Office of Rail and Road / enabling Corby

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Office of Rail and Road

Electrifying the Midland Main Line, 26 May 2021

A new fully electrified train service, running twice hourly between Corby and London St Pancras, has been introduced by East Midlands Railway (EMR^» (East Midlands Railway, also known as EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) (East Midlands Trains) - about)).

This has helped been made possible after the complex specification for the electrification project was authorised by ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about).

Passengers aren’t the only ones who will see benefits, with freight services now able to operate longer and more frequent trains, reducing congestion and delays on the roads.

[snip]

This project is a prime example of how cross industry collaboration can deliver success on time and on budget, something we should all continue to strive for and make the norm across industry.

Good news that the electrification is completed, safely, on time, and to budget.  I have to express an element of concern that the budget had to be set high, and the timescale long, in the first place in order to allow for processes which may have been longer and more complex (and thus more expensive) than might have been totally necessary.   Is that a valid concern? I really don't know ...

 

[eXPassenger]

I would rather the budget was set (and accepted) at a realistic cost and timescales than 'engineered' down and everyone acting surprised when this new budget was exceeded.

[Lee]

I myself wonder why the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) can say "we want Okehampton reopened in a matter of months, here's £40 million not a penny more, now get on with it" and instead of the usual "you're having a laugh, we want at least £100 million and a couple of years minimum", Network Rail do indeed get on with it, use all sorts of innovative ideas and processes to keep on time and on budget, and gain for themselves some well-deserved good PR^▸ (Public Relations) and general image uplift - and why that cant be made the norm across the industry.

[Richard Fairhurst]

This is the much-vaunted new Acceleration Unit (aka SPEED), isn't it? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-launches-new-acceleration-unit-to-speed-up-transport-infrastructure-projects-and-build-back-better-from-covid-19

[Lee]

This is the much-vaunted new Acceleration Unit (aka SPEED), isn't it? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-launches-new-acceleration-unit-to-speed-up-transport-infrastructure-projects-and-build-back-better-from-covid-19

The unit is set to be in place next month and will be directly accountable to the Transport Secretary. It will be led by Darren Shirley, currently Chief Executive of the Campaign for Better Transport and formerly of Which? Magazine.

An excellent leadership choice that at least makes it stand half a chance.

[Richard Fairhurst]

And a write-up of Project Speed: https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/rail-industry-challenged-to-cut-delivery-time-in-half-and-slash-costs-on-all-projects-01-03-2021/

[Electric train]

This is the much-vaunted new Acceleration Unit (aka SPEED), isn't it? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-launches-new-acceleration-unit-to-speed-up-transport-infrastructure-projects-and-build-back-better-from-covid-19

Andrew Haines is challenging NR^» (Network Rail - home page) internally to speed up project delivery, there is some concerns over corner cutting to achieve it and not actual process improvement. 
Andrew Haines is also challenging the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) and ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) over the bureaucracy imposed by these two and the time taken to make a decision / approve
Once GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) has control of the whole train set and gets away from the fragmented industry we currently have, hopefully, projects will be easier to deliver.

[Lee]

This is the much-vaunted new Acceleration Unit (aka SPEED), isn't it? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-launches-new-acceleration-unit-to-speed-up-transport-infrastructure-projects-and-build-back-better-from-covid-19

Andrew Haines is challenging NR^» (Network Rail - home page) internally to speed up project delivery, there is some concerns over corner cutting to achieve it and not actual process improvement. 
Andrew Haines is also challenging the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) and ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) over the bureaucracy imposed by these two and the time taken to make a decision / approve
Once GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) has control of the whole train set and gets away from the fragmented industry we currently have, hopefully, projects will be easier to deliver.

- Seems to be working for Okehampton. Can you give me a specific example on that scheme that is negative cost cutting rather than genuine process improvement?

- Whilst the DfT and ORR are most certainly not blameless on the bureaucracy front, aren't we somewhat in danger of ignoring that 95% of the blame lay with Network Rail's failed and discredited GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) system?

- I will say it again. All that is really happening is that the Private TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s and Network Rail are rebranding themselves and trying to distract everyone's attention from that with a historic-sounding name and an iconic double arrow logo. What's more, if on top of that new "innovative local operators" are also going to be able to run services, then how on earth is the cumulative effect of that going to be less fragmentation?

- I don't think anybody deep down truly believes that the DfT and ORR are suddenly going to leave GBR to it and not interfere once it is created. If anyone does, they obviously haven't noticed the quotes from Andrew Haines about Boris and the DfT calling him up every 5 minutes about their top priority projects, and they certainly haven't learned the lessons of history regarding the SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about)'s downfall.

Sorry to keep pointing this out and being the forum party pooper but...It aint gonna work so don't do it