Get Britain Moving - Labour's plans to fix Britain's Railways

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Peter

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-july-2024

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE as a Minister of State in the Department for Transport

His attitude towards working practices on the railway & industrial relations may provoke some lively discussions!

[IndustryInsider]

Lively discussions are better than no discussions.

[ChrisB]

Now a new head for Network Rail is required.

[GBM]

Now a new head for Network Rail is required.

Perhaps a decent budget to go with that!

[grahame]

Now a new head for Network Rail is required.

"Head" as in a Chair rather than a Chief Executive. And that's if NR^» (Network Rail - home page) is to remain an entity with a board rather than be consumed by GBR^▸ (Great British Railways).   Who might the Coffee Shop team suggest? 

Don't we have, hidden amongst our members and guests who read the forum, a number of passenger / customer service people who might just be able to do a good job ... especially if the constraints and frustrations "enjoyed" by their predecessor in recent years could be set aside. With their predecessor now a Minister of State at the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), surely this should now be much more a team game?

[ChrisB]

Chief Secretary to the Treasury says HS2a isn't necessarily dead in the water

From The Telegraph

Minister refuses to rule out resurrecting northern leg of HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s))

Darren Jones says Labour will have ‘conversation’ about alternative proposals for future of high-speed route

A Treasury minister has refused to rule out resurrecting the HS2 railway line north of Birmingham.

Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said Labour would have a “conversation” with Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, about the future of the high-speed route after the northern leg was scrapped by Rishi Sunak.

Mr Burnham announced in February this year that he was exploring a number of alternative options to the section ditched by the Tories, including a proposal for a new, lower-speed line roughly along the same route.

In an interview with Sky News on Monday morning, Mr Jones was told that Mr Burnham “wants HS2 reinstated”.

He replied: “I am sure Andy Burnham will have lots of things on his agenda. We will have to talk to Andy Burnham about that. I know that he was working with some other private investors and other mayors to put together proposals.”

Asked if he was ruling it out, Mr Jones said: “We are going to collaborate with our mayors and devolved leaders, we are going to work with them on the local growth plans…

“We are not going to be able to do everything and there is going to be difficult trade-offs and we have inherited a very difficult fiscal situation, that is clear.

“But we can do things to start with and then of course if there are medium and long-term aspirations we will work with partners to deliver them.”

Asked again if he was ruling it out, Mr Jones said: “We will have the conversation with the mayor and see what his proposals are.”

Mr Sunak scrapped the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester in October 2023.

Setting out possible alternatives in February, together with Andy Street, now the former Tory mayor of the West Midlands, Mr Burnham presented three options drawing on private funds, which were all said to cost “considerably less” than HS2.

As well as the new, lower speed line, which would be mostly for passengers, these included enhancing the existing West Coast Main Line and adding bypasses to the busiest sections.

At the time, Mr Burnham said that a “do nothing” approach was “not an option” because that would be “damaging to economic growth in the regions” and “leave the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) with quite a serious transport headache for the rest of this century”.

The mayors did not provide any cost estimates.

When he announced the axing of the HS2 northern leg, Mr Sunak promised to reinvest “every single penny” of the £36 billion previously earmarked for the scheme into hundreds of new transport projects.

The decision to scrap the section was criticised by Lord Cameron and Boris Johnson, who accused Mr Sunak of throwing away a “once-in-a-generation opportunity”.

HS2 was not mentioned by name in the Labour manifesto. However, the party did vow to improve rail connectivity “across the north of England”.

[Electric train]

Now a new head for Network Rail is required.

"Head" as in a Chair rather than a Chief Executive. And that's if NR^» (Network Rail - home page) is to remain an entity with a board rather than be consumed by GBR^▸ (Great British Railways).   Who might the Coffee Shop team suggest? 

Don't we have, hidden amongst our members and guests who read the forum, a number of passenger / customer service people who might just be able to do a good job ... especially if the constraints and frustrations "enjoyed" by their predecessor in recent years could be set aside. With their predecessor now a Minister of State at the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), surely this should now be much more a team game?

Network Rail will be absorbed into GBR, its what happens to the infrastructure maintainer and operator once and how the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are also brought in house is the question

[ChrisB]

And until that happens? Probably at least a year, possibly two?

[Electric train]

And until that happens? Probably at least a year, possibly two?

My guess the Act will be come Law in 2026/7 but changes will happen before that

[ChrisB]

It may be they pass to the OLR, before being passed to GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) once established....

[stuving]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) have put out a press release about Louise Haigh's "hello I'm your new boss" talk. This is the bullet points bit - her 5 strategic priorities:

•     improving performance on the railways and driving forward rail reform
•     improving bus services and growing usage across the country
•     transforming infrastructure to work for the whole country, promoting social mobility and tackling regional inequality
•     delivering greener transport
•     better integrating transport networks

And also some new ministers:

In addition, the Prime Minister has announced the appointment of new ministers at the Department, including Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context), Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood MP, and Aviation, Maritime, and Security Minister Mike Kane MP.

Did we have a local transport minister last week? I don't remember.

[ChrisB]

Ahhh, that explains it - I heard that Lilian Greenwood had been taken in under the rail banner....

[Electric train]

It may be they pass to the OLR, before being passed to GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) once established....

GBR does already exist, its more likely that OLR will be passed into GBR, as they are both in effect "at arms reach" Government organisations like Network Rail and ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) is an at arms reach moving OLR, NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and certain parts into GBR will not require legislation, its the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) structure and the future structure of the Railway Industry that will require primary legislation

[TaplowGreen]

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE holds a PSV licence .............he will not be the same as Lord Adonis, in regards building new High Speed railways.

He is unlikely to price people off of rail services, it will be more where does the Government investment go, more importantly what investment can the Metro Mayors and County / Local Authorities bring to rail

He owns two Routemasters, used in the annual scheduled number 23A services to Imber. He doesn't own a train, but I think he will prove a good leader for rail generally - as head of NR^» (Network Rail - home page), I am sure he had to bite his lip and do what he was told to do by the Minister on occasion. As Minister, he won't have to do that. He might not be the same sort of visionary as Andrew Adonis, but they sing from the same hymn book. Time will tell.

Do you agree with Hendy when he says that the railway could be run more effectively with less people?

[Red Squirrel]

Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE holds a PSV licence .............he will not be the same as Lord Adonis, in regards building new High Speed railways.

He is unlikely to price people off of rail services, it will be more where does the Government investment go, more importantly what investment can the Metro Mayors and County / Local Authorities bring to rail

He owns two Routemasters, used in the annual scheduled number 23A services to Imber. He doesn't own a train, but I think he will prove a good leader for rail generally - as head of NR^» (Network Rail - home page), I am sure he had to bite his lip and do what he was told to do by the Minister on occasion. As Minister, he won't have to do that. He might not be the same sort of visionary as Andrew Adonis, but they sing from the same hymn book. Time will tell.

Do you agree with Hendy when he says that the railway could be run more effectively with less people?

‘Fewer’, surely?