.

The deal is a good victory for the business in competition with Deutsche Bahn AG and gives it a network close to the border as Veolia prepares to launch large-scale rail operations in France, the report said.

The group only has a limited rail business in France, including the line between Nice and Digne, ahead of the gradual opening up of the European passenger transport market from 2009.

'We have teams working on the topic and we expect to win contracts in frontier areas against SNCF,' du Peloux was quoted as saying.

Posted on 9:45 AM | Permalink

Press Association: 20 Feb 2008

The Government's rail White Paper is "not about helping the railways at all", a former British Rail safety chief has told MPs.

Instead, the White Paper was "about keeping the status quo and moving forward on things that don't cost a lot," said Peter Rayner.

Now a consultant and expert on rail operations and safety, Mr Rayner told the House of Commons Transport Committee that the Government had been wrong not to seriously look at electrification projects in the White Paper.

See also:

Rail strategy fails to tackle waste of privatisation, RMT tells MPs

RMT: February 20 2008

THE GOVERNMENT’S 30-year rail strategy fails to tackle the structural problems and long-term waste and inefficiency created by privatisation, the leader of Britain’s biggest rail union told MPs today.

Giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee, RMT general secretary Bob Crow pointed out that the government had ignored the committee's 2004 recommendation to create a new public-sector railway agency 'given all the powers required to manage the entire rail system'.

Renewing the union's call for the railways to be brought back into public ownership, he said that passengers and rail workers were being made to pay the price of privatisation

"The government's £1 billion cut in funding over the next five years will see passengers paying through the nose with increased fares, while train operators continue to make massive profits," Bob Crow said.

"Ever-higher rail fares and the refusal to develop high-speed rail north of the capital will not help the fight against climate change.

"Government plans to introduce 1,300 carriages and new high-speed trains should be a golden opportunity to protect what is left of British train manufacturing, and those trains should be built in Britain.

"There is no still industry-wide forum to address issues such as skills, training and staff assaults, or to discuss the report of the Railway Pensions Commission, and Network Rail's unilateral decision to launch an inferior pension scheme is an attempt to sabotage those discussions," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 9:03 AM | Permalink

Liverpool Daily Post: Feb 20 2008
by Barry Turnbull,

FAST-EXPANDING Stobart Group has branched out into luxury train business.

The Widnes company has launched the Stobart Pullman, a fine dining charter train. in partnership with rail operator Direct Rail Services of Carlisle.

Two hundred invited guests joined for the first run around the “Wessex Circular” last week around Basingstoke, Andover and Fareham.

Commenting on the launch of the Stobart Pullman, Guy Myddelton, rail director of Stobart Group, said: “This is an exciting time for us. Stobart is one of the most recognised brands in the UK and we are delighted to be extending the brand’s reputation for quality and customer service to the UK railway network. We aim to provide luxury journeys by rail throughout the UK to cities, castles, country houses and major sporting and cultural events, offering our passengers a unique and memorable experience.”

Tours are scheduled throughout 2008, and have so far included the Valentine’s Day "Chocolate Paradise" tour from London’s Finsbury Park to Cadbury's World at Bourneville in Birmingham. A trip to Chatsworth House from London Kings Cross is planned for Saturday May 10 and Royal Ascot’s Ladies Day on Thursday June 19 from London Victoria.

The Stobart Pullman is a charter passenger service aimed at providing luxury first class rail journeys through scenic landscapes in the UK. The tours will include silver service fine dining, and there are a selection of wines, spirits and beers to purchase from the on-board bar.

Stobart is not new to the rail business however and already runs freight services for some of its customers.

However the group is chiefly known for its fleet of Eddie Stobart heavy goods vehicles.

The company recently announced plans for a huge expansion at its headquarters in Widnes.

Plans are going ahead with 1m sq ft of new space including a distribution hub whilst another 47 acres of land has been acquired for future development.

It is estimated the group could create an additional 2,000 jobs over the next few years.

Posted on 8:43 AM | Permalink

Daily Post: Feb 21 2008
by Eryl Crump,

WREXHAM is set to join Virgin Trains network later this year.

Company bosses confirmed plans to run a weekday service from the town to London Euston from December if the West Coast mainline upgrade is completed.

The Virgin service – via Chester – will be in direct competition with Wrexham & Shropshire Railway’s (WSMR) services from Wrexham to London Marylebone.

Both services are targeted at Wrexham’s growing business community.

Chief executive Chris Gibb said the Virgin Trains service will leave Wrexham about 7am. The return journey will leave London at 6.10pm. Journey time will be around two-and-a half-hours.

He said: “The service would be operated by modified Super Voyager trains, with a first-class service which is comparable to that provided on our Pendolino trains.

“The Wrexham trains will run at 125mph with tilt operational over the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and London.”

Mr Gibb added the service is being introduced on a trial basis, and more services on weekdays and weekends have not been ruled out.

WSMR, a joint venture between the shareholders of Renaissance Trains Ltd and Deutsche Bahn Regio, plan to run five services from Wrexham to London each weekday with the trains taking about three and a half hours.

Fares for both services have not yet been announced. Plans to introduce the through service have been welcomed by Wrexham MP Ian Lucas.

He said: “From no direct service at the beginning of 2008, Wrexham will have two separate direct rail links by the end of the year, a tremendous vote of confidence in Wrexham.”

See also:

Virgin to run Wrexham to London train service

Wrexham Evening Leader:20 February 2008

THE announcement of a second direct Wrexham-London rail service has been hailed "a tremendous vote of confidence" in the town.

Wrexham MP Ian Lucas said Virgin Trains planned to start a direct Wrexham-London rail service from December this year.

Speaking in the House of Commons at the first meeting of the All Party Group for Rail in Wales, Chris Gibb, Virgin's chief operating officer, announced a return service would operate once a day – outward in the early morning and returning early evening.

The service is targeted at Wrexham's growing business community.

Virgin Trains communications manager Philippa Richardson told the Leader: "Monday to Friday, there will be a train departing Wrexham at 7am, with a return journey leaving London at 6.10pm.

"The journey time will be two-and-a-half hours. It will be introduced on a trial basis initially, but more serv
ices on weekdays and weekends have not been ruled out if the trial is successful."

Mr Lucas, who was present at the meeting, was delighted at the news.

"From no direct service at the beginning of 2008, Wrexham will have two separate direct rail links by the end of the year," he said. "This is a tremendous vote of confidence in Wrexham".

The Virgin service, via Chester, will compete with rival company Wrexham and Shropshire's through services between Wrexham, Shropshire, the Black Country and London Marylebone this spring.

They will be running five trains a day on weekdays, four on Saturdays and three on Sundays.

Wrexham Council leader Cllr Aled Roberts said: "This obviously shows the growth of Wrexham as a major business centre for north east Wales.

The council will continue to work closely with all railway operators to continue to improve railway services for Wrexham."

See also:

Rail rivals battle for Wrexham inter-city custom

Transport Briefing: 20/02/08

Transport connections with Wrexham in north Wales are set to improve significantly as train operators attempt to mine a possible untapped seam of demand for better rail links with London.

Open access train operator Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway (WSMR) is due to launch a London to Marylebone to Wrexham rail service (pictured) this spring, restoring direct train services to and from the capital that were severed in 1992 - although direct services briefly operated a few years later.

However, with only weeks to go until the planned launch, Virgin Trains has announced that it will extend a daily London Euston to Chester service to Wrexham, providing a second direct link between the capital and north Wales.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the All-Party Rail in Wales Parliamentary Group, held at the House of Commons, Virgin Trains chief operating officer Chris Gibb said a Wrexham-London Euston service would run from December 2008, subject to the completion of West Coast route modernisation work.

The Virgin Trains service will run on Mondays-Fridays with a departure around 0700 from Wrexham and a return journey leaving London at 1810. Journey times between Wrexham and London will be around two-and-a half-hours, significantly faster than WSMR's planned journey times of just over four hours.

The Virgin service is being introduced on a trial basis and the company says if it proves successful more services on weekdays and weekends have not been ruled out. WSMR has paths to run five weekday services in each direction with four in each direction on Saturdays and three on Sundays.

Chris Gibb said: "The service would be operated by modified Super Voyager trains, with a first class service which is comparable to that provided on our Pendolino trains. The Wrexham trains will run at 125mph with tilt operational over the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and London."

The operation of this through train has been made possible through the allocation of a fleet of diesel Super Voyager trains to Virgin Trains, which will be used on the new hourly London to Chester Service.

In his previous role as managing director Virgin Cross Country Trains, Chris Gibb wrote to the Office of Rail Regulation in April 2007 opposing WSMR’s application to run trains between Wrexham and London, citing performance issues. Summarising the company’s position he concluded: “Virgin Cross Country Trains does not therefore offer its consent to the operation of the proposed services and as such, objects to WSMR's application on the basis that, for those rights being applied for, are likely to cause undue performance risk to Virgin Cross Country services, as a direct result of limited capacity constraints...in particular at Birmingham New Street."

The Cross Country franchise has since been taken over by Arriva (Transport Briefing 12/11/07). WSMR is a joint venture between Renaissance Trains and Deutsche Bahn Regio, formerly Laing Rail.

Posted on 8:10 AM | Permalink

Ipswich Evening Star: 20 February 2008

RAIL minister Tom Harris MP has paid a flying visit to Ipswich to find out about the freight industry in Felixstowe.

Tom Harris at Ipswich railway station

He is due to meet with John Smith, Managing Director of GB Rail Freight, to tour the Felixstowe depot.

He said that while the freight industry is not “all rosy” capacity on the UK network has risen by 50 per cent.

As well as touring the depot he will be taken into the cab of a freight train for his trip back to London.

He said: “It is important as a minister responsible for railways and freight for me to go to freight industry events and to know how the industry works from a purely practical point of view.

“It's really important for ministers to get out into the industry and speak to people working day to day at the coal face.”

He said he couldn't comment on proposals to dual the line between Ipswich and Felixstowe as this is subject to a public inquiry.

He added that he has spoken to Charles Clarke MP for Norwich about proposals to dual the track in each direction between Norwich and London.

He said: “I haven't made any comments on that as it is for Network Rail to decide, but I understand the benefits that it would produce for Norwich and the county.”

Posted on 10:39 AM | Permalink

Sunderland Echo: 19 February 2008
By Ross Robertson

A high-profile House of Commons meeting is taking place next week as plans to reopen the Leamside rail line gather pace. The rail link was closed in 1992. Despite the theft of rails and sleepers, and other damage, the 21-mile route – which runs through outlying areas of Sunderland – remains largely intact.

Tyne and Wear transport executive Nexus commissioned a report into the possibilities of reopening the line, with trains running between Middlesbrough and Newcastle – and bringing a rail service to Washington for the first time.

Stations could open at Washington North, Washington South, Penshaw, Fence Houses and Gateshead East. It is estimated that the route could carry up to 2,000 passengers a day.

Houghton and Washington MP Fraser Kemp has been spearheading a campaign to reopen the route. Now Sunderland councillors are to try to bring a minister from the Department for Transport to the city to look into the proposals.

Mr Kemp is to host a high-powered meeting at the House of Commons on Monday with representatives from the Department of Transport, Network Rail, Sunderland Council, One NorthEast and Durham County Council.

Coun James Blackburn, chairman of the environmental and planning committee, told a council debate into the line: "I think there's interest here because we keep hearing 'Why can't we have the Metro out there?'"

He said reopening the Leamside line could be another way of better connecting people in the Washington area with the rest of the North East.

But he said the plans could only go ahead if they were feasible – and it was the committee's role to investigate them.

Coun Blackburn and the committee are now looking into setting up a meeting with a Government minister to discuss reopening the rail link.

His remarks came after Conservative councillor Ian Cuthbert, who represents Washington East, called for the Leamside line to be discussed by the committee.

The plans now have the backing of councillors and MPs from all parties, and the line was one of the issues looked at by shadow transport minister Theresa Villiers when she visited Sunderland in 2007.

Posted on 10:34 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 19 2008

AFTER TWO mornings of solid industrial action by more than 100 Wightlink seafarers, maritime union RMT today renewed its call for the company to negotiate over its imposition of earlier rosters.

RMT seafarers on the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route have been refusing to sign on for work before 05:30 since yesterday morning.

The action, which went ahead after the company walked out of last-ditch talks on Friday, has delayed early sailings on the route and has had a knock-on effect on later services.

“Our members have shown that when they voted for action over this dispute they meant it, and they are standing shoulder to shoulder for what is due to them,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“It is simply not the case that our members are refusing to operate 5:30 sailings, but what they do want is to negotiate the rosters and a suitable payment for earlier starts.

“That is hardly unreasonable, especially after the goodwill they demonstrated last year, and it is time that the company got back around the table with us to negotiate a solution to what is a very simple dispute,” Bob Crow said.

For more details of the dispute, view previous RMT releases at:

Wightlink action to go ahead after talks fail:
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101567&int1stParentNodeID=89732
Wightlink crews ban early starts over imposition of roster:
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101516&int1stParentNodeID=89732

For further information contact Derek Kotz on 020 7529 8803 or 07939 595 092,
or RMT Regional Organiser Peter Gale on 07946 386 762

Posted on 8:28 PM | Permalink

Railnews: 18th February 2008
Lindsay Durham

Freightliner Group has signed two new long-term track access agreements with Network Rail.

The agreements – which cover Freightliner Ltd and Freightliner Heavy Haul Ltd – will run until December 2016.

The longest track access agreements ever held by Freightliner, they enable access to the railway network nationally for Freightliner services.

Lindsay Durham, head of rail strategy for Freightliner, said: “The signing of these agreements cement our relationship with Network Rail and we are looking forward to working with them in the future to continue to grow our business.

“These agreements demonstrate further support for the future of rail freight in the UK following the publication of the latest White Paper, Delivering a Sustainable Railway, published by government in July 2007.”

She added: “The Office of Rail Regulation, Network Rail and Freightliner teams have worked closely together over several months to finalise the detail of these important agreements.”

Posted on 8:30 AM | Permalink

Guardian Online: February 18 2008
Robin McKie

A new high-speed route from Madrid to Malaga marks the final link in a luxurious rail trip from London to the Costa del Sol. Robin McKie puts it to the test and rediscovers the romance of train travel

Journey's end ... Robin McKie (right) in front of the high-speed Ave Elipsos Trenhotel, train to Spain in Malaga

In his book The Great Railway Bazaar, Paul Theroux makes an eloquent case for travelling by train. As he says: "The train can reassure you in awful places – a far cry from the anxious sweats of doom that aeroplanes inspire, or the nauseating gas-sickness of the long-distance bus, or the paralysis that afflicts the car passenger."

The train is the traveller's iron god, in short, though for devotees like me, there has been little to excite for decades. Apart from a couple of lines in the Scottish highlands, the romance of the British train has virtually disappeared. However, the Channel Tunnel has begun to offer real opportunities and the opening of the final link in a three-stage European rail journey - a new high-speed service from Madrid to Malaga - has now made it possible to travel, luxuriously and relatively swiftly, by train from the UK to the Costa del Sol.

The combination of the high-speed rail link from St Pancras, which opened in November, and the launch last month of a high-speed train service between Madrid and Malaga, has shaved approximately 10 hours off the journey from London to southern Spain, cutting it to just under 21 hours, including a comfortable night on the Elipsos sleeper service between Paris and Madrid.

More to the point, there would be no more airport check-in scrums, cramped seats, crap in-flight food, lost baggage and five-hour delays. Just the sumptuousness and relaxation of the high-speed train. At least, that was the theory.

And then there are the environmental benefits of travelling by rail. According to the French rail agency SNCF, my 1,000-mile journey to Malaga would result in my being responsible for fuel emissions of about 9kg of carbon. By contrast, 300kg would be released if I went by air. For the eco-conscious, that kind of calculation looks irresistible.

So, with my faithful train companion Bryn "the timetable" Davies, I arrived at St Pancras last Sunday for a couple of drinks at the station's champagne bar before boarding the 14.04 to Paris. After a brief Metro journey across the French capital to Gare d'Austerlitz, and an hour's wait in its bar, we were ready for our sleeper to Madrid on the Elipsos Trenhotel. Our Grand Class compartment had its own shower and toilet though it was still pretty cramped. On the other hand, the restaurant car was roomy, with silverware, clean glasses, attentive service – and good, freshly-cooked food (apart from the side dish of tinned vegetables).

After a dinner fuelled with gin and tonics and wine, we retired to the bar and, as the train hurtled through the night, downed a few Jack Daniels, and debated the perfect drink for a rail journey – with the Gibson cocktails, swigged by Robert Walker and Farley Grainger as they plotted murder in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, emerging as easy winners.

It was around this point that I realised there was a price to pay for eco-friendly travel. Bryn and I had by now consumed about 15 units of alcohol each, roughly seven times what we would normally consume on a flight. Thus for each 100kg of carbon saved, my liver had received a five-unit hit of alcohol.

The next morning, Bryn was strangely subdued; clutching a black coffee in the restaurant car as he stared out of the window. Arriving at Madrid's stunning high-tech Chamartín station at 9.15am, we took the Metro south – a half-hour journey – to Atocha, the terminus for Spain's high-speed Ave trains to the coast.

With its strangely snouted engine, the Ave is the acme of modern design: individual seats that can be swivelled so you always face the direction of travel; televisions and earphones; and a constant supply of tapas. The train left on time at 10.30am and glided at 250kmph over the Spanish plains as we dozed. It was an exhilarating trip and we arrived, refreshed, two-and-a-half hours later in Malaga in time for a long celebratory lunch, washed down with manzanilla and rioja.

It had been a great journey and I would certainly recommend Spain's Trenhotels as a stylish way to travel. As an alternative to the plane, however, it still has drawbacks. For a start the cost differential is dramatic. A rail ticket for a family of four, for a return journey from London to Malaga, costs around £1,000, a price tag that is prohibitive for most families. I flew back from Malaga to London with BA for £44. Bryn returned two days later on Easyjet for £26.

In addition, the connections are far from seamless on longer rail journeys. We had to use the metro to change stations both in Paris and in Madrid: no problem for a couple of solo travellers, a world of pain for a family with young children and a lot of luggage. On the other hand, the Trenhotel – which offers many other destinations, including a Paris to Barcelona service – brings romance back into train travel, and I'll raise a glass to that.

Getting there

Return fares from London to Malaga start at £271 in standard class, including accommodation in a four-berth couchette on the Paris to Madrid section of the journey. One-way fares from London to Malaga start at £150 in standard class, including accommodation in a four-berth couchette. All prices are per person and subject to availability. For bookings visit www.raileurope.co.uk or call 0844 848 4070.

Posted on 3:55 PM | Permalink

RTT News: 2/18/2008

Balfour Beatty Plc announced that it received a new £74 million contract from Network Rail to complete the remaining restoration and painting of the Forth Bridge.

By 2012, the bridge will be fully restored to its original condition.

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering has been undertaking the refurbishment works on the bridge for the past six years and its successful team will be responsible for delivering the new contract, the company said.

The company noted that the contract is set to mark the end of a modern myth when the painting on the Forth Bridge, which carries the East Coast Main Line north of Edinburgh, comes to an end in 2012.

Posted on 10:34 AM | Permalink

The Sunday Times: February 17, 2008
Dominic O’Connell

NETWORK RAIL is set to take a big step towards financial independence by surrendering the government guarantee that gives it access to cheap loans.

Talks between Network Rail, the government and rail regulator are yet to be concluded, but the guarantee – controversially given to the company when it took over the running of the nation’s railways after the demise of Railtrack – is expected to be axed from April next year.

Network Rail would then have to raise new loans on its own account. It would also have to pay the government a fee for the use of the guarantee on existing loans – in the same way that the buyer of Northern Rock will have to pay for government guaranteed borrowing. Network Rail has borrowed about £19 billion with government underwriting, and will have to raise another £10 billion over the next five years without it.

Industry executives said the move marked a big change for Britain’s railways, signalling a shift away from reliance on state support. The move could also have a significant effect on the public finances, making it less likely that the company’s sizeable loans will be included in government borrowing figures.

The Office of the Rail Regulator, which outlined the move in a report last week, said: “Raising unsupported debt represents a key milestone in Network Rail’s progress to financial independence. It is also central to our objective of improving the incentives facing the company. This is because it will introduce both a hard budget constraint on Network Rail and greater external scrutiny of its performance.”

Network Rail runs the track, signalling and major stations on the overground rail network. It was set up in March 2002 to take over from Railtrack, which had gone into administration six months earlier.

It has an unusual corporate structure. It has no shareholders, but is a company limited by guarantee. Oversight is provided by 118 “members” who have no economic interest in the company. Surpluses are reinvested into the business.

Last month The Sunday Times revealed unrest among members following the debacle of Christmas and New Year, when two of Britain’s busiest lines were closed by late-running Network Rail engineering works.

While the structure allowed a halfway house between renationalisation and a new private company, it made it hard to raise the billions needed for rail investment. To solve the problem, the Department for Transport provided a guarantee that assured lenders the government would step in if necessary.

But critics say the guarantee makes the company too reliant on the government and leaves it without normal private-sector financial disciplines. It is understood Network Rail proposed the axing of the guarantee to the regulator.

Senior rail-industry sources said last night the final abolition of the guarantee would not come until the rail regulator had determined Network Rail’s pricing regime and efficiency targets for the next five years.

See also:

Rail Regulator slates Network Rail for overstating revenue requirements and underestimating scope to improve efficiency

ORR: February 2008

Update on the framework for setting outputs and access charges and strategic business plan assessment

Summary

2008 PERIODIC REVIEW

1 Later this year we will determine Network Rail’s regulated outputs and access charges for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014 – control period 4 (CP4). We intend to publish our draft determinations on 5 June 2008 and, following consultation, our final determinations on 30 October 2008. The final levels of individual access charges and associated price lists, and the formal access charges review notice that starts implementation of our determinations, will be published on 18 December 2008.

2 Our overarching objective for this work is to ensure an outcome that delivers a railway that is safer than ever before, is more reliable than ever before, whilst carrying significantly more passengers and freight, at a cost that represents ever better value for money for users and taxpayers.

3 This document is divided into three parts. In part A we set out some further decisions on our framework for setting outputs and access charges (the methods we use to establish outputs, assess Network Rail’s revenue requirement and establish the incentive mechanisms within which Network Rail and its train and freight operating company partners will operate in the next control period).

4 In part B we set out our current assessments of Network Rail’s strategic business plan for the control period based on our work to date. This provides further detail to our initial assessments of the affordability of the governments’ high level output specifications within the public funding they have committed to the mainline railway for the next control period. We published our initial affordability assessments on 20 December 2007.

5 In part C we set out our decisions on Network Rail’s ‘early start’ proposals for the next control period thereby enabling it to proceed with some of these works now.

The Governments’ output specifications and public funding commitments for the next control period

6 The Secretary of State and Scottish Ministers provided us in July 2007 with the information about what they want to be achieved by railway activities during the next control period (their ‘high level output specifications’ (HLOSs)) and the public financial resources that they are making available for the period (‘statements of public funds available’ (SoFAs)). In our determinations we cannot assume more public monies than set down in the two SOFAs.

7 In determining the outputs and access charges for the next control period we will also take account of the reasonable requirements of all of Network Rail’s customers and funders, including freight and open access train operators.

The strategic business plan

8 Network Rail submitted the industry’s strategic business plan to us in October 2007. The plan contains Network Rail’s proposals for operating, maintaining, renewing and enhancing the rail infrastructure in the next control period and its estimates of the revenue it would need to deliver these. Network Rail produced the plan with its industry partners. The plan sets down their assumptions about the respective contributions of Network Rail and franchised train operators to delivering all the Governments’ output requirements. The plan also includes other outputs. The plan’s revenue requirements are well in excess of the public funding that the governments have committed for the control period.

PART A: OUR FRAMEWORK FOR SETTING OUTPUTS AND ACCESS CHARGES

9 We established the general principles of our framework for setting outputs and access charges in our advice to Ministers and framework for setting access charges in February 2007. We will determine the appropriate level of revenue that Network Rail needs to run its business.

Access charges are then set to recover this over the control period, less the grants paid directly to Network Rail by Government.

10 Network Rail is a GB-wide company and finances itself on this basis. However, we will determine separate revenue requirements for England & Wales and Scotland, in the context of the separate output and funding commitments.

11 Assumed revenue requirements, access charges and network grant levels are just part of a package. The other parts of the package are; the licence obligations; the full output and outcome requirements; the enforcement, financial and risk frameworks; the contractual and incentive arrangements; and other income besides track access charges. These will all be defined in our determinations and will form part of a balanced package.

12 We expect the balanced package to be considered and judged as a whole.

The licence obligations and the full output and outcome requirements

13 We consider that it is important that Network Rail has clearly defined obligations to meet in terms of specific outputs and outcomes it must deliver year on year and in terms of how it manages and operates the mainline network. There also needs to be clarity as to how compliance with these obligations will be assessed and enforced.

14 We are reviewing Network Rail’s licence to strengthen and clarify the obligations placed on the company that we will enforce. In addition we aim to improve Network Rail’s accountability to the train and freight operating companies and its funders. We will consult on the proposed changes to the licence in our draft determinations.

15 We have decided that the structure of the outputs and outcomes that will be required from Network Rail will comprise:

• Country-wide and, in the main, annual outputs (e.g. network capability and total delay minutes for England & Wales and for Scotland). We will set these minimum level outputs. These would not be expected to change during the control period. These would cover most of the outputs and outcomes necessary for Network Rail to deliver its contribution to the Governments’ output specifications. A failure to deliver any of these outputs would trigger the start of a licence breach investigation.

• Disaggregated annual outputs that will be set by Network Rail in the control period delivery plan that it must publish before 31 March 2009 (e.g. train operator PPM). These outputs must be consistent with the countrywide outputs. We will consider these outputs as formal reasonable requirements such that any failure to deliver any of them would expose Network Rail to a licence breach investigation. There will be a clear and public change process available to Network Rail to alter these outputs before the start of any year provided that the aggregate output levels remain consistent with the country-wide outputs.

• A series of monitoring indicators, which will include asset condition and serviceability to inform annual and control period judgements as to whether Network Rail is meeting its stewardship obligations.

16 We will set out specific levels for each of the country-wide outputs in our determinations.

Financial and risk frameworks

17 We have made decisions on a range of financial issues.

• We continue to support Network Rail’s proposal to raise additional debt in CP4 without government guaranteeing that debt.

We therefore intend to restrict the use of the guarantee (financial indemnity mechanism) from the start of the next control period through a new licence obligation. Network Rail will not be able to use the indemnity mechanism when raising debt in the next control period. Network Rail will then face a hard budget constraint and greater lender scrutiny of its financial and operational performance.

• Network Rail will pay the Department for Transport a fee for this indemnity to reflect the improved terms with which it allows Network Rail to raise debt. This fee will be part of the allowed return we will assume when determining the reasonable revenue requirements. The allowed return provides for debt financing costs (for both existing and new debt), the indemnity fee, a risk buffer (to enable Network Rail to deal with a reasonable level of revenue and cost volatility year by year) and a small ring-fenced investment fund (that in extreme conditions would be available to deal with cost shocks). We have set out the rules governing the ring-fenced investment fund.

• Network grants. Part of Network Rail’s revenue each year will be a direct network grant from the governments. We will fix the level of grant for each year of the control period as part of our determinations.

• Network Rail will be expected to manage normal business risks during the control period using the risk buffer.

• Logging-up. We are introducing specific rules for where Network Rail incurs higher levels of capital expenditure than assumed in our determinations. Where the independent rail reporter and our own analysis show that the incremental additional capital expenditure has been incurred efficiently we will log this up for inclusion in Network Rail’s regulatory asset base in the next control period. Network Rail will need to manage the financing of this additional capital expenditure for five years before it is included in the regulatory asset base and remunerated in future access charges. Network Rail will need to manage any inefficiently incurred additional capital expenditure from within the overall control period resources.

• Interim reviews. For major changes in circumstances and substantial unanticipated cost shocks we will retain the option for Network Rail to seek an interim access charges review. This mechanism provides for the two governments (individually or collectively) to carry the risks of these changes to railway finances.

• Capital expenditure outperformance. For capital expenditure outperformance Network Rail will retain the benefit for a period of five years irrespective of when the saving is made.

After five years the lower level of capital expenditure will be reflected in the regulatory asset base.

18 In addition, we have made decisions on the following detailed cost and financial issues.

• We will treat pensions as a normal operating expenditure item.

• We will make specific assumptions on Network Rail’s corporation tax liabilities in our determination (adjusting for any double counting of payments made to Network Rail in the current control period).

• Indexation. General inflation risk will be carried by the governments as we will provide for the access charges and grants levels to adjusted year by year to reflect actual movements in the retail price index (RPI).

Contractual and incentive arrangements

19 We consider that the best outcomes for passengers, freight customers and the taxpayer will only be delivered if Network Rail and all its industry partners work together to improve railway services. To this end we will align the incentives between the parties as set out below.

• Output fine-tuning. We will adopt the proposals to allow fine-tuning of the required government outputs between Network Rail and train operating companies where subsequent work shows that better outcomes will be achieved than set down in Network Rail’s control period delivery plan. The finetuning will be decided through commercial negotiations between Network Rail and relevant train operators. We will ensure that the change mechanism we establish for Network Rail’s control period delivery plan is consistent with and facilitates this fine-tuning.

• We will implement an outperformance benefit-sharing mechanism, on the basis of the proposals made by the industry to us. In recognition of the commitments of the train and freight operators to work with Network Rail to achieve and then out-perform the regulatory settlement. Network Rail will share a proportion of all of its outperformance with them. Initially the sharing will be at a countrywide level (separately for England & Wales and Scotland) with annual payments to operators in cash following confirmation from us that there has been the claimed outperformance.

• Volume incentive. We will continue with a volume incentive mechanism in the next control period to encourage and reward Network Rail for responding positively where demand levels exceed those assumed in our determinations.

20 Schedule 8 / performance regime: Industry working groups are carrying out work to improve the effectiveness of the performance regimes for passenger and freight operators. In order to provide correct price signals, the performance benchmarks and payment rates in the regimes are being updated for the next control period.

21 Schedule 4 / possessions regime. Working together, the industry has submitted to us broadly agreed proposals for improvements to the regime for compensation for possessions for passenger train operators. Work is still underway to develop proposals for freight operators.

Structure of access charges

22 We have reviewed Network Rail’s proposals on how to structure access charges. We have decided:
• not to implement route based variable charges or reservation charges in the next control period; and
• to implement separate variable usage charge price lists for England & Wales and Scotland given the material differential in variable usage costs.

23 We accept the principles of Network Rail’s proposals for including the long-term stations charge as part of the fixed charge, but we are doing further work to address detailed issues.

Consultation

24 There are two specific issues that we are consulting on in this part of the document:

• our proposed approach to the rules governing the ring-fenced fund and the interaction with the re-opener provisions (set out in chapter 4); and

• our proposed approach to making changes to Network Rail’s revenue requirement within the control period in line with any incremental (or decremental) changes that English Passenger Transport Executives and Transport for London might make to the level of rail services (set out in chapter 6).

25 We welcome your views on these issues, and any other comments you may want to make, by 28 March 2008.

PART B: OUR CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF THE STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN

26 Network Rail submitted the industry’s strategic business plan to us in late October 2007. We have engaged closely with Network Rail to understand fully its proposals and all its material assumptions. The plan, together with additional information we expect from Network Rail in early April will provide the basis for our draft determinations in early June.

Our initial assessments of the affordability of the governments’ output specifications

27 On 20 December 2007 we wrote to both governments that we considered there is a high likelihood that the governments’ output specifications can be accommodated within the funds they have committed to the railways for the next control period. Our preliminary judgements were based on our initial analysis of the plan and in part B of this document we set down more detail of these judgements and the areas of weakness we perceive in the plan.

Key points from our initial assessment

28 The plan is a considerable improvement on Network Rail’s earlier initial strategic business plan (July 2006). Network Rail has made good progress in a number of areas, including developing some of its asset policies and its infrastructure cost model. We note there are some categories of renewals activity, e.g. track, which are better substantiated than others.

29 However, we are concerned that there are many parts of the plan that we do not consider robust or sufficiently well justified to enable us to use them without making material adjustments in our determinations.

30 The key points from our initial assessment of the plan are set out below.

• Performance. Network Rail has set out a plan to achieve the outputs required by the governments in their output specifications. However, the plans do not represent a clear and robust approach. In particular, Network Rail included significant proposed capital expenditure to achieve the government’s performance target in England & Wales which is poorly justified.

• Safety. The plan sets out the proposals for delivery of the government’s safety specification of a 3% reduction of the risk to passenger and workforce over the control period. We do not consider that delivering this presents any insurmountable concerns. We will monitor delivery during the control period.

The plan also contains proposals for some significant changes in the way Network Rail runs its business which will present health and safety challenges. We are examining these and expect to have closed out the majority of these ahead of our draft determinations.

Where we have any remaining concerns we will include them in our intervention plans during the next control period.

• Expenditure. As noted above we consider the plans for track renewals are better justified than other areas of expenditure, including operating expenditure, structures renewals and operational property, which are poorly developed. We are also concerned by the lack of progress of schemes through the early stages of Network Rail’s project development procedures evidenced by lack of detail on scope and cost estimates.

• Scope for efficiency improvement. We consider that Network Rail has significantly underestimated the scope for it to improve its efficiency in the next control period. Based on our analysis to date, Network Rail may be at least 30% less efficient than the average of other European rail infrastructure managers.

• Deliverability. At this stage of our assessment we are not fully convinced that Network Rail is able to demonstrate how it will be able to deliver the significant level of renewal and enhancement work required in the next control period in a timely and efficient way, without causing disruption to its customers. We are doing further work to examine this ahead of our draft determinations.

31 Revenue requirements. The outcome of our initial assessment is that we consider that Network Rail has significantly overstated its revenue requirements for the next control period.

PART C: OUR DECISIONS ON NETWORK RAIL’S EARLY START PROPOSALS

32 We all want to avoid any hiatus in progressing improvements on the railway as we make decisions on the overall control period requirement this year. Therefore, Network Rail included in the plan the outputs it proposes for early start decisions on the funding for the first year of the next control period. We set out in part C our assessment of the proposals and our decisions on those that can proceed now.

33 We are approving early start for a range of work now and expect to announce our decisions on further early start work in our draft determinations. Our current views on the enhancement scheme proposals are summarised below:

• Airdrie to Bathgate – yes, subject to no major issues with the output / funding match.

• Kings Cross – not at this stage, we expect to be able to confirm in our draft determinations.

• Thameslink – yes, subject to no major issues with the output / funding match.

• Reading, Birmingham New Street, SW main line 10 car, Bletchley-Milton Keynes and North London Line: subject to further information from Network Rail we expect to be able to confirm in our draft determinations.

• Network Rail discretionary fund – we support a continuation of the fund in the next control period.

• National stations improvement programme – we can confirm the first tranche of projects on this joint Network Rail / train operating company initiative.

• Access for all – we confirm our support for the continuation of this programme, which is governed by a protocol and funded through an existing, ongoing capped annual expenditure allowance.

Posted on 11:36 AM | Permalink

The Observer: February 17 2008
Simon Reeve

Following the Tropic of Capricorn through the jungles of Madagascar for his new TV series, Simon Reeve discovered one of the world's great train journeys - and learnt how the railway is itself protecting the forest from destruction

As the rusty wheezing, old train rumbled into the long, dark tunnel in Madagascar's central highlands, its wheels clacked like giant false teeth. Emerging into light, the tracks groaned and creaked unnervingly as the train screeched round corners.

Standing at the very front of the locomotive, on a ledge between the pounding diesel engine and the cowcatcher, which sweeps stray zebu cattle off the tracks, was an experience similar to being on the front of a giant, ageing rollercoaster.

'Whoah!' I screamed, leaning forward beyond the railing with a half-crazed look on my face. With the rushing wind making my hair stand on end, I must have looked like I'd been electrocuted.

The train was crossing Madagascar from the central highland town of Fianarantsoa to Manakara on the eastern coast. It is a journey of just 101 miles, but the spectacular route teeters along viaducts, crosses more than 60 bridges, cuts through steep-sided jungle valleys and rockets down the world's third-steepest railway incline. It must surely rate as one of the world's great train journeys.

This rollercoaster ride along the Fianarantsoa Côte Est (FCE) railway line was a highlight of my journey across Madagascar, an island with an abundance of extraordinary sights. The rail trip was, in fact, one of the highlights of a series of long journeys I took around the planet last year as I zigzagged along the Tropic of Capricorn for a BBC TV series. Months of travel took me through Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.

The Capricorn journey was a natural sequel to an earlier trip I took around the Equator. I contracted malaria on that adventure, but still fell in love with the tropics. This thick band of life, bordered by the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn in the northern and southern hemispheres, contains most of our natural biodiversity, along with the greatest concentration of human suffering.

I had seen buckets of both by the time the team and I arrived in Madagascar, fresh from benighted Mozambique. Crossing southern Africa, we had passed through the Namib and Kalahari deserts, explored the Okavango Delta, been surrounded by hungry cheetahs, witnessed an ancient Holy Fire ceremony and watched trained giant rats sniffing for landmines. But Madagascar had offerings to stun and surprise even the weariest of travellers.

I was completely taken aback by the beauty of this remote island, the fourth- largest in the world. Cut off from the rest of the planet for millions of years, its plants and animals have had an age to evolve into uniquely Madagascan creatures.

Isolation has fostered eccentricity. There are devilish aye-ayes and endangered lemurs that range from mysterious shadows with thumb-sized heads, to the giant howling indri. More than 95 per cent of the reptiles and amphibians on Madagascar are unique to the island, along with countless other creatures, absurd and magnificent, that crawl, slither, walk, swim and fly. Madagascar has more than half the world's chameleon species, and 200,000 species of flora and fauna, more than 90 per cent of which are endemic. They help make the island the second most biologically diverse country on the planet after Brazil. It is a shining jewel in the Indian Ocean. Or at least it should be.

In recent decades tavy, a basic form of slash-and-burn farming practised by the rural poor, has helped destroy 90 per cent of Madagascar's forests. Travelling by road across Madagascar, close to the Tropic of Capricorn, it was impossible to ignore the deforestation. We drove from the west coast, eventually reaching the Central Highlands, arriving in the town of Fianarantsoa, a bustling hill town with a delightful old quarter of cobbled streets and ramshackle houses. Part fairytale, part old France, the sum total was uniquely Madagascan.

I had already travelled by horse, car, four-wheel-drive, aeroplane, taxi, bus, ferry and boat along Capricorn. It was time for my train ride.

We arrived at the station at 6am, just in time to find a place in a long queue. There were three carriages on the FCE train, and two distinct groups of travellers: Madagascans, journeying deep into the highlands, booked tickets for two second-class carriages; foreign backpackers, mostly French, bought seats in the marginally better first-class coach. I had planned to travel with the locals, but then I was reminded that the journey can take 10 hours. I had a look in the shabby carriages and reconsidered.

The train was due to leave at 7am, but the locomotive was still in a shed, being repaired. We waited. And waited. Eventually we were told the train would not be leaving until 10.30am. While Malagasy passengers wore resigned looks, foreign travellers dozed on the platform, sunned themselves and played with the child postcard-sellers, who viewed the delay as a business opportunity.

Several more hours passed. Then the engine whistled from the shed. A smoking red locomotive slowly emerged, backing towards the three carriages. We piled on board, and finally left the station with a toot and a cheer.

Heading into the hills took us through endless acres of slash and burn. Tavy remains a blot on Madagascar, but it cannot mask the beauty of the highlands. The train crossed a bridge over a lazy river with the feel of the Mekong Delta. Villages around the tracks were remote, desperately poor, and reached by well-trodden footpaths that criss-crossed the red soil.

Then we pulled into the first hill station along our route. It was a tiny place set among banana plants, but hundreds of people crowded around the tracks and station. Half were waiting to board, with a steely determination forged by a combination of tropical heat and a rare train arriving hours late. Before the train had even stopped, they fought their way through the doors. Passengers desperate to leave the train popped out between the clambering hordes like corks from a bottle.

Then a second wave of attacks began. Scores of women and barefoot children targeted the passengers, lifting trays of bananas, cakes and bottles of water to the open windows. One of the train guards tried to keep sellers away from the première-classe carriage. Out of sight on the other side of the train, a platoon outflanked him, led by a colossal, beaming woman wearing a bright flowery orange dress and wielding a tray of bananas. The guard spotted her too late and moved to intercept. She swept him aside, climbed into the carriage and waddled through, offering her wares.

When the blood-letting calmed, I hopped off the train to stretch my legs. I was idly examining some coffee beans drying on a flat-top carriage in a siding when the train suddenly began to move. I thought it was just shuffling forward. But it kept moving. I started to walk after it. The train picked up speed. Throwing British reserve aside, I legged it down the track after the final carriage, much to the amusement of the scores of locals still milling around the station. Hands reached down from the back of the train and I was pulled, giggling and not a little embarrassed, onto the back steps.

Over the next few hours we travelled with the driver inside the loco engine, among tourists above the cowcatcher on the front of the train (we paid a 'special fee' for the privilege), and with the Malagasy in second class, where conditions could be charitably described as squashed.

We paused in a village to load more bananas and within two minutes it was advanced dusk. No preamble. Within moments it was dark inside the train. An electrical problem meant we could have either lights in the carriages or headlamps so the driver could see where we were going. There was no contest.

By 7pm we were travelling in complete darkness and I could see other passengers only as silhouettes. Every 10 minutes our train was stopping for huge bunches of bananas to be loaded - in such a leisurely fashion that the French travellers and I decided to help. Worst of all, an overpowering smell of pee permeated our carriage from a single toilet with the internal appearance of the pub convenience in Trainspotting. My enthusiasm for the journey briefly waned.

But then I looked out of the window. Hundreds of fireflies were flitting across a starry sky. We pulled into another station for yet more bananas, which were loaded into an entirely new cattle truck acquired at the back of the train. On the platform, lit by candles, locals were running a small shop on a wooden table, with bananas, crisps and a few beers arranged with precision and pride. Children on the platform began singing local songs, for themselves as much as the passengers. It was a haunting sound. Then the train guard lit flickering candles in the carriages. It was a beautiful, other-worldly scene.

Arrival of the first train in Tolongoina, April 1936

'To us this is just a journey, but this railway means everything to those people,' said my guide, a sparky young woman called Batsola, as we listened to the singing. Between 5,000 and 10,000 Malagasy workers died building the line, many of them buried under tons of soil and rock as tunnels collapsed. When former dictator Didier Ratsiraka was forced from office in 2001, his supporters destroyed bridges and threatened to attack the railway. Villagers along the line slept outside next to the wood and steel spans to keep the FCE running.

Construction of the Madiorano viaduct

What politicians failed to destroy, nature can easily derail. Cyclones recently caused 280 landslides along the line. This was a disaster for villagers who grow coffee, vanilla and bananas, and transport the produce to the coast for sale in coastal markets where they can buy rice, their staple food. Each year this railway shifts 3,000 tonnes of coffee and 6,000 tonnes of fruit.

Studies show that without the ability to trade along the railway, farmers would need to clear hundreds of thousands of acres of forest to grow their own rice. So the line had to be saved. US aid and help from a Swiss railway put the trains back on track, and the King of Thailand sent specialists to plant vetiver grass, which helps stabilise steep embankments.

A railway line protecting a swathe of Madagascan forest. Who would have thought it? But yes, the FCE line is a thread connecting and saving a vast tract of forest, and you don't have to be a trainspotter to enjoy the ride.

The FCE is still not the most reliable railway. Just before 10pm we crossed a sleepy airport runway in the dark - one of only a handful of trains in the world that can claim that honour - and finally creaked into Manakara. We were only six hours late. But that is all part of the charm.

· Simon Reeve presents the BBC2 series Tropic of Capricorn on Sundays at 8pm. His book, 'Tropic of Capricorn: circling the world on a southern adventure', is published by BBC Books

See also:

FCE Gare:
Fianarantsoa
MADAGASCAR
Tél: 261 20 75 513 54
fce@blueline.mg

The spectacular FCE train line links the highland city of Fianarantsoa with the east coast town of Manakara. Built between 1926 and 1936, it traverses some of Madagascar's most scenic countryside on its 163 km path from the high plateau to the sea. The line, which is one of the three steepest in the world (along with Birma and Ecuador), has no fewer than 67 bridges and 48 tunnels and offers the traveler magnificent vistas as it descends the escarpment east of Fianarantsoa.

Heavily damaged by cyclones Eline and Gloria in early 2000, the line has now been cleared and largely rebuilt. With three newly rehabilitated locomotives, the FCE is ready to welcome both individual tourists and groups.

The voyage is a leisurely one on a train that averages 20 to 35 km/hour. On a trip that lasts 8-10 hours from the highlands to the coast, there is plenty of time to admire the evolving landscape, to participate in the convivial atmosphere of communal travel, and to enjoy the bustle of 17 village stations as they come alive with the whistle of the arriving train.

And, if you're looking for a truly unique railroad experience, don't miss the world renowned Micheline! This rubber wheeled beauty rides the rails only in Madagascar and is available for group charter.

History of the 'Fianarantsoa Cote Est' Line:

Construction of the FCE

Soon after Antananarivo was taken by the colonial forces in 1886, the French authorities began dreaming of a transport artery between Fianarantsoa and the coast. The first plan called for a toll road, but it was soon decided to invest in a more ambitious railroad link between the coffee producing highlands and a port to be built at the mouth of the Faraony River.

Construction of the FCE was nothing less than a full fledged battle against nature and geography: huge tracts of forest had to be cleared and mountains pierced with picks and axes.

For weeks, months, and years on end teams of hundreds of men hauled machinery and materials by hand to remote sites. The line snaked across the edges of precipitous cliffs that had to be reinforced with rock walls and through unyielding granite mountains. Thousands died from disease and construction accidents.

Begun in 1926, the first (lower) half of the line opened on July 24, 1934 when the stretch between Manakara and Manampatrana was completed. Later in the same year, the longest tunnel in Madagascar (just over a kilometer) was finished and on April 1, 1936 the first train arrived in Fianarantsoa.

Building of Madiorano's Viaduct

The FCE falls into ruin

For more than 45 years, the FCE offered reliable rail service to populations up and down the line who had no other means of transport in a region largely devoid of roads. The train assured the social and economic needs of these remote populations who depended on its arrival to get their products to market, to supply basic needs to the village shops, and to transport people to schools, medical services and family gatherings.

In the 1980s and 90s, however, the FCE became the victim of national and donor policies that failed to invest in even such vital infrastructures. With virtually no capital investment or maintenance, both freight and passenger service deteriorated significantly. As the century ended, the train just barely limped to its destination on a schedule that was at best erratic.

In early 2000, the Fianarantsoa region was hit by two cyclones in less than a month. Already weakened by a lack of investment and the failure to maintain drainage systems, the FCE succumbed to 280 landslides (150,000 m3 of dirt) and 8 major washouts that brought traffic to a halt. Most observers thought that the FCE had received its final death blow.

Fortunately, there were some people who were unwilling to accept this fate for the once proud FCE. Instead, they saw the crisis as an opportunity not only to reopen the line to its previous fragile condition, but to invest in its complete rehabilitation. A Master Plan was drawn up to make improvements to the track bed, to repair vital infrastructures, and to rehabilitate the aging rolling stock.

Thanks to major contributions from international donors (including the Americans, the World Bank, the private Swiss railways) and the determination of local communities to save their train service, the FCE is now getting a new lease on life. The multi-year (2000-2005) rehabilitation effort will include the transfer of railway operations to a private company in 2003.

Posted on 2:13 AM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 15, 2008
By Dan Lalor

LONDON - Bus and train operator Go-Ahead Group warned on Friday that the impact of rising fuel costs and reduced subsidies would hurt its full year profits, sending shares in the transport sector lower.

The outlook came as the company reported it had met forecasts with a 14.5 percent rise in underlying first-half profit.

Chief Executive Keith Ludeman said while he expected rail passenger numbers to continue rising, "reduced subsidies and increased profit share are expected to result in a full-year operating profit below last year".
Panmure Gordon analyst Gert Zonneveld said Go-Ahead had to face the potential negative impact of an economic slowdown combined with next year's expiry of its most profitable rail franchise, Southern.

"Rail uncertainties are likely to hold back the shares in the foreseeable future. The rail division accounts for nearly half of Go-Ahead's clean operating profit," he said.

Go-Ahead shares fell as much as 19 percent to a 17-month low at 1,816 pence before recovering to 1,860 pence by 1:30 p.m., valuing the company at 790 million pounds.

Other transport companies were also hit. FirstGroup shares fell 7.4 percent, National Express Group lost 6.0 percent, and Stagecoach Group was down 10.4 percent.

WAITING TO HEDGE

Ludeman said Go-Ahead had no fuel price-hedging in place beyond the end of its current financial year in June.

Every penny on the price of a litre of diesel cost about 1 million pounds, and the company was looking for a price in the "low 30s" pence before hedging, he said. The price is currently around 35 pence a litre.

So while he forecast further growth from buses, "this is likely to be adversely affected by increased fuel costs".

Ludeman said Go-Ahead would build on progress made to restore its aviation services businesses to profit.

Go-Ahead made a pretax profit before exceptional items and amortisation of 58.3 million pounds in the half year to December 29, on revenue up 12.3 percent at 1.03 billion pounds. It raised its interim dividend 11 percent to 25.5p.

Go-Ahead booked an 8.2 million pounds charge against its loss-making Go West Midlands bus operations "whilst we review options for the business". Go-Ahead also runs regulated buses in London and deregulated bus services around Britain, mainly in the northeast and southern England.

Its rail division, which includes the London Midland, Southeastern and Southern franchises, is operated via a 65 percent-owned joint venture with French peer Keolis. The London Midland franchise started last November, and the Southern franchise expires in September 2009.

The Southeastern franchise will include the operation of new high-speed trains on the domestic Channel Tunnel rail link into London St Pancras station from late 2009.

FIRSTGROUP WARNED

Separately on Friday, Chancellor Alastair Darling said the Department for Transport was "very focused" on the performance of FirstGroup's First Great Western franchise which operates in west and southwest England and south Wales.

Darling, visiting Bristol, told reporters: "I know there have been very great problems with this particular franchise that have gone on far too long.

First Great Western made headlines earlier this year when passengers staged a ticket strike to protest about overcrowding, cancelled services, late trains and the rising cost of travel.

A FirstGroup spokesman said it had doubled its "compensation offer in recognition that there have been performance issues and is working hard to improve services." It was urgently seeking extra rolling stock, he said.

See also:

Future fears hit Go-Ahead shares

BBC News: 15 February 2008

Go-Ahead Group share price

Shares in train and bus firm Go-Ahead Group have fallen by almost 18% after the release of half-year results.

Profit before tax fell 3.6% to £45.2m in the final six months of 2007, which was better than expected.

Go-Ahead said that while passenger numbers were rising, its bus divisions would be hit by higher fuel prices.

And it said the rail business would be hit by lower subsidies and the government taking a larger proportion of profits.

Its shares closed down 17.7%, 395 pence at 1840p.

When a rail franchise is first awarded, the subsidies tend to be relatively high and the government takes a relatively low proportion of the profits.

As the contract goes on, the subsidies tend to fall and the government's profit share rises.

G-Ahead's rail division includes the London Midland, Southeastern and Southern franchises and it will also be operating the high-speed rail link to the Channel Tunnel from St Pancras from late next year.

Go-Ahead also has an aviation division, which provides check-in and baggage handling services.

The news from Go-Ahead also hit other transport companies, with shares in FirstGroup, Stagecoach and National Express also falling.

see also:

Slower rail passenger growth hits Go-Ahead

Financial Times: February 16 2008
By Jeremy Lemer and Jonathan Moules

Go-Ahead shares tumbled more than 17 per cent after the train and bus service operator said rail passenger volume growth slowed in the first half and warned that increasing fuel costs and reduced subsidies were likely to hit full-year operating profits.

The shares fell 395p to £18.40 and were followed down by other transport companies, including Stagecoach and National Express.

Analysts suggested that a combination of profit-taking and concerns about the sustainability of recent passenger volume growth were at play.

Passenger journeys in-creased 6.1 per cent at Go-Ahead's Southern franchise and 5.9 per cent at its Southeastern franchise, significantly slower than the respective 9.1 per cent and 7 per cent growth they experienced last year.

Excluding exceptional items and amortisation, pre-tax profits increased 14.5 per cent to £58.3m, broadly in line with analysts' expectations. Revenue increased 12.3 per cent to £1.03bn.

However, the outlook for the company remains finely balanced.

It said rising fuel prices could add £4m in bus costs in the second half while reduced subsidies and increased profit-share payments to the Department for Transport were expected to dent the rail division's full-year operating profit.

To set against that, Keith Ludeman, chief executive, said the company would look to trim costs or pass them on to customers and would benefit from the full-year inclusion of results from its newest acquisitions and franchise wins.

Mr Ludeman added that demand for rail services remained robust.

In the four weeks ended February 4, he said, Go-Ahead saw average passenger revenue growth across its three franchises in excess of 10 per cent.

That comes after passenger revenue rose 12.9 per cent in Southern and 13.4 per cent in Southeastern in the first half, the company said.

Operating profits in the company's rail division increased 23 per cent to £31.4m despite reduced subsidies and increased profit-sharing, which had an impact of approximately £20m.

Results from the company's bus services were more mixed.

An exceptional charge of £8.2m against the carrying value of its Go West Midlands bus operations, hit statutory profits the company said.

It is reviewing the business.

Overall the bus operations reported operating profits before amortisation and exceptional items of £33.7m, up 15 per cent on the same period in 2006.

The aviation services division, which is focused on ground handling, incurred an operating loss of £600,000, which compared with a £4.2m deficit in the second half of last year.

Earnings per share emerged at 57.4p (61.6p) and the interim dividend is increased from 23p to 25.5p.

See also:

Tempus: In the sidings

Times Online: February 15, 2008
Nick Hasell

In this morning’s trading update from Go-Ahead Group, the stock market lost another of its supposed safe havens.

Shares in the bus and train operator fell 15 per cent after it highlighted caution over higher fuel costs and reduced rail subsidy payments. Shares in its four London-listed peers — Arriva, First Group, National Express and Stagecoach — followed them lower.

All of this came as a shock to investors, who had come to regard the sector’s constituents as something akin to utilities in their defensiveness. The virtues of long-term franchise agreements, fares that rise faster than inflation, strong cashflows and revenues that are underpinned by non-discretionary spending have seen all five stocks comfortably outperform the FTSE all-share index over the last 12 months.

Some of Go-Ahead’s problems are company-specific. Today’s interims contained an exceptional £8.2 million writedown against its poorly performing West Midlands bus business. Investors are also unsettled by the expiry of the Southern Rail franchise — thought to be Go-Ahead’s most profitable — next year.

But the worry for the wider sector is the slowdown in passenger volume growth in rail. Part of that is inevitable given last year’s record growth and subsequent fare increases. However, with passenger volumes historically sensitive to economic conditions — they dropped four years in a row in the recession of the early 1990s — there are reasons to believe that the sector’s strong run has reached the end of the line.

see also:

Go-Ahead blames plummeting share price on 'scaremongering'

The Times: February 16, 2008
Angela Jameson, Industrial Correspondent

Shares in Go-Ahead plunged by 17 per cent yesterday as fears of job cuts in the capital and reduced rail subsidies took the shine off a strong set of half-year results from the transport group.

Go-Ahead is also potentially facing the loss of Southern, its most profitable rail franchise, in 2009 as the network is put up for retender this summer.

Keith Ludeman, Go-Ahead's chief executive, said that the share sell-off, during which the price fell 380p to £18.55, was an overreaction based on “scaremongering” stories of City job cuts. “I've been hearing these stories for two or three months but there is no evidence yet of any reduction in demand for our services,” he said.Go-Ahead appeared to pay the price for trying to guide analysts to expect slightly lower operating profits in the second half because of falling rail subsidies. Fears over rising fuel prices also contributed to the sell-off, despite Go-Ahead having managed to absorb an additional £1.5 million fuel bill in its bus business and increase its margins.

Diesel prices have been hovering around the 36p to 37p a litre mark since the beginning of January, net of the discount that bus operators receive. At this price it is not economic for transport groups to buy ahead as a hedge against further increases.

Sir Patrick Brown, chairman of the Newcastle-based group, said: “To date, demand trends remain favourable. We intend to make further progress in our bus division, although this is likely to be adversely affected by increased fuel costs. In rail, whilst passenger growth continues, reduced subsidies and increased profit share are expected to result in a full-year operating profit below last year.”

Go-Ahead operates Southern and Southeastern train services into Charing Cross, Blackfriars and London Bridge stations. It will introduce a new, high-speed train service from Kent into the capital in 2009 and since November has run London Midland services from the Midlands to St Pancras.

However, analysts are concerned that an economic slowdown could trigger redundancies in the City of London, leading to reduced demand for Go-Ahead's rail services.

Analysts at Panmure Gordon noted that rail uncertainties were likely to hold back the shares in the foreseeable future, as rail accounts for more than half the group's operating profits.

A strong performance from the bus division helped to lift underlying pre-tax profits for the year that ended on December 29 by more than 14 per cent to £58.3million, after revenues rose 12.3 per cent to £1.03 billion.

Profits for the six months in rail increased £5.8million to £31.4million, with passenger revenues up by 12.9 per cent on Southern and 13.4 per cent on Southeastern.

Bus revenues rose 9.5 per cent to £277million. More than half the growth came from acquisitions, with profits up 15.4 per cent to £33.7 million.

See also:

Go-Ahead hit by tougher franchises and slow rail growth

The Guardian: February 16 2008
Dan Milmo, transport correspondent

Nearly £170m was wiped off the value of Go-Ahead Group's shares following signs of weakening demand at its bus and rail divisions. Despite protestations from chief executive Keith Ludeman that growth had recovered from a pre-Christmas blip, investors marked the shares down 17.7% to 1840p.

Its rivals were also dragged down as the City dumped public transport stocks. Stagecoach fell 9.6%, FirstGroup declined by 6.2%, and National Express slipped 5.7%.

"Investors are waking up to the fact that some transport stocks are not as defensive as they thought, and that's the case with bus and rail. They are by no means immune from a slowdown in economic activity," said Douglas McNeill, analyst at Blue Oar Securities.

Go-Ahead unnerved the market by revealing slower growth at its London-based Southern and Southeastern rail franchises in first half results yesterday. The number of passenger journeys at both increased by about 6% in the final six months of 2007, slower than increases of 9.1% at Southern and 5.9% at Southeastern in the previous financial year.

Ludeman said there was no specific reason for the slowdown and "no evidence" of the economy dampening demand. He added that Go-Ahead's London franchises had seen double-digit increases in passenger growth in January, outperforming the rest of the market.

Go-Ahead also told analysts to tone down profit expectations for the rail division, whose returns are being squeezed by a reduction in government subsidy. It said less state support, plus increased payments to the government under a profit share scheme, cost the rail division £20m, but it was able to increase the unit's operating profits by 23% to £31.4m nonetheless.

Ludeman said Go-Ahead would keep up profits at the division by driving up passenger numbers and holding down budgets, despite the government setting tougher terms in its latest franchise awards. "The amount of margin has, in contractual terms, reduced. But we have taken costs out and grown revenue to a greater extent than in the bids," he said.

Analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort said passenger revenues at the rail division needed to grow by 10% in the second half of the year in order to meet profit targets. Ludeman said rail companies could use contractual clauses to cut services in the event of a downturn, but the group had not drawn up contingency plans to scale back journeys on two of London's most important commuter franchises.

Investors also reacted badly to news that passenger numbers at Go-Ahead's bus services in Bristol and Oxford fell in December. The group said it may have been "weaker retail conditions" but passenger numbers had recovered since.

See also:

Investors put the brakes on Go-Ahead

Independent: 16 February 2008
By Danny Fortson

Go-Ahead Group lost nearly a fifth of its market value yesterday amid a sell-off by investors spooked by the bus and rail operator's cautious outlook for the rest of the year.

Battling rising fuel costs and fears in the market that the operator of the Southern and South-eastern rail services will be hobbled by lower subsidies and an expected economic slowdown, the company reported an interim pre-tax profit of £45.2m – a slight, 3.6 per cent, drop on the same period last year. The company added that both turnover and earnings per share had increased and that the outlook was broadly strong.

"Frankly we surprised by the reaction. We're seeing very strong demand trends, particularly in rail," said the finance director Nick Swift. "All the indicators are very favourable for us."

Investors seemed more determined to focus on a still uncertain slowdown in the future, and the imminent expiration of its Southern rail franchise, rather than the company's numbers. Its shares ended the day down 17.5 per cent to close at 18.40p.

Mr Swift said the rail numbers were hit because the profit-sharing structure with the Government meant that its strong performance over the past six months increased the share going to the Government. Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon said: "We believe rail uncertainties are likely to hold back the shares in the foreseeable future. The rail division accounts for nearly half of Go-Ahead's clean operating profit and the potential negative impact of an economic slowdown, combined with the next year's expiry of its most profitable rail franchise means ... our recommendation is unchanged." The analyst has a "hold" recommendation on the stock.

Mr Swift said it was working on improving its Go West Midlands bus service, for which it recorded an £8m loss. It is also trying to turn around its air cargo and baggage handling business.

Posted on 10:49 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 15 2008

THE £58 million half-year profits posted by the Go-Ahead group today should be mourned as another huge loss to the transport industry, specialist transport union RMT said today.

A 23 per cent increase in the group's rail operating profits underlines that the rail franchising system diverts cash out of the industry while passengers suffer overcrowding and year-on-year inflation-busting fares increases, the union said.

The group's £31.4 million rail profit includes £300,000 squeezed out of the new London Midland franchise in just six weeks.

"Rail franchising is only a success for the shareholders who are draining enormous sums of fare-payers' and taxpayers' money out of the industry," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today

"For the passengers who suffer more and more overcrowding and inflation-busting fares hikes, and for our members who have to face the daily consequences, it is a disaster.

"Our members at Wilts and Dorset bus company who have had to strike against excessive driving time will no doubt take note that Go-Ahead's bus operations have a healthy profit margin of more than 12 per cent.

"When the time comes to submit pay claims at the various Go-Ahead subsidiaries our members will bear in mind that shareholders have been handed an interim dividend of nearly 11 per cent," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 10:44 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 14 2008

RMT threatens to escalate dispute to defend transfer agreement

MORE THAN 50 RMT signallers in the Lincoln area are to take two separate days of strike action after voting by more than four to one for action in support of a colleague treated unfairly by Network Rail, and to defend agreed procedures in dealing with displaced staff.

Signallers and supervisors in the Lincoln area will not book on for shifts that begin between 00:01 and 23:59 on Saturday February 23, and again on Saturday March 1.

The union also today warned that it would ballot all signallers and supervisors in the 'Great Northern' area between Doncaster and King's Cross if the dispute is not settled within seven days.

The ballot was sparked when the company effectively tore up a national agreement by making redundant a local operations manager, with 33 years' experience, rather than offering him suitable options under the established procedure.

Peter Gregory was made redundant from his post, despite his seniority, in breach of what is known throughout the rail industry as the PTR&R - the Promotion, Transfer Redundancy and Resettlement arrangements.

"Network Rail has effectively torn up the existing agreement and tried to deal with our member under a process that has never been agreed, and his colleagues have rallied round to defend their workmate and their conditions," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"We have made clear to Network Rail time and again that the PTR&R remains in place for all grades unless and until negotiated otherwise. These arrangements were negotiated in order to provide an industry-wide career path and to give anyone displaced the opportunity to relocate.

"By ignoring PTR&R in one case Network Rail threatens to do it to everyone, and RMT has today made it clear that if the dispute is not settled within seven days we will ballot all signallers and signalling supervisors in the Great Northern area.

"We remain available for talk, but our members have demonstrated that they are prepared to act to defend their colleague and their conditions," Bob Crow said.

See also:

RAIL STRIKE CHAOS MOVES CLOSER

Lincolnshire Echo: 15 February 2008

Signal workers have voted to carry out two 24-hour strikes which could paralyse Lincoln's rail services.

Network Rail now has seven days to reach a resolution with the Rail Maritime and Transport Workers' Union in a dispute over a manager forced to take a lower grade job.

If an agreement cannot be reached the strikes will go ahead on February 23 and March 1, both starting at midnight.

And if the dispute is not settled once the strikes are over, the union has said it will take the strike nationwide, which would affect the East Coast main line to London via Grantham and Newark.

More than 50 union members were balloted at the beginning of the month with 95 per cent voting to go ahead with the strike.

Union general secretary Bob Crow said they had to stand firm.

"We've had overwhelming support for the strike from the members but we really hope we don't have to take strike action and that Network Rail does the right thing," he said.

The strikes come in support of a Network Rail employee - who wishes to remain anonymous - who was made redundant from a high paying job and forced to take a position at a lower pay grade.

The union claims this goes against the contractual obligations of the company.

Thirteen signal boxes across the county will be left unmanned when the workers step down but Network Rail claims it will be able to keep services running.

"This action is completely unnecessary as the manager in question has not been made redundant and we are still exploring career opportunities for him within Network Rail," said a spokesman.

"We look forward to quickly resolving this matter."

Posted on 10:20 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 15 2008

INDUSTRIAL ACTION by more than 100 RMT seafarers on Wightlink’s Portsmouth-Fishbourne route will go ahead from Monday after the company’s management walked out of last-minute talks today.

RMT members on the route will refuse to start work before 05:30 from Monday (February 18) in a dispute over the company's attempt to impose earlier rosters without agreement with the union.

Members voted by more than two to one for strike action after attempts to negotiate with the company foundered. The action will delay early sailings on the route and may have a knock-on effect on later services.

"Our team thought that progress was being made in today's talks, but management walked out without agreement being reached and that means Monday's action will go ahead," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"We have tried our best to reach a negotiated settlement in this dispute, but the company has simply imposed what it wants and is now undermining its own rostering arrangements," Bob Crow said.

ends

For more details of the dispute, view previous RMT release at:
http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101516&int1stParentNodeID=89732

Posted on 9:42 AM | Permalink

The Economist: Feb 14th 2008

BEIJING -- China's race to build roads, railways and airports speeds ahead. Democracy, says an official, would sacrifice efficiency.

Click image to enlarge

“IT'S like approaching the Forbidden City, it's absolutely incredible.” The adjective is one that Mouzhan Majidi, chief executive of Foster & Partners, liberally attaches to Beijing's new airport terminal, designed by his British firm. The world's largest, designed in the gently sinuous form of a Chinese dragon, it was planned and built in four years by an army of 50,000 workers. “The columns on the outside are red and you see them marching for miles and miles,” says Mr Majidi.

A little hyperbole is understandable. The terminal is 3km (1.8 miles) long. The floor space is 17% bigger than all the terminals at London's Heathrow combined (including about-to-open Terminal Five). Chinese officials like the Forbidden City analogy. Just as the towering vermilion walls and golden roofs of the imperial palace inspire visitors with awe, China wants its golden-roofed terminal to impress those arriving for the Olympic games in August. Part of a $3.8 billion expansion, which included the opening of a third runway in October, it is due to open on February 29th, weeks ahead of schedule.

The new terminal is not merely window-dressing for foreigners. Beijing badly needs to expand its handling capacity. In 2002 the airport ranked 26th in passenger numbers worldwide. Now it is the ninth busiest. China's rapid economic growth and equally rapid integration into the global economic system is putting huge strains on its infrastructure. This has led to a spate of spending on transport. Between 2001 and the end of 2005 more was spent on roads, railways and other fixed assets than was spent in the previous 50 years. According to the state media, investment will see double-digit growth every year for the rest of the decade. Between 2006 and 2010, $200 billion is expected to be invested in railways alone, four times more than in the previous five years.

Superlatives abound. The world's longest sea-crossing bridge is due to open in June: a 36km six-lane highway across Hangzhou Bay (about the same length as the undersea portion of the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France). This will halve travel time between two of China's busiest ports, Ningbo and Shanghai, to about two hours. Shanghai itself is home to the current world-record holder for such a structure, the 32km Donghai bridge. This was opened less than three years ago to link the city with Yangshan port, now being built on two flattened islands. Yangshan is intended to be one of the world's biggest deep-water facilities when completed at some point after 2010.

From August the 115km journey from Beijing to Tianjin, its nearest port, will be reduced to half an hour with the inauguration of a bullet-train link, China's fastest intercity rail service. There are big plans for bullet trains. Work began in January on a 1,300km line between Beijing and Shanghai that, when completed in five years' time, will reduce rail time between the two cities from ten hours to five—and thus be a competitive alternative to flying.

At $30 billion, the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line is the most expensive project in China's railway history. But with cash to spare the government, which is reportedly shouldering nearly 80% of the cost (with a consortium of insurance companies providing much of the rest), is pushing ahead after years of debate over what technology to use and how much to spend on it. By comparison China's construction of a conventional line (but the world's highest railway) from Golmud to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, which was completed in 2006 amid much self-congratulation over its technological accomplishment, cost only $4 billion (or so officials said: infrastructure price tags are subject to little scrutiny in China and overruns are rarely reported publicly).

More prosaic but cumulatively no less remarkable projects abound. Fifteen years ago intercity travel was often a choice between slow, crowded trains or a perilous journey by car or bus on narrow rural roads (flying was for the privileged; until 1993 buying a plane ticket required a letter of authorisation from an employer). But since the 1990s China has built an expressway network criss-crossing the country that is second only to America's interstate highway system in length (see article). By the end of 2007, some 53,600km of toll expressways had been built. The pace of construction will now be slowing a bit, but the aim is to have 70,000km of expressways by 2020. The Ministry of Communications (which is responsible for roads) boasts that China's expressway builders achieved in 17 years what the West took 40 to accomplish.

Oh for the open road

The expressway network has helped divert some of the freight traffic from the overburdened railway system. It has also—to the delight of China's burgeoning car industry but to the horror of environmentalists—helped to promote a sharp increase in private car ownership. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), which financed part of a 660km expressway linking Beijing with Shenyang in the north-east, found that the new toll road was little used after its completion in 2000. Now, says an ADB official, traffic flow (and therefore revenue) far exceeds initial predictions thanks to the growth of industries near the route and the increasing use of private cars for long-distance travel.

It is not just expressways that are getting attention. In 2005 China's leadership launched a programme to build what it called a “new socialist countryside”. This was an effort to assuage discontent in the countryside over the widening gap between rural and urban incomes and public services. The programme includes the planned construction of 300,000km of new rural roads between 2006 and 2010, an increase of nearly 50%.

Investment in railways has been far slower to gather pace. In southern China the worst snowstorms in decades paralysed much of the network in late January and early February. But the rail connections between north and south were already inadequate. Much of the south's coal supply is sent by rail from northern mines to the coast and then loaded onto ships. The World Bank says that China's railways carry 25% of the world's railway traffic on just 6% of its track length.

But change is coming. In the past couple of years investment has grown considerably. This year's target is $42 billion, compared with a total of $72 billion in the preceding five years. World Bank officials call it the biggest expansion of railway capacity undertaken by any country since the 19th century. China had 78,000km of track at the end of last year. The original plan, published in 2004, was to increase this to 100,000km by 2020. Last October this was revised to 120,000km (and officials now say the target will be met by 2015). Even sticking to the 2020 target, this will mean laying 60% more track in the next dozen years than was built since the start of the economic reform programme 30 years ago. Huang Min, the Ministry of Railways' chief economist, says that by 2020 the railway system's freight-handling capacity should be greater than demand. At present, he says, it can handle only 40%.

Mr Huang reckons that railway expansion will bring down logistics costs, which he says amount to 18% of GDP in China compared with 10% in America. It will also help reduce pollution, he says, since fewer polluting lorries will be needed.

Aviation facilities will expand rapidly too. The increase in air passenger traffic has been dramatic: from 7m passengers in 1985 to over 185m in 2007. To deal with this rise, the government announced last month that it planned to add another 97 airports by 2020 to the 142 China had at the end of 2006. The number with an annual handling capacity of over 30m passengers will grow from three to 13.

There will also be a huge expansion of seaport capacity. The government predicts container throughput will increase by 85% between 2010 and 2020.

In all this activity it greatly helps to have a secretive planning bureaucracy and a government that brooks little dissent. In Britain, as Mr Majidi points out, it took as long to conduct a public inquiry into the proposed construction of Heathrow's Terminal Five as it took to build Beijing's new airport terminal from scratch.

There was no consultation with the public on the terminal. Nor was there any public debate about the construction of Beijing's third runway, notwithstanding the noise pollution already suffered by thousands of nearby residents. Beijing is now planning a second airport (even with Mr Majidi's terminal, the current airport is expected to exceed its designed capacity of 60m passengers this year, seven years before schedule). The location is being considered in secret. Xu Li, an official at the Ministry of Communications' transport research institute, agrees that China's infrastructure expansion is not as restrained by rules as it is in America. Once a plan is made, it is executed. “Democracy”, she says, “sacrifices efficiency.”

An often heavy-handed approach to land appropriation also helps. For Beijing's airport expansion, 15 villages were flattened and their more than 10,000 residents resettled nearby. But several of the former farmers told your correspondent that they were still barred from the unemployment benefits and other welfare privileges of city dwellers even though their farmland had been grabbed from them. One elderly man said that officials had threatened them with violence if they refused to leave their villages.

No tree-huggers permitted

Another factor is the hazy definition of who owns rural land (see article). Local officials tend to regard it as the government's and readily seize it—often for little compensation. In a recent study of China's transport, the World Bank says that roads are sometimes built expressly for the purpose of converting countryside into revenue-generating urban land. This causes a rapid outward expansion of cities, which combined with a lack of adequate public transport increases dependence on private cars. Beijing's polluted air and congested streets, to which 1,000 cars are added daily, are evidence of the problem.

Some of China's grand plans for the coming years may encounter a bit more resistance. In urban areas a property-owning middle class that hardly existed a decade ago is now growing rapidly. Some of its members are becoming increasingly vocal in their demands for more open decision-making, particularly when it comes to projects that might affect property values.

In China's biggest-ever urban protest against a transport-related project, thousands of Shanghai residents gathered outside the city government's headquarters in January to demand the cancellation of plans to extend a Maglev (magnetic levitation) train line through the city's main urban area. The existing Maglev line was opened with much fanfare in 2003 as the first commercial service of its kind in the world. It provides a 30km ride at astonishing speed, peaking at 420kph, from the city's Pudong airport to a rather inconvenient spot on the city's outskirts. The government wants to link it with the city's other airport, Hongqiao. But many residents along the route say they are fearful of noise and radiation from the trains.

Many also question whether the Maglev will ever be much more than an expensive joy-ride that tourists will take once, just for the thrill of it. Shanghai has had a tendency in recent years to spend big money on projects of questionable value. The billions of dollars spent on Yangshan port and its cross-sea bridge might well have been better invested in expanding existing, and far more convenient, deep-water facilities in nearby Ningbo. The opening of the Hangzhou Bay bridge this year will make Ningbo's port all the more accessible to Shanghai. But cities in China have a poor record of co-operating, particularly when they belong, as these two do, to different provincial administrations.

Olympic swank

A show-off tendency among Chinese urban planners (as well as a dire lack of suburban rail networks) has helped to fuel a rapid expansion of costly underground railways. In some cases, says the World Bank, this is diverting resources away from urgent needs in the bus systems. Two decades ago only two cities, Beijing and Tianjin, had subways (and only three lines between them). Now 15 cities are building them at a total cost of tens of billions of dollars. Beijing and Shanghai are leading the way, spurred on by their desire to impress the world at the Olympic games and, in Shanghai's case, the World Expo which it will host in 2010. Beijing's official Olympics website displays a story saying that the city will have the biggest underground network in the world by 2015.

Not everyone is pleased

Complaints still abound about the way things work. Highways—both expressways and other intercity roads—are studded with traffic-slowing toll booths. China reportedly has 70% of the world's tolled roads and its tolls are the highest in the world (using exchange rates adjusted according to currencies' purchasing power). To cut costs, lorries routinely overload. This helps to make the roads among the most dangerous in the world (89,000 deaths in 2006 by official reckoning; the actual number may be much higher). And it pushes up the cost of maintaining them.

The construction of expressways has been speeded up by making the provinces shoulder the costs. This they readily do, using toll revenues to repay construction loans provided by state-owned banks (the banks happily roll over debts that are not repaid on time). But this decentralisation makes it difficult for the central government to order an end to tolls or impose limits on them. A member of a district legislature in Beijing, Li Shuyuan, has been fighting a high-profile campaign for an end to tolls on one of the city's expressways which has long since repaid its loans. In 2002 she and her supporters won a rare victory by getting the city government to persuade the expressway operator (which the city owns) to reverse a toll increase. But both the government and operator refuse, she says, to budge further.

The railways' problem is that they are still highly centralised and the central government is unwilling to shoulder the whole cost of its massive expansion programme. The Ministry of Railways is also now turning to provincial governments as well as to companies (including private ones) and the stock markets for funds. The ministry's Huang Min says that railways in the booming east of the country could be run “according to market principles”. Investors, he says, will be attracted by the huge pent-up demand and “appropriate” increases in freight tariffs and passenger fares. Sceptics wonder whether the hidebound ministry will give market forces the leeway it says it will. And big fare increases would not go down well with passengers whose complaints about overcrowded, uncomfortable and corruptly managed train services are legion. But talk of reform is getting louder.

Strong political will may have helped what one World Bank adviser calls China's “mind-boggling” pace of rail and road construction. But even the Communist Party's resolve may not suffice for what would be the most jaw-dropping project of all. A plan published by the Ministry of Communications in 2004 mentions, off-handedly, an expressway from Beijing to Taipei (target completion date: 2030). How the road would traverse the 150km Taiwan Strait is not mentioned. Nor does the document suggest how to tackle the even bigger problem of reaching agreement with Taiwan. But government maps of the completed expressway network show it. It would be unwise to rule it out.

See also:

China Railway Construction wins approval for US $4.5 billion Initial Public Offering

Thomson Financial:

HONG KONG - China Railway Construction, the nation's second biggest railway builder, has received the greenlight for its planned 4.5 billion US dollar initial public offering in Hong Kong and in the mainland, IFR Asia said Thursday.

Pre-marketing of the mainland tranche will start on Feb 19 and the price range will be set on Feb 22, said IFR, a unit of Thomson Financial. On the other hand, pre-marketing for the Hong Kong IPO has already started and will be priced on March 7, it said.

China Railway's IPO is predicted to be the world's biggest so far. It will be the second company to list in Hong Kong amid a weak market that prompted others to postpone their initial share sale plans.

The Hang Seng Index has lost 25 percent since reaching a peak of nearly 32,000 points on Oct 30 as investors were discouraged to buy shares due to fears of a US recession, widening losses from the subprime mortgage crisis, China's economic tightening measures to curb growth and delays in the implementation of a program announced in August allowing Chinese citizens to trade Hong Kong stocks directly.

(1 US dollar = 7.80 Hong Kong dollar)

See also:

China Railway Construction Shanghai IPO retail subscription to open Feb 26

AFX News Limited: 02.14.08

BEIJING - China Railway Construction Corp Ltd (SHA 601186), one of China's largest road and rail contractors, said it will open retail subscription on Feb 26 for its initial public offering in Shanghai, while sales to institutional investors are scheduled for Feb 25-26.

The company is planning to issue up to 2.8 bln A-shares, representing no more than 25.93 pct of its enlarged capital following the issue.

According to a prospectus filed with the Shanghai stock exchange, up to 700 mln A-shares -- or 25 pct of the offer -- will be sold to institutional investors, while the remainder will be offered to retail investors.

The company said it will start a marketing roadshow today in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, after winning regulatory approval for the A-share issue yesterday.

CITIC Securities will be the major underwriter for the issue.

The company said the A-shares are expected to start trading in Shanghai on March 10.

China Railway also plans to issue up to 1.706 bln shares on the Hong Kong stock market later after the mainland listing.

If an over-allotment option is exercised, the H-share issue size in Hong Kong could go up to 1.962 bln shares.

Proceeds from the A-share issue will be used for purchase of construction equipment, for a railway line construction and a property project as well as to repay loans, it said.

Funds raised from the Hong Kong share sale will be used to invest in a cement plant in Nigeria and to buy equipment for overseas projects.

The company said it expects the H-share issue price to be not less than the A-share offer price.

(1 usd = 7.2 yuan)

Posted on 9:15 AM | Permalink

Financial Times: February 15 2008
By Andrew Taylor, Employment Correspondent

A North Sea union founded after the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster is joining forces with the much larger Rail, Maritime and Transport union in the latest of a series of trade union mergers.

The move comes at a critical period for the industry, with employers under pressure over safety issues and facing legal challenges from unions over working hours and holiday entitlements.

The decision by the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC) to transfer operations to RMT will create the second-largest North Sea union, with more than 3,000 members. The largest union is Unite, which has 7,000 offshore members and was formed last year through a merger of T&G and Amicus.

Falling membership and subsequent strains on union finances and loss of influence have triggered a series of union mergers over the past two decades. Union membership, which peaked at 13.2m in 1979, when more than half of all workers were members, has fallen to fewer than 7.5m as employment in traditional manufacturing industries has declined. Just over 28 per cent of employees are now union members.

The RMT, better known for its militant stance in the rail industry, is one of the few unions to have increased membership through organic growth. It has more than 70,000 members, of which more than 1,000 work in the North Sea. Last year it won a 45 per cent pay rise over three years for more than 900 North Sea divers following a 10-day strike.

Jake Molloy, general secretary of OILC, said: “Joining forces ... can do nothing but good in a sector that is notoriously difficult to organise. Together we will have the resources and the experience to organise for better safety and to win better pay and conditions and job security for offshore workers.”

OILC was formed in 1988 after the Piper Alpha oil platform explosion that killed 167 workers. The offshore industry, which has more than 25,000 employees, is still not heavily unionised but this has not prevented unions from increasing pressure on employers over safety and working hours.

See also:

Offshore union merges with RMT

The Herald: February 15 2008
GRAEME SMITH

THE offshore trade union OILC, formed in the wake of the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster, has merged with the 80,000- strong RMT.

Just over 1000 of the OILC's 2500 members took part in the ballot and almost 80% of them were in favour.

In total, just over 30% of the union members supported the proposal which was endorsed by a special meeting of the RMT last year.
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From May 1, the OILC, which will retain its own identity, will be the offshore arm of the larger union which already represents diving and catering workers offshore.

"This is a historic day for trade unionism in the offshore sector," said OILC general secretary Jake Molloy who will become lead officer for the new RMT offshore section.

"It was right OILC members had the final say, but joining forces with a union built on grassroots involvement and which fights for workers' rights can do nothing but good in a sector notoriously difficult to organise.

"Together we will have the resources and the experience to organise for better safety and to win better pay and conditions and job security for offshore workers."

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: "It makes sound industrial sense for two unions organising in the same sector and with the same outlook to join forces.

"Our job is to make life safer for the workers. That is our first priority. We can talk about better pay and better conditions but if you are dead or injured that becomes a nonentity.

"Our number one priority will be safety in the workplace and after that securing the best terms and conditions for our members. We don't believe in reasonable pay, we believe in good pay. We don't believe in reasonable conditions, we believe in good conditions."

Posted on 8:51 PM | Permalink

Press Association: 15 Feb 2008

Chancellor Alastair Darling has issued a warning to First Great Western

Chancellor Alastair Darling told one of the country's least popular rail companies to "get a grip" - or risk putting its franchise in danger.

Mr Darling criticised First Great Western - recently embarrassed by fare strikers handing over home-made tickets - while on a ministerial visit to Bristol.

His words lent support to the campaign group More Train Less Strain, which staged protests against the service, covering large stations like Bristol, last month.

Visiting a media centre in the city, the Chancellor said: "I know there have been very great problems with this particular franchise that have gone on far too long.

"Frankly, the travelling public using the line are entitled to expect far better reliability and punctuality in a far better service.

"First Great Western need to get a grip of it. But I know that the Transport Secretary is very focused on this."

Overcrowding, cancelled services, late trains and rising ticket prices have sparked no-payment action from angry passengers for two years running.

Bristol South Labour MP Dawn Primarolo, who was also attending the open-day at the Knowle West Media Centre, said: "I share the rage of thousands of passengers regularly when I'm on a service where I can't get a seat, I'm tired, and I can't get home.

"I think they (First Great Western) have got to be given a clear ultimatum to improve the service. If they don't, we need to reconsider (renewing their franchise)."

See also:

Chancellor warns rail firm

Oxford Mail: 16 February 2008
By Andrew Ffrench

Chancellor Alastair Darling has told rail operator First Great Western to "get a grip" or risk putting its franchise in danger.

Mr Darling criticised the company while on a ministerial visit to Bristol yesterday.

The Chancellor said: "I know there have been very great problems with this particular franchise that have gone on far too long.
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"Frankly, the travelling public using the line are entitled to expect far better reliability and punctuality in a far better service."

Zahra Akkerhuys, a spokesman for passenger group Ox Rail Action, said: "FGW should be extremely concerned by the Chancellor's comments.

"Poor time-keeping continues to be the primary problem from Oxford now."

A spokesman for the rail company said: "First Great Western is investing £200m in its franchise and is the only train operator refreshing all its fleet.

"We have doubled our compensation offer in recognition that there have been performance issues and are working hard to improve our services.

"The benefits of our investments are beginning to show and First Great Western's latest performance figure is a punctuality rate of 85 per cent."

The Chancellor's comments came after it emerged that 300 passengers were forced to squeeze into a two-carriage train instead of an eight-carriage train last weekend due to a scheduling error.

See also:

TRAIN FIRM MUST 'GET A GRIP'

The Cornishman: 16 February 2008
MATT CHORLEY LONDON EDITOR

Chancellor Alistair Darling has ordered beleaguered rail firm First Great Western to "get a grip" - or its franchise will be at risk.

Mr Darling said passengers were right to expect better services after months of delays, cancellations and overcrowding.

Last night the company hit back, saying millions of pounds were being spent on refreshing its entire fleet of carriages and efforts to improve punctuality were already seeing results.

On a ministerial visit to the West, Mr Darling - a former Transport Secretary - told reporters FGW needed to raise its game to meet passengers' expectations.

Visiting a new media centre, the Chancellor said: "I know there have been very great problems with this particular franchise that have gone on far too long.

"Frankly, the travelling public using the line are entitled to expect far better reliability and punctuality in a far better service. First Great Western need to get a grip of it. But I know that the Transport Secretary is very focused on this."

Overcrowding, cancelled services, late trains and rising ticket prices have sparked no-payment action from angry passengers for two years running.

Health minister Dawn Primarolo said: "I share the rage of thousands of passengers regularly when I'm on a service where I can't get a seat, I'm tired and I can't get home.

"I think they have got to be given a clear ultimatum to improve the service." If FGW failed to improve, the Government would need to "reconsider" renewing its franchise.

But last night, FGW chairman Charles Howeson said Mr Darling should remember that as Transport Secretary he was responsible for many of the restrictions placed on the firm. He admitted, however, that the company was failing to meet passengers' expectations.

He told the WMN: "As the Chancellor of the Exchequer will recall from when he was Minister for Transport, this franchise involved private sector investment of £200 million on the complete refurbishment of all of the train fleet and payment of a premium of £1.3 billion to the Government over the full life of the franchise.

"However, he is right in that we have been undeniably under-performing because despite the best will in the world and along with a huge amount of resources and energy, we still don't have enough train crews or enough of the right sort of train sets to deliver the service that we certainly aspire to and that our customers would want.

"The Government is responsible for the allocation of rolling stock these days and as deep as any company's chequebook might be, it is not frankly possible to obtain the rolling stock and locomotives that we need and would wish to put into service as soon as possible."

A spokesman for FGW said that the company was "urgently seeking extra rolling stock to address our capacity needs".

The investment has already seen results, with latest figures showing a punctuality rate of 85 per cent, six per cent higher year-on- year.

Mr Darling's comments came as a study found FGW had imposed the highest fare increases of any operator since privatisation, more than doubling the price of open tickets.

A standard single fare since 1995 had gone up 145 per cent, well above inflation over the period of 41 per cent. In January, FGW fares went up ten per cent for many tickets. A standard open return from Exeter to London rose from £163 to £179.

See also:

Train troubles

Malvern Gazette: 15th February 2008

THE problems with our Cotswold Line London train service will not vanish as long as First Great Western is responsible for it.

This company is seemingly incapable of understanding the simple requirement that running a public service requires a desire to serve the public, not itself.

Timetables have been lengthened so that some trains are now booked to take three hours to cover the distance between Great Malvern and Paddington, much longer than in recent times, with long halts at passing loops such as Evesham. This is not to assist the travelling public to reach its destination, but to ensure that by weakening punctuality targets, the company is better able to meet them and avoid penalties. Even so, I recall few trains that have ever arrived on time in either direction.
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Many of the endless on-board announcements (always repeated at least twice and sometimes thrice) tell us that we are held waiting for a late running train in the opposite direction. But whose trains are these? FGW's of course. Apart from the Heathrow Express which has dedicated platforms, FGW run all services into and out of Paddington. Yet they cannot announce a departure platform until just before the service is scheduled to leave, which often results in a late departure.

I can buy tickets on-line for trains in Germany which will tell me up to a year ahead precisely which platforms to use at the starting point and at any interchange stations. If you get ten minutes notice from FGW, you're lucky!

Not all the problems can be laid at the door of that government which starved the railways of investment funding and then botched the privatisation. FGW has had this franchise long enough to prove itself, but we have to face the fact that it has not a clue how to run a railway. It now claims to be aware of its shortcomings and to be recruiting drivers and putting in more rail-experienced managers, but of course this is all too late. Time to get off the line!

SIMON PAYTON, Peachfield Road, Malvern.

Posted on 11:07 AM | Permalink

Oxford Mail: 14th February 2008
By Andrew Ffrench

More than 300 rail passengers squeezed into two coaches from Oxford to London - because First Great Western failed to provide the booked train.

A two-car turbo train

An InterCity 125 High Speed Train, with eight coaches and seats for about 500 people, should have been used on Sunday afternoon.

But a two-car Thames Turbo train was used instead, due to a "basic error", said FGW managers yesterday.

The Turbo had only 186 seats, which meant it was standing room only for about 50 passengers in each coach.

FGW spokesman Lance Cole apologised to pass- engers and added: "This certainly will not happen every Sunday."

His colleague Richard Smith said there were a "high number of standing passengers" on the train, but he added that customers were getting on and off along the route, so the total of 300 people might have changed.

He said: "This was certainly not acceptable and we have launched an internal investigation.

"There is no legal limit in terms of the total number of standing passengers and the Rail Safety and Standards Board says there is no evidence to say that standing passengers are at risk."

The eight-coach High Speed Train which should have arrived

Zahra Akkerhuys, a spokesman for commuter group OxRail Action, which represents commuters between Oxford and London, said she was not surprised by the incident.

She added: "The 7.30am from Oxford to Paddington was late three times in the past week and yesterdaythursday it was 20 minutes late.

"The driver himself was so exasperated he urged passengers to complain to the company.

"We have had a meeting with Andrew Haines, the new chief operating officer, and he has promised that passengers will start to see green shoots of recovery, but the company is still not delivering its timetable."

Mr Cole said trains had been delayed during the past week for a variety of reasons, including a suicide at Slough last Friday, vandals damaging signal cables and a track circuit failure.

News of the overcrowding emerged at the same time as a survey showing FGW had imposed the second highest average fare increases of any operator since privatisation. Since 1995, the average standard peak-hour, walk-on single fare on First Great Western has risen by 145 per cent.

FGW consistently comes at or near the bottom of rail punctuality tables and latest figures show almost a fifth of its trains ran late last year.

Season ticket increases have been much lower, because these fares are capped by the Government and users get discounts if operators fail to meet punctuality targets.

Mr Cole added: "First Great Western is investing over £200m in its franchise and is the only train operator which is refreshing all the trains in its fleet.

"The current First Great Western franchise brought together three former franchises in 2006, and the company believes that its customers receive good value from season tickets, and that the range of advance fares on offer allow flexibility for off-peak customers."

Posted on 10:46 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 14 2008

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST rail union today warned that strike action was inevitable if Network Rail pressed ahead with the imposition of an inferior pension scheme.

Responding to the company's unilateral announcement that it was to launch a new defined-benefit scheme, RMT general secretary Bob Crow said:

"We are not prepared to tolerate a worsening of pensions, not least after all the money that's been extracted from the industry since privatisation.

"We have called for further industry-wide discussion, but what we have been given is an attempt to impose an inferior pension scheme without any discussion or agreement.

"This isn't about widening choice, it's about undermining the existing final-salary scheme and a cynical attempt to undermine the Railway Pensions Commission before anyone has had a chance to discuss its findings.

"I am in no doubt that if the company persists in imposing a worse pension scheme there will be a national rail strike."

Posted on 2:54 PM | Permalink

The Times: February 14, 2008

Transparency is needed in the bewildering array of train fares

Coming closely after taxes, no consumer price increase angers people as much as the rise in train fares. There is a resignation about increases in petrol prices: the blame lies somewhere in the Middle East; global demand for oil seems insatiable and environmental concerns are a mitigating factor. But the recent sharp rise in rail fares, running in some cases at more than three times the rate of inflation, has stung commuters and long-distance passengers alike. It is all the more resented because it is arbitrary, often underhand and at its steepest on rail services that are among the country's worst - dirty, overcrowded and late. Little wonder, therefore, that passengers on the hapless First Great Western's routes have been staging fare strikes, or that government attempts to lure people from their cars are derided as a sham.

Public perceptions, however, can be misleading. The experience of rail passengers has been cruelly uneven. Since privatisation, rail fares on some lines have remained remarkably stable, while others have shot through the roof. So while those travelling from London to Southend find that many tickets cost the same now as in 1995, those travelling to the West Country have had to pay 145 per cent more for a standard single ticket. The big difference is between regulated and unregulated fares, especially between season tickets and those bought on the day of travel. This is because the Government, in allowing privatised operators to set their own fares, feared alienating a powerful group of voters, and protected season-ticket holders and those buying saver tickets. Indeed, for the first five years of privatisation, yearly rises were capped at 1 per cent below inflation - changing then to 1 per cent above it, still seen as an affordable increase.

As a result, rail companies have relentlessly pushed up the cost of walk-on fares, to raise money upfront in pre-bookings and encourage online purchases that are cheaper to process. And secondly they have started varying prices much like airlines, to fill empty seats in slack periods with cut-price tickets while raising the cost of business travel at peak times to stratospheric levels. This, combined with dozens of different special offers and incentives by train operators, means that there is now a bewildering array of fares. This leads to absurdities. It can be cheaper to buy a season ticket and use it only twice a week than to buy two returns; or to get off halfway through a journey and rebook a separate ticket; or to go beyond the intended station and then travel back again on another train.

What angers passengers is the failure, often deliberate, of ticket offices to offer the cheapest fare and the train companies' attempts to whittle away saver fares by lengthening peak periods or cutting back the seats available. This suspicion of stealth rises, like stealth taxes, is reinforced by the Government's trumpeting of its green credentials while quietly forcing train operators to raise fares as the condition of a new franchise.

What is needed is transparency. There is a real need to prevent monopoly operators offering a lousy service exploiting their passengers. Britain's railways are no longer really privatised; the train companies are. It is a hybrid, a Frankenstein's monster of a business. It needs to be reformed. In the meantime, the Office of Rail Regulation should take on an additional task and look at fair fares - for everyone.

See also:

Cost of a ticket on the worst-run trains races ahead as punctuality and overcrowding go off the rails

The Times: February 14, 2008
Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

Britain’s worst-performing train company has imposed the highest fare increases of any operator since privatisation, more than doubling the price of open tickets, a study has found.

Since 1995 the average standard single fare of First Great Western has risen by 145 per cent, well above inflation over the period of 41 per cent.

Passengers have been subject to a postcode lottery on fares with some companies reducing the cost of rail travel in real terms while others have taken advantage of their local monopolies to impose a succession of above-inflation increases.

FGW consistently comes bottom of the punctuality table and the latest figures show that almost a fifth of its trains ran late last year. It also regularly fails to provide enough carriages. Last weekend more than 300 passengers had to squeeze into a two-carriage train from Oxford to London on a service scheduled to have eight carriages.

In January FGW raised fares for many passengers by 10 per cent, prompting a fares strike by passengers in the Bath and Bristol area. A standard open return from Exeter to London rose from £163 to £179.

The study, by fares analyst Barry Doe, found starkly different costs for each mile travelled in different parts of the country. South West Trains charges 30p a mile for standard open fares but FGW, National Express East Coast and Virgin charge 50-60p.

Virgin has raised standard fares by 135 per cent since privatisation and first class fares by 160 per cent.

By contrast most types of fare at Great Northern, now part of First Capital Connect, are slightly cheaper than they were in 1995.

The study also shows that occasional rail users have borne the brunt of fare rises while season ticket holders have been protected by Government price caps. Season tickets and saver tickets, which account for 43 per cent of the total paid in fares, are set by the Department for Transport.

Season tickets are still cheaper on most routes than they were at privatisation because they were capped at 1 per cent below inflation in the late 1990s.

Passengers travelling off-peak, when there is often plenty of spare capacity and fares have been much lower traditionally, have been caught by the decision by train companies to abolish the SuperSaver ticket. Off-peak passengers on FGW, Virgin and East Midlands Trains pay 85 per cent more than in 1995.

Unregulated fares are likely to carry on rising well above inflation for at least the next six years because the Government is making train companies pay billions of pounds in premiums for franchise rights.

Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, announced in July that, by 2014, passengers would have to pay 75 per cent of the cost of running the railway and taxpayers would pay the remaining 25 per cent. The £10 billion annual cost is at present divided evenly between fares and subsidy.

Under British Rail it cost less than £4 billion at today’s prices to run the network, though it carried 20 per cent fewer trains.

Passenger Focus, the rail passenger watchdog, said that the survey showed there was no connection in the privatised railway between the quality of service and the price passengers pay.

Anthony Smith, the chief executive of the watchdog, said: “Passengers feel exploited by this monopoly industry. We are concerned that the affordable walk-up railway is dying on its feet.

“Season tickets remain incredibly good value but rail travel has become very expensive for people unable to afford a lump sum in advance. The system is penalising part-time workers.”

Comment:

Every week you read about the poor performance and increasing costs of these rail companies. WHY are they allowed to do so? It is ludicrous

Joe, Bristol, UK

Posted on 1:47 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 14 2008

BUS UNION RMT is seeking an early meeting with the new owner of Truronian after the aanouncement that the Cornish bus company has been acquired by the First Group through its First Devon and Cornwall subsidiary.

RMT negotiates pay and conditions on behalf of well over 100 busworkers at the company, which operates in and around Truro and throughout west Cornwall, including the Eden Project, and is a major coach-tour operator.

"While the bus industry remains in private hands any change of ownership is a time of uncertainty, and we are seeking an early meeting with First to ensure, above all, that our members' jobs remain secure," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"RMT already has a working relationship with the First Group in a number of its subsidiaries in both bus and rail, and the group will be aware that the union will always act to defend the interests of its members," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 1:40 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 14 2008

A COURT of Appeal ruling yesterday that London Underground failed to provide proper training to a driver who developed tenosynovitis in her right wrist has been welcomed by the Tube’s biggest union.

RMT and its lawyers, Thompsons, who acted for Latona Allison, say that yesterday's decision sends out the important message that it is the duty of employers to carry out risk assessments and take appropriate action, and not to wait until a health and safety concern is brought to their attention.

Ms Allison said that she was not given adequate training in the use of the safety brake, known as the Dead Man's Handle, when a new design was introduced. She can no longer work as a train driver as a result of her condition.

Her original claim for compensation was rejected by the County Court, but the Court of Appeal has ordered that LUL now pays damages.

Three judges agreed that the training provided had been inadequate "in the light of what the employer ought to have known about the risks arising from the activities of the business". It was not enough to provide the training after the risks were known.

The court said that Judges have been giving insufficient attention to risk assessments in the years since the duty was introduced: "Risk assessments are meant to be an exercise by which the employer examines and evaluates all the risks entailed in his operations and takes steps to remove or minimise those risks. They should be a blueprint for action."

Henrietta Phillips, Ms Allison's solicitor at Thompsons said: "Risk assessments were intended to be a pro-active duty on employers when the requirement to carry them out became law in 1992. Yet increasingly Judges, when asked to decide if an employer has been in breach of that duty, drift back to the common law where a risk had to be brought to an employers' attention before an assessment is carried out."

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "This decision is very good news, for Latona Allison and for all workers, and makes it quite clear that employers have the duty to assess risk and take the necessary steps to protect employees' health and safety."

Posted on 1:20 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 14 2008

OILC members vote overwhelmingly for transfer of engagements

OILC and RMT are to become a single organisation after the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee's more than 2,000 members voted overwhelmingly to become the offshore section of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.

In a postal ballot which closed yesterday, OILC members voted by 807 to 207 in favour of the transfer of engagements to RMT, which had been recommended by the organisation's annual conference in Aberdeen last October (details below).

The move had already been endorsed by a special general meeting of RMT, held in Doncaster last March, and had the support of the entire OILC executive.

"This is an historic day for trade unionism in the offshore sector," said OILC general secretary Jake Molloy, who will become lead officer for the new RMT offshore section.

"It was quite right that OILC members had the final say, but joining forces with a union built on grass-roots involvement and which fights for workers' rights can do nothing but good in a sector that is notoriously difficult to organise.

"Together we will have the resources and the experience to organise for better safety and to win better pay and conditions and job security for offshore workers," Jake Molloy said.

"It makes sound industrial sense for two unions organising in the same sector and with the same outlook to join forces," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.

"Bringing our two unions together will give us more industrial clout and can only benefit members of both.

"'Unity is strength' is not just a slogan, it is the single phrase that sums up why we are trade unionists, and today trade unionism in the offshore sector has taken a huge stride forwards," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 12:36 PM | Permalink

Railway Gazette: 12 Feb 2008

ALSTOM has notified the UK's Department for Transport that it is withdrawing from the Intercity Express Programme to supply the UK's next-generation of inter-city train. Experienced rolling stock engineers have criticised the mass and energy consumption targets in DfT's technical specifications for the 200 km/h IEP as impractical.

'Alstom follows a specific process in assessing potential business opportunities, based on financial and technical input', a spokesman told Railway Gazette International. 'After a complete analysis of the invitation to tender document it has been decided to withdraw from the IEP competition and to focus instead on other major opportunities in the UK rail market for rolling stock, signalling and maintenance, where experience gained from existing, successful product lines can be maximised for the benefit of our customers.'

The decision not to submit a bid in response to the November 16 invitation to tender was supported by Alstom-Barclays Rail Group, the consortium formed with Barclays Private Equity. Alstom 'will actively pursue future opportunities' in partnership with the consortium 'where appropriate for both companies'.

IEP is being procured as a 30 to 35-year public-private partnership for a package to include manufacturing, maintenance and financing. The remaining bidders on the shortlist announced on August 16 2007 are Hitachi Europe Ltd and the Express Rail Alliance of Bombardier, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown.

Proposals for the electric, 'self-powered' (in practice diesel) and bi-mode (electro-diesel) trains are due to be submitted to DfT by May 6, with a contract expected to be signed by April 1 2009. Trials of five and 10-car pre-series trainsets on the East Coast Main Line are scheduled to begin in May 2012, with the replacement of existing inter-city rolling stock on the East Coast and Great Western main lines to follow from 2015. DfT anticipates a total fleet of approximately 1 500 vehicles if all IEP route options are taken up.

See also:

UK calls bids for Intercity Express

Railway Gazette: 16 Nov 2007

BRITAIN'S Department for Transport issued three shortlisted bidders with invitations to tender for the supply of a fleet of high speed trains under the government's Intercity Express Programme on November 16. The trains are required to be 'lighter, greener and carry up to 70% more passengers' than the IC125 diesel-powered HSTs and the electric IC225 stock they will replace.

DfT had announced the shortlisted bidding consortia on August 16, naming Alstom-Barclays Rail Group, Hitachi Europe Ltd, and the Express Rail Alliance of Bombardier, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown.

Proposals will be received from bidders in summer 2008, with the contract to be awarded in winter 2008-09. The first of the trains will begin trials in 2012, before replacing existing inter-city trains on the East Coast and Great Western main lines from 2015.

It will be up to the bidders to decide how many carriages they need to supply to meet the government's service requirements, a figure DfT says is indicated to be around 850 in the first phase, 'possibly rising to approximately 1 500 if options to extend IEP to other routes are taken up.'

Previously known as HST2, the IEP trains will be supplied in both 25 kV electric and 'self-powered' versions. The electric versions are required to be at least 27% and up to 40% more energy efficient than the trains they replace, while the 'self-powered' version must offer improvements of between 10% and 35%.

Overall, the trains must 'optimise value for money, taking a long term whole-system approach,' and 'sustainable construction and maintenance' techniques are specified. The trains are required to be lighter, to help increase energy efficiency and reduce wear and tear on tracks, and must 'meet all present and future safety standards.'

DfT requires 'the flexibility to operate on inter-urban and commuter routes as well as long-distance journeys and be adaptable enough for different train operators to fit them out according to their needs.' Increased capacity and the ability to run longer and more frequent services will give a 15% to 70% increase in seats on the initial routes.

Rail Minister Tom Harris said 'We're demanding high standards of capacity, environmental performance and flexibility from these new trains because they will benefit passengers for decades to come. But it's for the bidders to decide exactly how they will meet those standards - we've set the bar and they have to clear it.'

See also:

Limited vision in white paper's growth plans

Railway Gazette: 24 Aug 2007

'IT IS THE most ambitious strategy for growth on the railways in over 50 years', claimed UK Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly, when she launched the white paper Delivering a Sustainable Railway on July 24.

Together with an accompanying Rail Technical Strategy, the white paper outlines the government's view of how the rail network should develop over the next 30 years. It sets out the longer-term vision supporting the High Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available which the government was required to provide to the Office of Rail Regulation by July 31 under the terms of the Railways Act 2005. ORR is currently reviewing Network Rail's income and expenditure projections in order to determine the structure of track access charges for Control Period 4 covering the five years from April 1 2009 (RG 2.07 p77).

The HLOS and SoFA published on July 24 relate to railway operations in England and Wales; the Scottish Ministers had already issued their equivalent statements earlier in the month (RG 8.07 p477). As well as setting targets for improved safety and better performance, the England and Wales HLOS looks at each of Network Rail's 23 routes to identify where capacity enhancement is needed. Growth of 22·5% is expected to add 180 million passenger-journeys a year by 2013-14.

The Department for Transport's Rail Group anticipates that increased revenue from growth and higher fares - recovered from train operators by reduced subsidies or higher franchise premium payments - plus efficiency improvements at Network Rail will reduce the amount of taxpayer's money being spent on the railway to around £3bn a year. This is intended to create a 'headroom' of £2·9bn, which with further borrowing by NR would fund capital investment totalling £9bn over the five-year period (Table I).

Specific projects identified in the HLOS are the upgrade of the Thameslink cross-city line in London, originally announced in 1994 at a cost of £650m, which is now expected to be completed by 2015 for a total of £5·5bn. A further £425m is allocated towards a £600m remodelling and grade-separation scheme at Reading to ease a long-standing bottleneck on the Great Western Main Line, and £128m will be provided towards the reconstruction of Birmingham New Street station.

With growing concern about overcrowding levels and the projected 22·5% growth in passenger traffic, Kelly announced that DfT Rail now plans to procure directly up to 1 300 additional coaches, to 'reduce average load factors'. Giving a 'net increase' in the fleet of around 10%, these vehicles will be allocated to key routes by negotiation with the franchise operators; around 900 vehicles for London & South East services, 300 for provincial cities and 100 for inter-city routes.

In addition, the government will permit Network Rail to invest up to £200m 'to enable work to start on a strategic freight network to accommodate freight growth'. DfT Rail has accepted projections of a 30% increase in tonnes lifted by 2013-14.

Long-term perspective
Looking beyond CP4, the white paper suggests that 'if the investment committed in this HLOS is maintained through future control periods … the measures described would be sufficient to meet growth on all routes until about 2030'.

DfT Rail is confident that 'cab-based signalling will be implemented on a greater proportion of the network' from the middle of the next decade, which 'will increase capacity by allowing a higher frequency of train services'. Train lengths will also be increased from eight or 10 cars to 12 or 16 where the infrastructure permits. So the white paper sees no need to start planning for any new lines.

The technical strategy also comes out against the construction of dedicated high speed lines or freight corridors, suggesting that future uncertainty favours mixed traffic railways to maximise flexibility. 'At present the balance of advantage would appear to favour new services running at conventional speeds', says the white paper.

And although the report insists that 'sustainability is at the heart of the government's commitments', there is no support for main line electrification. 'The right long-term solution will be the one that minimises the carbon footprint and energy bill', it says, adding that this could be influenced by the future mix of electricity generation 'and the rate at which options become available for low-carbon self-powered trains'.

DfT Rail is already taking the lead on the Intercity Express Programme to develop the next generation of 200 km/h trainsets for long-distance services, for which pre-series builds are scheduled to start testing on the East Coast and Great Western main lines in 2012. IEP is to be built in electric, diesel and dual-mode versions, and the white paper envisages that the trains 'will enter full passenger service from 2015'.

A cross-industry consultation is also to be launched for a new-generation of 'go-anywhere' diesel and electric multiple-units, which DfT Rail expects will be lighter and more environmentally-friendly than current designs.

On August 16 DfT Rail announced that three applicants had been shortlisted for IEP. They are the Alstom-Barclays Rail Group, the Express Rail Alliance comprising Bombardier Transportation, Siemens, Angel Trains and Babcock & Brown, and Hitachi Europe Ltd. A formal Invitation to Tender is to be issued later this year, with proposals to be returned in mid-2008; the award of the contract is expected at the end of next year or in early 2009.

Table I. Funding for railway activities in England and Wales, 2009-14, £bn

2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
Total

Passenger revenue
6·7
7·3
7·8
8·4
9·0
39·2

SoFA
3·2
3·0
3·1
3·0
3·0
15·3

Other
0·7
0·8
0·8
0·8
0·8
3·1

Total income
10·6
11·0
11·7
12·2
12·8
57·6

Cost of passenger services
5·0
5·2
5·3
5·6
5·7
26·8

NR baseline OMR costs
4·3
4·1
4·1
3·9
3·8
20·2

NR financing payments
1·6
1·6
1·7
1·7
1·8
8·4

Total expenditure
10·8
10·9
11·1
11·2
11·4
55·4

Headroom
(0·2)
0·1
0·6
1·0
1·4
2·9

Additional borrowing
1·6
1·7
1·5
0·7
0·5
6·1

Total cash of HLOS
1·5
1·9
2·1
1·7
1·9
9·0

Infrastructureenhancements
1·2
1·5
1·6
1·2
1·4
7·0

Additional rolling stock
0·2
0·2
0·3
0·3
0·3
1·2

Financing costs
0·1
0·1
0·2
0·2
0·3
0·6

Posted on 4:02 PM | Permalink

BBC News: 12 February 2008

Birmingham's dilapidated New Street Station is to get a £598m revamp after the government announced it would provide the bulk of the funding.

The government has agreed to back the project

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly is due to announce almost £400m of government money will be poured into the project.

The redevelopment will aim to ease congestion for 17 million passengers who use the station each year.

Network Rail and Birmingham City Council plan to start work on the project in 2009.

Building work on the first phase should finish by 2011 with the station being kept open while work on the new concourse is carried out.

"This underpins and will drive the economic regeneration of Birmingham and the city region" - Birmingham City Council leader Mike Whitby

The second phase is due to be completed by 2013.

Built in the 1960s, New Street station has been criticised for its outdated look, lack of natural light and passenger congestion.

Regeneration company Advantage West Midlands said it was important to the region's economy that the new station "creates the right first impression" to visitors.

Following the revamp, the new station will have a 10,500 sq ms concourse and be a "bright, modern 21st Century transport hub for Birmingham and the West Midlands region", Network Rail said.

The area around the station will also be regenerated and pedestrian connections across the city centre will be improved.

Prolonged arguments

Passenger capacity at the station will also be doubled while each platform will be accessible via escalators.

Ms Kelly said: "Birmingham is a key gateway to towns and cities across Britain and this investment will make New Street a more enjoyable experience for its passengers.

"This scheme has been in development for some time and has improved immeasurably so that it can now meet the needs of passengers and deliver a much-needed boost to capacity.

"The government is making a major investment in Birmingham New Street and it is now up to Birmingham City Council and its partners to transform this station into one of the best in our country."

The announcement follows prolonged arguments between the city council and the government over who should pay for the station redevelopment.

'Much-needed scheme'

Council Leader Mike Whitby said: "With the support of business, local politicians, and most importantly, the general public, the government has responded to our call for a better station for Birmingham.

"This is not an overnight job. However, from 2011 passengers and the general public will enjoy the first benefits of this transformation."

Iain Coucher, chief executive of Network Rail, said the company was "delighted", adding: "This is a much-needed scheme and is among a raft of projects that Network Rail is looking to take forward to expand and develop Britain's rail network in the years ahead."

Business leaders in the city said the New Street revamp would provide Birmingham with " a great opportunity".

Birmingham Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jerry Blackett said: "Today's announcement marks the end of the beginning for a long-awaited project.

"New Street is a major strategic rail junction for the whole of the country and we expect the scheme will create a national showpiece in the heart of the city."

See also:

Rail station revamp receives £400m boost

Financial Times: February 13 2008
By Jonathan Guthrie in Birmingham

Birmingham's New Street station is to receive £400m of public money - far more than expected - in a revamp that will help appease business and local residents who had long interpreted its decrepitude as a sign of government indifference.

The scheme is expected to give the UK's second-largest city a new rail transport hub to match surrounding regeneration, including the revitalised Bullring shopping district, itself once a byword for urban decay.

Delays to funding of the Gateway scheme, expected to cost £550m in total, had sparked growing irritation among Birmingham business leaders in recent months. This was most acute during celebrations in London over the £800m refurbishment of St Pancras, seen as having relatively little value for people outside the south-east. Redeveloping New Street is an over-riding priority for city figures, who regard it as a poor advertisement for the West Midlands.

Yesterday business groups united to praise the government, as Ruth Kelly, transport minister, announced higher than anticipated public funding for New Street. This reduces the amount development partners Network Rail and Birmingham council will have to raise from the private sector.

The Department for Transport will provide £160m on top of £128m set aside in last year's rail white paper. Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency, will put up £100m. Ms Kelly said the revamp would make life more comfortable for the 17m people who used the station annually. It would also accommodate passenger growth of 30 per cent over a decade.

The plan is to demolish the Pallasades shopping centre that sits over the station and build new retail space to the south. This will allow the construction of a glass roof, admitting light to the previously Stygian confines of the platforms. The concourse, the site of daily commuter stampedes, will double in size. Two office blocks will be built on either side of the platforms, helping raise employment on the site to 5,000 jobs. Every platform will have escalator access and the station will gain extra entrances and exits, making it a short cut rather than an obstacle to pedestrians crossing the city.

Local Labour politicians will be hoping announcement of the grants will bolster support for them in May's council elections. But the news may also help Mike Whitby, Tory leader of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition that has controlled the city since 2004.

Embroiled in an unconnected pay dispute with council workers, Mr Whitby scrapped station redevelopment plans drawn up under Labour as under-ambitious and pushed for the scheme endorsed yesterday by Ms Kelly. His relationship with Lord (Digby) Jones, who was then leader of the CBI employers' body, was enlivened when he told the council it should "piss or get off the pot" over New Street.

Ms Kelly had originally been expected to sign off the Gateway project before Christmas. Her failure to do so is understood to have been the result of disagreements between the council and Network Rail over which should bear responsibility for particular cost over-runs. John Edwards, chief executive of AWM, said: "We have cost-assessed and value-tested this project to hell and back, and there is now a significant contingency for over-runs."

The New Street revamp is scheduled for completion by April 2014. Until then, image-conscious Brummie business people are likely to continue meeting important visitors at the swankier Birmingham International station on the outskirts

Dream ticket

'We have been waiting for this for five years. Let's get on and build it' Chris Clifford, West Midlands CBI

'This is the end of the beginning for a long-awaited project . . .we expect it will create a national showpiece in the heart of the city' Jerry Blackett, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce

'New Street is currently a vision of the worst aspects of the last century. We need to move quickly to the delivery stage' John Philips, Institute of Directors

'This will be the largest single investment by a regional development agency' John Edwards, Advantage West Midlands

Posted on 1:46 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 11 2008

MORE THAN 100 RMT seafarers on Wightlink’s Portsmouth-Fishbourne route are to refuse to start work before 05:30 from next Monday (February 18) in a dispute over the company’s attempt to impose earlier rosters without agreement with the union.

Members voted by more than two to one for strike action after attempts to negotiate with the company foundered. The action will delay early sailings on the route and may have a knock-on effect on later services.

“In good faith our members agreed to work earlier shifts last year to help the company out, but when it came to negotiating a permanent arrangement the company said there was nothing to talk about and tried to impose the roster,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“The substantial vote for strike action should have told the company all they need to know about their stance.

“All we have sought is a negotiated deal that compensates our members adequately for earlier starts.

“But for reasons known only to Wightlink the company has blown the issue out of all proportion and instead of negotiating the it is now actively undermining its own rostering arrangements.

“That intransigence has left the union with no alternative but to instruct its members on the on the Portsmouth-Fishbourne route that from next Monday they should not book on for early shifts until 05:30.

“The company can avoid industrial action simply by negotiating a sensible solution with our reps,” Bob Crow said.

ends

Posted on 5:09 PM | Permalink

MTI: February 11

Budapest -- Talks between railway union VDSZSZ and Hungarian railways MAV continued on Monday but remained stalemated, with neither side giving a millimetre.

The union, which represents about 25 percent of rail workers, pulled its members off the job twice in the past two weeks, but suspended the work stoppage last Thursday pending further negotiations. It continues to demand 250,000 forints (about 1,000 euros) per worker from MAV's inflow from selling a cargo subsidiary as well as a 10 percent wage hike in addition to a 6.9 percent already granted.

MAV says the demands are professionally, legally, and economically unfounded.

VDSZSZ vice-president Balazs Barany said he was very discouraged by the talks.

MAV Human Resource Manager Marianna Zsoldos said only that negotiations would continue on Tuesday.

Posted on 4:59 PM | Permalink

Daily Telegraph: 11/02/2008
By David Millward Transport Editor

Network Rail faces tighter controls under plans to be unveiled by the regulator this week. The heavily criticised infrastructure company will be told to cut costs and get a stronger grip on the country's track and signalling system.

Senior executives will also find their bonuses under threat when the Office of Rail Regulation unveils its proposals. Although the regulator cannot set the bonuses directly, it can influence them by setting the conditions of Network Rail's operating licence.

If the company fails to meet them, Network Rail's remuneration committee has to cut the bonuses. Last year John Armitt, the outgoing chief executive was paid an additional £88,740. Iain Coucher his deputy - and now successor - received £79,220.

The ORR will tell Network Rail this week its promise of 19pc efficiency savings over the next five years is inadequate and it will be set a far tougher target of 25pc in its £5bn annual budget. The ORR will also set a new benchmark for the "stewardship" of the country's track and signalling system, making it clear Network Rail will be held in breach of its licence if it fails to meet them.

There are also plans for a far stricter regime for the management of major projects. This comes after the shambles which engulfed Network Rail between Christmas and New Year, when the travel plans of a quarter of a million people were thrown into disarray by the over-running of schemes at Liverpool Street and Rugby. The company promised to set up "military style command posts" to run its management of major engineering schemes.

But even before the holiday fiasco there had been mounting disquiet at Network Rail's performance. Last summer the ORR revealed there were more than 1,000 track, signal and points breakdowns every week, despite the £6bn investment in the country's rail system over the previous 12 months.

In the West Country, Network Rail's performance was so bad it was threatened with fines by the regulator and its executives were carpeted by Tom Harris, the rail minister.

That came on top of a £2.4m fine for failing to complete a signalling upgrade on time. Critics say fines provide little incentive for executives to perform better, as it is the taxpayer who foots the bill.

Posted on 8:11 AM | Permalink

Worcester News: 10 February 2008
By Cathy Anstey

VOLUNTEERS, who have spent 30 years encouraging more people in Worcestershire to use the trains, say it is virtually impossible to promote local rail services now because they have become so unreliable.

The 1,700 strong Cotswold Line Promotion Group (CLPG), which aims to safeguard, help improve and promote the use of the Worcester to Oxford and Worcester to Hereford lines, has launched a stinging attack on train operator First Great Western.

It says it has been inundated with complaints from members and other rail users about delays, cancelled services and trains failing to reach their destinations, which are deterring people from using the Cotswold Line services.

The group, which normally tries to work with Network Rail and First Great Western to improve services, is meeting the train company's senior managers tomorrow to discuss the continuing problems on the line.

CLPG chairman Derek Potter said: "We have made certain suggestions to try and improve reliability to First Great Western and as a promotion group have been reluctant to join the public criticism in the hope that measures taken would already have improved the service.

"However the appalling unreliability of the service over recent months, coupled with a lack of reliable information over delays and substitute servicing, is making our job promoting the service virtually impossible and, more importantly, is deterring passengers from using Cotswold Line services."

He adds that First Great Western has apologised to passengers, increased levels of compensation and introduced a new timetable.

But the CLPG claims the new timetable is part of the problem rather than part of the solution, with delays to trains still occurring even after the extended journey times introduced to cater for longer high speed trains.

The group also criticised the first train of the day (the 5.30am) from Malvern to London, which it says has failed to start on a number of occasions and does not to stop at Worcester Foregate Street and Pershore stations.

Richard Rowland, regional manager for First Great Western, said: "We are very aware of the performance along this route and have arranged a meeting with the CLPG to discuss the issues.

"We have worked for many years collaboratively with the CLPG and other stakeholders to develop the timetable and the CLPG has had a great influence on the timetable we run today and also the increase in the use of high speed trains along the Cotswold Line.

"We look forward to continuing this relationship and establishing solutions to the performance issues."

Posted on 6:18 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 6 2008

MORE THAN 600 RMT guards and train drivers at First Great Western have ended disputes with the company after negotiating more than 40 new jobs and winning unconditional commitments that managers will no longer be used to guard or drive trains.

Guards and drivers at the company had voted by substantial margins to strike over breakdowns of industrial relations with the company. The union suspended a 48-hour strike by guards scheduled to take place in January in order to allow talks to take place.

"After detailed talks we have won unconditional agreements that managers will no longer be used either to guard or to drive trains and that 40 new guards' jobs will be created across the company," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"The company has given clear undertakings that managers will not work as guards or drivers, be it for commercial reasons, to manage rostering deficiencies or to cover staff shortages, and that marks an important victory for our members.

"It is particularly positive that we have gained more than 40 new guards' posts as a result of our discussions, and our members are to be congratulated for the determination and solidarity they displayed during these disputes," Bob Crow said.

ends

Notes to editors: Guards at FGW voted by 229 (71.1%) to 93 (28.9%) to strike over the dispute, and a 48-hour strike scheduled for January 20 and 21 was suspended in order to allow the talks to take place. In a separate ballot, drivers voted by 62 (81.6%) to 14 (18.4%) to strike on similar issues.

RMT Circular No: IR/29/08

Dear Colleague,

BREAKDOWN IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – FIRST GREAT WESTERN, GUARDS

Further negotiations have taken place with FGW and I am pleased to inform you we have made great progress in resolving this dispute with the company. As you may recall FGW were using Managers to carry out the role of the Guard which resulted in a strike situation arising with the company. In response the company gave us an unconditional agreement which meant management grades would no longer work trains as Guards. Since then further discussions have taken place with management and a clear position has been achieved on the core issue. We have also negotiated 40 plus new Guard positions across FGW.

The matter has been placed before the General Grades Committee and their decision is as follows:

“That we note the report from the Officer and that sufficient progress has been made to resolve this dispute. In particular the letter from FGW (21st January 2008) confirms: ‘A manager must not be asked to work a train as a Guard for commercial reasons, to manage rostering deficiencies or to over staff shortages.’ This is an important victory for our FGW Guards members. We note that our negotiators have achieved a Guards Establishment increase of 40 posts across the company. We welcome this real boost to quality, union-organised jobs. We further note FGWs commitment to achieve a mutually acceptable harmonisation package for Guards. The GS is instructed to require the Lead Officer to write to FGW giving a deadline of 31st March 2008 for a successfully, negotiated Guards Harmonisation package.

"Accordingly, the GS is instructed to inform the company of the resolution of this dispute. The GS is instructed to write a personal letter to all members in the dispute giving details of this victory for Guards jobs and conductors. All Branches and Regional Councils to be informed.”

In this regard, we will continue to closely monitor the situation and I will of course, keep you advised on any further developments.

Yours sincerely

Bob Crow
General Secretary

Previous releases on this issue:

First Great Westerns strike suspended:

http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101314&int1stParentNodeID=89732

First Great Western workers to strike on January 20 and 21:

http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101295&int1stParentNodeID=89732

First Great Western workers vote to strike:

http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101269&int1stParentNodeID=89732

Guards and drivers to be balloted at First Great Western:

http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=101216&int1stParentNodeID=89732

See also:

FirstGroup union dispute over guards, drivers at Great Western resolved

AFX News Limited: 02.06.08

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The RMT union said it has ended its dispute with FirstGroup after it won a pledge managers will no longer be used to guard or drive trains at the company's Great Western rail franchise.

Guards and drivers had voted to strike over a breakdown of industrial relations at the company, but they suspended a 48-hour strike in January to allow talks to take place.

The union said in a statement it had also negotiated more than 40 new jobs.

see also:

Deal ends rail strike threat

Oxford Mail: 7th February 2008
By William Crossley

Rail firm First Great Western and the RMT union have resolved a dispute over staffing levels and industrial relations which almost led to a strike last month.

The union said that after negotiations, 40 extra guards will be taken on by FGW and managers would no longer be used as train drivers or guards.

Last month, the RMT called a 48-hour strike by guards on January 20-21 after its members working for Oxfordshire's main rail operator voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking action over what the union said was "a total breakdown in industrial relations".
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The strike was postponed while talks took place and has now been called off.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today: "The company has given clear undertakings that managers will not work as guards or drivers, be it for commercial reasons, to manage rostering deficiencies or to cover staff shortages, and that marks an important victory for our members.

"It is particularly positive that we have gained more than 40 new guards' posts as a result of our discussions."

See also:

Union ends dispute with First Great Western

Director of Finance Online: 06 February 2008
Written by Adrie van der Luijt

More than 600 RMT union members employed as guards and train drivers at First Great Western have formally ended disputes with the company.

The union announced the decision after negotiating more than 40 new jobs and winning unconditional commitments that managers will no longer be used to guard or drive trains.

Guards and drivers at the company had voted by substantial margins to strike over breakdowns of industrial relations with the company.

The union suspended a 48-hour strike by guards scheduled to take place in January in order to allow talks to take place.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the company had given clear undertakings that managers will not work as guards or drivers, be it for commercial reasons, to manage rostering deficiencies or to cover staff shortages.

The RMT transport union members called off a planned 48-hour strike in January in a dispute with bus and train operator FirstGroup PLC, First Great Western’s parent company, over a breakdown in industrial relations and the use of managers to guard and drive trains.

Posted on 12:08 PM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle: 07 February 2008

Long-suffering train passengers in Bath appear to have been snubbed by Government plans to tackle overcrowding on the rail network.

It has emerged that just 52 of the 1,300 extra carriages announced last week by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly will go to embattled train operator First Great Western, which runs services to Bristol and London.

Most of the new rolling stock, 900 carriages, will go to London and the South East, while more than 300 will be used to meet the growth in demand in cities such as Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.

Ms Kelly said the extra carriages would increase the amount of rolling stock by 10 per cent, which would enable Network Rail to plan changes such as longer platforms at stations.

She told MPs: "In some areas the extra capacity will be secured through the procurement of new rolling stock, and in other areas it will be secured through redeploying existing rolling stock which is displaced by new.

"The redeployment of existing carriages will mean longer trains can run on busy routes and at peak times."

She said FGW would also introduce additional rolling stock for services around Bristol.

But it will bring little comfort in the short term to hard-pressed FGW customers who already endure severe overcrowding, significant fare increases, poor levels of punctuality, and cuts in services.

MP for Bath Don Foster said: "The real problem is this is a medium- to long-term plan. It doesn't help solve our immediate problem.

"We already have significant overcrowding on our trains. We desperately need an interim solution."

He blamed the crisis on the Government, having agreed a franchise providing less rolling stock.

Mr Foster said: "Some was taken away from us. That was clearly a huge mistake for which we are paying the price."

He added: "I have been advised that today we are short of 36 carriages of delivering even an adequate quantity for the current number of passengers.

"With growth increasing rapidly, more will be needed in the future."

Meanwhile, Westbury MP Andrew Murrison - whose constituency covers Bradford on Avon, has asked for a meeting with Rail Minister Tom Harris over the state of local services.

He said he was "appalled" by the deterioration in FGW's service, and that it was time to take the franchise away from the firm.

"FGW has been given plenty of time to improve but my constituents are still suffering from a third-rate train service.

"I think the time has come for ministers who are responsible for the contract to consider pulling the plug."

He will meet FGW chief executive Andrew Haines at a meeting of the West Wilts Rail Users' Group in Trowbridge next Thursday, and again in London on Tuesday, February 19.

Pressure group Railfuture Severnside says the extra rolling stock announcement is "a step in the right direction" but not enough to keep up with demand.

FGW, whose performance sparked a protest on the trains last week, welcomed the announcement. A spokesman said that capacity issues and the need for extra carriages on part of its service were "well-documented".

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Over £10 billion is being spent on tackling overcrowding. Benefits will be felt by passengers."

Posted on 10:20 AM | Permalink

AFX News Limited: 02.07.08

BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) - Hungarian rail workers were expected to resume work on Thursday afternoon, ending a four-day strike over pay that caused severe disruptions to rail services and is estimated to have cost Hungary's state rail company 2.4 billion forint, a key railway union said.

Union leaders said members are returning to work for safety reasons. They said the strike could resume if there was no agreement with rail company MAV in the days ahead. Those on strike included mostly ticket and safety inspectors.

'The VDSzSz union will suspend the strike at noon until February 15,' Istvan Gasko, the leader of the Independent Railway Workers' Union, told a press conference in Budapest.

The union is demanding a 10 percent wage hike plus an extra two-and-a-half months' salary on top of the 6.9 percent hike MAV has already offered. MAV has rejected the demand. The two parties are expected to meet again on Friday.

The East European country is experiencing significant social tension as the government aims to cut the runaway budget deficit and slim down the public sector. Real wages have fallen by as much as 4.7 percent as austerity measures drove inflation and hit growth.

Rail services suffered fewer disruptions today as only four percent of workers continued the four-day-long strike. Overnight, about 8 percent of railway employees had stopped work, MAV said.

'The strike has lost momentum and traffic is starting up again,' MAV spokesman Imre Kavalecz said.

The national rail company predicted that rail traffic would slowly be restored during the day, with local trains leaving every 90 or 120 minutes, and long-distance services every three hours.

Only 40 percent of trains ran on Wednesday, up from 30 percent on Tuesday, MAV said.

Posted on 9:26 AM | Permalink

Legal Week: 07/02/2008
Claire Ruckin

Field Fisher Waterhouse - a European law firm with offices in Brussels, Hamburg, London and Paris and relationships with leading firms in Spain and Italy - and DLA Piper - the largest law firm in the world by number of lawyers - have won lead roles advising on German train operator Deutsche Bahn’s acquisition of UK railway group Laing Rail.

The acquisition, which marks Deutsche Bahn’s first foray into the UK passenger market, took place after a competitive auction process run by investment manager Henderson Equity Partners, which bought the John Laing group in 2006.

Field Fisher took on its first role for Deutsche Bahn after being instructed last year through an informal selection process. The City law firm’s team was led by corporate partners Nicholas Thompsell and Nigel Taylor. DLA Piper was instructed by Henderson Equity Partners and John Laing to advise on the auction.

Thompsell said: “We are delighted to advise Deutsche Bahn on this strategically important purchase. It is unusual to have a railway company as the subject of a private deal like this and to be at the forefront of it is great. We hope to work with Deutsche Bahn again in the future.”

The acquisition, which is for an undisclosed amount but has been estimated at €170m (£126m), was signed last month (18 January) and is set to close within the coming weeks. It means Deutsche Bahn will take control of the Chiltern Railways franchise owned by Laing. Chiltern operates trains from London Marylebone to Aylesbury, High Wycombe and the Midlands. It has one of the UK’s longest-running rail franchises, with a 20-year contract awarded by the Government in 2000.

In addition to the Chiltern franchise, Laing Rail also includes a 50% stake in the new London Overground and a 50% interest in new rail operator Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway.

See also:

Deutsche Bahn buy Chiltern Railways

Railnews: 15th February 2008

From left to right: Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Member of the DB Management Board and Chairman of the Passenger Transport Division; Geoff, CSI inspector and Adrian Shooter, Chairman.

Chiltern Railways, which was voted the UK’s top passenger rail operator last year, is to come under German ownership.

In its second significant move into UK rail operations within weeks, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG has signed a purchase contract to buy Laing Rail, owners of Chiltern Railways.

Late last year DB became owners of freight giant EWS, which has recently been re-structured into four main divisions.

Laing Rail Ltd owns 100 per cent of M40 Trains, which in turn owns the Chiltern Railway Company. The purchase of Laing Rail for a reported £127 million means that the German operator will have a foot in the door of two other UK rail passenger operations in addition to Chiltern Railways.

In a joint venture with the MTR Corporation, Laing Rail also owns 50 per cent of the new London Overground Rail operations.

Its third interest is 50 per cent of the new Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway, a joint venture between Laing and Renaissance Trains. Services are due to start operating this spring.

The deal ends months of speculation since July last year when construction company John Laing put its rail operation, Laing Rail, up for sale. Under the new ownership – which has to have legal consents from the Department for Transport, Transport for London and the Office of Rail Regulation – staff at Chiltern Railways, which runs train services between London Marylebone and the West Midlands, are unlikely to notice many changes.

Adrian Shooter, the company’s chairman, will continue to lead the same management team from its Aylesbury base. Staff will wear the same uniforms and train liveries will not be changed.

But Mr Shooter told Railnews during a press briefing at Marylebone: “There will, over time, be no doubt that DB staff and Chiltern Railways staff may take part in exchanges, so that they can gain experience of how the different operations work and share best practice.”

The staff of Chiltern Railways will become part of what is known as DB Regio AG, which provides regional and local bus services in Germany. It has 25,700 employees running 22,581 trains a day, carrying 3.3 million passengers.

State-owned Deutsche Bahn AG was founded in 1994 following the merger of the former (West) German Bundesbahn and (East) Reichsbahn and is now Europe’s biggest passenger rail operator and the second largest freight operator.

Asked why DB wanted to move into UK rail and particularly Chiltern Railways, Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch, head of DB’s passenger services, said: “Chiltern is a highly successful company with an outstanding track record. It has promising future growth expectations underpinned by the long franchise of 20 years and prosperous growing markets.

“This involvement in the UK fits perfectly with our strategy, and everyone involved benefits.

“Chiltern, London Overground and WSMR will obtain stable prospects for the future, either completely or partly due to their becoming part of the DB Group.

“Besides Germany, the UK is one of the most liberalised rail markets in Europe. It is only logical therefore for us to become established in this market.”

He didn’t rule out the possibility of bidding for other UK franchises.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Laing Rail by DB may lead to more investment in track and train capacity on the Chiltern Line.

In the past few years Laing Rail has worked with Network Rail on Project Evergreen to double-track parts of the route and modernise signalling and stations.

Chairman Adrian Shooter told Railnews: “I have little doubt that future capacity will be one of the things we will be discussing to enable the future growth, revenue and profitability of this business.”

Posted on 6:37 PM | Permalink

Reuters: February 5 2008
By Marcel Michelson

LA ROCHELLE, France - France's Alstom unveiled a new generation of faster high-speed trains on Tuesday in a bid to keep ahead of rivals Siemens and Bombardier in the multi-billion dollar rail transport market.

The prototype "AGV", a successor to France's hallmark TGV fast trains, will have a commercial speed of 360 kilometres (223.7 miles) per hour versus 320 for current models, the manufacturer said.

The train was unveiled in the historic French port town of La Rochelle at a ceremony attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who as finance minister in 2004 had played an important in a state-orchestrated bail-out of Alstom.

"That we are here today is testimony to the courage of Alstom because during its worst period it decided not to sacrifice its research and development," Sarkozy said in front of the new train.

With a sleek aerodynamic design, the AGV train resembles a Concorde plane, with the nose down, on rails.

High-speed trains compete with regional airline destinations in travelling time, while the electric trains emit far less CO2 greenhouse gases than kerosene-burning aircraft.

Alstom said it has made 70 percent of the trains in the world that run faster than 300 km per hour.

Alstom has won high-speed train contracts recently in Italy, Argentina and Morocco, while there are big projects on the horizon in California, Brazil and in China for the Shanghai-Beijing link.

"In order to maintain our leadership, we needed to broaden and update our range of products," Executive Chairman Patrick Kron said at the ceremony, saying the company had developed the train using its own funds.

He said the new trains would travel 1,000 km in three hours which was "a new stage in the competition with the airlines".

More use of composites and aluminium allowed Alstom to make the latest version lighter, with an entire train weighing 395 tonnes, down from 430 tonnes. They also use 15 percent less power than rivals.
The AGV is a new generation of the TGV train of which Alstom has sold 650 since it was launched in 1981.

TGV stands for "Train a Grande Vitesse" and has become a global byword for fast trains, while AGV stands for "Automotrice Grande Vitesse" -- a high speed train without a locomotive.

Rather than having a powerful locomotive at the front or back, the AGV uses motors located on the bogies beneath the train. Operators can vary the length of the train from seven to 14 carriages.

The first AGV is expected to go to Italian private rail operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), which ordered 25 of them worth 650 million euros ($963.1 million), with maintenance and an option for 10 more.

GERMAN DEAL?

Sarkozy said that in 2004, he decided partially to privatise Alstom and block a takeover by Siemens because the German firm wanted "the dismantling of Alstom, instead of the creation of the great European company that could have been".

While France's SNCF is a loyal client for the TGV trains, Siemens has the support of Deutsche Bahn. Yet, Deutsche Bahn is examining whether to purchase 15 international high-speed trains from Alstom in what would be its first defection from Siemens.

Siemens is the maker of Germany's Intercity Express (ICE) trains which it has also exported to Spain, China and Russia.

A Deutsche Bahn spokesman said bids are still being taken for at least seven new high-speed trains for use on routes linking Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Bids are being taken until March and a decision will be made in "late autumn". The spokesman said there was "nothing extraordinary" about the bids from abroad.

Global rivals include Japan's Shinkansen consortium led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, builder of the "bullet train" that links Tokyo with cities such as Kyoto and Osaka.

See also

Alstom unveils AGV prototype train

Railway Gazette: 05 Feb 2008

THE AUTOMOTRICE à Grande Vitesse demonstrator trainset was unveiled at Alstom's La Rochelle plant on February 5, watched by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and invited guests.

Automotrice à Grande Vitesse prototype Photo: Alstom Transport/David Lefranc

Designed for a running speed of 360 km/h, Alstom's next generation high speed train combines articulation with distributed drive. According to the manufacturer the layout offers operators great flexibility when ordering trains, with models from seven to 14 carriages and 250 to 650 seats available. Articulation will also 'substantially lower' maintenance costs.

Alstom AGV prototype Photo: Alstom Transport/TOMA-C.Sasso

Close-up view of AGV bogie

Two of the AGV’s articulation sections feature a structural element formed of composite materials. This is a transverse beam in the form of a shallow U that rests on the air suspension. Use of the composite material gives a weight saving of more than 700 kg compared with steel.

The first AGV customer will be Italian open access operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, which has placed a €650m firm order for 25 trains with options for a further 10, and has signed a maintenance contract with Alstom. Production of the first trains for NTV will begin in mid-2008, for delivery from 2010 onwards.

President Sarkozy and AGV trainset Photo: Alstom Transport/David Lefranc

Patrick Kron, Chairman & CEO of Alstom, said at the unveiling 'we have developed this train using our own funds, a very unusual approach in the railway industry, because we understood that the market for very high speed rail travel was about to diversify. In order to maintain our leadership, we needed to broaden and update our range of products. The AGV has arrived on the market just at the time when very high speed rail travel is undergoing a new expansion phase, not only in its traditional markets, but also in many developing countries.'

AGV cab interior

AGV high speed train demostrator Photo: Alstom Transport/P Sautelet

See also:

AGV tailors capacity and performance to the market

Railway Gazette: 31 Aug 2007
Murray Hughes

Nearing completion at Alstom's factory in La Rochelle are the seven cars of the prototype Automotice à Grande Vitesse. Alstom's Technical Director François Lacôte briefed Murray Hughes on the train's design and target market

ALSTOM'S high speed demonstration train with distributed power will soon be ready to leave its birthplace. By the end of the year the seven-car set will be fully assembled in La Rochelle ready for low-speed testing before the train travels to the Velim test circuit in the Czech Republic.

Known as Pégase, the prototype AGV heralds another generation of high speed train that combines distributed traction with well-established TGV design principles such as articulation. 'We absolutely wanted to continue developing our range of high speed trains - this is a new range, not just for one customer, but for the whole market', says François Lacôte, Senior Vice-President, Technical, at Alstom Transport.

The prototype will serve as a demonstrator for what is destined to become a family of trains with different configurations. 'From the outset the AGV was aimed at all Europe's high speed networks as a high-performance train for 300 to 360 km/h. We are well aware that this is a very ambitious target - but the design is deliberately flexible to offer different capacity and different speed maxima for different customers.'

Series-built AGVs could be configured in formations of seven to 14 cars (Fig 1), with the possibility of three short sets operating in multiple. Groups of three cars form autonomous electrical units with the transformer, converter and auxiliary equipment spread over the three vehicles; 'key cars' without traction equipment provide the flexibility for formations of seven, eight, 10, 11 or 14 cars. In terms of capacity, a 200 m long 11-car train mounted on 12 bogies would provide from 446 to 510 seats, depending upon the chosen seating density.

Lacôte describes the AGV as 'a modern response to the customer'. He explains that, despite strong interest in Alstom's double-deck TGV, customers prefer a single-deck trainset because a double-decker 'does not fit in with their own ideas for technical, cultural or other reasons'. Presentations about the TGV Duplex to customers in Italy, Germany, South Korea and China consistently generated the response that 'the double-decker is very good, but we prefer a single-deck train'. In every case, says Lacôte, 'some kind of obstacle' pushed the customer towards a single-decker.

Given the massive demand for inter-city rail travel in China, and to a lesser extent in South Korea, their railways' preference for a single-deck train is 'quite surprising'. It is no small irony to Lacôte that SNCF - whose traffic levels are significantly lower - wishes to purchase only double-deck TGVs; SNCF ordered 80 more Duplex trainsets on June 27, some of which are intended for international services (RG 8.07 p471).

Development cost

With Alstom's main domestic customer 'not interested' in a single-deck high speed trainset, the AGV is set to become the company's standard high speed product for the export market. As 'no customers were prepared to invest in developing their own high speed trains', Alstom decided to build a demonstration set at its own expense - the first time a complete high speed train has been built speculatively by the private sector.

In round figures, the price tag for the AGV programme is €100m, which Lacôte says covers 'all the development work, construction of the prototype and the initial phase of tests'. A tiny fraction of the total has been paid by subcontractors, but in other cases Alstom paid the development costs incurred by some of its suppliers.

Alstom began experimenting with distributed power in 2001 when two AGV research vehicles were married with five TGV cars to form the Elisa test train (RG 11.01 p751). Trials were sufficiently encouraging for the company to decide three years later to proceed with construction of a complete trainset, and the first bodyshell components for Pégase were laid down in 2006. By the end of July this year all seven cars were well advanced with most components installed, including the traction equipment and the drivers' desks.

Returning from a visit to La Rochelle on July 25, Lacôte was confident that 'we shall meet our target date for roll-out at the end of the year'.

Test programme

For the first three months of 2008 Pégase will undergo static tests and low-speed trials on the test track at the La Rochelle factory. At the end of March the prototype is scheduled to undertake its first trip outside France, with no less than six months of tests envisaged on the test loop at Velim in the Czech Republic. There the AGV will be able to attain 200 km/h, and there is some prospect of the trials being used for European certification tests. Despite this, Lacôte considers that six months is more than generous for the test programme.

As TGV Design Engineer at SNCF, Lacôte led the team that achieved the May 1990 world record speed of 515·3 km/h on a section of LGV Atlantique. He points to the use of the AGV traction package and bogies in the V150 programme earlier this year as a particularly demanding test for the equipment. The programme culminated in the specially-configured V150 trainset beating the previous record by 59·5 km/h on a section of LGV Est-Européenne on April 3 2007 (RG 5.07 p267).

The AGV bogies fabricated in Le Creusot had never been tested at high speed before, and Lacôte was 'completely stunned - I did not think we could do so well. If the rest of the tests go like that, we'll have no problems'. The V150 programme means that the AGV bogies and traction equipment on Pégase are effectively pre-production equipment, but all components will still be subject to extensive checks and assessment. Lacôte is careful to temper his enthusiasm with caution, stressing that 'we shall have to be completely systematic as we do not know what we will find'.

A major worry for the V150 test team had been the prospect of a failure in a mechanical or electrical component as a result of overheating. The AGV traction motors had been designed for an output of 720 kW, but during the V150 trials each motor was producing 1 000 kW. No less than 40 runs were made at speeds above 450 km/h, and six of these exceeded 550 km/h - yet temperatures remained within the permitted tolerances. Lacôte concedes that 'perhaps we were too cautious and maybe some equipment was over-dimensioned, but I prefer surprises like that rather than the other way round'.

SNCF doubtless shares that view, and Lacôte emphasises how grateful he is to SNCF 'for allowing us to put AGV equipment in the V150 trainset - it was a huge vote of confidence.'

Current collection

A critical element in the V150 programme was the pantograph-catenary interface which determined the quality of current collection. Lacôte describes the Faiveley CX25 pantograph mounted on the V150 set as 'a little gem', and the same design will equip the AGV, although without some of the V150's special features such as a single lightweight contact strip of 'metallised carbon' able to handle currents of 800 A.

During the world record run, an array of sensors allowed the arcing to be measured and adjustments made to the pantograph practically in real time from the on-board control room - in marked contrast to the 1990 exploits when Lacôte recollects stopping the test train to make adjustments to the pantograph from the roof after a run at 482 km/h had nearly torn down the catenary.

Traction equipment

The 'base design' AGV is a four-system TSI-compliant train able to accept traction power at 25 kV 50 Hz, 15 kV 16·7 Hz, 3 kV DC and 1·5 kV DC, although the 360 km/h maximum speed will only be possible with 25 kV. One issue in the early design stage was the ability to incorporate a transformer able to handle 16·7 Hz at 15 kV for operation in Germany and Switzerland, but Lacôte says that 320 km/h will be possible when drawing power at 15 kV. A speed of 250 km/h will be achievable under 3 kV DC catenary, reducing to 200 km/h at 1·5 kV.

Pégase will take power at 25 kV, 1·5 kV and 3 kV DC, and it will incorporate equipment for ETCS Level 2, together with all national signalling and train protection systems to allow it run 'from Amsterdam to Napoli'.

The AGV's underfloor-mounted traction package includes a transformer with an innovative arrangement of windings to reduce the weight. IGBT transistors in the power converter feed three-phase current to the synchronous permanent magnet traction motors, with the intermediate bus in the main traction circuit rated at 3 kV DC compared with 1·5 kV DC on the TGV POS; this allows the use of smaller and lighter cables.

In contrast to the body-slung motors on a TGV which require a tripod transmission, the AGV's traction motors are mounted in the bogies. This permits a simpler transmission and eliminates a potential source of noise and vibration from the car body - on Pégase four of the eight bogies will be powered, and the same proportion is envisaged for a production train.

Lacôte considers that the permanent magnet motor 'has great potential', asserting that it would not be difficult to develop a motor rated at 800 kW rather than the 720 kW version selected for the AGV.
Bogies and brakes tested

The AGV power bogies are 'identical and different' to those on a TGV. The long wheelbase of 3 000 mm is retained to ensure stability at critical speed, but the bogie frame is constructed from high-tensile steel, giving a significant weight reduction.

During the V150 programme comparisons were made between the AGV motor bogies and those fitted to the POS power cars, and Lacôte says that the AGV bogies offered superior performance with greater stability. The AGV's trailer bogies are 'more conventional', and wheelsets and axles are similar to those on the TGV Duplex.

It has blended rheostatic and regenerative braking, as on the TGV POS; earlier builds of TGV did not have a regenerative facility.

On the AGV the dynamic brakes are complemented by three brake discs on each trailing axle. These are intended for use only during the last stage of braking.

Four discs to the AGV design were fitted on each axle of the trailer bogies of the V150 trainset, and on one occasion at the end of March emergency braking was applied when the train was travelling at nearly 507 km/h - a real-life test for the brakes which caused grave concern to the engineering team on board. 'We really thought we were on the limit - each disc had to absorb 36 MJ of energy', explained Lacôte. Back in the Technicentre Est-Européen where V150 was based, the engineers inspected the discs which, despite having reached a temperature of 650°C, proved to be in 'impeccable' condition, serving to confirm 'the enormous progress we have made in material design'.

For comparison, a disc on a TGV Sud-Est trainset dating from the late 1970s was designed to handle 13 MJ and that on a TGV Atlantique set from the mid-1980s 18 MJ. Had TGV Atlantique discs been subject to the same emergency application, conjectures Lacôte, the entire set of discs would have had to be replaced. The AGV's brake discs are designed for 24 MJ with 'very special' pads manufactured from materials able to guarantee a constant coefficient of friction, even in damp conditions.

Alstom gave serious consideration to fitting the AGV with eddy-current brakes which are 'very interesting'. However, Lacôte feels they are 'heavy and expensive'. Ensuring that they do not introduce a safety risk makes them 'too complicated', he says, insisting that he does not want them on the AGV. Nonetheless, provision has been made for two eddy-current brakes to be installed on Pégase.

Composite components

At 17·3 m, the car body length of the AGV's intermediate cars is slightly shorter than the 18·7 m on a TGV, and this will allow a slightly wider body than the German ICE3.

The bodyshells of all seven cars are fabricated from aluminium, but the train will incorporate two structural articulation sections that feature novel technology in the form of carbon composite material. The AGV articulation will be slightly wider than on a TGV to permit more space in the inter-car gangway, and the opportunity is being taken to experiment with a material that saves 700 kg per articulation.

Lacôte says that the composite articulation structure has been put through fatigue tests at Vitry and that it has also undergone tests at Reichshoffen to check its performance in a collision.
In-house styling

Alstom - and Alstom Transport President Philippe Mellier in particular - is anxious to keep the design of the front end of Pégase under wraps until it emerges from La Rochelle - perhaps reflecting Mellier's background in the automotive industry. In 2005 the company appointed Xavier Allard as its in-house stylist, and the AGV may become the product on which Allard's future reputation will rest.

Table I. Principal data for AGV prototype trainset

Gauge mm 1 435
Overall length m c125
End car length mm 17 100
Intermediate car length mm 17 300
Bogie wheelbase mm 3 000
Width mm 2 900
Maximum speed km/h 360
Weight tonnes 272
Continuous power rating kW 5 760

AGV design features

Distributed power
Articulation
Flexible formation and capacity
Multi-voltage (three systems on prototype)
Design speed up to 360 km/h
New materials used for brake discs and pads
Some structural elements of composite material on prototype

Italian response awaited

ON MARCH 25 Alstom submitted its first bid for its AGV design to Italian private open access operator Nuevo Trasporto Viaggiatori. The proposal was for 25 trainsets, each of 11 cars, with an option for 10 more sets. A response was promised by the end of June, but a month later Alstom was still waiting to hear.

Negotiations were continuing at the end of July, but little progress was expected during August as both the French and Italian business communities had geared down for the summer holiday.

In Italy, the NTV consortium is considered to be of good standing, but there are fears that politicians may jib at allowing a private-sector company to be the first to operate a new generation high speed train on a state-funded network of high speed lines. 'Were Virgin or another company to propose something similar between Paris and Lyon, I can imagine that Sarkozy or other politicians would have something to say', remarks François Lacôte.

See also:

world's fastest trains - World Speed Survey 2007

Posted on 6:52 PM | Permalink

BBC News: 4 February 2008

Signallers at Edinburgh's Waverley station have taken wildcat strike action, bringing the station to a standstill for an hour on Monday.

The action was taken in a dispute over the provision of cover for breaks.

David Simpson, of Network Rail in Scotland, said the "deliberately disruptive, unprovoked action" was "completely unacceptable".

Ian Macintyre, of the rail union RMT, said the signallers felt the action was necessary in the interests of safety.

Mr Simpson said the workers left their posts at about 1225 GMT, returning to work at 1335 GMT.

"We have agreed ways of doing things with the RMT to resolve issues without inflicting major disruption on passengers" - David Simpson, Network Rail

He said: "This deliberately disruptive action was taken without prior warning and certainly breaks with normal resolution practices.

"Their action resulted in all services being brought to a controlled and safe stop, with no services running through the station for an hour."

He added: "We understand that this action was taken due to a disagreement within the signalling centre over arrangements for cover during breaks.

"The impact of this deliberately disruptive, unprovoked action on the travelling public is completely unacceptable and Network Rail has launched an immediate investigation.

"We have agreed ways of doing things with the RMT to resolve issues without inflicting major disruption on passengers.

"These have been completely ignored in this instance and we need to understand why, and prevent a repetition."

Failed talks

Mr Macintyre, the RMT's regional organiser for Scotland, told the BBC Scotland news website: "Our members took the action in the interests of safety.

"They felt they had been working intensively, looking at screens to ensure the safe movement of trains, working in the same way as air trafic controllers.

"After four hours they felt they had to have their personal needs' break."

He added that the signallers had been trying to reach agreement with management over cover for breaks but this had failed to happen.

Posted on 7:16 PM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 3, 2008
Reporting by Iain Rogers, editing by Maureen Bavdek

BERLIN - The head of Deutsche Bahn wants to push ahead with the part-privatisation of German rail operator in October, a German newspaper reported.

Bahn Chief Executive Hartmut Mehdorn and management board member Diethelm Sack had presented a plan including the October timetable to the supervisory board, the Financial Times Deutschland reported, in a preview of its Monday edition.

The company was preparing means of providing potential investors with detailed information about the share sale, the paper said, without identifying the source of its information.

Asked about the report, a Bahn spokesman on Sunday declined to give any details of the activities of the supervisory board.

The part-privatisation of Deutsche Bahn would be one of the biggest listings in Germany this year, but the plans may falter due to squabbling over the conditions within Germany's ruling coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD).

Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet last year approved plans for a flotation of a 25 percent stake the government valued at 3 billion euros (£2.23 billion).

According to the latest proposals, Bahn's passenger transport and logistics units would be folded into a separate holding company with a stake sold on the stock market. The rail infrastructure would remain the property of the government. (£1=1.34 Euros)

Posted on 6:24 PM | Permalink

EIRO: 04 February, 2008
Ondřej Novák, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs

A company-level collective agreement was successfully concluded at Czech Railways in December 2007 after more than two months of bargaining.

The agreement covers about 55,000 employees and provides for substantial wage increases. The agreement is highly significant as it applies to both Czech Railways and its recently established subsidiary Czech Railways Cargo. Moreover, the management of Czech Railways does not envisage further lay-offs of employees in 2008.

Collective bargaining

Collective bargaining began at Czech Railways (České dráhy, ČD) on 5 October 2007, when the employer presented the draft of a new collective agreement. The trade union federations operating at Czech Railways agreed on a common strategy and began the actual bargaining on 29 October. The trade unions taking part in the bargaining were: the Trade Union Association of Railway Workers (Odborové sdružení železničářů, OSŽ), the largest trade union organisation operating at Czech Railways, the Engine Drivers’ Federation of the Czech Republic (Federace strojvůdců České Republiky, FS ČR), the Federation of Train Crews (Federace vlakových čet, FVČ), the Union of Railway Employees (Unie železničních zaměstnanců, UŽZ), the Federation of Carriage Examiners (Federace vozmistrů, FV) and the Federation of Railway Workers of the Czech Republic (Federace železničářů, FŽ ČR). The newly established Engine Drivers’ Guild (Cech strojvůdců, CS ČR) also took part in the negotiations. Despite the distance between the positions of the trade unions and the employers – mainly concerning the increase in wage tariffs – the collective agreement was signed on 18 December 2007. The management of ČD and the trade unions described the negotiations as constructive.

Restructuring at ČD

In 2007, ČD underwent fundamental structural changes, with more changes still to follow. The company was divided into ČD, which handles passenger transport, and a new parent company Czech Railways Cargo (České dráhy Cargo, ČD Cargo), which deals with freight transport. Another change is that the operation of railway infrastructure has been transferred from ČD to the state organisation Railway Infrastructure Administration (Správa železniční dopravní cesty, SŽDC), with some employees due to be transferred during 2008. Therefore, one important bargaining objective was that the collective agreement applies to employees of ČD, ČD Cargo and any other new subsidiaries of ČD, and that it deals with the transfer of employees from ČD to SŽDC.

Provisions of collective agreement

The collective agreement applies to both companies, ČD and ČD Cargo, and introduces some fundamental changes compared with the Posted on 12:18 AM | Permalink

Javno: February 01, 2008

Rail workers in neighbours Hungary and Romania brought trains to a halt for several hours Friday in support of pay claims.

In Romania a three-hour strike left hundreds of rush-hour passengers stranded from 7:00 am (0500 GMT). Hungary's most powerful rail union launched their stoppage at 3:00 am (0200 GMT), crippling train traffic and shutting down the capital's main railway stations in the morning.

Jozsef Gasko, president of the Railway Workers' Free Labour Union, or VDSzSz, said 75 percent of rail workers took part in the strike.

State rail company MAV said later the strike had been suspended to allow wage negotiations to take place over the weekend, but Gasko threatened to resume the stoppage on Monday if talks failed, national news agency MTI reported.

The union is demanding a 10-percent wage hike plus a bonus of two-and-a-half months of salary from the revenue generated by the recent sale of the railway company's freight arm, MAV Cargo.

VDSzSZ has staged several strikes since October of last year, protesting everything from the planned closure of less frequented rail lines to government efforts to allow private insurance firms a role in the state healthcare system.

Meanwhile in Romania a three-hour strike left hundreds of rush-hour passengers stranded from 7:00 am (0500 GMT).

Trade union leaders said it was a spontaneous walk-out by their members following the collapse of talks with the transport ministry late Thursday.

But minister Ludovic Orban said the unions were behind the action, which he called illegal because the required 48-hour notice had not been given. He said negotiations were not over.

Services gradually returned to normal as talks resumed later Friday on the workers' claim for a minimum wage of 500 lei (135 euros) per month, compared with the current 450 lei.

See also:

Railway workers on open-ended strike in Hungary to demand higher wages

Associated Press: February 1, 2008

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Train services in Hungary were virtually suspended until midday Friday, as the largest railway workers' union went on strike to demand higher wages.

The Independent Railway Workers Union said it was suspending the strike pending further negotiations on Saturday with MAV, the Hungarian State Railways. Talks on Friday ended without agreement.

If there is no agreement again on Saturday, "we will continue the strike," union chief Istvan Gasko said.

Only a handful of trains across the country were reported to be running on schedule Friday morning. In Budapest, the capital, no trains were seen leaving the three main stations, with only some international arrivals.

"For nine hours, transport was paralyzed and the strike was carried out as expected," said Gasko, who estimated 75 percent of the union's 9,500 members had taken part in the work stoppage.

According to figures released by MAV, only 325 of 1,557 trains ran as scheduled while the strike was in effect.

The union representing ticket and traffic controllers and technical inspectors — roughly one-fourth of MAV's employees — was demanding a 10 percent wage increase and a one-off payment of 250,000 forints (US$1,440, €970) for its members.

The union claims rail employees are owed the lump sum after the government pledged to share the proceeds from the January sale of MAV Cargo, Hungary's rail shipping company.

MAV Cargo was sold for €400 million (US$593 million) to Austrian national railway OEBB.

In December, a similar railway strike to protest government plans to privatize health insurance services was called off after one day.

Meanwhile in Romania, a three-hour protest by railway workers halted nearly 200 trains Friday morning, as workers demanded the government improve its offer to increase salaries by 8 percent. The union wants a 12 percent increase. The Romanian government called the strike action illegal, but said it would negotiate with the railway union.

Posted on 1:16 AM | Permalink

Bristol Evening Post: 31 January 2008

A three-mile section of defunct train track between Portishead and Portbury could be bought by North Somerset Council - to safeguard its future use as a possible rail link for the town.

The section of railway, which runs between the former station at Portbury and Portishead, is owned by the British Railways Board (Residuary) Ltd, set up to manage British Rail's remaining assets when it was sold off in the 1990s.

After a consultation and review in 2006, a recommendation was made that the land be sold and North Somerset Council was given first option.

Now council officers are to launch negotiations with BRB's land agents to establish the market value of the land.

The authority will then seek to establish what funding sources could be available to them should the sale be agreed.

North Somerset Council chiefs have already agreed a long-term objective to re-open the Portishead to Bristol railway line to passengers, following concerns about the A369 commuter bottlenecks.

North Somerset Council executive member for strategic planning, highways and economic development, Elfan Ap Rees, said: "We are looking at buying this land to protect the future of the railway.

"From our point of view this would be a real step towards developing a high-speed link between Portishead and Bristol.

"The British Railways Board has agreed to sell the land and has given us first option on it."

Mr Ap Rees said that if the council was not to buy the land, developers could snap it up instead - putting the re-opening of the railway at risk.

Both the Portishead Railway Group and the Gordano Valley Local Councils Transport Group have been campaigning for years for the final section of the track to be re-opened.

Chairman of the Gordano Valley Local Councils Transport Group, Peter Burden, said: "I am extremely pleased that the district council is taking the issue of re-opening the Portishead line seriously.

"By purchasing this section of the track it would protect it from inappropriate development and secure its future as a railway line.

"The re-opening of this line is key to the future of Portishead."

The news comes just weeks after the Department of Transport said that it would not earmark the millions needed to re-open the line.

The line was closed to passenger traffic in September 1964 and freight in 1981 and lay unused apart from the occasional steam specials.

In 2002 the track between the former Portbury station and the docks, which is owned by Network Rail, was opened for freight use at a cost of £21 million.

But the last three miles from Portbury to Portishead remained closed.

Posted on 7:18 PM | Permalink

Builder & Engineer: 31 January 2008

Rail Minister, Tom Harris, this week announced additional funding for upgrades to railway stations across England and Wales.

The Department for Transport's (DfT) £370m Access for All programme funds the redevelopment of station infrastructure to provide step-free access from the station entrance to platforms, in addition to a range of more accessible facilities, such as improved lighting, hearing induction loops and passenger information screens.

Forty more stations, including Stalybridge, Rotherham, Walthamstow Central, Peterborough, Hemel Hempstead, Canterbury West, Alnmouth and Severn Tunnel Junction, will benefit under Main Scheme funding.

DfT will shortly announce a new selection of stations in Scotland to benefit.

Network Rail will carry out feasibility studies at each station over the next 18 months to determine what changes need to be made, before they launch into the design and construction of the enhanced facilities.

The upgrades are planned for completion between 2012 and 2015.

In addition, the Department will contribute £6.5m from the Small Schemes fund towards a £16.7m total investment, match-funded by train companies and local authorities, to upgrade facilities at a further 223 stations during 2008/09.

This funding is set to deliver a wide range of infrastructure including more ramps and lifts, blue badge parking spaces, and improved passenger information systems. The Small Schemes programme is forecast to continue every year until 2015.

Posted on 9:20 AM | Permalink

The Guardian: February 2, 2008
Paul Hamilos in Madrid

Madrid-Barcelona link is part of 220mph network taking on the airlines

The Ave S103 train at Santa Justa Station, Seville. Photograph: Alamy

Delays and disruption, disgruntled passengers left standing on platforms, accusations of political incompetence and financial mismanagement: the development of the Spanish railway system has a number of things in common with its British counterpart. But when the new high-speed link between Madrid and Barcelona sets off later this month, those complaints will be set aside as the super-slick Ave S103 service carves its way through the Spanish countryside at speeds of nearly 220mph.

The Ave S103 is the kind of train that British commuters can only dream of, and forms the centrepiece of plans to make Spain a model for the rest of Europe, and the world leader in high-speed trains by 2010.

Its 200-metre aluminium chassis carries 404 passengers, whose reclining chairs - which can swivel to face the direction of travel - are fitted with video and music players.

"They are the future of travel in Spain and show that the train is anything but obsolete," said Aberlado Carrillo, the director general of the state rail operator Renfe's high-speed service. "Trains will again be the dominant mode of transport in this country."

In its first term in office, the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has spent €21bn (£15.7bn) as part of a 15-year €108bn project to transform the rail network. Around 70% of this will be spent on the Ave (short for Alta Velocidad Española, or Spanish high speed).

The aim is to have 10,000km (6,200 miles) of high-speed track in Spain by 2020, meaning that 90% of the population will be no more than 30 miles from a station through which the train passes.

The Barcelona line is to be extended to Perpignan in France, making the Catalan capital just four-and-a-half hours from Paris. Work to join Madrid and Lisbon is under way.

December saw the opening of lines connecting Madrid to Valladolid and to Málaga, which have slashed journey times and proved hugely popular. Carrillo describes the success of these two lines as "unprecedented and well ahead of what we expected. Traffic has doubled on the Málaga line, and grown by 75% on the Valladolid line."

The distinction between the Spanish and British models of investment, says Christian Wolmar, the author of a history of Britain's railways, comes from conflicting philosophies of rail's worth.

"We ignore the social values of trains," he says. "Just as we don't expect motorways to pay their own way, we shouldn't expect trains to.

"All the recent legislation in the UK, with privatisation, franchising and the complex structures of investment, has meant that it is impossible to have a rational transport policy to maximise the use of trains for environmental and economic reasons."

But, says Carrillo: "The Ave has to be profitable. From 2010, it will not receive any public subsidies. Our experience of the Madrid-Seville line is that it will be profitable."

The success of the Madrid-Seville corridor - the first high-speed link, which opened in 1992 - is partly a result of its pricing policy, with affordable tickets that help to keep demand high and trains full. The 290-mile journey takes two-and-a-half hours, and costs between €28.90 (£21.60) and €72.20 (£53.95) - prices that might make British travellers green with envy.

It will be the Madrid-Barcelona connection, though, that will test the high-speed service. Business people in Spain's two largest cities, with a combined population of 10 million, have been crying out for the Ave for decades. But its development has not been without problems. The inauguration was delayed by landslides that brought chaos to Barcelona's commuter service, as contractors rushed to finish the line at the end of last year.

When it finally gets running, the S103 will cover the 410 miles to Barcelona in two hours and 35 minutes, taking two hours off the journey time. But it will face stiff competition from the highly successful air-shuttle, with a route that is one of the busiest in the world.

The "air bridge" operated by Iberia airlines allows passengers to turn up at the airport, buy a ticket, and board, within 20 minutes. Iberia alone has 60 flights a day, carrying 8,000 people.

Antonio Mayo, who is in charge of the service, is not worried by the train. "We have faced competition from other airlines before, and we welcome the fight with the Ave," he says.

"We can offer one thing they cannot - time. In normal circumstances, a businessman can get from his house in Madrid to a meeting in Barcelona in under two-and-a-half hours. The train cannot do this."

Mayo accepts that Iberia will take a hit in the first few months, but he believes that an executive who needs to be in a meeting at 9am will always choose to fly.

Carrillo argues that the comparison between train and plane is a false one. "Time spent in a train is time won, while in a plane it is wasted," he says. "In a train you can work, read, talk, use the internet, eat, or simply relax and enjoy the journey. With a plane, the only objective is to arrive.

"Personally, I am not bothered if the plane arrives 20 minutes earlier than the train. The question is how that time has been used."

The fact that more than 80% of travellers choose the Ave over the plane on the route between Madrid and Seville supports his argument.

There is also the environmental question: trains produce at least four times less carbon dioxide per mile than planes, and even less when compared with short-haul flights. Spain is preparing itself for a future in which there may be limits on the number of flights a person is allowed to take, particularly within the EU.

In the end, says Carrillo, it will come down to the quality of the service: "What we are offering is unavailable in the rest of Europe in terms of comfort, speed and punctuality."

Look away now if you are a British commuter used to mind-numbing delays: if an Ave train arrives more than five minutes late, passengers are reimbursed the full price of their ticket. And the only problem for those hoping to get their money back is that the trains are nearly 98% reliable.

Posted on 9:13 AM | Permalink