Great Western Coffee Shop

Hundreds of railway carriages intended to ease overcrowding on some of Britain^s busiest lines have fallen victim to the first tranche of coalition cuts.
The Department for Transport, which has to save ^683 million by the end of March, has shelved plans to pay for new rolling stock.
Labour had promised 1,300 new carriages to help the railway industry cope with soaring demand for train travel, which has reached levels unseen since the immediate post war years.
According to a Parliamentary written answer earlier this year 380 of the carriages were in service and another 311 on order, leaving 691 outstanding.
The Daily Telegraph understands however, that these are now unlikely be delivered, especially with the Government braced for even more spending cuts later in the year.
There could be more bad news for passengers with the refurbishment of 10 major railway stations ordered by Lord Adonis, the previous Transport Secretary, also being ditched as Network Rail tries to find ^100 million of savings.
The loss of the carriages alarmed Anthony Smith, chief executive of the consumer group, Passenger Focus. ^We need to see the detail about where efficiency savings and cuts are being made to the railway, but passengers travelling on busy, overcrowded services during peak times will be disappointed by news that promised new carriages have fallen by the way,^ he said.
Meanwhile a spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies added: ^This announcement is hardly surprising, but it will be disappointing news for passengers in those parts of the country waiting for much-needed new rolling stock. We hope this represents only a temporary pause in investment in new vehicles and that Government uses the opportunity to work with the industry to develop a more effective way of providing passengers with new trains. The best way to get value for money in obtaining new trains would be to give train companies a greater role in ordering their own rolling stock. This would get things done quicker and cheaper, ensure that the right rolling stock gets to the right places at the right time and would give passengers and taxpayers the best deal. We recognise the need for austerity in the current economic climate. But with demand for rail travel expected to double in the next 30 years, public commitment to investment needs to be sustained, together with focused reform to get more from every pound spent on rail.^

GWML electrification is a Network Rail funded project, there is public money involved but that is not the principle funding.  NR is reliant on the Government acting as guarantor of the loan NR will be seeking.

However the electrification of the GWML is only feasibly if there are trains to use it

....and the Oxford- and Newbury- bits depend on cascaded (remember that word?) class 319's, which must presumably now soldier on at Thameslink/FCC, if there are to be no replacements....
The 4 North West wirings also depend on this cascade, so 5 steps forward and 5 steps back.
Merrie England,
OTC

....and the Oxford- and Newbury- bits depend on cascaded (remember that word?) class 319's, which must presumably now soldier on at Thameslink/FCC, if there are to be no replacements....

I don't think that's correct - please state the source of your statement. Oxford for sure was getting the IEP stock....

An "urgent reappraisal" of the government's train carriage procurement programme has been ordered by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.

He said each project will be "rigorously re-assessed" to ensure it offers value for money for taxpayers.

The Department for Transport (DfT) must find ^683m in savings.

Meanwhile, a National Audit Office (NAO) report said plans for increasing rail capacity may not provide value for money and should be reviewed.

These fears were expressed because costs, particularly of rail carriages, had risen at the same time as the recession had reduced the DfT projections of passenger demand.

The number of journeys taken on Britain's rail network has almost doubled in the last 10 years.

Some 1,300 new carriages were promised by the Labour government by 2012 to deal with overcrowding.

Passenger predictions
 
By March this year, 526 had already been delivered, but it is thought that only about another 100 will be ready over the next two years.

But the NAO has questioned whether they are actually needed since it says predicted passengers numbers may not be accurate because of the recession.

The transport secretary welcomed the NAO report, which he said "reinforces" his "concerns about Labour's announced new carriage procurement programme".

"Since that announcement was made in 2007 the growth in passenger numbers has not materialised and costs have soared, leaving Labour's plans in tatters," he said.

'Drive costs down'
 
Mr Hammond said the government had inherited a situation in which, according to the NAO, "significantly fewer new trains will be delivered for the money committed than were promised to passengers".

Meanwhile, NAO head Amyas Morse said the DfT had "used a broadly sound framework to develop plans for adding capacity to the rail network" but they had been developed "in a stronger economic climate".

But he went on: "We believe that it needs to implement these plans flexibly in light of current conditions, in order to protect value for money, and to be continually looking to drive down the costs of rail improvement works."

Extra train carriages to ease overcrowding on First Great Western^s rail services face the chop after ministers ordered an ^urgent reappraisal^. The last Labour government promised an additional 1,300 carriages across the country three years ago, of which 647 have already been brought in or are on order. The remainder have now been put on ice after the Department for Transport was told to slash ^683 million from its budget as part a raft of in-year savings totalling ^6.2 billion. Of the 1,300 carriages, First Great Western was due to receive 52 but only 12 of those were destined for services in the South West.

A First Great Western spokesman said: ^We recognise there are capacity issues in some areas of our network and we will continue our discussions with the Department for Transport about how to best manage capacity in the current economic climate.

^First Great Western secured a long term lease earlier this year from the Department for Transport for 30 vehicles for the west of England, which will maintain current capacity through to the end of its franchise.

^These are not new vehicles, but will replace vehicles currently on short term lease from Arriva Trains Wales, Northern and other operators. These trains will be returned to those train operators as a result of securing the long term lease.

^Our understanding is the original additional 52 vehicles (40 for London Thames Valley, and 12 for the west of England) proposed by 2014, stated in the White Paper, will not now be guaranteed.^

Ripping out seats would ease crowding on trains, suggests public pending watchdog

Removing seating and allowing more passengers to stand would help ease congestion on packed trains, the National Audit Office suggested today.
The public spending watchdog's report on rail passenger capacity recommended a 'reconfiguration' of carriages.
The idea will appeal to train companies because it would be a cost effective way to transport more people but is likely to anger passengers.
They would be reluctant to pay high train fares for a journey where they are even more unlikely to get a seat.
The suggestion also sparked fury from the unions, who claimed it would reduce trains to 'slow-moving, overcrowded cattle trucks'.
And it dismayed environmental campaigners, who claim it will make train travel less popular and conflicts with the coalition's pledge to create a green economy.
Richard Hebditch, campaigns director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: 'When they were in opposition, the Conservatives rightly pushed the Labour government to deliver in full the 1,300 carriages which we need to tackle overcrowding. We still need those extra carriages. Our roads are still congested and we're not going to get people to switch to using the train if they can't get a seat.'
Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union added: 'All the warm words of this new Government on a high-speed, green future for expanded rail travel are evaporating before our very eyes as transport is seen as a soft target for early cuts with the private companies given a green light to continue milking profits and subsidies which could be used to invest for the future. There is no question that this systematic undermining of rail budgets and rail safety makes another major disaster an inevitability and we will take whatever action is required to protect jobs, safe working conditions and the safety of the travelling public.'
The NAO report said: 'Reconfiguration of carriages can provide additional standing and overall capacity by removing some seats and changing their layout. The Department did not evaluate the cost-effectiveness of reconfiguring existing carriages, or vary its calculations of the carrying capacity of carriages to allow for high density stock. Transport for London has estimated that high density stock could accommodate up to 30 per cent more passengers than conventional stock.'
The suggestion, which also angered unions, could gain traction because Government spending cuts have already seen plans for 600 new carriages put on hold.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond today ordered an 'urgent reappraisal' of the government's train carriage procurement programme.
He said each project would be 'rigorously re-assessed' to ensure it offered value for money for taxpayers.
In its report, the NAO warned Labour's plans to increase rail capacity might not give value for money and should be reassessed.
Labour promised 1,300 new carriages by 2012 to address overcrowding. By this March, only 526 had been delivered. It is thought only another 100 will be ready in time.
But the NAO questions whether they are needed because demand for train travel has fallen due to the recession while the cost of providing more carriages has risen.
The previous government's measures aimed at increasing capacity will not deliver as much as promised, it concluded.
It predicted it will be 15 per cent lower in London, with 99,000 extra passengers in the morning rush hour, and 25,500 fewer travelling into other English cities.
The report pointed out that passenger transport bosses in northern England feel they have been let down by the Government.
Demand for train travel has risen sharply in the past 15 years. There were 0.74billion journeys in 1994/5 but had soared to 1.27billion in 2008/9.
Mr Hammond said: 'The growth in passenger numbers has not materialised and costs have soared, leaving Labour's plans in tatters. The last Government claimed it had abolished boom and bust and seemed to believe that taxpayers' money grew on trees. This Government will act more responsibly. We inherit a situation where, according to the NAO, significantly fewer new trains will be delivered for the money committed than were promised to passengers. I announced on May 24 a pause in the rolling stock programme. This report makes clear that we need to go further and on the back of its findings I have ordered an urgent reappraisal of the whole programme. We will rigorously re-assess the business case for each procurement in the light of the changed circumstances, reviewing all the options, and will ensure that we deliver value for money for taxpayers.'
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: 'The Department for Transport used a broadly sound framework to develop plans for adding capacity to the rail network. These plans were developed in a stronger economic climate. However, we believe that it needs to implement these plans flexibly in light of current conditions, in order to protect value for money, and to be continually looking to drive down the costs of rail improvement works.'

A public pending watchdog.  Hmmm...  :-\