GBR "delayed"

[snowball]

.For example I expect electrification to continue, but slower.

That could only mean a slowing of either the MML or TRU electrifications - and it's hard to imagine a project slower than the TRU is already.

 

[zwk500]

That could only mean a slowing of either the MML or TRU electrifications - and it's hard to imagine a project slower than the TRU is already.

People said it was harder to imagine a worse prime minister than Boris...

On a serious note - both TRU and MML are due to get bi-mode stock, which makes them prime candidates for mandarins on spreadsheets to identify an opportunity for savings.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I note he has appointed Mark Harper as Transport Sec who has consistently voted for HS2 also.

The new Sectretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, is MP for Forest of Dean, and doesn't seem to have any specific transport experience.
If Kevin Foster (MP for Torbay) survives as his Rail Minister there will be a distinct West of England rail bias at the DfT.
You wouldn't think either of them has a local interest in HS2 (except it doesn't benefit them).
Getting the GW wires to Bristol TM and Oxford would presumably be more up their street.

Watching all the appointments being made today, Transport was almost the last gasp of the reshuffle.
It was odd that Anne-Marie Trevelyan did not figure in the leavers column earlier.
Maybe things didn't go entirely to plan.

 

[irish_rail]

It's ironic that you want the railways to be upgraded considering you thought Merseyrail should have kept the outdated Class 507s and 508s.

Nothing wrong with the 50x. That's the problem we have in the UK , we like to replace perfectly good trains with uncomfortable new ones and completely ignore the basic stuff such as track and signals.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Nothing wrong with the 50x.

There is. They're over forty years old and falling to bits.

 

[Tezza1978]

The new Sectretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, is MP for Forest of Dean, and doesn't seem to have any specific transport experience.
If Kevin Foster (MP for Torbay) survives as his Rail Minister there will be a distinct West of England rail bias at the DfT.
You wouldn't think either of them has a local interest in HS2 (except it doesn't benefit them).
Getting the GW wires to Bristol and Oxford would presumably be more up their street.

Watching all the appointments being made today, Transport was almost the last gasp of the reshuffle.
It was odd that Anne-Marie Trevelyan did not figure in the leavers column earlier.
Maybe things didn't go entirely to plan.

Oh I'm not saying Harper does. But on They Work For You it shows he has consistently voted for HS2. Ditto Sunak
Given Sunak's focus on growth, need to keep the Red Wall onside and love of a photo op in a similar vein to Boris I do think he will be in favour of rail projects. That isn't to say he wont seek to find savings/cuts elsewhere e.g. slowing the electrification schemes as mentioned by other posters. Id much prefer a Labour govt incidentally.

 

[BrianW]

The new Sectretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, is MP for Forest of Dean, and doesn't seem to have any specific transport experience.
If Kevin Foster (MP for Torbay) survives as his Rail Minister there will be a distinct West of England rail bias at the DfT.
You wouldn't think either of them has a local interest in HS2 (except it doesn't benefit them).
Getting the GW wires to Bristol and Oxford would presumably be more up their street.

Watching all the appointments being made today, Transport was almost the last gasp of the reshuffle.
It was odd that Anne-Marie Trevelyan did not figure in the leavers column earlier.
Maybe things didn't go entirely to plan.

Mark Harper MP- advocate for and exponent of integrity eg submitting of Letter of no confidence in the then PM: https://twitter.com/mark_j_harper/status/1516453716899029009

Comprehensivs School and Chartered Accountant:
EDIT- 'Harper was born and raised in Swindon, Wiltshire, where he had a working class upbringing, his father a manual worker and his mother employed by a book club.[2] He was educated at the Headlands Comprehensive School and Swindon College.' ...'Upon graduation in 1991, Harper joined KPMG as an auditor. After qualifying as a chartered accountant, he joined Intel Corporation. In 2002, he left Intel to set up his own accountancy practice'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Harper

Those will appeal to the current PM. There was little to nothing to commend the retention of previous Transport Secretary.

 

[irish_rail]

There is. They're over forty years old and falling to bits.

Have you actually been on a 777. I have. They really ain't great. I'm yet to experience a 50x falling to bits.

 

[Energy]

Have you actually been on a 777. I have. They really ain't great. I'm yet to experience a 50x falling to bits.

Admittedly I haven't been on a 777 myself but most people's reactions are much more positive...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Have you actually been on a 777. I have. They really ain't great.

I've been on the mockup, yes. Wasn't a great fan of the seats themselves, but other than that it looks like usual Stadler high quality.

 

[Thirteen]

There is. They're over forty years old and falling to bits.

I agree, they reached the end of their natural life and replacing them was inevitable. You don't want a Class 483 situation where the trains were in increasingly poor state and well overdue for replacement.

 

[TAS]

Oh I'm not saying Harper does. But on They Work For You it shows he has consistently voted for HS2. Ditto Sunak

That's misinterpreting what TheyWorkForYou is telling you. Sites like it are of limited use, because the vast majority of the time an MP will vote with their party's whip, whatever their own personal views might be. If their party supports it, they will vote for it. They may well not even really know much about the vote or the issues involved.

Clearly, MPs do rebel very occasionally, but breaking the whip isn't something that most of them do lightly - consequences can and do flow from it (witness last week's drama over the fracking vote). All this means is that Sunak and Harper voted with the Tory whip at the time, which was to support HS2. It'd be surprising if they'd done anything else and it doesn't tell you much about their own personal views, except that it wasn't an issue they thought so important to rebel on that it was worth incurring disciplinary consequences as a result.

If you want to know what an MP actually thinks about a topic, it's far better to look at the other work they do (speeches they make, questions they ask, articles they write, groups they're involved with, private member's bills they propose etc.). The only votes I'd pay much attention to (and paying attention to what politicians are doing is part of my job) are those where an MP has chosen to rebel against their party or where there was no whip (e.g. votes on abortion are generally treated as a matter of conscience).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Watching all the appointments being made today, Transport was almost the last gasp of the reshuffle.
It was odd that Anne-Marie Trevelyan did not figure in the leavers column earlier.
Maybe things didn't go entirely to plan.

Yet another reason why I feel that the Transport ministry is low down in the pecking order of ministries.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Have you actually been on a 777. I have. They really ain't great. I'm yet to experience a 50x falling to bits.

50x have lasted a long time, and are very efficient at what they do, but they are old hat now.
777s will be faster, quieter, will not have those dreadful hopper windows and will have level boarding.
A lot of money has gone into upgrading Merseyrail infrastructure for them (power supplies, platform upgrades etc).
The 777s also look like offering battery options to extend the network cheaply off the juice.

 

[lammergeier]

That's misinterpreting what TheyWorkForYou is telling you. Sites like it are of limited use, because the vast majority of the time an MP will vote with their party's whip, whatever their own personal views might be. If their party supports it, they will vote for it. They may well not even really know much about the vote or the issues involved.

Clearly, MPs do rebel very occasionally, but breaking the whip isn't something that most of them do lightly - consequences can and do flow from it (witness last week's drama over the fracking vote). All this means is that Sunak and Harper voted with the Tory whip at the time, which was to support HS2. It'd be surprising if they'd done anything else and it doesn't tell you much about their own personal views, except that it wasn't an issue they thought so important to rebel on that it was worth incurring disciplinary consequences as a result.

If you want to know what an MP actually thinks about a topic, it's far better to look at the other work they do (speeches they make, questions they ask, articles they write, groups they're involved with, private member's bills they propose etc.). The only votes I'd pay much attention to (and paying attention to what politicians are doing is part of my job) are those where an MP has chosen to rebel against their party or where there was no whip (e.g. votes on abortion are generally treated as a matter of conscience).

Precisely this. The fact Mark Harper was Government Chief Whip for a short period only goes to reinforce this further. Despite not agreeing with his views on many things, I've always thought he comes across well - thoughtful, intelligent and articulate (so completely opposite to Shapps).

It remains to see how he will approach this brief - as said, you can't really go by the voting record of a cabinet minister. I can't see him giving an inch to the unions however, unless the new administration wants to draw a line under everything and move on.

 

[43096]

Nothing wrong with the 50x.

Other than being life expired.

 

[BrianW]

That's misinterpreting what TheyWorkForYou is telling you. Sites like it are of limited use, because the vast majority of the time an MP will vote with their party's whip, whatever their own personal views might be. If their party supports it, they will vote for it. They may well not even really know much about the vote or the issues involved.

Clearly, MPs do rebel very occasionally, but breaking the whip isn't something that most of them do lightly - consequences can and do flow from it (witness last week's drama over the fracking vote). All this means is that Sunak and Harper voted with the Tory whip at the time, which was to support HS2. It'd be surprising if they'd done anything else and it doesn't tell you much about their own personal views, except that it wasn't an issue they thought so important to rebel on that it was worth incurring disciplinary consequences as a result.

If you want to know what an MP actually thinks about a topic, it's far better to look at the other work they do (speeches they make, questions they ask, articles they write, groups they're involved with, private member's bills they propose etc.). The only votes I'd pay much attention to (and paying attention to what politicians are doing is part of my job) are those where an MP has chosen to rebel against their party or where there was no whip (e.g. votes on abortion are generally treated as a matter of conscience).

I agree. Interviews and articles in local papers tend to be more revealing.

I also feel it's revealing that Transport was so low in the 'pecking order'; almost an afterthought? More likely to see NPR back on the agenda through Michael Gove at Levelling Up.
Maybe improved rail service at Lydney?

 

[zwk500]

I also feel it's revealing that Transport was so low in the 'pecking order'; almost an afterthought?

It's been that way for a while. It's slightly galling that Transport appears to be below Business in the pecking order but I do apprecaite that you need businesses to create demand for travel and transport.

More likely to see NPR back on the agenda through Michael Gove at Levelling Up.
Maybe improved rail service at Lydney?

Yes, by all accounts Gove was serious about the portfolio last time he was at Levelling Up (silly name for a department that it is). Although I don't see him being able to fight for any serious new money, I can see him protecting what is already in place.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Precisely this. The fact Mark Harper was Government Chief Whip for a short period only goes to reinforce this further. Despite not agreeing with his views on many things, I've always thought he comes across well - thoughtful, intelligent and articulate (so completely opposite to Shapps).
It remains to see how he will approach this brief - as said, you can't really go by the voting record of a cabinet minister. I can't see him giving an inch to the unions however, unless the new administration wants to draw a line under everything and move on.

Patrick McLoughlin had been Chief Whip before he was appointed as Transport SoS.
While things did not turn out as well as everybody hoped (many projects reversed by his successor, Grayling), he still did a lot of good work for the railway.
He's now Chair of Transport for the North, and battling for TRU and NPR progress.

TRU - Transpennine Route Upgrade
NPR - Northern Powerhouse Rail

 

[lammergeier]

Patrick McLoughlin had been Chief Whip before he was appointed as Transport SoS.
While things did not turn out as well as everybody hoped (many projects reversed by his successor, Grayling), he still did a lot of good work for the railway.
He's now Chair of Transport for the North, and battling for TRU and NPR progress.

TRU - Transpennine Route Upgrade
NPR - Northern Powerhouse Rail

I'm not saying being ex-GCW is a bad thing for the railways. Just highlighting how voting for HS2 doesn't necessarily mean he will be pro-rail as others have said. I imagine/hope he will be decent enough to meet the unions at the very least.

You're right about McGloughlin, probably the last decent transport minister we've had. Maybe AMT will have been alright but she didn't even have time to get the sign on the door changed.

 

[Mag_seven]

Since its clear that GBR is delayed and we don't know how the new government under Rishi Sunak will proceed we will draw this thread to a close.

Once something really concrete comes along regarding GBR we will open a new thread.