2009 review
Boris Johnson at a ceremony to mark
ester
the start of Crossrail’s construction.
K
atie Silv
The media at st pancras for the inaugural
high-speed service to ebbsfleet.
n Network Rail’s chief executive Iain Coucher says he will opt out of
July
the company’s annual bonus scheme, following criticism about directors n Gordon Brown announces that the Great Western line will be
getting bonuses even when the infrastructure owner had been deemed to electrified at a cost of £1bn, with work to be carried out over the next
have performed badly. eight years.
n The National Express Group announces that once its loan to the
June
beleaguered National Express East Coast runs out, no more money will
n Taster services begin for Southeastern’s high-speed ‘bullet train’ services. be forthcoming, with the
.uk
n Go-Ahead retains the Southern franchise, turning the subsidised Toc likely result that it will have
es.co
into a premium-paying one. to back out of the franchise
n
.r
ailimag
Lord Andrew Adonis is promoted from transport secretary to secretary later in the year. Lord Adonis
www
of state for transport – a move which is welcomed by the railway industry. states that the government will
run the East Coast franchise
The National Express Group announces that once
itself until a fresh franchise
competition can be run, if
its loan to the beleaguered National Express East
National Express defaults on
The short-lived national express
Coast runs out, no more money will be forthcoming
east Coast livery.
its premium payments.
My 2009
Anthony smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus
Passengers tell us that punctuality is the key factor parking facilities or management of delays. In fact,
determining whether or not they will be satisfied the economic pressures which have gripped Great
with their journey. The year 2009 saw many train Britain have seen the rail industry resort to some job
companies break records on the number of services losses and service cuts, increased car-parking charges
reaching their destination on time. and unregulated fare rises.
And, as punctuality has improved, the number Despite these economic difficulties, the rail
of passengers reporting overall satisfaction with industry has had to manage and respond to
their train journey has increased to 81 per cent. The increasing passenger numbers. Short term, we need
industry must keep focus on punctuality and we more carriages to alleviate overcrowded services. In
challenge train companies to look at how they define the longer term new infrastructure will be required.
‘on-time’. Within five or 10 minutes of the scheduled We welcomed the fact that government and
arrival isn’t on time! industry have started planning for the new lines and
While the National Passenger Survey shows longer trains but consideration must be given to
that 80 per cent of passengers are satisfied with where the funding will come from. Passengers using
punctuality and reliability of their train, the industry existing services will not be happy if investment is
has made little headway in improving passenger diverted – ‘new money for new lines’ must be the
satisfaction with the likes of value for money, car- mantra.
JANUARY 2010 : rail professional 19
RPJan10 pp18-20 2009 Review.indd 19 10/12/09 15:26:10
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