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Tuesday, 31 December 2024

Cogitamus

• Chris Stokes reflects on a long railway career in his final KeepingTrack columnI joined British Rail at the start of 1967 in the Signalling and Telecommunications Department of the then London Midland Region. I was sponsored by BR through university, making me relatively wealthy compared with most of my contemporaries at the princely salary of £550 per annum!
• Three railway tales for the end of a tumultuous yearChiltern Railways' Marylebone Aylesbury service is unique as part of the route, between Harrow and Amersham, operates over London Underground infrastructure. At the start of November, both RMT and ASLEF called strikes which would have effectively shut down the Underground network. The ASLEF strikes would not have directly impacted Chiltern but the RMT strikes included signallers so that the LUL section of the route would have been shut. Chiltern therefore publicised that it would only be able to operate a very limited Aylesbury .Great Missenden shuttle service' effectively useless for the great majority of its passengers.
• Regulator reveals huge variations in post-pandemic rail useThe Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes quarterly figures for passenger numbers by Train Operating Company (TOC) at https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/passenger-rail-usage/ , and it's fascinating to look at the changes since before the pandemic.
• What future for price competition as franchising ends?One of the conundrums facing Great British Railways (GBR) is how to deal with price competition between different operators. The original privatisation structure encouraged this, and one way Train Operating Companies could increase their profitability was by introducing lower fares between stations primarily served by another company.
• Moving faster with decisions key to fixing rail's challengesLouise Haigh, the new Secretary of State, has certainly hit the ground running, consistent with her mantra of "move fast and fix things". The most striking early move was the appointment of Lord Peter Hendy as her deputy and Rail Minister. This was one of those events which was totally unexpected, yet seemed such an obvious and welcome move when it was announced.
• Urgent rail investment decisions for the North face new UK GovernmentBarring something extraordinary happening, the election looks to be a one horse race and Labour will form the next government. It's clear that the party's approach has been to avoid any hostages to fortune, so the Labour manifesto has no specific commitments on investment in rail infrastructure.
• Labour offers pragmatic rail reform with minimal expenditureThe 25th of April policy document Labour's Plan to Fix Britain's Railways' is really rather good, and a refreshing contrast to the years of drift under the present government.
• Rail poses capacity and financing challenges for a possible Labour governmentThe May 2018 timetable fiasco was a seminal moment, triggering the Williams review to take forward reform of the rail industry.
• Draft Bill is tiny step towards rail industry restructuringThe publication of the draft Rail Reform Bill represents a tiny step towards restructuring the industry, although it is of course almost inconceivable that the Bill in its present form will ever progress, given that the Conservative government appears to be in its death throes.
• Labour should commit to build HS2 Phase 2AThe cost of HS2 continues to shoot up. Sir Jon Thompson, HS2's Executive Chair, told the House of Commons Transport Committee that the likely cost could be ?65 billion, in part because of extraordinary inflation in recent years. The Government, still whistling in the dark, asserts that it should be significantly less.
• Liverpool Street is champion station as Britain's railways strive for reliabilityReliability is emerging as the Achilles heel of the rail industry's recovery since the pandemic.
• Chris Stokes Columns - 2024In his final Keeping Track column, Chris Stokes reflects on a long railway career, covering key changes in the industry including electrification, service frequency, devolution, freight, safety and the way forward for Great British Railways. Chris's column has been essential reading for rail sector professionals and stakeholders. All of his 2024 columns can be viewed for free by clicking the links below.