Download or read book The Modernisation of the West Coast Main Line written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2006-11-22 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This NAO report examines how effectively the Strategic Rail Authority/Department for Transport and Network Rail turned around the West Coast programme between 2002 and 2006 in terms of delivering outputs and expected outcomes in line with the schedule and targets set by the government and set out in the West Coast Main Line Strategy of June 2003. Three areas were examined in detail: how the Strategic Rail Authority/Department of Transport and Network Rail addressed the weaknesses in programme management before 2002 to achieve delivery to schedule; whether costs have been brought under control; whether the programme is delivering its anticipated benefits. A number of findings and conclusions have been set out, including: that the SRA and Network Rail did turn around the programme through an industry-supported strategy, reducing technology risk through reliance on conventional signalling for most of the upgrade; there were some implementation problems in two areas, axle counters and computer-based interlocking signalling, which resulted in an increase in costs; in general, Network Rail's control of costs has improved, but an analysis of its reported and forecast expenditure shows a final programme spend of £8.6 billion, with an overspend of around £300 million; for renewal work on the west coast route, Network Rail is within its overall funding allowance and on course to achieve 70% of the £940 million cost efficiencies assumed by the rail Regulator; at present the Strategic Rail Authority provides subsidies on an annual basis to Virgin West Coast of £590 million in 2005-06 period, this amount represents a payment needed to maintain train services and is outside the £8.6 billion; the project has delivered journey time improvements, with punctuality and train reliability on the West Coast having improved since 2005; in the 2005-06 period, passenger journeys on Virgin West Coast grew by over 20%, and the remaining work on the programme to 2009 will increase passenger train and freight capacity, but the consensus in the rail industry is that around 2015 to 2020, the line will have insufficient capacity to sustain current levels of growth in passenger and freight traffic; the overall strategy has delivered passenger benefits from a modernised track, but value for money for the programme has not been maximised. The report sets out a number of recommendations, including: that the Department in future should model and appraise costs and benefits for different options for the timing of delivery of the project; that the Department and the Office of Rail Regulation should further develop standard definitions for costs for different stages and elements of transport projects; where projects propose new technology at significant cost, the Department and ORR should ensure that Network Rail draws up a supporting business case, addressing costs, benefits and possible challenges along with a supporting implementation and maintenance strategy; the ORR should ensure Network Rail progresses its plans and adopts best practice strategy, and this approach should include a company-wide strategy that addresses whole life costs in its investment appraisal/project business cases, along with improved recording of maintenance and renewals costs for its equipment.

Download or read book High speed rail written by Great Britain: Department for Transport and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-01-10 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High speed rail is already being constructed or been used in many nations. Britain's exile from this would mean losing out to global competitors. The long term option in investing in high speed rail would transform and allow Britain to compete globally and for national economic prosperity. Such investment in faster and more convenient journeys between the major cities and international networks will achieve two objectives; supporting companies and wealth creators and also better connect communities. Further upgrades of existing lines can provide additional capacity but growth in demand looks set to outstrip the pace of this and is seen as a short term approach unable to meet long term challenges. The choice is not between building new lines or not but what type of new line to build and new lines only built to enable conventional speeds would certainly fail to reap the economic rewards offered by high speed. HS2 is also about enough capacity for passengers - those on crowded inter city trains will increasingly be forced to stand for long periods and for commuters who eventually will be unable to get on their trains at peak times. There are further benefits of increasing rail freight, getting lorries off roads and saving carbon. The Government is also committed to developing a national high speed rail network with the lowest feasible impacts on local communities and the natural environment. In response to the consultation process there have been changes - additional tunnelling and alignment of the route in a number of places. The Government wishes to see further engagement with local people as the project progresses and as further environmental assessment is undertaken. The Government wants to reassure people that the project is both affordable and can be delivered to time and budget

Download or read book High speed rail written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Transport Committee believes there is a good case for a high speed rail network, linking London and the major cities of the Midlands, the North and Scotland. But the Government must firmly commit to the Y network (to Leeds and Manchester) before seeking parliamentary approval for HS2. If it decides to go ahead with HS2, it should publish a summary of the financial case showing how the project is affordable alongside sustained investment in the classic network. A full assessment of the case for building from north to south should be carried out. The disputed travel time savings should be addressed in an updated economic case. The Committee is concerned that the Government is developing separate strategies for rail and aviation, with HS2 separate from both, and calls again for the publication of a comprehensive transport strategy. The Government should look again at the case for a direct link to Heathrow, and costs and benefits of routing HS2 via Heathrow should be set out more clearly. Better information is needed on: the proposals for London termini and linkages; risk factors of operating 18 trains per hour at 225mph; the location of stations on the Y network; environmental impacts. Claims that HS2 would deliver substantial carbon-reduction benefits do not stand up to scrutiny. The Government should desist from disparaging opponents of high speed rail as NIMBYs. Both sides in the debate should show respect for each other and focus on the facts.

Download or read book Delivering a Sustainable Railway written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The White Paper, 'Delivering a sustainable railway' (Cm. 7176, ISBN 9780101717625) published on July 2007 and set the Government's general vision for the railways for the next thirty years. Network Rail's engineering overruns at New Year 2008 caused tremendous inconvenience to passengers across the country and inevitably shaped the Committee's oral evidence sessions. The Committee's investigation, along with analyses from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) have led them to believe that the engineering overruns are symptonatic of crucial system flaws which have to be resolved if there is to be any hope of getting a sustainable railway, as promised in the White Paper. This report covers both subjects

Download or read book The completion and sale of High Speed 1 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-07-06 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The high speed railway linking London to the Channel Tunnel, known as High Speed 1, has now been fully open for almost five years and has had a good performance record. There have also been some costly mistakes. The Department originally expected London & Continental Railways Limited (LCR) to service the project debt from future revenues from Eurostar UK. However by the end of 1997 revenues were substantially below LCR's forecasts. Consequently, in 1998, the Department agreed to restructure the deal and guarantee most of LCR's debt. The taxpayer is now servicing and repaying the project debt of £4.8 billion. Passenger demand for international services on the line has been much lower than forecast and that is the root cause of the failure of the original deal. Planning assumptions failed to properly consider the impact on passenger numbers of the growth of low cost airlines and the competitive response of ferry companies. The Department still does not have plans in place to evaluate fully the impact of HS1. Total taxpayer support for the line, over a 60 year period to 2070, has an estimated present value of £10.2 billion. Benefits for passengers from shorter journey times over this period have an estimated present value of £7 billion. The basis of this cost/benefit analysis, however, is open to challenge. Also the Department will need to evaluate HS1's regeneration benefits and wider economic impacts worth many billions of pounds if the project is to demonstrate value for money. The Department must also learn the lessons as it develops its plans for HS2.

Download or read book West Coast Main Lines 1957 1963 written by John Palmer and published by Pen and Sword Transport. This book was released on 2022-08-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout its length from London to Glasgow via Crewe and Carlisle, with a loop through the West Midlands and spurs to Holyhead,Liverpool and Manchester, the West Coast Main Line has consistently provided interest for those many with more than a passing interest in trains and travel. This book outlines the history of the route,its physical characteristics and sets the scene for the various passenger and goods traffic flows that sustained it; it then details the arrangements for motive power and train working through the era of change that was 1957 to 1963. The level of interest - as evidenced daily by the presence at the lineside of hordes of young spotters and other observers - was particularly high at that time as processions of trains hauled by fine express passenger locomotives and those more suited to other traffic passed by. The book also goes 'behind the scenes' to provide insights into the daily and seasonal challenges of managing that section of a wider railway network, as directed by the varying terms of relevant legislation, and a government increasingly concerned to shape the railways for the changing needs of the public, industry and the economy. The book will be of particular interest to those who simply recall those days by the lineside, those with an interest in detailed arrangements to provide and maintain suitable motive power, those with an interest in how the railway served the needs of the nation and modellers who seek information. The book is illustrated with color and monochrome images and supported by maps.

Download or read book Railway Renaissance written by Gareth David and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-09-30 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “David’s superb book looks at the defiant renaissance of such heritage railways . . . in contrast to Beeching’s vision of a streamlined railway network.” —Books Monthly When a 35 mile stretch of the former Waverley route from Edinburgh to Carlisle reopened on 6 September 2015, it became the most significant reopening of any UK railway since the infamous Beeching Report, “The Reshaping of British Railways,” was published in March 1963. In his report, Dr. Richard Beeching recommended sweeping closures of lines across the UK to improve the financial performance of British railways, which led to wholesale closures over the following decade and a reduction in the UK rail network from 18,000 miles in 1963, to some 11,000 miles a decade later. But since that low point was reached in the early 1970s a revolution has been taking place. Passenger traffic on the railways is now at its highest level since the 1940s and from Alloa to Aberdare, as well as from Mansfield to Maesteg, closed lines have reopened and the tide of Beeching closures has been gradually rolled back. Scores of stations have been reopened and on many of the newly revived lines, passenger traffic is far exceeding the forecasts used to support their reopening. In this comprehensive survey of new and reopened railways and stations across England, Scotland and Wales, Gareth David asks what it tells us about Dr. Beeching’s report, looking at how lines that were earmarked for closure in that report, but escaped the axe, have fared and reviews the host of further routes, which are either set to be reopened or are the focus of reopening campaigns.

Download or read book The Rules of Project Risk Management written by Robert James Chapman and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2016-02-24 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The evidence continues to grow that the effective management of risk is the very kernel of successful project management. Its absence frequently leaves project sponsors lamenting missed objectives and shareholders coming to terms with an organisation’s poor bottom line performance. Dr Robert Chapman's The Rules of Project Risk Management stands out from other risk management texts because it provides very practical guidance, supported by numerous mini case studies, many of which have attracted considerable publicity. The book brings to life both the benefits of project risk management when effectively applied and the ramifications when it is misunderstood or receives scant attention. The structure of the book is based on International Standard ISO 31000 seen through the lens of general systems theory - where projects are undertaken by organisations which have an external context and internal sub-systems. A project system is seen to be composed of seven key subject areas. Practical short ’rules’ or implementation guidelines, written in an engaging style, are offered to support each of these subject areas and aid quick assimilation of key risk management messages. Each rule focuses on a specific aspect of effective risk management which warrants attention in its own right. Taken together the rules will provide those implementing projects with the building blocks to secure a project’s objectives. They have been drawn from a wealth of experience gained from applying risk management practices across multiple industries from Europe to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Download or read book Ministry of Defence written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-09-11 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report from the Committee of Public Accounts provides information on the time, cost and performance of the 20 largest projects of the Ministry of Defence where the main investment decision (known as Main Gate) has been taken. This report follows on from a two volume NAO report published in November 2006 (HCP 23-I/23-II, 06/07 - ISBNs 9780102943740; 9780102943733), into the major projects of the Ministry of Defence. Evidence was taken by the Committee based on the NAO report, covering three main issues: the impact of the cost saving measures identified by the Departmental reviews in 2005-06; the performance of individual projects; the Department's initiatives to improve acquisition performance. The Department undertook a review of the 20 post-Main Gate projects, which reduced costs by £781 million. With £91 million a HM Revenue & Customs rebate, and £242 million the result of better management of commercial and contractual arrangements. But, £448 million of the costs were reclassified as expenditure in other procurement or support budgets or towards corporate management. The re-allocations have, according to the Committee, achieved cost reductions for individual projects, but do not represent a saving for the Department as a whole. Total forecast costs for the approved projects amounts to £27 billion, some 11% over budget. Forecast in-service dates slipped 33 months in-year, and there is a cumulative delay of 433 months for projects over their lives so far. The Department is now placing increased emphasis on through life management of Defence projects, involving the life-cycle management of the projects, services and activities.

Download or read book Estimating and monitoring the costs of building roads in England written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-08 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Transport has approved expenditure of over £11 billion between 1998 and 2021 for the development of new and existing trunk roads and motorways by the Highways Agency, and just under £1.7 billion on major road schemes proposed and developed by local authorities in five year Local Transport Plans. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 321, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944600) published in March 2007, the Committee's report examines the steps taken by the Department for Transport and the Highways Agency to improve value for money and oversight of the roads programme and contracting methods and project management capability. By September 2006, the Agency's 36 completed schemes in the Targeted Programme of Improvement cost 40 per cent more than estimated initially, and for schemes still to be completed, latest forecasts indicate that final costs could be 27 per cent more than original estimates. The main causes for costs exceeding estimates are increases in construction costs, higher than forecast land prices and compensation to landowners, inflation and changes in the scope of the project. The report finds that the DfT has not been rigorous enough in its oversight of the Agency's delivery of major road schemes, allowing it too much latitude on delivery and cost plans, and has failed to monitor in-year expenditure against progress and delivery milestones. The Agency is overly reliant on consultants for project management expertise and needs to develop its in-house capability.

Download or read book The right of access to open countryside written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-06-21 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced a public right to walk across designated mountain, moor, heath, downs and registered common land in England. DEFRA tasked the Countryside Agency with opening-up the new access by the end of 2005, and the target was met with two months to spare. However the implementation of the right to roam cost the Countryside Agency £24.6 million more than anticipated, with knock-on impacts on other programmes. This report looks at the implementation of open access and the effect of the policy under the headings: encouraging the public to use the right to roam across the countryside; protecting the environment of access land and the rights of landowners; improving planning and project management. However the success of legislation is as yet unknown because there is no information on the extent to which the public are making use of their new right. In October 2006 the responsibility for open access passed from the Countryside Agency to Natural England.

Download or read book Good Writing for Journalists written by Angela Phillips and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2007-01-19 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reflective practice is at the heart of effective teaching, and this title helps you develop into a reflective teacher of science.

Download or read book Assets Recovery Agency written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-12 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Assets Recovery Agency (the Agency) was set up in 2003 to recover assets from criminals using new and unique powers of civil recovery as well as criminal confiscation and taxation. It was also tasked with the training, accreditation and monitoring of financial investigators. The Agency is to be disbanded in 2008. It was set up with insufficient preparatory work. There was no business case setting out the expectations for the Agency, resulting in unachievable delivery aims. It is reliant on cases being referred to it by other authorities, but only 707 cases have been referred from 129 out of 696 potential referral partners. The Agency did not develop effective work processes: it failed to keep a comprehensive database of cases referred to it; it did not invest in a time-recording system to manage and monitor staff time and the cost of cases; and it failed to put in place processes to enable management to monitor the progression of cases effectively. Receivers' fees accounted for almost a quarter of the budget but fixed price contracts were not introduced until April 2006. The Agency's office is in central London, heavily reliant on temporary staff, and with high levels of staff turnover. The Agency had recovered assets amounting to only £23 million by December 2006 against expenditure of £65 million, and it has not met its target of becoming self-financing by 2005-06. Asset recovery has been slow because in most cases the full value of the assets was pursued through the courts rather than seeking settlement for a proportion of the assets. The Agency has not been adequately monitoring the accreditation of trained financial investigators. Of the 4,500 financial investigators trained at almost £700 per place, only 1,400 of those were active in the role by summer 2006.

Download or read book Recruitment and retention in the armed forces written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-07-03 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The armed forces are short of servicemen and women. At April 2007, the overall shortfall was 5,850 personnel, or 3.2 per cent and none of the three Services were within their targets, known as 'manning balance'. Many highly specialised areas, such as nurses and linguists, have larger shortfalls. The impact of continuous downsizing, pressures and overstretch is affecting the ability of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to retain and provide a satisfactory life for Armed Forces personnel. Numbers leaving early have risen in the last two years, and are now at a ten-year peak for Army and Royal Air Force Officers and for Royal Air Force Other Ranks. The frequency of deployments is creating pressure on some personnel, with large numbers exceeding the "harmony" guidelines on time spent away from home. The MoD has operated above the most demanding level of operations under Defence Planning Assumptions since 2001, but has not adjusted its manning requirements. Short term financial measures to improve retention have had some success, but do not address the key drivers for leaving such as servicemen and women's inability to plan ahead and the impact on their family life. The MoD also lacks basic information on the costs of its measures which would enable it to make more informed judgements on incentives to improve recruitment and retention. Past cuts in recruitment activity have had a damaging longer-term effect on manning in some areas. Such cutbacks are almost impossible to recover as budget and capacity constraints prevent the MoD from over-recruiting to make up for shortfalls in previous years.

Download or read book The efficiency programme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-11 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government's Efficiency Programme is designed to achieve ongoing efficiency gains across the public sector of £21.5 billion a year by 2007-08 to improve front line services, to reduce Civil Service posts by more than 70,000 and to reallocate a further 13,500 posts to front line services.Departments are responsible for delivering and quantifying the efficiencies achieved while the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) checks the robustness of figures put forward and provides support to help departments deliver their gains. On 26 February the Committee took evidence on the £13.3 billion of annual efficiency gains departments had reported up to 30 September 2006. While some of these reported gains are robust, almost £10 billion of reported efficiency gains remain uncertain. On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General,evidence was taken from OGC and the Treasury on four main issues: the measurement of efficiency gains and headcount reductions; the effects of efficiency projects on service quality; the management of the Programme; and embedding a culture of efficiency into the public sector.

Download or read book The Academies Programme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An academy is a new type of school that is publicly funded, supported by one or more sponsors and operates independently of the local authority. Their aim is to raise achievement standards in deprived areas by replacing poorly performing schools or by providing new school places where they are needed. 83 academies were in operation by September 2007, with plans for 200 academies to be opened by 2010 at a capital cost of around £5 billion. Following on from a NAO report on this topic (HCP 254, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780102944426) published in February 2007, the Committee's report examines the progress of the Academies Programme and whether it is on track to achieve its objectives. Findings include: i) the average capital cost of the first new-build academies was £27 million, compared with between £20-22 million for other new secondary schools; ii) exclusions of pupils are higher on average from academies that other schools; and iii) although there are signs of progress being made, such as improvements at GCSE and key stage 3 levels, achievements in literacy and numeracy levels are lower than other secondary schools and it is too early to tell whether rising attainment is sustainable. Academies need to collaborate more with other secondary schools and lessons need to be learned from completed academy projects in terms of improving project management and reducing cost overruns.

Download or read book Towards a sustainable transport system written by Great Britain: Department for Transport and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-10-30 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This discussion paper describes the Government's transport policy objectives, in light of the recommendations of the Eddington transport study (2006, ISBN 9780118404877) and the Stern report on the economics of climate change (2007, ISBN 9780102944204). It sets out the Department for Transport's policy and investment plans for the period to 2013-14. It goes on to propose a new approach to longer-term strategic transport planning and development, building on the Eddington model, and explains how it will engage with key stakeholders during its implementation. Four key steps are identified in this approach: clarity about policy goals; identifying transport challenges; generating options to address them; and selecting options that deliver the best value for money in the context of sustainable development. The document highlights five broad goals within the Government's transport agenda: maximising the competitiveness and productivity of the economy; addressing climate change; protecting people's safety, security and health; improving quality of life through a healthy natural environment; and promoting greater equality of opportunity.