COMMENT
down of TfL’s request to have its borrow- ing limit raised, it seems will be done on exactly the same bundled basis as the last.”
Prospects for change
Although the campaign to get the Thames- link decision reversed, or at least re-opened, is ongoing in Derby and among the unions, the prospects seem very slim indeed, mean- ing much attention is now shifting to the future, and whether anything will change.
Former transport secretary Philip Ham- mond, along with business secretary Vince Cable, implied they were unhappy with the criteria that led to the Thameslink result when they launched their procurement review, acknowledging that “there is an is- sue as to whether in our own procurement compliance the right balance of risk has been achieved in the past”.
The results of that review should now in- form the criteria used to procure Crossrail rolling stock.
Professor Williams is doubtful that things
Above: Louise Ellman MP, chair of the Transport Select Committee, heard evidence from Professor Williams
will change, but is not completely without hope.
Below: The Government wants to back British manufacturing - but is it doing enough? Image: BIS
He said: “Hammond – the safest pair of hands in Government, which is why he’s now at Defence – at the select committee and elsewhere very carefully responded in a way that implied that things should change. He was sympathetic, condemned the outcome, but never actually initiated large, practical, difficult changes.
“The natural tendency of politicians to- wards rhetoric and masterly inactivity, plus
civil service conservatism, has left us in this situation.
“But I’m not totally convinced that the game is lost. There are several interesting developments. One is the procurement re- view. The second, which is likely to be more important, is that Bombardier is likely to have sat down, and thought about getting a different result next time, where their credit rating doesn’t affect the outcome.”
Better (financial) vehicles
The company should already be thinking, he said, about financing arrangements and special purpose vehicles to ensure a level playing field – and to ensure that concerns about credit ratings do not “contaminate” what should ultimately be a manufacturing decision. But Hammond, at the same select committee hearing, also clearly implied that he doesn’t think Bombardier is the last UK train manufacturer anyway, because of Hitachi and the IEP.
He rejected suggestions from MPs on the committee that an assembly plant cannot
20 | rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 12
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