Cost of second person on Merseyrail is revealed
The cost of employing a second person on all Merseyrail trains will be discussed by the combined authority of the Liverpool City Region this week. Merseytravel and Merseyrail have agreed to carry a second member of staff on all trains when the new fleet arrives in 2021 after a prolonged dispute with the RMT. This led to a number of disruptive strikes before the union’s demand was finally conceded in August. According to a report to be discussed on Friday, Merseytravel will be required to find the extra cash, and fares may have to rise as a result.
Savage winter weather and over-ambitious spring timetables have dented rail performance over the past year, according to the Office of Rail and Road. Punctuality sagged to its lowest for 12 years partly as a result of the ‘Beast from the East’ which swept across the country in February and March, bringing ice and snow to almost everywhere in Britain, including Devon and Cornwall. The May timetables added a further layer of unpunctuality, as it quickly became clear that new timetables on Govia Thameslink Railway and Northern were unworkable.
Five companies have been shortlisted to build a new fleet for Tyne & Wear Metro. The DfT has provided a grant of £337 million towards the capital cost of the fleet itself, which is estimated at £362 million, but the total value of the contract will be approximately £500 million when maintenance costs over 35 years are added. Nexus will choose a preferred bidder by the end of 2019, and it is hoped that the first examples of the new fleet can be delivered two years after that.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling is set to announce a major review of railway organisation, including the structure of franchises, later this week. But although the review, which is said to have the support of the Prime Minister, is supposed to be the most fundamental reappraisal of how the railway is organised since privatisation more than 20 years ago, some sources are voicing doubts about how fundamental it can be without opening the door to a form of renationalisation. The franchising timetable remains in disarray, with award and starting dates continuing to slip. The start of the West Coast Partnership, originally intended to begin as the successor to the present Virgin Trains/Stagecoach contract in April this year, has been postponed by up to 12 months, while although the winner of the next South Eastern franchise should have been announced in August the decision has been delayed until November.
An inquiry has been launched by GWR after a new Class 802 Hitachi Intercity Express bound for London failed just north of Exeter, stranding passengers for five hours. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the problem was caused by a brake fault. GWR has apologised to the passengers on the London train, and said they will be receiving refunds and a free ticket.
Tests of new CAF trains for Northern have been launched in north west England. The first examples of Class 195 and Class 331 units have already been given their first running trials in the Czech Republic, but four are now based at Edge Hill depot in Liverpool, where they have been commissioned for operation on Network Rail infrastructure. The fleets will eventually consist of 98 units. CAF, meanwhile, is in the final stages of opening its new plant in south Wales, where a factory has been built at Newport.
New peace talks have been arranged in the Northern DOO dispute. The news comes on the eve of yet another Saturday walkout by the RMT, and that strike, which would be the fourth in a series of six, is going ahead. The talks, which have been arranged by the conciliation service ACAS, are due to take place next week.