New railway carriages shelved because of spending squeeze

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Telegraph:

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.^

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

well thats a surprise

[Henry]

  Not good news for Devon/Cornwall.
 
  Will the over-worked 143,142,150 units still be fit for service in 10/15 years time ?

  HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s 45 years old ?  Will electrification still go ahead ?

  I have visions of Mumbai - ( if I sit on the roof of a 150 will there be sufficient head room in the tunnel).

[eightf48544]

Something on You and Yours today Tony Miles Modern railways.

Interesting point he made is tha it's not clear if the thameslink new trains purchase is included in the cuts. He pointed ot that the passengers on that line who are facing massive disruption with the rebuild of Blackfriars are not going to be too happy if they don't get their 24 trains an hour through Farringdon they were promised.

Especialy as it would be around 2015 and the next general election, my addition.

Also that some rolling stock is becoming life expired and subject to corrosion what would happen if there was an accident with this stock and it was found age was a factor in causing death and injuries.

[caliwag]

The presenter, at theend of the interview, confirmed that the new Thameslink trains were cancelled as well, and therefore that would have a knock-on effect in Greater Manchester...so there we have it.  More than happy to have 125s for the next 10-15 years. With a few paint jobs, the travelling public will never notice.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

but is this part of the governments aim of longer franchises to promote more investment from the toc's ? i cant really see them investing money in new trains tho even with a longer term

how many mk 2's are in storage maybee were going for a national heritage railway??

[woody]

Given that the USAF^▸ (United States Air Force) B-52 first entered service in June 1955 and is expected to remain in service until 2045 it should be economically feasable to keep the venerable HST^▸ (High Speed Train) going for a while yet with the necessary re-engineering ie power doors,retension tanks and power car upgrades to the electric transmission(bigger alternator and AC traction motors) to use more of the available horsepower from the currently de-rated MTU^▸ (Motor Traction Unit) diesel engine.

[Electric train]

GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) electrification is a Network Rail funded project, there is public money involved but that is not the principle funding.  NR^» (Network Rail - home page) 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

[caliwag]

From the Rail news...confusion reigns. Have to say the R4 presenter on "You and Yours" did seem to be quoting an official statement.

http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/general/2010/05/27-no-decision-on-thameslink-rolling.html

[onthecushions]

GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) electrification is a Network Rail funded project, there is public money involved but that is not the principle funding.  NR^» (Network Rail - home page) 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^▸ (First Capital Connect), 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

[Electric train]

GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) electrification is a Network Rail funded project, there is public money involved but that is not the principle funding.  NR^» (Network Rail - home page) 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^▸ (First Capital Connect), 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

Thameslink trains I am sure will be replaced, its where the old ones will be cascaded to that will effect GWML.  I know people in the Thameslink program they are already having to review (ie downsize the expectations) for key output 2 which includes the remodeling of London Bridge and Borough Market etc and the platform extensions further out from London and power supply upgrading

[ChrisB]

....and the Oxford- and Newbury- bits depend on cascaded (remember that word?) class 319's, which must presumably now soldier on at Thameslink/FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect), 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^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) stock....

[willc]

I don't believe DafT ever got beyond just broad-brush statements as to where stock was meant to be used, but my interpretation was IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) was meant for Oxford expresses and Cotswold Line (replacing HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) and some 166 workings) with 319s for the stopping services south of Oxford.

[Electric train]

....and the Oxford- and Newbury- bits depend on cascaded (remember that word?) class 319's, which must presumably now soldier on at Thameslink/FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect), 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^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) stock....

319's and electrification were / are to replace the 165 local and semi fasts between Padd and Oxford

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page).

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^» (Department for Transport - about)) 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."