Contract
Readers will remember that Go Ahead lost its contract to run South Eastern Rail after a mega booboo with the accounts. Together with the fine, the company has had to cought up a modes £51.5 million to put things right and pay for their sins.
The general feeling amongst watchers of the rail business was that Go Ahead would be unlikely to be awarded any contracts in the near future. BUT ...
The Go-Ahead Group today announces that the Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded a National Rail Contract (NRC) to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to continue operating the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail services, the UK’s largest railway network.
Contract highlights
The new contract commences on 1 April 2022 and will run until at least 1 April 2025, with up to a further three years at the Secretary of State’s discretion.
The NRC, like the Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement (ERMA) contract it will replace, is a management contract which has extremely limited exposure to changes in passenger demand and no substantial cost risk to GTR.
GTR will earn a fixed management fee of £8.8m per annum (equivalent to a margin of 0.5% of GTR’s cost base) to deliver the contract, with an additional performance fee of up to £22.9m per annum (equivalent to an additional 1.35% margin). Subject to the achievement of performance targets set by the DfT, the maximum fee receivable by GTR would therefore be £31.7m per annum (equivalent to a margin of around 1.85%). All figures are on a pre-IFRS 16 basis.
The contract also allows for individual project fees to be earned by GTR on the delivery of additional initiatives as directed by the DfT.
So; mess up, defraud the Government and we will slap your wrists and take Southeastern away from you. Then, as a really harsh punishment, we will pay you to continue running the Thameslink group of services. And even if the economy goes belly-up, we will still pay you - no real risk to you.
The Guardian and the rail unions have a point! Rumours in the dark impenetrable corridors of the DaFT suggest that the Government would have considerable difficulty in getting ANY COMPANY to take on the job of running the largest rail company group in the UK. Directly Operated Railways (that's UK Government) currently have three rail companies to run and it is no fun any more.
Cows Part 1
These two stops are at Hill Top Road in the delightfully named village of Dungworth in the bustling and busy former steel city of Sheffield. You can spot the edges of the bustle in the distance, but nothing much bustles at Dungworth.
In a piece of bus planning genius from the PTE, these stops each have an hourly bus service currently run on tender by Powells (part of the growing Hackney Community Transport empire).
... and a very occasional 116 to High Bradfield.
There was a 107 hourly to Dungworth ...
... and a couple of PTE "serve everybody everywhere" routes to Wadsley ...
... and High Matlock (that the unmarked wiggle below).
Knit them all together and run the 61 clockwise and the 62 anti-clockwise evey hour and you have a remarkable improvement of service to almost everywhere originally served by bits; and a service that still operates today.
It is a glorious and interesting ride, especially in fine weather.
The services no longer run into Sheffierld city centre, but there are plenty of trams and buses to Hillsborough Interchange to make the interchange.
So why might a visitor or a Sheffielder want to get off the bus at these stops at Hill Top Road, well away from anything "built up"?
To see Molly, of course ...
... that would be "Our Cow Molly"!
Moo-er tomoroow!
Concession
DaFT (The Department For Transport) has issued revised guidance to Local Authorities on how they can help bus operators who have found that their revenue from OAP concession pass holders has declined significantly during the dreaded Covid.
Concession
This is helpfully explained in a document from CPT, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, circulated to all bus operators.
So thanks, CPT, that has clarified it very precisely.
Importantly, DfT make it clear that, for the 2022/23 financial year, authorities should choose which is the most appropriate method of continuing concessionary fares funding at pre-Covid levels to ensure a smooth recovery period, from the recovery options DfT outlines below:
Reduce pre-Covid level payments in line with the recovery strategy contained within the Concessionary Travel Recovery Guidance, issued on 29 October 2021 (‘Default Recovery Strategy’).
Maintain pre-Covid level payments for the duration of the 2022/23 financial year, should they deem local circumstances require this.
Reduce their pre-Covid payments in line with the Alternative Recovery Strategy issued on 29 March 2022
Adopt their own approach to pre-Covid concessionary reimbursement for the 2022/23 financial year, being sensitive to the financial needs of operators, and balancing this against any alternative reduction in concessionary fare payments, as any sudden reduction can lead to immediate negative impacts to operators and service levels.
In order to support this, DfT officials have now secured the necessary agreement across Government to extend the current statutory instrument to enable authorities to pay concessionary fares funding to operators at a higher level than due through actual journeys by pass-holders, and to address concerns raised regarding the legal basis for making concessionary fare payments at a level above actuals.
The statutory instrument will extend the amendment to regulation 6(a) of the 2011 Regulations by continuing to temporarily omit the words “no better and” and therefore removing from regulation 6(a) the requirement that reimbursement arrangements in respect of concessionary fares do not result in the bus operator being better off. This amendment will cease to have effect at the end of 2022/23 financial year, at which time the requirement will be reinstated.
In fact, there is no more money. All the above "guff" allows local authorities to spend what (little?) they have got in a slightly different way.
If they give more money to reimburse declining concessionary fares revenue, other subsidies will have to be reduced.
Good innit?
Colours
Hornby have recently introduced their new model of the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) that was such a failure for British Rail. The Italians used the technology, got it right and thus we now have their Pendolino, not our APT! Shame!
Anyway a keen (and wealthy) railway modeller has assembled a full length 14 car set.
Michael is now building a model railway layout big enough to allow it to run to full effect.
Meanwhile, Rapido Trains has released a new batch of their original APTE model (E for "Experimental").
Neither of these liveries ever appeared! Neither was the English Electric GT3 around long enough to appear in BR blue with the double arrow.
If Harry Potter can have a GWR loco in maroon ...
... and even rename Olton Hall as Hogwarts Castle; anything is possible.
It looks rather good! Better than the original in brown.
We will "C" some more variety tomorrow!
Next Variety blog : Sunday 3rd April
Since some railway modellers use a "might have been" location for their layouts, why not have a "might have been" livery for the trains? The examples cited by FBB are within the realms of possibility, had the APT and GT3 been developed further.
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