Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 1009 i RAIL

rail@bauermedia.co.uk @RAIL IT’S more than likely that Labour will win the next General Election. That’s not RAIL straying into partisan party politics, but a conclusion drawn from watching prevailing winds. It explains the welcome that Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh (no relation, although I suspect she’s also spent her life telling people there’s an ‘h’ on the end…) received for her recent policy announcement. Perhaps that’s because her plan is not radically different from what the railway has seen from Mark Harper, the current occupant of the Department for Transport’s plushest office. Both would create Great British Railways as an arm’s-length body to run the railway day-to-day. Both would keep private freight and open access operators. Both would keep private ownership of rolling stock. Where they differ is the future…

Reopening of the Levenmouth line on June 2 coincides with a new ScotRail timetable aimed at improving access for several communities. ScotRail will introduce nearly 100 additional services each weekday, including trains to the newly opened Cameron Bridge and Leven stations. Leven will see an hourly service to and from Edinburgh via Kirkcaldy. This follows a public consultation in which the other option was two trains per hour running via Cowdenbeath. The choice of running via Kirkcaldy gives that town 36 more trains a day. It cuts an average of three minutes from journey times between Fife and Edinburgh and adds an extra 3,000 seats in each direction, to give overall capacity of just over 19,000 seats. Services will significantly change for Inverclyde, with 30 extra services every weekday -…

FREIGHT hauliers are becoming increasingly concerned that moves to create Great British Railways will leave them facing instability and uncertainty if GBR puts its own passenger operations first. Witnesses at an April 24 meeting of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee (TSC) also suggested that draft legislation put forward by the Department for Transport to create GBR leaves the Transport Secretary with the ability to micromanage GBR, despite it being proposed as an arm’s length body. The draft Rail Reform Bill puts forward GBR as an integrated rail body (IRB) that will join track and train, created from Network Rail and transferring DfT powers to award operating contracts for passenger services into GBR. At the TSC, Rail Freight Group Director General Maggie Simpson said: “What our members want is…

The Global Centre for Rail Excellence (GCRE) has agreed a deal with CAF for the Spanish train manufacturer to provide a range of services, including rolling stock and technology testing as well as digital signalling development and other product innovations. Based at Nant Helen opencast site near Swansea, GCRE has been funded in part by the Welsh Government with a £50 million investment, as well as further backing from the UK Government. Its aim is to establish itself as a major research, testing and development centre. And the location is key for CAF, which has a production base 50 miles away in Newport. The partnership will entail GCRE supporting CAF with its rolling stock and digital signals testing. The manufacturer was recently announced as the supplier of ten long-distance tri-mode…

NR tunnels contract Engineering consultant COWI has won a contract from Network Rail to design tunnel works for Stalybridge, Scout and Standedge Tunnels, to allow electrification and gauge clearance for W12 container trains. COWI’s work will include designing 1.7km (1.1 miles) of slab track. RIA appointments The Railway Industry Association has appointed Antaras Consulting Managing Director Catherine Leech as the chairman of its SME group. The new vice-chairman is Mike Harmer, who is chief of strategic operations at Belvoir Rail. New planters at Hull TransPennine Express has installed ten planters with trees at Hull station.…

NETWORK Rail carried out £75 million worth of engineering works over the early May Bank Holiday weekend (May 4-6), with 487 projects started or completed. Projects included track renewals on the West Coast Main Line and work on the new station at Cambridge South). The WCML programme featured track upgrades near Wembley and at sections near Leighton Buzzard and Stafford. Engineers also replaced 400 metres of railway drainage at Berkswell (between Birmingham and Coventry). This is where HS2 will cross over the WCML, although Network Rail confirmed that the work carried out in early May was not connected to HS2. Since mid-January, HS2 Ltd has been constructing the Carol Green bridge, just south of Berkswell station, that will carry the new line over the WCML. Working in a series of…

Rail companies planned to use 84% of the network’s capacity when they drew up December 2023’s timetable, according to the Office of Rail and Road, which has launched a website dashboard that shows overall capacity use. The tool also shows how well companies meet the deadlines around timetables by (for example) submitting their bids in time. “Efficient use of network capacity is important for an affordable railway, and robust timetables are fundamental if passengers are going to be able to travel with confidence,” said ORR Strategy, Policy and Reform Director Stephanie Tobyn. “We’ve worked with the rail industry to increase clarity and transparency in these important areas. And in doing so, we’re supporting improvement in how rail network capacity is used and timetables are planned in the interest of passengers.”…

Two of Rail Adventure’s Class 43 HST power cars were used to haul a train of biomass wagons on April 30, when 43468/480 hauled 24 IIA wagons from Shirebrook to Gascoigne Wood Sidings. The train, which was over three hours late, ran via the South Yorkshire Joint Line. The locomotives are two of six which were modified in the 1980s and had buffers fitted. All six are owned by RA. Class 43s were built for express passenger work and had never been used on freight working until RA bought its six locomotives. Two of its other Class 43s (43423/467) have moved for painting into RA grey before joining 43465/468/480/484 in traffic.…

Shunter on the move Chris Beet’s Class 03 shunter D2084 moved from the West Coast Railways depot at Carnforth to the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway in April. ‘59’ in Colas branding GB Railfreight’s sole Class 59, 59003 Yeoman Highlander, which has been taken on long-term hire by Colas Rail, has received Colas branding on its bodysides and cabs. ‘197’ at Ebbw Vale Transport for Wales 197115 became the first of the class to visit the Ebbw Vale branch on April 17, when it worked the 1002 Cardiff-Ebbw Vale Town.…

c2c is celebrating its fleet of Class 357 Electrostars clocking up 150 million miles in service. The Essex commuter operator’s fleet of 74 four-car ‘357s’, built by Bombardier in 1999-2002, have recorded an average of two million miles per unit. The one-million-mile mark (on average per unit) was passed in 2013. Since 2016, the fleet has operated more than seven million unit miles each year - equivalent to 175,000 trips between Shoeburyness and London’s Fenchurch Street terminus. “Our trusted and recognisable ‘357s’ have been synonymous with c2c and our route since they were first introduced over 20 years ago,” said c2c Operations and Engineering Director Laura McEwen. “Each year c2c continues to achieve some of the best punctuality and reliability figures of any train operator in the country, and it…

An event at the Nene Valley Railway on September 6-8 will be supported by GB Railfreight and CrossCountry. Details are being finalised, but the NVR’s home fleet is expected to be in action on the Friday, while the Saturday and Sunday should feature GBRf Classes 47, ‘57’, ‘66’ and ‘69’, subject to availability. An XC Class 220 or ‘221’ Voyager diesel-electric multiple unit is due to run shuttles from the main line station to the NVR on the Saturday. There are also plans for an open day at GBRf’s Peterborough depot.…

GOVERNMENT must find a funding model that delivers Euston station for High Speed 2 and avoid a "costly fire sale" of land bought for the project. The calls come from the High Speed Rail Group which also wants to see a comprehensive long-term strategy for high-speed rail to help stimulate economic growth and develop the country’s inter-urban rail network. Publishing a report on May 2- High Speed Rail: Exploiting the Potential - it outlines five areas for the next government to explore, while also emphasising the need to “look beyond HS2”. HSRG is urging the next government to give the go-ahead “immediately” for the HS2 London terminus to be built at Euston, as originally intended. For this to be completed, the group argues that alternative funding models, which could include…

LABOUR will shift all private train operators working under government contracts into the public sector if it wins power at the next General Election. Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh announced the policy of public ownership in a speech at the office of private sector ticket seller Trainline on April 25. “Labour will sweep away the broken model and bring private operators into public ownership as their contracts expire,” she said. She added that Labour would continue to lease trains from private companies and encourage working with open access private passenger operators and private rail freight companies. In the speech, Haigh pledged to create Great British Railways as the “directing mind” to control Britain’s rail network in the interests of passengers. “Labour will sweep away the broken model and bring private…

HS2 has completed work on the first section of the Curzon 3 viaduct that will take trains into Curzon Street station, Birmingham. The viaduct will stretch over Digbeth Canal as the line enters Curzon Street station. It forms part of a wider series of viaducts that will carry high-speed trains into Birmingham city centre. There are five viaducts in total: Duddeston, Curzon 1, Curzon 2, Lawley Middleway, and finally Curzon 3. The completed sections on Curzon 3 reach six metres high, with four separate decks spanning 65 metres at their widest points, to carry the tracks to the Curzon Street station platforms. Further sections of the Curzon 3 viaduct will be built in the same way, with construction of the span over Digbeth Canal using jacks to slide 34 temporary…

THE Rail Delivery Group has made an unexpected request to drivers’ union ASLEF to meet for talks, suggesting a possible softening of the Government’s stance. It comes after ASLEF’s 16th set of national strikes (RAIL 1008) in its 22-month pay dispute with the ‘DfT 14’ - the 14 passenger operators controlled by the Department for Transport. ASLEF is not aware of what the talks will be about, or whether they will be “meaningful” or “talks about talks”. It said it has had no contact with the RDG, which represents the DfT 14, for more than a year. A short statement by the RDG said: “We want to see an end to this dispute, and in that spirit we have written to the ASLEF leadership to try and find areas of…

“We won’t back down,” RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch told the Scottish Government, after the union announced six days of 48-hour strikes by ScotRail conductors. The dispute is over the role of the guard on services along the Barrhead and East Kilbride routes. Some 116 RMT members based at Ayr, Dumfries, Glasgow Central and Stranraer will walk out on Saturday/Sundays on May 18/19, 25/26 and June 1/2. It follows a ballot with a 79% turnout, in which 97% voted for strikes. “The Scottish Government, which has overall responsibility for ScotRail, needs to wake up to the reality that our members want to be treated as valuable assets on the railway. They will not back down until a negotiated settlement is reached,” said Lynch. The dispute is over what the RMT…

More than half of the fleet of Class 170 Turbostar diesel multiple units could still be operating beyond 2040, a Department for Transport consultation has revealed. Of the 119 units in service, the consultation considers the 64 units (totalling 158 vehicles in two- and three-car formations) operated by CrossCountry and East Midlands Railways. Now due for their C6 ‘heavy maintenance’, refurbishment is being carried out at the same time. As this includes a new passenger information system (PIS), dispensation from the EU Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) Regulations is being sought by fleet owner Porterbrook. The dispensation is requested to be for the “remaining vehicle life, as these midlife upgrades are intended to be retained until the retirement of the fleet”. But the consultation says: “The current expectation is that…

Online rail retailer Trainline has passed £5 billion in ticket sales for the first time, benefiting from a recovery in rail travel in Britain and growth across Europe. It said sales for the year to February 29 were also helped by fewer rail strikes, which fell to 25 days from 30 in the previous 12 months. Ticket sales grew by 22%, driven mainly by £3.5bn in the UK. Trainline reported that the total British rail market recovered to an estimated £10.6bn in passenger revenues (£8.9bn the year before). It claims to be Europe’s most-downloaded rail app, selling tickets for services on all UK national rail companies and on National Express coaches. It employs almost 1,000 people at offices in London, Edinburgh and Paris. The company said there remained “considerable headroom…

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) wants London Underground to provide its staff with clear guidance and instructions to follow, in events such as the emergency evacuations of trains. Following its investigation of an incident at Clapham Common station on May 5 2023, RAIB has also reminded train operators of the importance of giving passengers good and timely information during incidents. In the incident, passengers evacuated themselves from a train stopped partially in Clapham Common’s platforms after one pulled the emergency alarm, after smoke entered a carriage with a smell of burning.…

A second exported HST set has entered traffic in Mexico, this time with 43007/320 still in their UK liveries. The former is in its retro original BR livery, and the latter in faded LNER colours. They are expected to be repainted soon. HSTs have yet to enter traffic in Nigeria, although the first sets are undergoing commissioning and 43008/184 have been prepared for use and repainted in a white livery. The number of HST vehicles to be exported to the two countries is still to be finalised with the clients. Simon Lowe, from Romic, which is facilitating the moves, told RAIL: “At this stage, all we can say is there will be further shipments, but exact quantities and details are still being discussed, and our clients have asked us not…

A pair of Class 153 single-car diesel multiple units worked at the Great Central Railway’s diesel gala on April 26-28, with ex-East Midlands Railways 153308 and ex-London Midland 153371 used for trips from Loughborough to Leicester North. They therefore became the first second-generation Sprinter units to be based at a heritage line to work in passenger service. They were acquired primarily as training units, but they will be used as and when required for the GCR’s services -mostly for special events. Of the 70 Class 153s converted from 35 two-car Class 155s in 1991-92, just 35 are left in traffic with train operating companies -five with ScotRail for providing extra capacity for bikes and large luggage on the West Highland lines, and 30 with Transport for Wales. Of the latter,…

BRITAIN’S first Class 66 fitted with European Train Control System (ETCS) technology is set to start dynamic testing at Network Rail’s Old Dalby track. DB Cargo 66039 has successfully completed static testing, after being fitted with ETCS at the Progress Rail depot in Doncaster and then being moved to NR’s Rail Innovation and Development Centre in Old Dalby. Here, the locomotive will undergo various tests over the coming weeks. The Class 66 is the most common freight locomotive on Britain’s tracks, and the plan is for many more of them to be upgraded with digital signalling. This will include Trainguard 200 on-board equipment that has been provided by Siemens Mobility. The fitting of ETCS to 66039 marks a step forward towards the rest of the ‘66’ fleet being equipped for…

“THE time for reviews is over. Labour will fix the problems at the root of the industry by fixing the broken model that causes them.” So starts the Labour Party’s manifesto for improving Britain’s railways if (as is widely predicted), it is victorious at the next General Election. But read beyond the bullet point summaries and it’s clear that further reviews will be needed - on fares reform, timetabling and integration with other modes of public transport, strategic direction, industrial relations - deep into the first term of a new Labour government. Has there ever been a time in the last 200 years when the structure and management of our railways wasn’t under interrogation? Nevertheless, six years on from 2018’s catastrophic timetable meltdowns, and three years since the publication of…

IT’S taken longer than getting a 100-year-old locomotive into steam, but at last the Labour Party has produced a document setting out its policy on rail. That in itself is something of a miracle. The government in waiting has produced very little by way of policies on any of the important matters that it might have to deal with at some point later this year, so to choose to issue a statement on rail suggests this will be a keynote policy in the forthcoming hustings. Forget (for the moment) the detail, which is fine but rather underwhelming. The media coverage of the announcement shows why the Labour leadership allowed this statement to be issued. The statement emphasises the fact that the railways are being renationalised, and this was widely picked…

Electrification of Phase 1 of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Euston, the West Midlands, Liverpool and Manchester formed part of the 1955 Modernisation Plan. Mismanagement of the project caused it to be “paused” in 1960, pending a review of the scheme, and dieselisation was proposed as a serious alternative. Fortunately for such a busy route, the long-term view that electrification offered the best option prevailed, and approval for its completion came in January 1961. With completion of the scheme in sight by 1965, thoughts turned to the northern section beyond the limit of the work at Weaver Junction, north of Crewe. This was still a Victorian railway, where the replacement of steam by diesel resulted in the line in Scotland having a blanket 75mph limit imposed because of…

Some final thoughts from the team at RAIL @RAIL Send contributions to: mike.wright@bauermedia.co.uk After hours in an airless room sifting through emails from frustrated RAIL readers, we can finally reveal the definitive top ten of ‘what gets your goat about rail travel and your fellow passengers’. Top of the pops is the catch-all subject of ‘rail fares and tickets’. “The replacement of card tickets by smartcards, key cards and the like, which may or may not have the existing break of journey arrangements - something which is essential if stopping off to visit a number of towns, churches or pubs, for example. And even if break of journey is allowed, will the ‘ticket’ time out?” vexes John Parkin. Other fares and ticketing frustration include: “the gradual introduction or barcoded flimsy…

The first section of the East Coast Main Line from London King’s Cross to lose its lineside signals in favour of cab signalling with be either Biggleswade-Fletton or the Hertford Loop. That’s according to Network Rail’s Ed Akers, who is leading its East Coast Digital Project (EDCP) to install European Train Control System (ETCS) technology between King’s Cross and Stoke Junction, just south of Grantham. He told RAIL that he expects to start removing signals in the second half of 2027, basing his prediction on it taking 24 months to train drivers from passenger and freight companies. The first section of the line to receive ETCS signalling runs from Welwyn to Hitchin, where Network Rail is checking installation work before dynamic testing starts for three months until August. Service trains…

Track replacement work will close parts of Manchester Metrolink this summer, as it continues to receive a £150 million package of improvements between now and 2027. The May Bank Holiday featured work to reinstate a damaged crossing near Victoria station, before attention turns to track work at London Road (June 22-July 9), Shudehill (July 24-August 7) and Piccadilly Gardens (August 4-19 and August 27-September 17). During this work, trams will be suspended, roads closed and buses diverted. Transport for Greater Manchester has also provisionally planned closures on June 20 and July 14 for work between Sale and Brooklands on the Altrincham line.…

Lumo’s green cartons To coincide with Earth Day (April 22) Lumo’s all-electric fleet of trains now offer cartons of water in a 100% recyclable carton, reducing the many thousands of plastic bottles produced each week. PC’s new headstone LNER has helped place a new headstone on the grave of Police Constable Robert France, who was killed in an air raid on York station on April 29 1942. Delays after OLE fails Trains were cancelled and delayed after overhead line equipment fell onto the West Coast Main Line at Coppull (between Wigan and Preston) on April 29.…

The second of three planned blocks of strike action by Unite union members on London Trams resulted in extensive disruption between Sunday and Thursday May 5-9. The first planned action on March 24-28 had been cancelled to allow for talks with Transport for London (TfL). A third strike is planned for 2000-0600 on Thursday-Monday July 11-15. May’s action meant no services before 0700 or after 1800 on the London Trams network. Between 0700 and 1800, trams only ran between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner and between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction/New Addington. There was no service through Croydon town centre or to/from Elmers End all day. On May 9 (after this issue of RAIL went to press), services were set to start later than normal, with disruption expected throughout the day,…

HOW do we retain and build on learnings from the innovative engineering involved in the construction of High Speed 2? That will be one of many topics debated in the new engineering theatre being introduced for the first time at Rail Live 2024. HS2 Phase One Engineering Director Giles Thomas will take to the stage to consider lessons from the project to create the UK’s first inter-city main line in over a century. Chaired by engineer and RAIL contributor Gareth Dennis and sponsored by Pandrol, the engineering theatre will additionally consider key subjects as diverse as creating resilience against climate change, unlocking freight’s potential, real-world uses of Artificial Intelligence, and digital signalling. With future recruitment to the railway of increasing concern, this year’s Rail Live will also include a focus…

South Western Railway is warning passengers of significant changes to its Portsmouth-London and Southampton-Portsmouth services from June 2. The operator has to re-time most services to accommodate neighbouring Southern Railway’s already-announced changes to West Coastway services between Portsmouth and Brighton, which will bring additional trains along the South Coast but remove some direct trains to London Victoria. Services between Portsmouth and Waterloo via Guildford will change six days a week. Weekday fast services from Portsmouth Harbour will depart at 15 minutes past the hour. Stopping services will depart at 33 minutes past the hour. On Saturdays, fast trains leave at 15 and 45 minutes in each hour, with a stopping service at 37 minutes. SWR says the changes will allow more time for customers to make connections to Isle of…

FREIGHTLINER has secured Class 90s, 90018/040, from a DB Cargo tender list that was issued last September, thereby boosting its fleet to 25 locomotives (half of the original fleet). However, the other ten locomotives on the tender list have been sold for scrap. On April 26, 90018/040, shorn of their nameplates and the latter now sporting Freightliner logos on its DB Red livery, were collected from Crewe IEMD by 66504/505 and taken to Basford Hall for repairs to return them to traffic. These two Class 90s were the only ‘complete’ locomotives on the 12-strong tender list, having been withdrawn in August 2019 and May 2020 respectively. Of the other ten ‘90s’ on the list, 90025/031 have been acquired by European Metal Recycling, while 90017/022/023/027/030/032/033/038 have been sold to Sandbach Commercials…

The Severn Valley Railway’s May 16-19 four-day diesel gala could have up to 27 locomotives, both heritage and modern, in operation. The 11 locomotives which are either long-term guests or established as part of the home fleet - Class 14 D9551, Class 17 D8568, 20048, 33108, 37263, 40106, Class 46 D182, 50007 Hercules, 50035 Ark Royal, D1015 Western Champion and D1062 Western Courier - will be joined by (subject to availability) 16 locomotives from main line operators. The current expected additional attendees are four Class 20s from Michael Owen (20007/142/189/205), plus 37409 Loch Awe from Locomotive Services Ltd, 43301/303 and a locomotive from Colas Rail, two Class 43s from Rail Adventure, a Class 59 and a ‘70’ from Freightliner, 69009 Western Consort and 73119 Paul Taylor from GB Railfreight, a…

Staff working for Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC) have restored 20066 to its mid-1970s BR blue look, with larger cabside badges, as well as returning its vacuum brakes to use. The locomotive has been owned by HNRC since November 2004. It was purchased from Direct Rail Services, which had never actually used the vehicle. It was resurrected and used for hire at Scunthorpe Steelworks with Corus from 2007. It was outshopped in Corus bright yellow, before being painted in Tata blue in 2010. The contract for HNRC to provide Class 20s to the steelworks ended in 2016, and 20066 returned to Barrow Hill. It will debut in its retro look at the East Lancashire Railway diesel gala on June 27-29.…

GB Railfreight named 66308 Signalman Willie Taylor at Carlisle on May 1. Signalman Taylor was responsible for averting a potential disaster at the station 40 years to the day on May 1 1984, when his quick thinking diverted a runway train at 0530 just as passengers were boarding a London-bound passenger service. The rear ten vehicles of the 2310 Garston-Glasgow Freightliner (April 30) had become detached at Southwaite (two miles south of Carlisle) and derailed in Carlisle. Taylor was working in Carlisle Power Box and noticed what appeared to be two trains in the section. In reality it was the one train, but split -the locomotive and five vehicles, followed by the rear ten loose vehicles. With only minutes to make a decision, he switched the runaways onto the Carlisle…

Contributions for by far the UK’s most published column by the same author - now in its 43rd year -are most welcome from all sources. Personal observations, society magazines, website printouts and live links, transport group newsletters and media cuttings (with dates, please) are sought to maintain topicality. Please email your contributions direct to hj@howardjohnston.co.uk, or rail@bauermedia.co.uk WESTERN Bourne End: Railfuture is calling for low-cost pointwork improvements at the terminus, to enable Maidenhead-Marlow services to run every hour. Bristol: West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris, who leads the West of England Combined Authority, has ordered a study into electrifying the five miles from Parkway station to Temple Meads, which was cancelled in 2016 on cost grounds. This would allow more efficient services to run to both Cardiff and London.…

On December 7 2023, passengers on Elizabeth line, Great Western Railway and Heathrow Express trains were stranded for hours after damage to overhead power lines. The Great Western Main Line had no power and no communication. Hundreds of passengers had to be walked along the tracks to reach stations (RAIL 999). It was a very bad day for the railway. Could it happen again? “No,” says Network Rail’s Martin Frobisher. “We’ve done lots of analysis.” Frobisher, Network Rail’s safety and engineering director, believes the problems are specific to that route. But that indicates that the infrastructure management is not consistent across regions. And Frobisher concedes that other parts of the network face even greater challenges. “I started by asking whether we have a problem with the reliability of the overhead…

THERE has long been a tension in Britain’s rail model between the needs of the public and private sectors. It was obvious from the start as Prime Minister John Major privatised British Rail in the 1990s, despite his best attempts to push the railway to be as private as possible. His government sold the tracks and infrastructure of Railtrack to private investors, and the company traded shares on the stock market. Sold too was BR’s passenger rolling stock, to investors behind Angel Trains, Porterbrook and Eversholt - which are still major players today, competing between themselves and others to finance new rolling stock. The proceeds of selling nationalised freight operators also rang money through HM Treasury’s till, with Freightliner and English, Welsh and Scottish Railways (now DB Cargo) emerging to…

Opinion Industry Insider OPINION polls continue to suggest that the current government will be replaced by a Labour administration after a General Election that has to take place before early 2025, although actual results have brought surprises in the past. Labour has now offered clarity about its proposed nationalisation of the railway industry, contained in a recently published policy document - Getting Britain Moving: Labour’s Plan to Fix Britain’s Railways. Early legislation is planned, to establish legal powers necessary for Great British Railways to fulfil its role in the direct operation of train services that are currently provided by private sector operators and the Department for Transport’s Operator of Last Resort. The plan has no comparison with past railway nationalisation and the all-embracing state control that resulted after the…