Today sees official confirmation that the 7 year Thames, Southern & Great Northern franchise has been awarded to Govia, with appropriate comments from the key partners as shown in the "Rail Franchising Benefits " video...
Network Rail also produced its latest financial results, showing that profit after tax was £1,256m (up 86%** from £677m) with all profits reinvested .....
Dawlish is in the news again...it seems that Network Rail's plans regarding the sea wall is attracting mixed reactions....apparently..
And the funicular railway in the Cairngorms is now under the care of "Natural Retreats UK".
Elsewhere, high speed rail is the centre of policy discussions for the new Indian government.. and Mitsubishi throws its hat into the ring, with Siemens, for Alstom's energy business....
More to follow...of course..
For full details, click on the links...
Headlines
Rail franchising benefits (transportgovuk on YouTube)
The benefits of the rail franchising system for passengers, the UK economy,
and the rail industry.
Explore Crossrail's Construction.(Crossrail).
Network Rail reports £1bn profit. (BBC News)
Armagh train disaster remembered 125 years on.(BBC News)
Storm-hit Dawlish rail line: Brunel seawall row starts again.(BBC News)
Natural Retreats UK starts running CairnGorm Mountain.(BBC News)
Commuters facing rail disruption.(Blackpool Gazette)
HIgh speed rail may force BMT to relocate collections centre. (Museums Association)
Derailment at London Paddington station 25 May 2014.(Rail Accident Investigation Branch)
UK.GOV.
Rail passengers on track for better services after DfT ink deal with Govia.
The Department for Transport has today (12 June 2014) confirmed it has officially signed a contract with Govia Thameslink Railway Limited to run the new Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) franchise.
The 7 year contract will help transform passenger services across London and the south east, delivering more services and seats, faster journeys and better connections for millions of passengers.
Rail Minister Stephen Hammond said:
The TSGN franchise is the largest ever let in terms of passenger numbers, serving scores of destinations across the region, including:The signing of this deal is great news for passengers and testament to the hard work of the department and the team at Govia. Once operational the new service will transform rail travel to scores of destinations across London and the south east, benefitting millions of passengers and driving forward our economy.
- Brighton
- King’s Lynn
- Peterborough
- Cambridge
- Bedford
- Luton
- Gatwick Airport
- Moorgate
The franchise will also play a crucial role in delivering the government’s £6.5 billion Thameslink programme – a major programme of infrastructure work that is helping create 8,000 jobs and will allow 24 trains per hour to travel in each direction from Blackfriars to St Pancras. New tunnels will link Peterborough and Cambridge to the existing Thameslink route providing easy access across London via St Pancras to Gatwick and Brighton.
The signing of the contract followed a formal standstill period after the department announced its intention to award the contract on 23 May 2014.
Network Rail.
Record investment in Britain's railways as Network Rail publishes its full-year results.
Almost £7bn was invested in improving and expanding Britain’s rail network over the last 12 months, Network Rail revealed today in its full-year results for the 2013/14 financial year.
The record investment, which equates to almost £20m a day, provided new stations, new platforms, new lifts, new information systems, new concourses, new footbridges and new track to build a bigger, better railway.
Over the same 12-month period, the number of people travelling by rail grew by 86m, meaning passenger numbers have now doubled since 1995* with a further 30% growth predicted over the next ten years.
Mark Carne, chief executive, said: "We are in the middle of a rail renaissance, with record levels of passenger numbers and record levels of investment. This flourishing sector is investing heavily to improve the railway for today and for tomorrow.”
Over the year, 90% of train services ran to time, 2.5 percentage points below the regulatory target. While some of this shortfall was caused by congestion as the railway witnessed growth of 5.7% in passenger journeys during the year, extreme weather and slower improvements in asset reliability also played a part.
Mr Carne continued: “With a million more trains on the network than 10 years ago, there are inevitable challenges - we are determined to do more to improve train reliability in the face of these challenges. We will increase the reliability of the network and make it more resilient to climate change. Continued investment in our railway will also be key if we are to grow our economy and deliver a better, improving, expanding rail network for millions of daily users."
Financial highlights
Patrick Butcher, group finance director, said: ”The last year has been one of operational and financial challenges. We have been disappointed with train performance but celebrate continued strong growth, savings made, swiftly repairing the railway following extreme weather and hundreds of projects completed to improve and expand the railway.
”Our determination cannot waver over the coming years as we look to restore train punctuality to record high levels and wisely invest £38bn to improve and expand our railway for passengers and businesses across Britain.”
Safety
Performance results
Investment highlights
Network Rail is managing many vital enhancement projects to add capacity to the railway and drive economic growth. Some highlights include:
As well as these significant milestones, over 5,000 projects have been completed over the course of the last five years (control period 4 – CP4 – 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014). These smaller, but just as important projects, aimed at making incremental improvements to the railway for the benefit of passengers, have seen:
Over the same 12-month period, the number of people travelling by rail grew by 86m, meaning passenger numbers have now doubled since 1995* with a further 30% growth predicted over the next ten years.
Mark Carne, chief executive, said: "We are in the middle of a rail renaissance, with record levels of passenger numbers and record levels of investment. This flourishing sector is investing heavily to improve the railway for today and for tomorrow.”
Over the year, 90% of train services ran to time, 2.5 percentage points below the regulatory target. While some of this shortfall was caused by congestion as the railway witnessed growth of 5.7% in passenger journeys during the year, extreme weather and slower improvements in asset reliability also played a part.
Mr Carne continued: “With a million more trains on the network than 10 years ago, there are inevitable challenges - we are determined to do more to improve train reliability in the face of these challenges. We will increase the reliability of the network and make it more resilient to climate change. Continued investment in our railway will also be key if we are to grow our economy and deliver a better, improving, expanding rail network for millions of daily users."
Financial highlights
- Capital expenditure was £6,873m (2012/13: £5,050m) contributing to an increased asset value of £49,833m (£46,411m last year)
- Revenue was £6,333m (£6,197m in 2012/13)
- Profit after tax was £1,256m (up 86%** from £677m) with all profits reinvested
- Operating profit was £2,001m (£2,207m last year)
- Net debt at year end was £32,987m (£30,358m) with a gearing ratio of 65%, comfortably within the regulator’s 75% limit
Patrick Butcher, group finance director, said: ”The last year has been one of operational and financial challenges. We have been disappointed with train performance but celebrate continued strong growth, savings made, swiftly repairing the railway following extreme weather and hundreds of projects completed to improve and expand the railway.
”Our determination cannot waver over the coming years as we look to restore train punctuality to record high levels and wisely invest £38bn to improve and expand our railway for passengers and businesses across Britain.”
Safety
- Britain's railway has one the best passenger safety performances in Europe
- Level crossing risk has been reduced by 31% and 804 level crossings have been closed over the last four years
- A further £100m has been earmarked over the coming years to continue the closure programme and make further safety improvements at crossings
Performance results
- In 2013/14, 90% of passenger trains ran on time, down on 90.9% last year
- Over the last ten years Network Rail has added over a million more train services a year, increased passenger journeys by half a billion and doubled the number of passengers arriving on time
- Passenger growth is running at double the rate forecast in 2009, with a 5.7% increase to 1,587m during the year
Investment highlights
Network Rail is managing many vital enhancement projects to add capacity to the railway and drive economic growth. Some highlights include:
- New, bigger, better facilities have been delivered at King’s Cross by its £550m renovation and rebuilding providing a magnificent gateway to the north
- Opening of the new concourse at Reading station as part of the ongoing £850m project to unblock one of Britain's worst railway bottlenecks
- The continuing work to connect towns of the Scottish Borders to Edinburgh with the building of 30 miles of new railway - the £300m Borders Railway project
- A more reliable and affordable railway for the people of Manchester, Liverpool and the North West through the £400m project to electrify railway in the region
- Many freight projects were completed to improve capacity, speed and reliability of services including the completion of new chords (small curves of railway) at Ipswich and Doncaster; container gauge enhancement from Birmingham to Doncaster and stretches of the East Coast Main Line; and capacity enhancements from Felixstowe to the Midlands
- During the year we also acquired some 100 freight sites around the country for £189m that will generate valuable revenue and enable us to more easily respond to growth and demand in this sector
As well as these significant milestones, over 5,000 projects have been completed over the course of the last five years (control period 4 – CP4 – 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014). These smaller, but just as important projects, aimed at making incremental improvements to the railway for the benefit of passengers, have seen:
- Over 2,000 miles of track renewed
- Improvements at over 500 stations across the country
- Almost 200 lifts installed at stations
- Over 140 platforms lengthened across London and the South East
Notes:
- *The Office of Rail Regulation issued a rail statistics bulleting on 5 June detailing that 1,587m passenger journeys were made in 2013/14, up 5.7% on previous year. The equivalent number for 1994/5 was 761m
- ** The increase in profit after tax is as a result of accounting gains on hedging instruments of £304m (2012/13 £43m loss) and a tax credit of £221m (2012/13 charge of £70m). All hedging is done to manage the impact of potential volatility from interest rate and currency fluctuation
Delivering a better Western railway.(Network Rail)
“Passengers will see better journeys while there will also be real benefits for the economy from this once in-a-generation programme.”
Patrick Hallgate. Route managing director, Western
Network Rail connects people to places and jobs. Our role is fundamental to the economy. Our responsibility is to safely transport more people and goods to where they need to be, on time, every time.
Our Western route faces great opportunities and serious challenges in the next five years. Opportunities from the greatest investment the network has had since it was built by Brunel; challenges in delivering this investment while minimising disruption to passengers; and making the network more resilient.
Our investment programme will create a transformed railway by 2019. The work includes electrification of the routes from London to Swansea, Newbury and Oxford, and the huge increase in capacity realised by rebuilding Reading station. The Western Hub will play a major role in boosting the economy in and around Bristol and improve connectivity across the South West, while work on the Oxford corridor will dramatically improve that part of the network.
Behind the scenes we’re upgrading our signalling system with a single, state-of-the-art centre able to control movements right across the region, and the new GSM-R communications network allowing flawless, instant digital communication between drivers and signallers at all times. With the completion of Crossrail, the next five years will see the total transformation of travel into and across London from the West.
Continue Reading..
UK Heritage
Watercress Line searching for new apprentices.(Hampshire Chronicle).
Brazil
Brazil’s president opens Salvador Metro.(Global Rail News)
China
China takes new steps to boost growth.(BBC News)
China has announced new measures
aimed at bolstering its economic growth.
These include plans to build railways, roads and airports along the Yangtze
River .. Europe
Mitsubishi joins Siemens in Alstom bid scramble.(BBC News).
India
New Indian government gives high-speed a push.(IRJ). .
.
Delhi lieutenant governor okays high-speed rail links to Meerut, Panipat and Alwar
(Times of India)
Barun Roy: A great new railway bazaar.(Business Standard)
A steamy affair.A photo exhibition on steam engines is on in Delhi.(Live Mint & WSJ).
Mexico
The ruin-hunters who drove a car down Mexico's forgotten railways.(The Guardian).
USA
.
www.progressiverailroading.com.
Other Railway Press
11 innovative ideas to improve rail passenger experience.(Total Rail)
www.railway-technology.com.
NSW to start construction of Sydney Rapid Transit
Australia's New South Wales (NSW) Government is set to begin construction of the new Sydney Rapid Transit (SRT).
Huawei selected for Turkmenistan's integrated railway communications project
Huawei has been selected to lead Turkmenistan's Buzhun-Serehtyaka and Bereket-Cilmammet integrated railway communications project.
CTA to improve railway infrastructure with two new contracts
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has approved two contracts for the construction of Wilson and 95th/Dan Ryan stations, worth $176.7m.
Indian Government plans new high-speed rail corridors
The Indian Government is planning to build new high-speed rail corridors to increase the country's railway infrastructure.
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