Boxing Day Rail

Labour (rank hypocrites that they are) are accusing the transport minister of breaking a promise (see?).

With a long list of trains due to be cancelled because of staff shortages, management inertia or engineering works, and very few lines actually operating, Labour pointed out that in 2008 and 2009, while shadow transport secretary, Hammond accused Labour of not having the “interest of the travelling public at heart” because of a lack of rail services on Boxing Day.

Labour said this year there were almost no Boxing Day rail services across the country – even though Hammond is now a transport minister with the power to do something about it.

Of course the charge may well be accurate – however, for one politician to accuse another of hypocrisy is very much chucking rocks about in greenhouses or something like that.

As to the matter in hand, the Christmas shut-down is an ideal period to carry out major relaying works – or to put in that bridge that needs renewing. And, frankly, to confine it to the twenty-four hour period of Christmas day is likely to be pushing it with some of these engineering works.

Christmas is the only period when the network shuts down – usually from around midnight on Christmas eve to midnight on Boxing day. But, even then, it doesn’t mean a complete cessation. I recall one Christmas afternoon when on call going into Bristol panel to enable movements of engineering trains, so the box was open, albeit briefly.

As for staff shortages – well, that’s an ongoing problem and always has been. The railway operates on unfilled vacancies and overtime. It’s how local managers manage to keep their paybill budgets down – employing someone full-time costs more than filling gaps in the roster on overtime. And, then, when there is a public holiday, people don’t always want to work it. Hammond does not have the power to resolve this – and nor should he have it.

“While engineering work should be carried out in quiet periods for travel, Boxing Day can hardly be seen as a quiet period. Families and football fans will be given no choice but to get into their cars, pump more CO2 into the atmosphere and put up with potentially eye-watering levels of congestion because the railways remain shut.”

Yeah, nice bit of greenie hyperbole, however the roads are usually quiet over the forty-eight hour period of Christmas and Boxing Day as I have noticed when I have needed to travel during that period. So, a politician is lying to make a cheap political point. Big surprise there…

Y’know, I hold the coalition parties in very low esteem. But I hold Labour even lower – which is some going. This isn’t about concern for the travelling public. These charlatans don’t give a fig for us, our needs and wants. This is all about scoring points over the other lot – nothing more, nothing less. They are all scum. They all lie, cheat, manipulate, dissemble, steal, meddle and interfere. Their promises aren’t worth the paper they are written on. Hang them all.