International & UK Railway News 26th March 2013

Vintage Trains- The Cheltenham Flyer



On Saturday May 11th, 2013, Vintage Trains in conjunction with First Great Western, West Coast Railways & Network Rail, are planning to re-run the Cheltenham Flyer non-stop for the 114 miles from Gloucester to Paddington in the morning, then in reverse in the afternoon.

In true Cheltenham Flyer tradition, the train will be formed in Gloucester Station, with our award-winning ex-GWR double chimney Castle No. 5043 “Earl of Mount Edgcumbe” plus range extending water carrier attaching at the rear of the arriving train for reversed departure from Gloucester towards Stroud, Swindon and onto the Great Western Terminus of London, Paddington.

Continue reading here.....





Viewed from the newly constructed footbridge to newly reopened Platform 2 , GWR Castle No 5043 "Earl of Mount Edgcumbe" with the 10 coach Cathedrals Express becomes the first steam train through recently refurbished, and double tracked, Honeybourne Station.(17/09/11)

Virgin Trains to run West Coast Main Line until April 2017

• By Jack Preston - Mar 26, 2013

The UK government has today announced that Virgin Trains will continue to run the West Coast main line until April 2017.
"We welcome the Government's fresh plans to base the award of future franchises on measures such as improved customer service, innovation and planned investment," commented a spokesperson for Virgin Trains.
"Virgin Trains has striven to deliver all of this over the last 16 years - resulting in record-breaking 92% customer satisfaction and the strongest growth of any long-distance company.
"We will continue to do this for the remainder of the West Coast franchise and look forward to bidding for the chance to deliver similar improvements on East Coast."
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has also today announced that there will be a number of changes introduced into the bidding process for rail franchises, following a review into the process.
He said: “This programme is a major step in delivering tangible improvements to services, providing long-term certainty to the market and supporting our huge programme of rail investment.
“Above all, in future franchise competitions we are placing passengers in the driving seat by ensuring that their views and satisfaction levels are taken into account when deciding which companies run our railway services.”
To find out more about the services on the West Coast Main Line, head over to the Virgin Trains website.
By Jack Preston. Content Executive. Tweets at @JackPressedOn

 

UK Department for Transport (DfT)

Fresh start for franchising

Railway plan puts new focus on passengers.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin today unveiled long-term plans designed to drive improvements to rail services, deliver on major infrastructure projects, and put passengers at the heart of a revitalised rail franchising system.

In addition to publishing for the first time ever a detailed transparent timetable for all rail franchises over the next 8 years, the Transport Secretary announced the immediate start of the competition for the East Coast franchise, currently directly operated, with the expectation the new franchisee will carry its first passengers by February 2015.

The new approach to franchising:

• will provide long-term certainty to the market
• support the Department for Transport’s massive programme of rail investment
• deliver on the independent Brown Review of rail reform ahead of the April deadline for implementation of its recommendations

In rolling out the programme the Department for Transport will work closely with the industry to negotiate further new services and more capacity in franchising contracts while delivering the best deal for both passengers and taxpayers. The new approach will see the interests of passengers strengthened within the franchising system, with passengers’ views on train company performance playing an enhanced role in deciding whether to continue an operator’s contract.
On the day before the 50th anniversary of the Beeching Report, the Transport Secretary is also able to confirm the three stations most likely to be built with support from the government’s New Station Fund. These are Ilkeston in Erewash (Derbyshire), Pye Corner in Newport West (South Wales) and Lea Bridge in Walthamstow (East London). We will make a final announcement in May.
In order to oversee this ambitious programme the government is also establishing the Franchise Advisory Panel, headed by Richard Brown, which will provide independent advice to support the department’s work on rail franchising.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said:

This programme is a major step in delivering tangible improvements to services, providing long-term certainty to the market and supporting our huge programme of rail investment. Above all, in future franchise competitions we are placing passengers in the driving seat by ensuring that their views and satisfaction levels are taken into account when deciding which companies run our railway services.

Franchising has been a force for good in the story of Britain’s railways, transforming an industry that was in decline into one that today carries record numbers of passengers.

Richard Brown, Chairman of the newly formed Franchise Advisory Panel, said:

I am pleased to see that government has engaged with my recommendations. It is clear to me that this announcement represents an opportunity for government to seek competitive and innovative proposals from the existing Train Operating Companies and potential new market entrants to demonstrate how they will continue to improve services for passengers.

The clarity around the franchise programme will also allow fresh energy to be brought to the urgent task of developing closer partnerships with Network Rail to drive out costs from the industry and provide a better deal for passengers and taxpayers.

Graham Smith, Director-General of the Rail Delivery Group, said:

Britain’s railways have enjoyed significant growth and investment – restoring passenger, taxpayer and investor confidence in the franchising process will allow this growth to continue. A restart of the franchising programme, a transparent procurement process and clarity on what government wishes the passenger railway to provide will all help re-establish confidence and enable franchisees to deliver improved services for passengers.

Rail Delivery Group Members will continue to work collaboratively with government to deliver the new programme, including franchise extensions where these are required, to get the best deal for passengers.

Sir David Higgins, Chief Executive of Network Rail, said:

Our goal is to work with the rest of the industry to provide a safer and more efficient railway which addresses the underlying issues of capacity and performance. The clarity provided in today’s statement is welcome in helping us achieve that goal.

Delivering on Brown Review recommendations, the new programme will provide a more sustainable schedule for rail franchising by delivering no more than three to four competitions per year, and staggering the two principal Intercity franchises, West Coast and East Coast, so they will not be let at the same point in the economic cycle.
In order to stagger the franchise start dates the government will use a mixture of extensions to existing franchises and direct award contracts to ensure the realignment of the programme. During this process the department will look to negotiate further passenger benefits, which will ensure the best deal for taxpayers.
This process starts later today with the government serving notice on First Capital Connect and Southeastern to call contractual 6-month extensions.
The programme has been designed so that as it is rolled out the department and Network Rail can continue to deliver on the massive programme of rail investment which will bring more trains and services to the network. These include:

• The completion of a £500m package of enhancements that make up the Northern Hub programme. This will enable more services and greater capacity to be delivered between major cities including Manchester. Liverpool, Blackpool, Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford by the end of 2018
• Electrification of the network in the North West by December 2016 and across the Pennines by December 2018 which will allow franchise operators to run faster and more reliable electric trains
• The electrification of the Great Western Main Line and the Cardiff Valley Lines which will transform train travel across the South West and South Wales, including faster and more reliable journeys to London
• The delivery of new state-of-the-art British-built trains from 2017 as part of the Government’s £4.9bn Intercity Express Programme
• The electrification of the Midland main line which will deliver more passengers to destinations across the East Midlands and Yorkshire including Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham
• Increased passenger services between Cambridge and Kings Lynn, and Cambridge and Norwich following work to improve Ely North Junction
• The completion of the £14.5bn Crossrail project, the biggest construction project in Europe, and the £6bn Thameslink Programme, including the major redevelopment of London Bridge, which will provide massive benefits to passengers across London and the region
• A major capacity enhancement programme across London and the South East, which together with Crossrail and Thameslink, will allow an extra 120,000 passengers to travel to Central London during the morning peak by 2019
• The introduction of new services between Oxford and Marylebone and Oxford/Aylesbury and Milton Keynes/Bedford following investment in new and upgraded lines

================================================

Rail Delivery Group

Government announcement on franchising programme will help to restore rail

industry confidence

26 March 2013

The Rail Delivery Group, which is the leadership group for Britain’s railway industry, has

expressed its support for the Government’s publication of the franchising programme, which

has been announced today..

 

Graham Smith, Director-General of the Rail Delivery Group, said

 

As the leadership group for the rail industry the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) is pleased that the Secretary of State’s announcement has restored clarity to the franchising programme.. Many of the RDG’s franchising priorities were included in the Brown Review report and it is encouraging that this announcement demonstrates the Government’s support for Brown’s recommendations on restarting the franchise programme”.

The announcement by the Rt. Hon. Patrick McLoughlin MP, Secretary of State for Transport,includes:

 

A full, detailed and sustainable franchising programme of three to four competitions a

year over the next eight years;

The immediate start of the competition for the East Coast franchise;

The intention to exercise a number of contractual extensions with current operators and

also to negotiate a series of direct awards with current operators;

The creation of a Franchise Advisory Panel, headed by Richard Brown; and

A revised franchising policy statement.

 

Graham Smith continued

“Britain’s railways have enjoyed  significant growth and investment – restoring passenger, taxpayer and investor confidence in the franchising process will allow this growth to continue.

A restart of the franchising programme, a transparent procurement process and clarity on what Government wishes the passenger railway to provide will all help re-establish confidence and enable franchisees to deliver improved services for passengers"

The Rail Delivery Group submitted franchising priorities to the independent review of franchising chaired by Richard Brown in November 2012. Since that time the RDG and its Members have held detailed discussions with the Department for Transport regarding the timing and content of the franchising programme.

Graham Smith concluded:

"Rail Delivery Group Members will continue to work collaboratively with government to deliver the new programme, including franchise extensions where these are required, to get the best deal for passengers"

 

End

 Christian Wolmar




Franchise fiasco deepens

The Department for Transport bombarded me with several copies of the press release on franchising but that did not make its contents any more coherent.Essentially, apart from speeding up the process on the successful publicly owned East Coast, the whole franchise programme has been delayed, with temporary extensions to most franchises. The most extraordinary bit about this abject failure is the statement that ‘ in order to roll out the programme and stagger future competitions, it will be necessary to exercise a number of contractual extensions with current operators and to negotiate a series of direct awards with current operators’. So much for competition. While in theory Directly Operated Railways will be hanging about in the wings, the private companies have the Department over a barrel. I somewhat suspect that they will be so pleased with this announcement that they will quietly drop the legal bid to get their money back on the failed franchise bids – having their tummy tickled will surely put them in a better mood.

Remember Roger Salmon, the first franchising director – he was castigated for delaying the start of the process, and yet he managed to let the whole railway from scratch in just 18 months. That is why today’s announcement is such a clear indictment of the system. It has become too complex, impossible to manage and the only answer is to scrap the whole thing, let the franchises lapse and bring the lot in-house into a coherent railway.

Of course, announcing the Search and Rescue privatisation, with the prospect of Prince William being out of a job, has grabbed the headlines, so this announcement has attracted little attention. Attention now must turn to Labour – will the party have the courage now to call time on this fiasco or will it retain its obsession with the free market and neoliberal ideology.

 
On The Wrong Line (Kemsing Publishing, 2012)
How ideology and incompetence wrecked Britain’s railways
Britain’s rail privatisation has been one of the greatest political failures of recent history. A well-functioning industry was torn apart to satisfy political dogma and privatised in a way that not only compromised safety and wrecked performance but also resulted in financial melt-down. In this new Kindle edition, read a new preface and a never-before-published statement written by Sir John Major on the privatisation of the railways; a subject he never mentions once in his autobiography. Read more >>

 

International Railway Journal

THE United States Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has selected the Illinois Department of Transportation (Idot) to lead the multi-state procurement of at least 35 200km/h diesel locomotives for passenger operations...

SWISS railfreight operator BLS Cargo saw a 13% fall in volumes last year as disruption on the Gotthard line, the poor performance of the European economy, and the strength of the Swiss franc took their toll on demand....

BRITAIN's secretary of state for transport Mr Patrick McLoughlin today unveiled a revised timetable for rail franchises, which sets out how and when contracts will be tendered over the next eight years.



www.progressiverailroading.com US News

Design to start on intermodal terminal at New Orleans port

New York lawmakers seek restoration of old Rockaway Beach line

FRA amends track, passenger equipment safety standards

Evergreen Line constituents unveil construction schedule, station names

Two Georgia ports cranked up cargo volume in February

Ohio utilities commission OKs crossing work

Metro-St. Louis to hold public meetings on rapid transit options

Rail supplier updates from Cooper Bearings, Chicago Freight Car, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Arup (March 26)

 

 

 

www.railway-technology.com Updates..

 

PHX Sky Train to open at Phoenix airport in April 2013 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, US, is set to open the $1.58bn PHX Sky Train on 8 April 2013. 

      

Funkwerk to install electronic interlocking at Hochbahn Hamburg rail depot in Germany
Funkwerk has won a contract from German public transport firm Hamburger Hochbahn to install its Alister SIL 2 electronic interlocking for depot control at the Barmbek depot in Hamburg. 

      

Canadian National Railway sells Oakville-Burlington rail segment to Metrolinx
Canadian National Railway (CN) has sold a portion of its rail line west of Toronto, Canada, to Metrolinx, a local transportation agency that operates public transit for the GTHA, for C$52.5m ($51m). 

      

Thales wins ticket validation maintenance contract for SNCF Transilien network
Thales has secured a four-year contract from France's national rail operator SNCF to maintain ticket validation equipment across the Transilien train network in the Paris area.

 

 

Other news......

 

Shedmaster Railway News

 

From railwaygazette.com - Includes UK franchise news, Eurostar passengers rise, Pesa to supply Sofia's trams, and Jaén city council is planning to sell off the city’s light rail line..



Future Rail

 Read the April 2013 edition HERE

Includes a special report on "Crossrail takes shape", "The World's Busiest Stations", Amtrak's Grand Plan..and a look at Eurostar's new e320 locomotives, and comparisons with the current
fleet of Class 373's.....