What did the public ask the 4 MPs on the House of Commons Transport Committee in Liverpool yesterday?

What did the public ask the 4 MPs on the House of Commons Transport Committee in Liverpool yesterday?

What did the public ask the 4 MPs on the House of Commons Transport Committee in Liverpool yesterday?

                                    

Transport Committee (House of Commons) Question and Answer Session Right Lilian Greenwood MP (Chair, Nottingham South) left Daniel Zeichner MP (Cambridge), Mann Island, Liverpool 14th January 2019
Transport Committee (House of Commons) Question and Answer Session Right Lilian Greenwood MP (Chair, Nottingham South) left Daniel Zeichner MP (Cambridge), Mann Island, Liverpool 14th January 2019

The House of Commons Transport Committee visited Liverpool yesterday to hear a formal evidence session from witnesses from Merseytravel, Arriva and Stagecoach. Unfortunately their link video recording link didn’t work and their session is only at the time of publication available in audio which can be listened to here. Although I was present for part of that, I’m not permitted to film it although it was interesting to see how scrutiny by Members of Parliament is different to scrutiny by councillors.

However I did film the later public question and answer session which was well attended by the public and raised a whole range of very interesting transport issues.
Continue reading “What did the public ask the 4 MPs on the House of Commons Transport Committee in Liverpool yesterday?”

Merseytravel disclosed new trains cost £273,424,952.00 then claimed the figure was “commercially sensitive”!

Merseytravel disclosed new trains cost £273,424,952.00 then claimed the figure was “commercially sensitive”!

Merseytravel disclosed new trains cost £273,424,952.00 then claimed the figure was “commercially sensitive”!

                                      

Stadler invoice Merseytravel 22nd February 2017
Stadler invoice Merseytravel 22nd February 2017
George Orwell – “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed, everything else is public relations”
 

During the audit last year (2016-17) of the accounts for Merseytravel and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority I received a copy of an invoice (which you can read above) from Stadler to Merseytravel for part payment (10%) for 52 new trains. The total cost is clearly indicated on the invoice as £273,424,952.00 (of which 10% is £27,342,495.20). This was through exercising a right outlined in s.26 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
Continue reading “Merseytravel disclosed new trains cost £273,424,952.00 then claimed the figure was “commercially sensitive”!”

What did Cllr Gordon Friel answer when asked about guards and the Merseyrail strike?

What did Cllr Gordon Friel answer when asked about guards and the Merseyrail strike?

What did Cllr Gordon Friel answer when asked about guards and the Merseyrail strike?

                                              

Cllr Gordon Friel (Transport Committee, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority) 4th January 2018 answering questions about Merseyrail strike action
Cllr Gordon Friel (Transport Committee, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority) 4th January 2018 answering questions about Merseyrail strike action

In an update to the blog post headlined Why are there 3 further days of strike action on the Merseyrail network this month?, on Thursday afternoon I asked Cllr Gordon Friel questions about the strike referred to in that earlier post.
Continue reading “What did Cllr Gordon Friel answer when asked about guards and the Merseyrail strike?”

Why are there 3 further days of strike action on the Merseyrail network this month?

Why are there 3 further days of strike action on the Merseyrail network this month?

Why are there 3 further days of strike action on the Merseyrail network this month?

                            

One of the new driver only operated trains ordered by Merseytravel that has led to the strikes
One of the new driver only operated trains ordered by Merseytravel that has led to the strikes

One of my New Year resolutions has been to speak truth to power.

The media unfortunately too often protects the establishment at the expense of the public.

There are three further days of strike action on the Merseyrail network next week (8th, 10th and 12th January).
Continue reading “Why are there 3 further days of strike action on the Merseyrail network this month?”

Merseytravel announces wifi at all underground train stations within 5 years

Merseytravel announces wifi at all underground train stations within 5 years

Merseytravel announces wifi at all underground train stations within 5 years

                                                           

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Councillor Steve Foulkes at a meeting of Merseytravel's Performance and Review Subcommittee 23rd March 2015
Councillor Steve Foulkes at a meeting of Merseytravel’s Performance and Review Subcommittee 23rd March 2015

The first main agenda item at the meeting was a report on a review of transport and emissions in the Liverpool City Region, along with the terms of reference for the Reducing Transport Emissions Review 2014 and slides which summarised the author of the report said.

In response Cllr Steve Foulkes suggested, “Maybe leave your car home for one day or something, those types of changes you know that make a massive impact.”

Cllr Liam Robinson (Chair of Merseytravel) said, “For me that’s about making sure public transport is the number one choice of getting around from A to B.”

The next item was the Customer and Passenger Satisfaction Review.

There were no questions or comments on this. Councillors agreed the recommendation.

The next to last report was on Rail Patronage and Ticketing along with an enclosure.

A representative from Merseyrail and Northern Rail were along to answer any questions. The report showed an increase in passenger numbers on the Merseyrail lines (for the first half of 2014/15 compared to the first half of 2013/14) but a decrease in passenger numbers travelling with Northern Rail.

The Merseyrail representative attributed some of the increase to the Open Golf tournament and the Giants event, but that even when the extra passengers travelling to these events were taken into account that there was still an underlying growth of 2%.

The Northern Rail representative disputed that there had been a decline in passenger numbers and stated that their own figures showed a 2.3% increase compared to the previous year. He asked for passenger numbers to be compared at the end of the year as factors such as engineering works and electrification closures would have affected their figures.

A councillor pointed out that wifi was nearly always available on long distance trains and asked when they would introduce wifi to trains?

The answer given was, “Chair I can comment on that. Firstly, the thing to mention on that is the five-year growth plan that was mentioned by Paul a little bit earlier. One of the initiatives is wifi at all the underground stations as a pilot scheme. So that’s already committed to, we’ll see how that rolls out.”

The Northern Rail representative answered, “We are currently trialling free wifi on our electric trains in the Yorkshire area with a view to rolling out.

The new franchise specification for Northern and Transpennine Express will indicate, well sorry has stated that all services will have free wifi during the first part of that franchise. We’re also trialling free wifi at stations.”

If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks: