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#11
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
In article ,
John Rowland wrote: Colin Rosenstiel wrote: In article , (Sky Rider) wrote: construction - it just needs someone to agree to pay for it! According to the BBC a DfT spokesman said that a funding decision would be made by *next summer*. They did say "at the latest". There is a suspicion that it will be announced with the SOFA. Well, that's where I always look when I'm short of cash. Unfortunately there's a wormhole connecting the DfT's SOFA with our pockets ! Nick |
#13
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
Colin Rosenstiel wrote:
In article , (John Rowland) wrote: Colin Rosenstiel wrote: In article , (Sky Rider) wrote: Mizter T wrote: [crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway] The Thameslink project now has all the legal powers to start construction - it just needs someone to agree to pay for it! According to the BBC a DfT spokesman said that a funding decision would be made by *next summer*. It's all well and good having the legal authority to do the work (although I must admit this is a major step forward, and there will be no need for any further public enquiries and the like, thank God), but I wouldn't hold my breath. They did say "at the latest". There is a suspicion that it will be announced with the SOFA. Well, that's where I always look when I'm short of cash. You can't read Uncle Roger or else you would know the acronym stands for "Statement of Funds Available" (from the government). We don't all read "Uncle Roger" here you know - last time I checked the utl charter it wasn't a requirement to read rail-interest magazines before posting! For all the ignorant souls such as I can you say when the Statement of Funds Available is normally, er, stated? |
#14
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
On 20 Oct 2006 05:42:13 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote:
Colin Rosenstiel wrote: In article , (John Rowland) wrote: Colin Rosenstiel wrote: In article , (Sky Rider) wrote: Mizter T wrote: [crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway] The Thameslink project now has all the legal powers to start construction - it just needs someone to agree to pay for it! According to the BBC a DfT spokesman said that a funding decision would be made by *next summer*. It's all well and good having the legal authority to do the work (although I must admit this is a major step forward, and there will be no need for any further public enquiries and the like, thank God), but I wouldn't hold my breath. They did say "at the latest". There is a suspicion that it will be announced with the SOFA. Well, that's where I always look when I'm short of cash. You can't read Uncle Roger or else you would know the acronym stands for "Statement of Funds Available" (from the government). We don't all read "Uncle Roger" here you know - last time I checked the utl charter it wasn't a requirement to read rail-interest magazines before posting! For all the ignorant souls such as I can you say when the Statement of Funds Available is normally, er, stated? It is a new requirement that flows from the legislative disaster area that the government has foisted on itself via the latest Railways Act. The govt have to provide the HLOS and the SOFA and then ORR have to decide if SOFA can deliver the HLOS and if not decide that either a smaller HLOS is needed or a bigger SOFA! HLOS - high level output statement (for the rail network). What govt wants to "buy". SOFA - statement of funds available. how much is in the piggy bank that Uncle Gordon has given the baby Alexander. ORR - Office of Rail Regulation. The new fall guys for railway cuts - lovingly placed in the firing line by the civil servant loonies at DfT Rail. -- Paul C Admits to working for London Underground! |
#15
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
Paul Corfield wrote:
On 20 Oct 2006 05:42:13 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote: Colin Rosenstiel wrote: In article , (John Rowland) wrote: Colin Rosenstiel wrote: In article , (Sky Rider) wrote: Mizter T wrote: [crossposted to uk.transport.london and uk.railway] The Thameslink project now has all the legal powers to start construction - it just needs someone to agree to pay for it! According to the BBC a DfT spokesman said that a funding decision would be made by *next summer*. It's all well and good having the legal authority to do the work (although I must admit this is a major step forward, and there will be no need for any further public enquiries and the like, thank God), but I wouldn't hold my breath. They did say "at the latest". There is a suspicion that it will be announced with the SOFA. Well, that's where I always look when I'm short of cash. You can't read Uncle Roger or else you would know the acronym stands for "Statement of Funds Available" (from the government). We don't all read "Uncle Roger" here you know - last time I checked the utl charter it wasn't a requirement to read rail-interest magazines before posting! For all the ignorant souls such as I can you say when the Statement of Funds Available is normally, er, stated? It is a new requirement that flows from the legislative disaster area that the government has foisted on itself via the latest Railways Act. The govt have to provide the HLOS and the SOFA and then ORR have to decide if SOFA can deliver the HLOS and if not decide that either a smaller HLOS is needed or a bigger SOFA! HLOS - high level output statement (for the rail network). What govt wants to "buy". SOFA - statement of funds available. how much is in the piggy bank that Uncle Gordon has given the baby Alexander. ORR - Office of Rail Regulation. The new fall guys for railway cuts - lovingly placed in the firing line by the civil servant loonies at DfT Rail. Thanks Paul. Presumably the SOFA the government is willing to provide will never be big enough to accomodate the HLOS - but I guess by the contorted logic that's at work here it that disconnect becomes the fault of an independent body which is expected to deliver the undeliverable, and will get lambasted when they continue to insist 2+2=4. Hmm, great. |
#16
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
On 20 Oct 2006 09:58:37 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote:
Paul Corfield wrote: On 20 Oct 2006 05:42:13 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote: For all the ignorant souls such as I can you say when the Statement of Funds Available is normally, er, stated? It is a new requirement that flows from the legislative disaster area that the government has foisted on itself via the latest Railways Act. The govt have to provide the HLOS and the SOFA and then ORR have to decide if SOFA can deliver the HLOS and if not decide that either a smaller HLOS is needed or a bigger SOFA! HLOS - high level output statement (for the rail network). What govt wants to "buy". SOFA - statement of funds available. how much is in the piggy bank that Uncle Gordon has given the baby Alexander. ORR - Office of Rail Regulation. The new fall guys for railway cuts - lovingly placed in the firing line by the civil servant loonies at DfT Rail. Thanks Paul. Presumably the SOFA the government is willing to provide will never be big enough to accomodate the HLOS - but I guess by the contorted logic that's at work here it that disconnect becomes the fault of an independent body which is expected to deliver the undeliverable, and will get lambasted when they continue to insist 2+2=4. Hmm, great. We shall see. I suspect the ORR is being lined as the fall guy in this process. However ORR aren't daft and I would expect to see some deft political manoeuvring by all the parties as they make their respective cases. My long standing concern - especially when Darling was Transport Secretary - was that cuts are definitely planned for the rail network and the HLOS / SOFA balancing act was the way they would be imposed. Don't forget that the line closure process and "tests" have been substantially changed to make it easy to shut lines. However I do wonder if Douglas Alexander is a different character with someone of an agenda to make a positive mark. The difference between Scottish and English rail investment is starting to become more obvious and if there is tangilble political "upside" in Scotland as new lines come into service then political imperatives might drive a change in English policy. I'm also utterly bemused at Tony Blair saying we have 10 years to save the world from environmental disaster when his government haven't got a transport policy anyway and even if they did have one it wouldn't have any environmentally related policies in it! Joined up policy - hah! It's a real shame transport policy does not feature higher up the agenda of the majority of voters. -- Paul C Admits to working for London Underground! |
#17
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
Paul Corfield wrote:
On 20 Oct 2006 09:58:37 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote: Paul Corfield wrote: On 20 Oct 2006 05:42:13 -0700, "Mizter T" wrote: For all the ignorant souls such as I can you say when the Statement of Funds Available is normally, er, stated? It is a new requirement that flows from the legislative disaster area that the government has foisted on itself via the latest Railways Act. The govt have to provide the HLOS and the SOFA and then ORR have to decide if SOFA can deliver the HLOS and if not decide that either a smaller HLOS is needed or a bigger SOFA! HLOS - high level output statement (for the rail network). What govt wants to "buy". SOFA - statement of funds available. how much is in the piggy bank that Uncle Gordon has given the baby Alexander. ORR - Office of Rail Regulation. The new fall guys for railway cuts - lovingly placed in the firing line by the civil servant loonies at DfT Rail. Thanks Paul. Presumably the SOFA the government is willing to provide will never be big enough to accomodate the HLOS - but I guess by the contorted logic that's at work here it that disconnect becomes the fault of an independent body which is expected to deliver the undeliverable, and will get lambasted when they continue to insist 2+2=4. Hmm, great. We shall see. I suspect the ORR is being lined as the fall guy in this process. However ORR aren't daft and I would expect to see some deft political manoeuvring by all the parties as they make their respective cases. My long standing concern - especially when Darling was Transport Secretary - was that cuts are definitely planned for the rail network and the HLOS / SOFA balancing act was the way they would be imposed. Don't forget that the line closure process and "tests" have been substantially changed to make it easy to shut lines. However I do wonder if Douglas Alexander is a different character with someone of an agenda to make a positive mark. The difference between Scottish and English rail investment is starting to become more obvious and if there is tangilble political "upside" in Scotland as new lines come into service then political imperatives might drive a change in English policy. I'm also utterly bemused at Tony Blair saying we have 10 years to save the world from environmental disaster when his government haven't got a transport policy anyway and even if they did have one it wouldn't have any environmentally related policies in it! Joined up policy - hah! It's a real shame transport policy does not feature higher up the agenda of the majority of voters. A very good point about the astuteness of the ORR - after all, they did their own thing rather than the DfT's bidding when it came to the whole Grand Central/ECML/GNER/open access shenanigans (whether it's a good idea to have the network open to competition in this respect is another question, one that I'm in two minds about, but the ORR were at least enforcing the rules as they are at present). The notion of the HELA/SOFA balancing act as a method of determining where the inevitable cuts would come is also an interesting one, as is the idea that the actions and subsequent results of the devolved government in Scotland when it comes to transport may yet give the rest of us hope. I find it very sad to hear of the problems oop North, say in Leeds where the trains are packed as the economy expands yet the government doesn't really seem to have any plan whatsoever (apart from pricing people off the railways). In my mind it's a shame that the whole movement towards regional government ground to a halt after the unsuccessful North East vote - I don't for a minute place all the glory of London's transport system at Ken's feet, but he is committed to the system, demands quality and results from those involved and shows leadership - and seemingly the government sees that TfL can deliver and thus hands over the cash so it can continue doing so (helped of course by the fact that London is where a lot of money and influence is). Of course we've the great advantage that the Tories never quite got round to deregulating and ruining the bus service in London. Transport policy is in a mess. I wonder whether Mr Cameron's new bluey greenness might get Mr Brown into gear on the environment and transport - but that said, the Chancellor seems to have been the one who for the past nine years has been insisting Prudence hit the brakes when any radical transport changes came into view, so perhaps there's little hope. For all the talk of the prudent long-term view, when it comes to the upcoming environmental disaster the government's view appears very short sighted indeed. |
#18
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
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#19
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
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#20
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Thameslink project (i.e. TL2K) gets legal & planning go-ahead
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