Nicholas Lewis
Established Member
The Guardian are running this story
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-days-swingeing-rail-cuts-alarm-bells-ringing
Dept of Transport view is its
There's no doubting the industry has to confront the change in passenger demand and come up with a response but the industry lacks a big hitter like the BR chairman of days gone by who have been charged to address the issue and deliver savings so now its left to the Dept of T who will tackle it as lay people not those with an understanding and risk undermining all the industry has achieved.
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-days-swingeing-rail-cuts-alarm-bells-ringing
The Department for Transport seeks to cut spending by 10% after the chancellor Rishi Sunak’s autumn budget.
With the Treasury anxious to limit spending on rail, which increased massively during the pandemic, letters from the DfT’s managing director of passenger services, Peter Wilkinson, have been sent to individual operators setting out the swingeing cuts needed across the industry.
Dept of Transport view is its
Only to be expected given situation industry faces but Wolmars view isGovernment sources said there were no finalised decisions, and denied that individual operators were being asked to deliver cuts of 10% or more to expenditure.
Even if, as DfT sources suggest, the latest call for savings are a “routine business planning process” to maintain efficiency and reduce the cost to taxpayers, alarm bells are ringing through the industry. While the effects of the pandemic on rail travel patterns and revenue are clear to all, a division has grown between those who believe it is essential to maintain services and lower fares to attract passengers and those who favour cutting costs and maximising current income.
A DfT spokesperson said it was “demonstrably false” to suggest the government was delivering cuts to the railway, given the current levels of investment, the £96bn rail plan and the restoration of lines such as Okehampton.
They added: “With passenger numbers significantly down, it would be reckless and irresponsible not to ensure that the railway is more efficient and reducing its costs to the taxpayer.
“As taxpayers would expect, we have asked operators to provide credible and sustainable business plans which ensure taxpayer money is used efficiently, to deliver exceptional services, promote recovery to reset the balance in financial support and ensure the railway has a bright future.”
Industries view isTimetables are likely to be thinned out and late-night services withdrawn to cut costs, he predicted: “It’s back to the old days of British Rail when they squeezed services and then said no one is using trains because the service is rubbish.
“In a rational world they would just cut the branch lines – but they can’t do that politically because ministers have said they are reversing Beeching.”
Industry leaders and unions alike believe that the Treasury wants to target working conditions. According to one senior rail figure: “The single biggest thing is workplace reform, they believe productivity is low.”
There's no doubting the industry has to confront the change in passenger demand and come up with a response but the industry lacks a big hitter like the BR chairman of days gone by who have been charged to address the issue and deliver savings so now its left to the Dept of T who will tackle it as lay people not those with an understanding and risk undermining all the industry has achieved.