Rail Express – September 2019

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September 2019 RAIL EXPRESS 7

NewGovernment makes

commitment to regions

The North has been

promisedahigh speed

link betweenLeeds and

Manchester.

By ‘IndustryWitness’

INVE STMENT in rail infrastructure
outsideLondonistob eaprio rity for
theGovernmentformedbynew prime
ministerBoris Johnson.
The newministerialteam at the
DepartmentforTransportwillsoon
receivethe findingsof th eWilliams
Review,whichwas set up torecommend
afuturenew rail industry structure
that would avoid thefailin gs thatled
to thepoor implementation of theMay
2018 timetable.
As thework ha sprogressed, it has
beenapparentthatitisconfinedtoa
review of passenger franchisingpolicy,
and that Network Rail will notabsorb
responsibilityfortrain operations as some
have suggested.
It hasbecome clear fromKeith
Williams,whoisleadingthe review,that
he believes long-lastingreformsmust
be anchoredinregions andcommunities
that arenearertot he people the
railway serves.
This future policycoincides with
recommendations madeby the Rail North
Partnership,formedbetween theDfT and
Transportforthe North (TfN),which jointly
manages the Northern andTransPennine
Express franchises. Thefindings published
in Jul yask howNetwork Rail could have
amoreexplicitand integratedfocuson
the North,and whetherand ho wamore
effective guiding mind canbeput in place.
Although there hasbeen
improvement in train operations since

the failuretor un se rvices planned inMay

2018,timetable performanceremains

belo wacceptable levels.TfN sa ys the

potentialforchang ewillbepivotal in

achi evingaresetfor the railway andthe

opportunityformoredevolutiontot he

North’sdecision makers.

The proposals have the support

of theprime minister who,ina visitto

Manchesterwithin afew

days of being appointed,

reiterated Government

commitmentto the

NorthernPowerhouse

andthe needforan

improvedraillink

betwee nLeeds and

Manchester. Boris

Johnsonpromise dahigh speedlinkwould

be built, although where the£15 billion

funding will come fromremain sunclear.

FUTURE FRANCHISING

As partoft he ministerialchanges,Chris

Grayling wasreplacedasSecretaryof

StateforTransportby Grant Shapps

andthere is anew rail ministe rinC hris

Heaton-Harris, who istheMPfor Da ventry

and takesoverfromHarrogateMP

AndrewJones.

The decision marksthe demise of

Chris Grayling, who continued to give

the impression to somethat hewasnot

responsibleforsome decisions being

madeby officialsatthe Department

forTranspo rt. This includedsayingthat

barringcompaniesfrom applyingfor rail

franchisesaftertheir

refusaltounderwrite

open-endedpension

fund defici ts wasa

matterofregretand

notsomethinghe

would have chosen to

do.Tomanyitw as a

surprising statement

as there is notmuch point in being in

charge if decisionsare beingmade that

youdisagree with. Hopefullythe new

transport secretary canrestorecredibility

to futurefranchi se competitions.

The decision to banArriva,

Stagecoach,and Virgin from current

biddingcould becomeexpensivefor

the Government,asc ourt documents

issuedby Arriv aseek compensationof

£200 million after beingbarredfromthe

East Midlands franchisecompetition.

Stagecoach is also known to be

claiming damages.

The disqualificationsresultedin

Abelli obeing awardedthe East Midlands

contract, whichArriv asaysmeant the

procurementwaswon or lost solely on

theappetite to takeonr isk associ ated

with the pensions deficitasopposed to

thequalit yand valueoft he bid. TheDfT

wasconsi deredto have actedirratio nally

and disproportionally.

Although thehandoverfrom

Stagecoach to Abellio’sEast Mi dlands

Railway is notdue to takeplaceuntil

Augu st 18,afleetof33five-car Hitachi

bi-mode A300trainsetswasannounced

on July30toreplac eHSTsand Class 222

‘Meridian’rolling stock.The bi-modes

will bebuilt at NewtonAycliffe, County

Durham,from 2020-22.

Abellioalso is draftingin 21 four-car

Class360EMUsinDecember 2020after

they finishwithGreater Anglia. Diesel

units will be cascaded in during 2020,

comprisingfour Class 180s, fiveClass

170s andnineClass 156s.E

The North is starting

to see newtrains

come on stream

at last–and soon

TransPennine Express

will introduce its new

EMUs, bi-modes and

loco-hauled stock.

Here bi-m ode No.

802202 passesRainhill

on August1witha

5Z38/10.25 EdgeHill

Depot to Liverpool

Lime Street test run

via Earlestown.

Mark Youdan

DRScharity open day

raises £10,

DIRECT Rail Services’annualopenday washeld at its
Carlisle Kingmoorbase thisyear on July 20,and saw
around 2000visitorsraising £10,000forcharity
During theevent, No.66428 wasnamedCarlisle
Eden Mindby Davi dPeattie, thechief operating officer
of theNuclearDecommissioningAuthorit y(NDA),
in honourofthe localmentalhealth charity.Then
No. 66302was namedEndeavourby Natasha Hanson,
business services directoratDRS,inhonouroft he
company’slinks with shipping firm International
Nuclear Services.
Nineteen locoswere on sh ow:Nos.37401/409/
419, 4759 3, 57007/301/303, 66302/424/426/427/
428/433, 68006/017/018/022/033 and88009.

Right: One of six Class 66s at the Kingmoor open day
on Julywas No. 66426, which is seenraised from its
bogies on jacks.ColinPottle

“Abellio has ordered

33 five-carbi-

modes from Hitachi

forthe newEast

Midlands franchise”

S SC I O

ON PAGE 12

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