So there is to be another review of the rail industry, although, as I write this, the detailed remit has yet to be published. The search for a magic solution that will lead to happy passengers, punctual trains and low fares continues!
Before the review gets fully under way, it’s perhaps worth trying to identify and analyse the key problems it’s seeking to address, or rather the crises that have triggered it.
The May timetable meltdown was the most recent one. This is not the first crisis of its kind; Virgin CrossCountry’s 2002 ‘Operation Princess’ timetable proved to be way too ambitious, and had to be rewritten very shortly after its introduction, with extended journey times and an attenuated route network. But the May problems had an appalling impact on major commuter networks, both in the North, primarily in Manchester, and in London on Thameslink and Great Northern. Entirely reasonably, passengers on both networks were furious, and the industry got a dreadful press.
Following this, Stephen Glaister, the outgoing chair of the Office of Rail and Road, delivered a report on the timetable fiasco. This blamed pretty much everyone in sight, although Northern was certainly the least guilty party. Having …
