30th November 2012
- The Department for Transport delayed the publication of the Sam Laidlaw report into the West Coast franchise tender
- Sir John Armitt, formerly of Network Rail and the Olympic Delivery Authority, is to become National Express’s next chairman
- The cost for train companies to carry passengers has been revealed by the Office for Rail Regulation for the first time
Main stories
The Department for Transport delayed the publication of the Sam Laidlaw report into the West Coast franchise tender, days before MPs were expecting to scrutinise its findings in a Commons hearing. [Financial Times]
- Peter Strachan, the DfT’s head of major projects, pre-empted the report by drawing attention to civil service infighting and claiming there are “stark inconsistencies” in the accounts of those involved. [Daily Telegraph]
- Kate Mingay, director of commercial and technical services at the DfT, who was suspended over the cancelled contract, has hit out at the department saying she fears she is being “unfairly scapegoated for political reasons”. [Financial Times]
- The Rail Delivery Group has told Richard Brown, who is leading the DfT review into franchising, that the government’s policy of long-term contracts should be jettisoned. [The Observer]
Virgin Trains was hoping to sign a one-year deal to run the West Coast franchise for another year this week. [The Times]
New services
Stansted airport would stand to gain an additional 1.4m passengers a year if rail journey times from London were reduced to 30 minutes, according to the airport’s operator. [Financial Times]
Edinburgh’s tram project will be starting the most significant tests of its track and vehicles yet over the next few weeks. [BBC News]
Other news this week
How much it costs train companies to carry passengers has been revealed by the Office for Rail Regulation for the first time, in an examination of the running expenses of operators. [Daily Mail]
- [The Times] produced a graphic of the pence per kilometre for each TOC.
The Government’s micro-management of rail franchises is being eased slightly after successful trials before and during the Olympics. [Railnews]
Sir John Armitt, formerly of Network Rail and the Olympic Delivery Authority, is to become National Express’s next chairman. [Financial Times]
Camden council says its residents’ share of the High Speed 2 compensation pot is ‘not enough’. [BBC News]
Almost one in five London Midland trains failed to be on time in the four weeks to mid-November. [Northampton Chronicle & Echo]
Financial update and sharecheck
Network Rail has reported flat profits but higher debt over the past six months. [BBC News]
- Patrick Butcher, finance director, warned the government in the wake of the figures that any radical overhaul of the industry could undermine plans to cut the cost of running the railways. [Financial Times]
- [The Times] covered the same comments, using Patrick Butcher’s remark that “we are not running as reliably as we would like” as its hook.
FirstGroup shares soared in early August as rumours began to circulate it had won the West Coast mainline franchise. They fell by more than a quarter after the process was subsequently cancelled in late September.
Passenger numbers were up but sales revenue down in the third quarter of 2012 for Eurostar, with the operator blaming a pre-Olympic slump. [Railnews]
Directly Operated Railways, the parent company of East Coast, has reported pre-tax profits of £7.1m on revenue of £665.m [RAIL]
Go-Ahead has said it wanted to make profits of £100 million a year from running bus services in Britain. [The Times]
National Express said it had traded well in its third quarter, driven by resilient performances from its UK bus and rail businesses. [Reuters
]
