New PMs and Transport Secretaries, Autumn 2022

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

One might hope that both BJ & LT will share transport to/from Balmoral & not charge the public purse two lots of airfare etc.

One has heard for security purposes they will not be sharing.

There won't be any airfare. The two Dassault Envoy (yes, French) aircraft operated by 32 Squadron RAF^▸ (Royal Air Force) were used.

Rhere’s still a large cost to the taxpayer. Probably more than the public fare. But for the reason already accepted, I’m cool with it

[grahame]

From
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25439/anne-marie_trevelyan/berwick-upon-tweed/votes
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24941/elizabeth_truss/south_west_norfolk/votes

All old votes on transport, though the page is more up to date as it reflects votes in other areas from last year.

[onthecushions]

... and the Morpeth curve will finally be re-aligned for 125mph.

OTC

[grahame]

I have changed the subject on this thread to reflect the new PM and Transport Secretary - I chickened out of trying to split the thread into one for each of them!

[grahame]

From "Intelligent Transport"

International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is new transport secretary, following the sacking of Grant Shapps by newly appointed prime minister Liz Truss.

Trevelyan backed a rival candidate, Tom Tugendhat, in the Conservative leadership campaign, but switched to Truss when he was knocked out in the third ballot. She said on Twitter: “I’m thrilled to have been appointed transport sec. Transport is crucial to our lives - bringing people together, creating jobs & connecting the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) with the world. Looking forward to getting to work on the many challenges & opportunities transport brings.”

[IndustryInsider]

Not a job I’d like to take on with the likelihood of presiding over ever reducing budgets, service cuts and industrial action.

[stuving]

According to this from globalrailwayreview, Kevin Foster MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) (Torbay) has been named as junior minister responsible for rail. However, DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) do not currently show allocated responsibilities for either him or the Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP (the two ministers of state). Rail is not mentioned for any of the three Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State, either.

[ChrisB]

Confirmed on twitter to be Kevin Foster….appears Truss had a change of mind

[stuving]

And then there's the new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, who has proffered a list of infrastructure projects in "The Growth Plan 2022" (aka "if it looks like a budget ..."). These projects "will be accelerated as fast as possible, aiming to get the vast majority starting construction by the end of 2023". The longest part of the list is roads, but there are several rail projects and even the odd green one or two. The rail projects are:

87. Cambridge South Station
88. Northumberland Line
89. White Rose Station
90. Thorpe Park
91. Transpennine Route Upgrade
92. East West Rail
93. Leeds Station Enhancement
94. Manchester Improvements
95. Midland Main Line Phase 3
96. Northern Powerhouse Rail

As well as those, there are quite a few railly things in the list of Local Transport
 projects:

99. LCR: Independently Powered Electric Multiple – Unit (IPEMU^▸ (Independely Powered Electic Multiple Unit (train running on batteries))) – Network Expansion
100. WMCA: Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro Extension
101. WMCA: Sprint Phase 2 (A34 and A45)
102. LCR: Green Bus Routes
103. GMCA: Initial phased delivery of Rochdale-Oldham-Ashton Corridor
104. West Yorkshire Mass Transit
105. TVCA: Middlesbrough Station
106. TVCA: Darlington Station
107. WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about): M32 Sustainable Transport Corridor and Hub
108. WYCA: Leeds City Centre Cycle Improvements
109. WMCA: East Birmingham to Solihull Corridor
110. WMCA: Walk, Cycle and Bus Access: Darlaston and Willenhall Train Stations
111. WMCA: Aldridge Station
112. WECA: Bristol to Bath Sustainable Transport Corridor
113. WMCA: Bus Priority Cross-City Routes
114. SYMCA: Supertram renewal

Even a few in the new Minister of State's neck of the woods, broadly speaking, despite evidently wanting to keep an appearance of levelling up alive. But not Portishead...

[TonyK]

As well as those, there are quite a few railly things in the list of Local Transport
 projects:

107. WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about): M32 Sustainable Transport Corridor and Hub

112. WECA: Bristol to Bath Sustainable Transport Corridor

Even a few in the new Minister of State's neck of the woods, broadly speaking, despite evidently wanting to keep an appearance of levelling up alive. But not Portishead...

I'm not sure how railly these might be. 107 could turn out to be a park and ride near Bridgey McBridgeface, and 112 has long been one of the rounds in the party game called "What does Marvin mean by 'Mass Transit'?" Both could be (shudder) MetroBusty.

[CyclingSid]

Another new face at DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), Lucy Frazer. Quote from written answer "“As set out in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we want public transport and walking and cycling to be the natural first choice for our daily journeys".
https://road.cc/content/news/minister-active-travel-1st-choice-daily-journeys-296261
We will see if this survives the Chancellor's rigorous financial discipline.

[Electric train]

Another new face at DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), Lucy Frazer. Quote from written answer "“As set out in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we want public transport and walking and cycling to be the natural first choice for our daily journeys".
https://road.cc/content/news/minister-active-travel-1st-choice-daily-journeys-296261
We will see if this survives the Chancellor's rigorous financial discipline.

Like the abolition of the 45% Tax rate you mean

[TonyK]

Another new face at DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), Lucy Frazer. Quote from written answer "“As set out in the Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we want public transport and walking and cycling to be the natural first choice for our daily journeys".
https://road.cc/content/news/minister-active-travel-1st-choice-daily-journeys-296261
We will see if this survives the Chancellor's rigorous financial discipline.

Walking is reassuringly cheap, and probably still within the nation's financial means.

[broadgage]

Walking is reassuringly cheap, and probably still within the nation's financial means.

"Walking services are subject to delay due to leaves on the footpaths"
"Walking cancelled due to extreme weather"
"Due to spending cuts, walking classes are no longer available"

[grahame]

90. Thorpe Park

To be clear, Thorpe Park, LEEDS -  https://thorpeparkleeds.com/connection/ . According to Wikipedia, Thorpe Park, SURREY has around 600,000 visitors a year, with a maximum capacity of 15,000. 

According to thetrainline

The nearest train station to Thorpe Park is Staines which is about 3 miles away from the theme park. Staines is served by regular South Western Railway services from London Waterloo and Reading.

Thorpe Parks's own website tells us:

From Staines Railway station The 950 Express Bus then operates to THORPE PARK Resort running every 15-20 minutes - details of which can be found in the Bus section below.

And  clicking on the timetable link for that gives

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