Changes in Government and the Railway Industry – ONTRACK New Year Viewpoint and News
Following the changes in Government and the Rail Industry, the following apply:
Rail Franchise System is "dead"
The Rail Franchise System is “dead”. All franchise agreements have in general been converted into direct service contracts with the Department for Transport (DfT) including that for Greater Anglia Railways.
Greater Anglia Railways is now a directly managed contractor, at the beck and call of the DfT: Having virtually no flexibility as to how the service is run (key decision making is now on the hands of the DfT bureaucrats).
Grant Shapps is no longer Secretary of State for Transport
The Great British Railways proposal are on “ice” and would require primary legislation.
It is likely that a piecemeal approach may see concepts and ideas applied in the need to revitalise and rejig the rail industry and bring customers back post pandemic and rail strikes.
This may include root and branch reform of the fares system. There is a need to fight the Whitehall bias against railways and rail investment.
TfL want to be rid of the paper Travel Card option
ERTA Campaign Group report that Transport for London (TfL) and its Mayor wish to get rid of the paper Travel Card option for Main Line rail passengers travelling from outside London.
They ask all to write to their MP explaining that this discriminates and is unfair for those who are older and and coming from outside London
BBC Radio Essex interview with ONTRACK chairman
On Tuesday 3rd January 2023 our Chairman John Smock was interviewed by BBC Radio Essex circa between 8.05-8.10 hours. He was asked to give a consumers point of view on the current strikes.
The interview can be heard on BBC Sounds during January. But the key points raised given below.
BBC Radio Essex interview - text résumé
Speaking to people, many understand the rail employees’ (and others) point of view about their concerns, and of those of the trade unions, with respect to their terms and conditions, pay (as highly trained and skilled workers), and also job security (– longer than 2 years).
But the customer concerns are of the confrontation between the two sides and the lack of a willingness to compromise. This undermines their trust in a reliable, frequent, and affordable transport service that they can use and depend on to get to work, college, hospital, etc.
The problems in the Tendring District are that there has been no service at all on strike days to Clacton, Walton or Harwich. The except being for a limited service at Manningtree on the main-line at one end of the area. And so people will continue to walk away from a train service they can’t use, aggravating the consequences of the ‘do not travel’ policy of the pandemic, and post-Covid services cuts (Note: Walton and Harwich now have no peak hour service: its a basic hourly service throughout the day). Frequency sells the service. The challenge is to get those customers back – (and that would help relieve road congestion/ parking problems).
This current dispute is in danger of repeating the 1955 train strike fiasco, when a lot of freight was unable to use the railways, which then switched to roads, and did not move back to the railways.
This undermines the economy and the ‘Levelling Up’ transport agenda for the second most economically deprived district in England, and may also create more deprivation.
Note: Italics denotes expanded notes from the actual broadcast.
