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

[whole diary]

[GBM]

https://busandtrainuser.com/2024/07/25/the-way-ahead-for-buses-and-trains/

.snip.
Here’s my take on both developments based on a 40 year career in public transport and the eyes of an informed bus and train user travelling full-time around Britain for the last 11 years.
First up, the Better Buses Bill. Here’s what the Government briefing document alongside the King’s speech had to say….

Then he goes on to the Railways Bill and,
The good news is the one person who I have every confidence can get to grips with the situation is now in charge. Minister of State for Transport, The Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE, rightly has a formidable reputation as someone who ‘gets it’ and, more importantly, ‘does it’ during his lifelong passenger transport career. For example, Peter has vast experience dealing with the severe driver shortage that blighted London’s buses in past decades. He knows what to do. And he’ll do it.

[Red Squirrel]

Hmm, not sure I liked Roger French's final para:

And finally, forget any more rail re-openings after the ‘low hanging fruit’ of Okehampton, Levenmouth and, (coming this Autumn), Ashington. The costs involved in schemes such as Portishead simply cannot be justified. They’d fund an alternative gold plated, high frequency bus network operating with free travel for a generation … which brings us back to …. the Better Buses Bill.

[TonyK]

Hmm, not sure I liked Roger French's final para:

And finally, forget any more rail re-openings after the ‘low hanging fruit’ of Okehampton, Levenmouth and, (coming this Autumn), Ashington. The costs involved in schemes such as Portishead simply cannot be justified. They’d fund an alternative gold plated, high frequency bus network operating with free travel for a generation … which brings us back to …. the Better Buses Bill.

Is he related in any way to the Roger French OBE who used to be the managing director of Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company? If so, he may be biased in favour of having people from a large conurbation spending the first hour or more of their working day sitting in late buses on the A369.

[GBM]

Is he related in any way to the Roger French OBE who used to be the managing director of Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company? If so, he may be biased in favour of having people from a large conurbation spending the first hour or more of their working day sitting in late buses on the A369.

He is that one!
Does occasionally mention his previous history at Brighton.

[grahame]

Yesterday, "Restore Your Railway" was cancelled together with Arundel and Stonehenge roads, Musgrove Park Hospital (according to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)) and other projects.  Discussion elsewhere as to whether thin this includes the railway to Portishead.

Well, sorry, this was to be expected though perhaps some of us did not talk about it to avoid promoting unwelcome possibilities.  But Louise Haigh's 26 page rail revision include improving reliability and also saving money, and it does not mention regrowing the railway nor even maintaining current services or network.  It is scant in its commitment to making the railway more sustainable too.


Edit note: One of grahame's classic typos corrected - purely for clarity.

[broadgage]

Hendy also cited in the same context working practices dating back to the age of steam, which may well bear scrutiny, and logically it wouldn't be too surprising if the ticket office closure programme was resurrected, perhaps on a smaller scale?

Perhaps not until ticketing is simplified?
There are some of us here who use a ticket office!

If the "broadgage simplified fares structure" was introduced, that should reduce the number of ticket office staff needed as transactions would be simpler and therefore quicker.

[grahame]

Big "thank you" to out transport scholars who have helped me sort out in my own mind what Nationalisation really means ... I have updated my article to reflect inputs and you can find it shared at

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rail-nationalisation-solution-graham-ellis-pvn3e
and
http://grahamellis.uk/blog1309.html

It's also flagged on my personal Facebook page, which is at
https://www.facebook.com/graham.ellis.melksham/

[TaplowGreen]

Big "thank you" to out transport scholars who have helped me sort out in my own mind what Nationalisation really means ... I have updated my article to reflect inputs and you can find it shared at

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rail-nationalisation-solution-graham-ellis-pvn3e
and
http://grahamellis.uk/blog1309.html

It's also flagged on my personal Facebook page, which is at
https://www.facebook.com/graham.ellis.melksham/

I am glad you now understand it.

I am still waiting for someone to explain to me (reasonably succinctly), what positive difference(s) nationalising the railways (the bits that aren't already nationalised) will make to the railway's customers?

[grahame]

I am still waiting for someone to explain to me (reasonably succinctly), what positive difference(s) nationalising the railways (the bits that aren't already nationalised) will make to the railway's customers?

To the railway customers who are advocates of public ownership, it will give them a warm feeling of ownership, and it may persuade some people who have moved away from the railways because of diabolical reliability to try the train again, and perhaps be more forgiving when things go wrong or remain wrong.

[ChrisB]

Mostly, it is the saving of public money going into Directors bonuses. simples.

[johnneyw]

There are some of us here who use a ticket office!

As indeed do I.....twice yesterday, at Bristol Parkway and Cardiff Central.  Parkway was particularly useful as the service I intended to use was showing as cancelled as I arrived there 25 minutes before it's departure time.  The ticket office were quick to sort out an alternative for me which meant that I didn't miss my connection in Cardiff. 
Special praise to the supervised trainee at Parkway ticket office who quickly came up with the 'Plan B' and issued the tickets "against the clock"  so that I just made it onto the alternative route changing at Filton Abbeywood.

[Richard Fairhurst]

I am still waiting for someone to explain to me (reasonably succinctly), what positive difference(s) nationalising the railways (the bits that aren't already nationalised) will make to the railway's customers?

In theory, better coordination.

Government can decide a rolling stock strategy based on cascading across the whole network, rather than each company just commissioning the stock that works well for its own needs. Services, fleets, depots and training don't have to be constrained to a set of artificial franchise boundaries, so if GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) needs extra summer IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) and LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) has a few to spare, it can borrow them. And so on. That means the services should be more responsive to the needs of the passenger, rather than to the financial targets of the individual franchise.

In reality, DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has been micromanaging franchises/contracts for several years now, and I suspect the difference between "franchised" and "nationalised" is less significant than the difference between a Conservative-controlled DfT and a Labour-controlled DfT.

[WSW Frome]

I cannot find the reference now but I have read previously that the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) contract is expected to return to the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) in 2025 at the next break point.

[ChrisB]

Yep - they'll all expire at their break points

[TaplowGreen]

So to summarise from what I can tell so far, the benefits to the customer of nationalisation will be;

1) A warm ideological glow
2) Monies being diverted from the pockets of the Directors of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) into the pockets of civil servants (£50 million and counting to GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) already)
3) The theoretical possibility of a few extra carriages being diverted to other parts of the network at times of high demand should it be possible for this to be coordinated.

-I am not sure if this will be too much of a comfort, or encouragement to those standing on the platform, having purchased an expensive ticket, waiting for delayed/cancelled trains which have fallen victim to (for example) decrepit infrastructure/insufficient crew being available on weekends, my only hope based on this is that people are keeping their expectations in check.