Today's main stories include the UK National Audit Office Report on the Department for Transport's train procuring programme....
Several media links regarding the India Rail Budget...
And a report from Russian Railways on the 40th anniversary of The Baikal–Amur Mainline.
Click on the links for more.....
Headlines
UK
Parliament.UK.
MPs to take evidence from the Office of Rail Regulation and Passenger Focus
Oral evidence session - Investing in the railway
Monday 14 July 2014, Room TBC
Witnesses:
4.05 pm- Richard Price, Chief Executive, Office of Rail Regulation
- John Larkinson, Director, Economic Regulation, Office of Rail Regulation
- Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, Passenger Focus
- Mike Hewitson, Head of Passenger Issues, Passenger Focus
The Committee will take evidence from the Office of Rail Regulation, the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain's railways and from Passenger Focus, the official, independent consumer watchdog representing the interests of rail users.
Likely topics for discussion include:
- the process by which priorities are set for Network Rail;
- the approach taken to ensuring all parts of the country benefit from investment in the railway; and
- passenger satisfaction with the railway and the extent to which passenger views are taken into account during the setting of funding and priorities for rail investment.
UK National Audit Office.
Procuring new trains
The Department for Transport signed contracts for two large procurements of rolling stock – for Thameslink and Intercity Express – in line with broad objectives. These include reducing the long-term costs to the whole rail system and improving the reliability and availability of trains by transferring risks to the train service suppliers as well as increasing capacity to accommodate predicted increases in demand. But the National Audit Office will not be able to conclude fully on the value for money of either project until the new trains are in service.
The Department’s objectives were designed in part to minimize the effects of long-standing issues in the rail industry. These issues and the scale of the procurements led to the Department’s decision to lead the procurements itself, despite not having led a major rolling stock procurement before. However, there is still a lack of incentives for train operators to consider long term, whole system costs more generally, such as maintenance costs for tracks, although the Department has begun working with industry to resolve such issues.
Today’s report also highlights that the Department was departing from its stated policy of leaving train procurements to the industry, particularly following its decision in July 2013 to exercise an option in the original contract with Agility Trains to add 270 carriages to its Intercity Express order at a cost of £1.4 billion. This has created confusion in parts of the industry about the Department’s role.
The Department estimates that future payments will be around £7.65 billion for InterCity Express over 27.5 years and £2.8 billion for Thameslink over 20 years. Contracts include the cost of the trains themselves as well as the cost of maintenance and of depots. The Department also has the opportunity to gain from future reductions in the cost of financing both procurements.
Today’s report points out that both procurements achieved levels of competition equivalent to or better than other rolling stock procurements since 2000. However, in the case of Intercity Express, the Department decided to proceed with a revised bid without rerunning the competition. The Department view is that no other manufacturer could offer better value for money but this remains untested.
Just two years after the Intercity Express procurement began, the Department decided to electrify the Great Western Mainline which meant that diesel trains were no longer needed. While the programme was designed to be flexible enough to accommodate this change of direction, the NAO recommends that the Department in future major procurements produce a detailed, integrated plan to bring together infrastructure, rolling stock and franchising strategy.
The Department awarded both contracts more than two and a half years later than intended, largely because of pauses to the procurements and the challenge of securing finance for these projects during the financial crises.
“At the moment there is a gap between the Department's stated desire to play only a strategic role in the rail industry and how it is acting. It needs to ensure that the industry understands its policy on the procurement of trains and produce a detailed integrated plan bringing together infrastructure, rolling stock and franchising strategy.”
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 9 July 2014
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 9 July 2014
Notes:
£7.65bnThe estimated total amount train operators will pay for using the new Intercity Express trains over 27.5 years. (2014 prices, present value)
£2.8bn
The estimated total amount train operators will pay for using the new Thameslink trains over 20 years (2014 prices, present value)
2,006
The total number of new train carriages, of which 1,140 is for Thameslink, and 866 - 369 for the Great Western Main Line and 497 for the East Coast Main line - are for Intercity Express
13
The total number of new, reconstructed or refurbished depots being delivered by the contractors: two for Thameslink, eleven for Intercity Express
24
Trains per hour through the core Thameslink route upon completion of the programme
4
Trains per hour between London and Bristol on the Great Western Mainline upon completion of the Intercity express programme - twice the current number of services
1.42
Benefit-cost ratio for the Thameslink programme (trains and wider infrastructure programme)
2.7
Benefit-cost ratio for Intercity Express
3
Years of delay to the Thameslink programme (trains and wider infrastructure programme)
2.5
Years of delay to Intercity Express
1. The Department for Transport awarded the contracts for both programmes to private sector consortia to supply, finance and maintain new trains. Train operators on the Great Western Main Line, East Coast Main Line and an expanded Thameslink network will pay the consortia to use the trains. The Department estimates future payments will be around £7.65 billion for Intercity Express and £2.8 billion for Thameslink (2014 prices, present value) over 27.5 and 20 years respectively.
2. Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained by using the relevant links on our website.
3. The National Audit Office scrutinises public spending for Parliament and is independent of government. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Amyas Morse, is an Officer of the House of Commons and leads the NAO, which employs some 820 employees. The C&AG certifies the accounts of all government departments and many other public sector bodies. He has statutory authority to examine and report to Parliament on whether departments and the bodies they fund have used their resources efficiently, effectively, and with economy. Our studies evaluate the value for money of public spending, nationally and locally. Our recommendations and reports on good practice help government improve public services, and our work led to audited savings of £1.1 billion in 2013.
Full report available HERE
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Train contracts may not be best value, says National Audit Office.(The Guardian).
Spending watchdog rebukes the Department for Transport over new intercity contract that will supply trains for the South Wales mainline.(Wales Online)
Wolverhampton commuters welcome station investment.(BBC News).
Borders to Edinburgh railway: Station work sees traffic changes.(BBC News).
HS2 blight on homes 500m from line.(The Telegraph).
UK DfT to fund smartcard technology at Huddersfield station - Railway Technology.
Network Rail reopens Oldham Road railway bridge - Railway Technology
Christian Wolmar - SENRUG Meeting
10 Jul 2014
Public meeting hosted by SENRUG with guest Christian Wolmar - Rail Historian, TV and Radio Broadcaster
Morpeth Town Hall.7pm Free admission, All welcome
www.senrug.co.uk
Arguably the UK’s leading commentator on rail matters, Christian is a TV and Radio broadcaster, rail historian, writer, columnist, and a London Mayoral candidate for 2016. William Keegan of the Observer wrote about Christian “That great authority on the privatisation of the railways, Christian Wolmar, made it clear in his superb book Broken Rails that he regarded the privatisation of the railways as being “criminally irresponsible”.
Christian is also a declared opponent of HS2 in its current form, commenting the money could be better used on dozens of smaller rail projects across the country, a view putting him in opposition to many other pro-rail campaigners.
Local Growth Deals - Department for Transport
Africa
Railways Africa.
TALKING POINT – LOCAL CONTENT
WHAT ABOUT THE BASICS? AN EDITORIAL
DENEL MAY MAKE RAIL COACHES
WESTERN CAPE METRORAIL: ANOTHER EDITORIAL
COSATU TO SUE METRORAIL OVER FARES
GAUTRAIN COVERING OPERATING COSTS
BENGUELA LINE BACK IN ACTION
More Here
Australia
VIDEO: ‘Opal Man’ promotes smart card use on Sydney transport network (SmartRailWorld)
France
Rail upgrade to boost Marseilles Fos’ intermodal connections.(Lloyd's Loading List)
India
Indian media: Railway budget 'litmus test' for government.(BBC News).
India railway budget seeks foreign investment to modernise.(BBC News).
Rail Budget 2014: NCP, AIADMK back NDA’s budget.(Times of India).
On Rail Budget day, passengers of Mahabodhi Express face tough time.(Times of India)
Railway Budget: Bullet trains, network of high speed rail on anvil.(The Hindu).
Rail Budget 2014: Nine routes on which bullet trains, network of high speed rail proposed.(The Economic Times).
Russia
Russian Railways.
Today (8th) in the town of Tynda, which in Amur Oblast, Russia, tremendous celebrations took place, devoted to the 40th anniversary of The Baikal–Amur Mainline.
The Baikal–Amur Mainline is one of the biggest railway mainlines nowadays. Thus its cargo turn-over is of 535 billion tonne-kilometres.
Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer of Russian Railways Valentin Gapanovich led a delegation to accept the delivery of the new 2ES5 "Skif" Electric Cargo Locomotive at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant. The 2ES5 is Russia's first AC electric cargo locomotive to have been built in a modular fashion. The locomotive is slated for use on the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
Christian Wolmar - To The Edge of The World at the Hay Festival
It is the world's longest railway line. But it is so much more than that, too. The Trans-Siberian stretches nearly 6,000 miles between Moscow and Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast and was the most ambitious railway project in the nineteenth century. A journey on the railway evokes a romantic roam through the Russian steppes, but also reminds travellers of the vastness of our world and hints at the hardships that were endured in its construction.
Christian Wolmar expertly tells the story of the Trans-Siberian railway from its conception and construction under Tsar Alexander III, to the northern extension ordered by Brezhnev and its current success as a vital artery. He also explores the crucial role the line played in both the Russian Civil War -Trotsky famously used an armoured carriage as his command post - and the Second World War, during which the railway saved the country from certain defeat. Like the author's previous railway histories, it focuses on the personalities, as well as the political and economic events, that lay behind one of the most extraordinary engineering triumphs of the nineteenth century.
Get your copy HERE
Russia One tram prototype revealed - Railway Gazette
Turkey
Turkish high-speed rail to open on July 25.(WorldBulletin.net).
US
www.progressiverailroading.com.
UAE
UAE – Etihad Rail Signs MoU With Al Jaber.(Mena Rail Post)
Other Railway Press
eurotransportmagazine
Issue #3 is now available
Foreword from Henna Virkkunen, Minister of Transport and Local Government, Finland
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