Rail franchising is a mess. The usage of rail
services is often held as a success, but the customer satisfaction is
rating will be poor.
Call it a gut
feeling, but the train operating companies don’t strike me as happy
places to work. I see too many miserable ticket inspectors and grumpy
drivers for whom the general public are an inconvenience.
Notionally, these are private companies, run
for profit and in a competitive environment. In reality they are heavily
subsidized and tightly regulated.
And yet a major change is now on the cards.
Work is already underway for the a consortium of metropolitan
authorities in the North to form a new company to run the rail
franchises currently controlled by Transpennine and by Northern Rail.
The leadership for the project, as mapped out in a report submitted to
the Combined Authority board last year, is Manchester.
It may strike many of us in the private sector
as odd, that in an era of austerity and cuts that the councils are still
able to operate in such a bold and creative way. It also shows how
important transport is to the strategic development of the city region -
and doesn’t always have to include an unpopular congestion charge.
There will be risks – for a start they may not
win. But as the report stated the upsides are massive and the
flexibility offered to a body whose objectives are strategic, rather
than simply running it for a subsidised profit are clear.
“Upfront capital investment may be necessary to
find ways of delivering long‐run improvements in the efficiency of
local services. Examples of such investments might include
electrification, smartcard, turn‐around facilities and potentially some
tram train conversions. As part of the GMCA city deal central government
has committed to define a list of capital investments to reduce the
cost base of the railway in the North of England.”
We are once again reminded of how
fortunate we are in Greater Manchester to have a local leadership with
vision and ambition. As Sir Howard Bernstein said in a national
newspaper last year: “Working in a co-ordinated fashion means we can be
not only strategic but also, crucially I believe, imaginative - coming
up with new ways of doing things which challenge orthodox thinking.”
Finally, a few words on Europe. What if David
Cameron doesn’t get a fulsome reform of the European Union and of
Britain’s deal with Europe. Firstly, would he even admit it? and if he
did, would he then campaign to leave, and what would that do to his
personal standing? He’s right to grasp this nettle, but why leave it
lingering for so long.
1 comment:
It would be excellent if this led to a system where one ticket covered trains, trams and buses, as in most European cities. I would commute to work using the train / tram more if, when the Eccles to Manchester tram is delayed (a frequent occurrence) I could hop on a bus instead with no extra charge. Bring on the joined-up thinking!
Post a Comment