More rail rolling stock for Greater Bristol?

Lord Adonis, the Secretary of State for Transport, has stated that a revised railway rolling stock plan will now not be published before the end of this year, as previously announced – the delay is stated to be attributable to ongoing commercial negotiations relating to the new Thameslink rolling stock contract. The Department for Transport (DfT) has stated that it is now in active negotiations with First Great Western to provide additional capacity on local rail services in the Greater Bristol area – it is expected that additional cascaded diesel carriages will be introduced within the next eighteen months.

Concessionary fare changes

The Department for Transport (DfT) is planning a major change to concessionary fare reimbursement in an attempt to end the current time-consuming and frequently acrimonious negotiations between travel concession authorities (TCAs) and bus operators – it is likely that the department will publish a schedule of payment rates varying by region and type of area (large cities, medium-sized urban centres and rural areas). The DfT has formally confirmed that in shire counties the county council will replace the district councils as the travel concession authority from April 2011, the beginning of the next three-year local government finance period. It has also been announced that the age of eligibility for concessionary bus passes will be progressively raised over the next decade in line with changes to the pensionable age for women.

DfT axes BSOG

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced plans to scrap BSOG (Bus Service Operators Grant, formerly fuel duty rebate) and replaced it with a per passenger subsidy – it is intended that this change will be phased in over the next decade. From April 2010 bus operators in South West England will receive an eight per cent increase in their BSOG payments for every vehicle fitted with an ITSO smartcard reader and a two per cent increase for vehicles with GPS equipment. The DfT stated that it would discuss with stakeholders how to support socially necessary services which were no longer financially viable following the withdrawal of BSOG.

Stagecoach is ‘most admired’ public transport group

The annual review of Britain’s companies by Management Today has named Stagecoach Group as the ‘most admired’ of Britain’s five major public transport groups for the second year in succession – Stagecoach came second to easyJet in the full transport survey. The survey, undertaken for the magazine by the Birmingham City Business School, is a peer review of corporate reputation using responses from directors of competitors as well as analysts and financial commentators – the survey covers nine performance criteria.

Government funding for smart ticketing

The Department for Transport (DfT) is to provide a twenty million pound fund to promote smart ticketing in the nine biggest urban areas outside Greater London – the area covered by the four West of England unitaries (Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire is included. The DfT will also commission a study of a national pre-pay public transport study.

DfT launches review of rail industry costs

The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) have launched a joint survey to identify ways of reducing the cost to the taxpayer of operating Britain’s railways – the terms of reference for the study include:-

i) legal, operational and cultural barriers to greater efficiency and ‘value for money’

ii) ways to incentivise the rail industry to become more efficient

iii) the possible role of new technology, processes and working practices

iv) options for generating higher revenue, including car parking and better utilisation of existing properties

People

Mike Carroll, the former managing director of First Great Western who now lives in Devon, has been appointed as the chairman of the Meningitis Trust, a charity which provides a unique range of professional services and community based support to people affected by meningitis.

And finally,

A loudspeaker announcement at Bristol Temple Meads railway station recently: ‘The train approaching platform one is not scheduled to stop at this station’ – the train actually stopped in the ‘bay’ platform and therefore did not demolish the station manager’s office, Bonapartes and the ticket office and travel centre!