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Lesf   28/02/2015 at 01:08

Anyone would think there's an election coming.

Nonsuchmike   28/02/2015 at 14:54

Every day that Pacers still "patrol" our railway system is now an embarrassment. The thought of them still going about their business until 2020 makes me shudder; they should be phased out in the next eighteen months max., and replaced with more efficient, more comfortable, more appropriate trains and carriages for commuters throughout the UK. This is not a north v south issue, it is a matter of TOCs trying to squeeze the maximum profit from the public with the lowest outlay in a scam which must be considered insane if not bordering on the criminal when you think how frequently the travelling "sardines" have to put up with disruptions, cancellations, fare increases - just for the privilege of being squashed for an hour or so in thes e outdated forms of transport. What a high price we pay for the glorious benefits of competition and privatisation in our railways.

Neil Palmer   02/03/2015 at 07:56

Nonsuchmike It's not a case of TOC's trying to squeeze maximum profit, it;s a case of what government has been willing to pay to replace Pacers in the way of less subsidy, or receiving less from TOC's in payment. Until now government had not been willing to do this to replace Pacers. Lesf, Yeah - you'd almost think that wouldn't you. ;-)

Steve   02/03/2015 at 11:08

This I assume explains the focus on residual value in the ITT, it allows costs to be accurately reflected over the life of any given project. No operator is going to suffer the cost of new assets if they are going to hand those assets over to another operator in ten years time.

Neil Palmer   02/03/2015 at 14:32

I meant to say: "it's a case of what government has been willing to pay to replace Pacers in the way of MORE subsidy, or receiving less from TOC's in payment:.

Graham Nalty   05/03/2015 at 14:03

I have to say 'very well done' to Transport Secretary Patrick Mcloughlin here. Benefit to cost studies are a tool used by good managers to assess part of the effect of their decisions and used by bad managers to justify a bad decision. There are much wider issues here and Mr McLoughlin is right to take these into account. It is the future of the whole northern economy. The end result of applying benefit to cost is that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We need to rebalance the UK economy and investment in rail transport in the North on a par with London is the best way to go, not trying to reduce rail use. I only wish Mr McLoughlin was as forthright with common sense on HS2 and tell those in HS2 Ltd. that parkway stations on high speed lines will destroy jobs in our tertiary cities as studies by leading experts have proven. All other countries bring their high speed lines into city centres, so why not the UK.

Aaa   07/01/2017 at 04:29

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