A lot of the work of SMART falls upon a small number of committee members, all of whom have other, competing, commitments. It would make a huge difference if a few more people could get involved, sharing the tasks amongst a larger group of people.
You can contact us, either by e-mail: info@smart-rail.co.uk
or by attending one of our meetings, normally held in the Commercial in Slaithwaite.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 15th February at 7.15 p.m.
from the Yorkshire Post, Thursday 5 January 2012
Northern Rail, which this week introduced inflation-busting fare rises for passengers, saw annual profits surge by 34 per cent last year, most recent accounts reveal.
The train operator’s holding company recorded a pre-tax profit of £40.1m in the year ending January 2011, up from £29.9m the previous period. Turnover fell by seven per cent at £571.9m over the same period.
The company receives the majority of its revenue from the taxpayer, via a £339m grant from the Department for Transport, with the rest from passenger income, which rose by 4.5 per cent during the year.
Despite the reliance on public subsidies, a spokeswoman for Northern Rail would not disclose how much the company is paying its directors nor would she respond to questions about the £22.5m paid in dividends.
The company is a joint venture owned by Serco and Abellio, the UK arm of Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
Asked about Northern Rail’s financial performance since January 2011, the spokeswoman said: “As you will appreciate, our financial information is of a commercially sensitive nature and therefore we are unable to elaborate on the extensive information already in the public domain.”
She highlighted the company’s “continued financial commitment to the Northern franchise”, which she said includes non-contractual investment of £30m in station and rolling stock refurbishments, 104 extra carriages, 90 ticket vending machines and the continued employment of 4,800 people.
The most recent accounts show capital investment of £2.1m for the year ending January 2011.
Business leaders in Yorkshire yesterday called for more investment to help the private sector.
Margaret Wood, chairwoman of the Yorkshire Institute of Directors, said: “Business and passengers are being let down by outdated rolling stock and a sometimes second-rate service.
“There has been reinvestment in the infrastructure but there needs to be more to help business in Yorkshire take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself.”
Richard Tuplin, chairman of the East Yorkshire and the Humber IoD, warned Northern Rail against “losing sight of the fact that essentially it provides a public service that other private enterprises rely on to keep their businesses moving”.
He added: “In times of recession such as these it is incumbent upon these organisations to ensure they deliver best value for money to passengers and businesses by guaranteeing reinvestment in infrastructure, rolling stock and passenger services before delivering such a return to shareholders.”
Charlotte Britton, chair of the West Yorkshire IoD, said: “It can’t be profit at whatever costs and the balance between keeping the shareholders versus passengers satisfied is difficult but needs addressing.
“Reinvesting a proportion of the profit back into the rail infrastructure would be the right thing to do.”
The last Government’s “steady state” terms for the original franchise – which started in 2004 and has been extended to 2013 – mean that Northern Rail has no contractual obligation to run additional services.
But passenger numbers have increased from 60 million to nearly 90 million a year since 2004.
Richard Hebditch, a director at the Campaign for Better Transport lobby group, said: “The Government often hides behind the rail companies on fare rises and on the service levels that passengers receive.
“But Ministers set the level of price rises for most fares and set what services actually get provided through the franchise letting process.
“It’s ultimately up to the Government to make sure that travelling by rail is affordable, reliable and convenient.”
Local authorities and passenger transport executives in the North are in talks with the Department for Transport about how future franchises could be devolved to local control to give more say on when, where and how trains should be run.
The Northern Rail spokeswoman said: “We would not comment on future franchise agendas with local authority involvement in the re-letting of the Northern franchise.”
To see the report on the debate in Hansard which took place last Wednesday 18th January, please follow either of the links below.
It should work.
Tony Bowers 21 1 12
or
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2012-01-18a.296.1&s=northern+hub#g315.0
Another new year, and what’s different in 2012.
Well, to start with, there’s another fare increase. It’s inflation plus 1%, although there are some exceptions (senior citizen fares in West Yorkshire are going up by more than that), and the fare increase has to be not more than inflation plus 1% for fares overall. Individual fares may increase by more or less than that. Only a cynic would suggest that it’s fares on busy routes that will rise by the largest amounts, balanced out by lower fare increases on less busy routes.
The average rise for all rail tickets – including unregulated fares such as advance and business tickets – is 5.9%.
Passenger Focus highlighted routes which have seen higher-than-average rises compared with January 2011, including season tickets between:
The consumer group said some off-peak return fares between London and towns including Cardiff, Exeter and Plymouth had risen by more than 9%.
Anytime-return fare increases that were well above average – at more than 8% – include those between Birmingham and Edinburgh, and Bristol and Edinburgh, it added.
We are pleased to report that Her Majesty’s government had second thoughts about increasing fares by inflation plus 3%, and belatedly changed this back to inflation plus 1%. Obviously a lower increase is less damaging, but the 3% proposal should never have been made in the first place.
Theresa Villiers, Rail Minister, said
“We have already limited the fare increase this year to help rail passengers”.
A bit naughty saying that, as it was her government who proposed the higher increase in the first place, and all they are doing is reversing their own bad decision.
One thing which doesn’t change from one year to the next is the pretext for the fare increase. The Association of Train Operating Companies have a superb record on recycling, as can be evidenced by their press releases every time there’s a fare increase.
Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc), said money raised through fares helped pay for improved services.
“For a number of years, the government has sought to sustain investment in the railways by reducing what taxpayers contribute and increasing the share that is paid for by passengers,” he said.
“The focus of the whole industry is to keep on reducing the overall cost of running the railways as a way of limiting future fare rises and providing taxpayers with better value for money.”
Atoc said record amounts of money were being invested in better stations and more trains. That’s their 2012 press release.
It’s that time of year when it’s traditional to have a quiz, so here’s SMART’s Belated Christmas Quiz. All you have to do is to match up the ATOC press release with the year.
Year
A. 2004
B. 2005
C. 2007
D. 2008
E. 2009
F. 2010
ATOC press release
1. “Fare changes this year will help pay for 265,000 extra services, all against a background which is determined by government policy to reduce the call on us as taxpayers. The fare changes actually in our view strike the right balance between trying to ensure a reasonable level of increase to fund in return much improved services.”
2. “While no-one likes to pay more for their travel, we need the revenue to pay for the ongoing improvements to the railways that passengers expect – and overall satisfaction levels are now at an all time high of 80%. Train operators will continue to raise their game, delivering further improvements to the railway and enhancing the travel experience of passengers.”
3. “The revenue from fares helps pay for investment that directly benefits passengers. Billions of pounds are now being spent to improve the railway and the results are showing through.”
4. “Fares have to rise to pay for the huge investment which the rail industry is currently making in the railways – which is the fastest growing in Europe.”
5. “We know times are tough for many people but next year’s fare increases will ensure that Britain can continue investing in its railways. Money invested through fares has helped to bring about the record levels of customer satisfaction and punctuality on the railways today. Passengers are already benefiting from record levels of investment in our railways. While we understand people won’t welcome any kind of price increases, it is important to remember that we need to continue and sustain investment in our railways.”
6. “Our railways are the fastest growing in Europe and operators will continue to introduce new trains, better passenger facilities and improved travel information.”
