The
potential
deadline


for
the
closure
of
the
Alstom
works
in
Derby
had
been
31
January,
and
on
that
day
rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
wrote
to
train
manufacturers
and
operators,
setting
out
plans
for
new
or
refurbished
rolling
stock,
although
the
letter
was
not
published
until
22
February
(writes
Sim
Harris).

The
main
projects
he
listed
as
‘current
live
competitions’
covered
four
operators,
three
of
which
are
nationalised:
Northern
(up
to
450
units
or
1,000
vehicles),
South
Eastern
(‘core
order’
between
350
and
570
vehicles,
with
option
for
another
70)
and
Transpennine
Express
(29
units
with
option
for
another
26
–
174-330
vehicles).
The
only
private
sector
operator
in
his
‘core’
list
is
Chiltern:
(20-70
new
or
converted
units
–
‘nominally
90
vehicles’).

Indicative
contract
award
dates
in
each
case
are
2025,
except
that
South
Eastern
could
be
December
this
year.
Delivery
dates
range
between
2027
and
2029.

He
also
mentions
further
possibilities,
such
as
Great
Western
replacing
its
Class
15x
and
16x
fleets,
or
orders
from
the
devolved
governments
or
open
access
operators. 

At
the
end
of
February
Alstom
said
it
was
still
in
discussions
with
Government
about
Derby,
but
whether
Mr
Merriman’s
list
influenced
the
postponement
of
closure
is
a
matter
for
conjecture.

We
may
also
wonder
about
other
details
of
this
announcement.

Consider:
the
letter
was
dated
31
January,
and
although
it
was
not
published
then
copies
were
apparently
sent
to
the
Railway
Industry
Association
and
the
Rail
Forum,
as
well
as
rolling
stock
builders
and
train
operators.

Mr
Merriman’s
text
included
a
reassuring
message:
‘The
information
in
this
letter
is
not
confidential
and
may
be
freely
shared.’

Mr
Merriman
himself
was
unusually
modest
about
his
rolling
stock
plans,
and
did
not
refer
to
them
in
the
Bradshaw
Address
on
20
February,
although
he
did
talk
about new
passenger
service
contracts
which
are
out
for
tender,
and
include
‘risk
and
reward’
clauses
‘designed
to
encourage
growth’.

Nobody
else
accepted
his
offer
to
talk
about
his
new
train
proposals
either.

There
is
no
trace
of
statements,
press
releases
and
so
on
from
either
RIA
or
the
Rail
Forum,
and
yet
RIA
in
particular
is
often
vocal
about
the
lack
of
updates
to
the
DfT’s
Rail
Network
Enhancements
Pipeline
document,
which
was
published
in
March
2018
and
last
revised
in
October
2019
which,
as
it
pointed
out,
was
‘one
year
into
CP6’.
We
will
move
from
CP6
to
CP7
at
the
end
of
this
month,
and
yet
nothing
more
has
been
said
by
the
DfT.

The
four
proposed
rolling
stock
orders
set
out
in
the
list
of
‘current
live
competitions’
add
up
to
around
2000
vehicles,
which
would
be
worth
at
least
£4
billion.
Great
Western,
and
so
on,
would
be
on
top
of
that.
Worth
a
headline,
you
would
think,
in
the
general
media,
although
let’s
hope
any
reports
would
not
have
claimed
that
the
Government
was
going
to
invest
this
money.

As
Railnews
readers
are
well
aware,
under
the
present
arrangements
that
would
be
a
matter
for
the
ROSCos,
although
the
operators
(mostly
owned
by
government
in
this
case)
would
be
nominally
liable
for
the
leasing
costs.
Unless
the
structure
has
changed
by
the
time
these
possibly
mythical
new
trains
appear,
the
liablity
for
the
leases
would
really
rest
with
the
Treasury.

But
this
is
not
the
core
point.
Why
was
this
letter
written
at
all?
If
the
polls
are
right,
there
will
soon
be
a
change
of
government,
and
if
the
Labour
Party
takes
over
it
has
said
that
it
would
renationalise
the
passenger
railway,
although
new
rolling
stock
would
still
be
needed.

And
why
did
this
letter
make
such
a
gentle
landing?
It
may
have
given
the
Alstom
works
in
Derby
a
little
longer
at
least
but,
apart
from
that,
perhaps
no
one
in
the
industry
believed
it
was
worth
discussion.