What Mark Harper (SoS) and Andrew Haines (NR and GBRTT) had to say, Wednesday

GWR^▸ Stakeholder Conference, Steam, Swindon, 13th September 2023.

Personal note - a wonderful chance to catch up with many old friends, and make new contacts. Following is just my own views

** 10:00 Ruth Busby - GWR and NR^» HR^▸ director hosting
Film - "year for GWR" news reminded us of
Elizabeth Line / Bond Street
Dawlish
Green Park
Coronation
Glastonbury
Regional Railcards gone electronic
Marsh Barton
Portway Park ans Ride.

Ruth tells us that 1 in 5 trainee drivers are ladies ("doesn't sound much, but it used to be 1 in 10") and applicants from [other] minorities are at a rate above the rate for such minorities documented by ONS^»

"We are about providing the best services for our customers" (%)

** 10:15 Secretary of State Mark Harper - special video
Thanks to Volunteers who are (part of?) the beating heart of the railway.
Need to be thinking and growing the railway
Services have been transformed with new tracks and trains (%)
We are reshaping the industry and giving more power to local people

The murmur in the audience suggested that some of Mark's comments were far from the audience's own experiences and mutterings of "great objective but your actions make it impossible to achieve".

Any questions to be emailed to Jane Jones who will pass them on. We at the Coffee Shop are still waiting to hear from Mark following up on our invite to him to appear in "Meet the Manager".

** Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Network Rail and GBR^▸ Transform Team

* Can we go back to where we were? NO
1. The model in exhausted and now a financial failure
2. Covid uncertainly remains and no commercial appetite for financial risk
3. History shows we cant's fix the problems
4. It has failed to deliver promised benefits
examples Thameslink, GWR, East Coat
Money there to build, but not to then to run the service the has been built

* Can we carry on as we have been doing? NO
1. We are flat lining and that's not good enough
2. The Treasury is managing the railway and that is evil
3. Opportunities need to be taken - Grand Union, Crossrail and HS2^▸
4. Investing in HS2, realising a real line

* So what do we do?
1. Empower and decentralise
2. Respond to regional stakeholders
3. Move to a system with the right incentive for all participants
4. Provide a welcome guiding hand [from GBR] to join the network and systems

Andrew got strong applause (as the boss of the national organisations in these difficult time, remarkable. But then having known Andrew in a number of roles over the years, that's him. And he DID^» take questions. They revealed ...

He agreed he has a lot of rabbits to pull out of the hat

The problem is how to navigate and get on with the current uncertainty over things like what will be in the King's Speech and who the government / boss will be with what policies

He promised a more national accessibility strategy - systematic rather that random (he didn't quite say random)

"Cowley, Wantage, Witney - all need funding but it goes elsewhere" says a questioner. Answer - not all affordable at once but it can work with more say in local funding and a guiding mind.

Asset failures - yes, far too many; working on it.
In Wales, improving but there is so much improvement work going on that it's hard in the short term
Western - signalling work and OHLE improvements descoped from Crossrail so we have a superb central section and tires infrastructure on the ends - different railways. Outer ends less that 1% of the Crossrail spend.
Hard to work on the line in just a 2.5 hour window now at night.

% - yeah right. Audience found this hard to swallow! Friends around me muttering!

A lot more follow ups to come if I get a chance - out tonight to see "Jeremy and the Amazing MonoCrome Dreamcoat" or similar at the Melksham Assembly Hall. Local Am-dram. Joking apart, should be good!