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Author Topic: GBR legislation deferred…  (Read 7359 times)
stuving
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« Reply #15 on: February 06, 2023, 18:52:29 »

While most of the recent noise has been about the idea of fares reform based on single tickets only, yesterday's Sunday Times was on a different tack. Mark Harper's big announcement has been trailed as for tomorrow, speaking to Rail Partners. According to this article, "he will confirm the belated launch of GBR (Great British Railways) ... bringing together the operation of track and trains, setting timetables and prices and tickets". More specifically, "sources say" he will "announce a bigger role for the private sector, to 'drive innovation', and give the operators 'the freedom to grow revenue' by boosting passenger numbers".

Why they bother to put in direct quotes from unnamed "sources" I've no idea. And Rail Partners says it "brings together independent owning groups, train and freight operating companies". Independent of whom? The UK (United Kingdom) government, I think, since it includes Abellio and Trenitalia. Unfortunately for their credibility, their link for Abellio goes to abellio.co.uk, the London Bus operator, rather than abellio.com which is the holding company for the TOCs (Train Operating Company).

I was never really convinced by Grant Shapps's apparent Damascene conversion to Morrisonian, if not Leninist, state ownership, and still less so if the whole cabinet has to agree to it. So it would not exactly be a shock if Harper says this - though still a puzzle as to how it could all work.
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« Reply #16 on: February 06, 2023, 19:14:10 »


I was never really convinced by Grant Shapps's apparent Damascene conversion to Morrisonian, if not Leninist, state ownership, and still less so if the whole cabinet has to agree to it. So it would not exactly be a shock if Harper says this - though still a puzzle as to how it could all work.

There will be a large piece of political fudge, Conservative government cannot be seen to re-Nationalise something that was a major (sic) Conservative achievement, yet they know something needs to be done because the current franchising system is broken beyond repair.

NR» (Network Rail - home page) devolution into Regions and Routes along with a new Train Service Management contracts could allow for not the return of the BR (British Rail(ways)) corporate Regions but a GBR (Great British Railways) version of the Big Four / Five or Six.  I.E the infrastructure operator / maintainer and train operator being under one Regional Director.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #17 on: February 06, 2023, 20:31:49 »

Might that not introduce the 'inter-area funding problem' from buses into trains?
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stuving
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« Reply #18 on: February 07, 2023, 23:36:04 »

The text of Mark Bradshaw's George Bradshaw address to Rail Partners today has appeared from the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) ("Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered"). Here's a few bits of it:

Quote
And in the end it’s rail’s customers that suffer. Like on the East Coast Mainline, where passengers still await the full benefits of billions of pounds in taxpayer investment and years of infrastructure upgrades. I know this first hand. As a backbench MP (Member of Parliament), when I was trying to get a Sunday train from my constituency to London, I remember constantly refreshing the First Great Western timetable to find half the trains weren’t running. Like many passengers, I had no choice but to give up and take the car instead.

Andrew, who was then running First Group, probably remembers my rather irate emails from the station platform, interrogating him about why the service was so unreliable. Four months into this job, I now know why. I possibly owe him an overdue apology. It wasn’t entirely his fault. Because Sunday services are essentially dependent on drivers volunteering for overtime. Which means, despite best efforts, we can’t run a reliable 7-day-a-week railway on which customers can depend. It’s why I and the Rail Minister, Huw Merriman, have been clear throughout this period of industrial action that modernising working practices must be part of reform.

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So, we have a broken model. Unable to adapt to customer needs and financially unsustainable. Left untreated, we will drive passengers away with poor performance, that will lead to fewer services, that will drive more passengers away and so on and so on. Only major reform can break that cycle of decline and Keith’s blueprint is the right place to start. So yes, we will create a more customer focussed and joined up railway. But we want to go further, I want to go further, and actually enhance the role of the private sector. Not just in running services but in maximising competition, innovation, and revenue growth right across the industry. Which the benefits of the private sector has delivered time and again.

Quote
However, turning towards customers requires us to turn away from the current industry structure. So, we will establish Great British Railways, or GBR (Great British Railways). As we prepare for that, we’ll pick up the pace of reform. I am pleased to announce that the winner of the GBR HQ (Headquarters) competition will be revealed before Easter. And by the summer, we will respond to the consultation on GBR’s legislative powers.

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The role of ministers is to provide strategic direction and be accountable to Parliament. It is not the role of ministers to pore over operational decisions. For example, I shouldn’t need to approve whether a passenger train ought to be removed from the timetable to allow a freight train to run instead, as I was doing earlier today. That will be left to industry experts in 5 regional GBR divisions working in partnership with regional bodies such as the Greater Manchester and the West Midlands Combined Authorities.

There's several topics in there that need to be taken on their own, but not as if that speech is definitive. There are many steps to go yet, and major changes may happen at each: this response to the GBR consultation, the bill, the act as passed, the blueprint for implementation, what gets implemented, and what actually happens operationally. And that assumes the act gets passed while this lot are in government ...  which means it's all got to happen pretty fast (probably).
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Electric train
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« Reply #19 on: February 08, 2023, 06:30:17 »

There's several topics in there that need to be taken on their own, but not as if that speech is definitive. There are many steps to go yet, and major changes may happen at each: this response to the GBR (Great British Railways) consultation, the bill, the act as passed, the blueprint for implementation, what gets implemented, and what actually happens operationally. And that assumes the act gets passed while this lot are in government ...  which means it's all got to happen pretty fast (probably).

The GBR Team is very active internally within the Rail Industry, NR» (Network Rail - home page) ToC's FoC's DfT» (Department for Transport - about) ORR» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) all part of the team to develop the "blue print" with an implementation plan.   The loss of traction could well be with the Government and Parliamentary time
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« Reply #20 on: February 08, 2023, 11:46:03 »

..  The loss of traction could well be with the Government and Parliamentary time
Lovely analogy
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ChrisB
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« Reply #21 on: February 08, 2023, 16:47:09 »

After last night's speech from the SoS, back on the cards....
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CyclingSid
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« Reply #22 on: February 08, 2023, 17:39:16 »

Will this solve the financial problems?
https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0208/1355495-irish-rail-food/
Do realise it is not the same as a buffet, are "staffing issues" that they can't get them or they can't get through the "full and standing" trains.
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DR7835
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« Reply #23 on: February 09, 2023, 11:26:35 »

Will this solve the financial problems?
https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0208/1355495-irish-rail-food/
Do realise it is not the same as a buffet, are "staffing issues" that they can't get them or they can't get through the "full and standing" trains.

On board vending machines have been around for many years.  This is the second generation of SOB trains so fitted, and very smart they are!:-
https://railway-news.com/stadler-contract-flirt-traverso-trains/
Whether they'd be up to withstanding the rigours and demands of the Great British travelling public is possibly a debatable point though!
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« Reply #24 on: February 10, 2023, 18:59:02 »

Will this solve the financial problems?
https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0208/1355495-irish-rail-food/
Do realise it is not the same as a buffet, are "staffing issues" that they can't get them or they can't get through the "full and standing" trains.

Unless I can have a restaurant carriage with white tablecloths, or a bar carriage with a proper coffee machine, ice, glasses and somewhere to perch, I really don't see the point:

1) The railway will invariably be horribly expensive, or loss-making due to overheads
2) People rarely want to leave their stuff unattended once they have found a seat - even going to the toilet is a pain if you have laptops etc
3) People with mobility issues are not going to be able to get down a train to a buffet
4) Mainline stations (where trains with buffets generally go from) generally have wide and varied catering options, so most people will bring onboard their preference

Vending machines are going to suffer from points 2 and 3, so I reckon that trolley is probably the best way to provide public service, and of course, like cabin crew, it should be mandatory that they are properly trained so they can assist in the event of an incident.
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