News
ORR argues that Tocs and Network Rail should be accountable to a single organisation
by Katie Silvester
The Office of Rail Regulation has renewed its bid to take over the regulation of train operators, in addition to the monitoring of Network Rail that it already does. Tocs are currently accountable directly to the DfT. Train operators have opposed the move,
saying that it would increase costs and confuse accountability. Michael Roberts, CEO of Atoc said: ‘More than ever the ORR needs to focus on the day job of holding Network Rail to account effectively. The lion’s share of efficiency savings in the years ahead will come from the infrastructure side of the industry’. Calling the proposals ‘deeply flawed’, he added:
‘The oversight of train companies should remain with the franchising authority as part of longer, less prescriptive franchise contracts that allow operators more freedom to improve services and greater opportunity to drive down costs.’ But Richard Price, CEO of the ORR, told Rail
Professional that regulation of train operators would be a natural extension of its role. ‘There are obvious connections between spending on the track and spending on the train. To make sense of that from a regulatory point of view, and to make sure there is consistent pressure on everyone
Richard Price
to up their game, it really needs a whole sector approach.’ He disputed Atoc’s claims that the changes
would increase costs for operators. ‘We would not, under any circumstances, argue for a bunch of propositions that would make the lot of the customer or the taxpayer worse. That would be bonkers. ‘I think there’s a much better opportunity here
for the way that you can change the role of both the regulator and the government, so that you give businesses the flexibility to do all the things that businesses do best: investing, innovating, growing the market, thinking how best to serve their customers.’
Refurbishment of Class 321/4 EMUs begins at
Clacton by Peter Brown
Greater Anglia is carrying out refurbishment in-house on its fleet of 17 former London Midland Class 321/4 electric multiple units at its Clacton depot – and having started in March the company has revealed it is on target to complete nine before the start of the Olympics with the remainder being ready by the end of this year.
Number 321 425 was the first of the
23-year-old stock to be fully refurbished, but Iain Warner, depot manager at Clacton, told Rail Professional on Thursday 10 May – prior to taking up a new position with East Coast as senior production manager at its Bounds Green depot – that he was convinced the programme would be completed on time. He said: ‘It’s the first kind of
Ministers take action to support UK industry
Action to support the future of UK industry, ensuring tunnelling skills are available for some of the UK’s biggest infrastructure projects – High Speed Two, Crossrail, the
Northern Line Extension, National Grid cable tunnels and the Thames Tideway Tunnel – are being taken by cabinet ministers Francis Maude and Vince Cable. The pair have published new and updated data on future public procurement needs
across 13 different sectors, including construction, property, medical and police equipment, as well as tunnelling. This data is designed to help the government safeguard UK competitiveness and growth, and to work with industry to spot skills and investment gaps earlier. Data analysis shows seven of the 40 priority infrastructure projects for growth, worth around £50bn and set out in the National Infrastructure Plan 2011, need significant tunnelling expertise in around 4,000 jobs by 2015-16.
Bidders ‘seek to break up Invensys’
Signalling specialist Invensys could be broken up as part of a take-over bid,
according to rumours in the financial press. Rival companies Siemens and General Electric are said to be interested in buying the company, which has been trying to sell off divisions, including its US Controls business. Invensys has a large pension deficit, which the financial markets have seen as a barrier to any takeover bid for some years.
refurbishment work carried out in-house. It’s just the ex-London Midland units. Nine units will be refurbished before the Olympics. We are using our own in-house staff and they are taking out, replacing and upgrading everything.’ However, not everything is being done at Clacton. At the Ilford depot, CCTV is being installed in the carriages. The refurbishment programme will create a better environment for passengers, according to Greater Anglia engineering director John Ratcliffe. He said: ‘The improvement
programme for our Class 321/4 trains is one of our key franchise commitments and will ensure customers travelling on them will benefit from a much brighter and pleasant environment on their journeys. ‘I am very pleased that the project is
being carried out by the in-house team based at our Clacton maintenance depot and I’m delighted at the quality we’ve been able to achieve for work more traditionally done at much bigger main workshops.’ The 321/4 units are leased from Eversholt Rail.
MAY/JUNE 2012 PAGE 7
Peter Brown
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36