Yet again the column is bursting at the seams and there is now a backlog of late breaking big developments which have a brief note in this month’s news and will have to be analysed next month
After the Christmas overruns the Office of Rail Regulation ordered Network Rail to deliver, by March 31, a plan demonstrating how the infrastructure to run the December 2008 West Coast Main Line timetable would be delivered. On 19 March Network Rail published its options in a consultation document.
Virgin Trains, EWS and Freightliner were not happy. For a start, the eight days to reply included two bank holidays and a weekend. Then Network Rail had just three days to weave responses into its Plan for ORR. Fait accompli?
Two options were proposed. Option B, endorsed by the Network Rail Board, would catch up the backlog, by dint of extra possessions and disruption, and allow the Virgin High Frequency (VHF) timetable to be introduced as planned on 14 December. Well, actually January 5, since
Option C would reduce the impact on passenger and freight operators by concentrating the outstanding work over bank holiday weekends, with the VHF timetable deferred to May 2009.
Network Rail argues that deferral would have a knock-on effect on other schemes planned for 2009. It is also desperately wants to get the WCRM off its back once and for all. Hence the enthusiasm for Option B.
Meanwhile the WCRM has become a political issue. Ministers can’t afford what would be seen as another transport fiasco, with the timetable deferred. Like Network Rail they reckon the short term pain is worth the gain.
But when you read this the industry will still be waiting for ORR’s decision on the Plan. According to an ORR spokesman on 3 March, the current view is to stick with Option B, but this will be ‘reviewed and scrutinised’ at the April Board meeting which won’t be held until 29 April.
This means that operators won’t be able to meet their T-12 Informed Passenger obligation until 22 July. Tough if you are trying to plan your summer holiday travel.
EWS and Virgin went public on their responses to the Consultation and both were unhappy with Option B. Arriva Cross Country gave their views to Tony Miles, reported elsewhere in the May magazine and they are unhappy with option C.
For both passenger operators the issue is driver training. With all the blockades Virgin will find it hard to train 500 drivers by the end of the year while ACC won’t have the spare drivers and rolling stock in the New Year if the timetable is delayed.
But it now looks as though Virgin is taking a more accommodating line – having had a session with the Transport Secretary. After further analysis they think that they can, just, get their drivers trained. But only if Network Rail delivers Option B on time.
Freight operators are still unhappy. EWS describes Option B as presenting a ‘grave risk’ to the company’s ability to retain its ‘remaining freight business’, and is likely to encourage customers to switch to, or remain with, road transport.It doesn’t help that north of Crewe Option B proposes additional weekend possessions between Carnforth and Penrith throughout July. However, EWS has already agreed a blockade on the Settle & Carlisle line, which would be the usual diversionary route. Oops!
EWS claims that Network Rail’s consultation arrangements did not meet the requirements of ORR’s Provisional Order and are thus in breach of that Order itself. The short consultation also means that Network Rail has also failed to ‘ascertain and take into account the reasonable requirements of its customers’, so that it is also in breach of Condition 7 of its Network Licence. Solicitors letters have been sent.
As I type this on Friday DfT Rail should be taking its first peeks at the expressions of interest in becoming the Shadow
Pendolino lengthening has been running in this column since shortly after Stephenson’s Rocket won the Railhill Trials – well it seems like it. And it is still dragging on.
There was a lot of misunderstanding when the DfT Transport Rail issued the OJEU Notice for what it calls a Service Provider to support the Pendolino programme. But the concept, if not the application, is quite simple.
When acquiring new trains, or making techie changes to existing trains, the resident Train Operating Company carries out a number of vital tasks. But in the case of the Pendolino lengthening, Virgin Trains ruled itself out of the procurement exercise over the compensation for potential risks.
According to the OJEU the Service Provider will support the Department throughout the ‘procurement, design finalisation, manufacture, delivery, testing and commissioning of the Pendolinos and maintenance services’.
There is also a vital commercial task for this shadow
Before the train’s owner can start receiving lease rentals on the new equipment and buy the vehicles from the manufacturer (Alstom) someone has to accept them as fit for service. Normally the operator would do this. But with Virgin playing hard ball the Service Provider will sign the Qualified Take Over Certificate (QTOC) which releases the first funds.
There are some obvious candidates for the role of Shadow
Meanwhile, in the column I update the delivery schedule which will now see lengthening programme start in 2012 at the same time as the replacement franchise. Before then delivery of four new 9-car Pendolinos will start in 2010.
These will be lengthened in 2011 and will then provide coverage as the existing fleet is lengthened. The basic contract for 106 vehicles covers the four new trains plus lengthening of 31 sets. An option covers additional cars to lengthen the rest of the fleet. A second option provides for up to 23 new Pendolinos to replace the West Coast Birmingham-Scotland Voyagers.
Contract signing has been held up by the three week political ‘purdah’ before the local elections. So the deal should be done during early May. But DfT Rail needs to act soon – with all those high speed train orders in
Another running story in the column has been the poor quality technical decision making in DfT Rail. It reached its nadir with the Rail Technical Strategy (RTS) which was technically incoherent and lacked any recognisable strategy other than a naïve believe that electrification might be made obsolete in 15 years time by hydrogen produced by what I termed ‘bionic duckweed’.
Responsibility for technical matters in DfT Rail falls to the Director, Technical & Professional a post created in the 2005 reorganisation of the Department. Sometime in May, depending on the progress with the Pendolino contract (above), Anthony Mercado, currently Customer Director for the Alsthom’s West Coast Main Line business takes over the post on a three year secondment.
In my book, no one is better qualified for the task, both technically and managerially. Tony makes difficult things happen. And to help him get focused this month’s column contains an Agenda for his first 100 days in the new job. The first two items are ‘Rip up the RTS’ and ‘get a commitment in principle for a rolling programme of main line electrification’. IEP comes sixth and last on the ‘to do’ list.
There I was looking forward to joining up with the car park watchers outside the Department of Transport to count the Intercity Express Programme bid boxes in on 6 May when DfT extended the deadline to 30 June. DfT Rail said that the would-be suppliers had asked for the extension. So they had, but not for an extra eight weeks.
With the world finance markets in a spin, the cost of borrowing is now such as to make the IEP unfundable. Add in the impossible-to-meet technical specification, not to mention sillies such as each five car EMU having to have a diesel donkey engine so that it can move under its own power, and the wonder train is about to run off a cliff.
How then for the Government to start again without losing face? Only with difficulty since, so far, £7.9 million has been spent on consultancy fees for the IEP since 2005.
Barring both bidders pulling out – and there are rumours - I reckon the solution is to cancel the diesel version, let Tony Mercado loose on the spec’ and buy a 125mile/h Class 444 type EMU. What about the Great Western HST fleet? Well the IC125s will run until 2020 – at least – by which time the wires are up. Part of the fundability problem is finding someone to buy £250 million of diesel power cars which, with a 30 year life, would be in service until 2048.
Time to forget that IEP was once HST2. It’s now the Intercity EMU Project.
My New Year’s resolution to get out of the office more is going well. On 9 April I had a day at Alstom’s Longsight Depot finding out about their Fleet Console system which integrates the Pendolino’s ability to report any problems in real time with the management of maintenance and rectification. I was very impressed and all will be revealed next month. I also had a session on the energy metering trials with a Pendolino – real world figures on the savings from regen’ braking.
Last Tuesday saw the Railway Forum’s sustainability conference which focused on electrification. Cogently argued papers, an expert panel session, concluded by words of wisdom from Don Heath who made the ECML electrification happen, and, finally, a very positive contribution from DfT Rail who asked, at the last moment, to make a presentation.
There were two reminders of my engineering youth during this event. A delegate came up an introduced himself. He had been with English Electric at
This coming Wednesday sees my presentation on Thameslink and Crossrail trains to the London Rail conference. DfT Rail has thoughtfully published the Invitation to Tender for the 1100 Thameslink trains, so the paper will be pretty up to date.
At the end of this week, of course, it’s the Fourth Friday Club where the guest speaker is Vernon Barker of TransPennine Express (http://www.4thfriday.co.uk/).
Finally, on the last day of the month, I am due to name an IC125 power car after one of my heroes – Terry Miller – the British Rail Chief Engineer behind the High Speed Train. We have managed to track down his family, including a grandson who will be present for the event at Neville Hill depot. I will also been handing over a champagne challenge for the first IC125 fleet to beat 10,000 miles per casualty. Some train, some engineer!
And then it’s time to write another column with material stacking up.
Roger