Railway ownership structure "a mess"

Britain's railway franchises have been branded "a mess" by a group of MPs, who called for major reforms including the nationalisation of the troubled East Coast mainline. Skip related content

The government's cross-party Transport Select Committee said in a report on Monday that the current ownership structure allowed rail operators to walk away when times were bad and levy large fare hikes on passengers.

It called for the East Coast, set to be taken off the hands of current operator National Express later this year after the company complained of heavy losses, to be kept under state ownership and used to compare against the performances of private companies.

"Rail franchising remains a mess where private operators can abandon their obligations when times get tough. The time has come for fundamental reform," the report said.

Referring to the National Express fiasco, it added: "Many more franchises may be struggling to meet their financial obligations, without our knowledge. More failures in the franchise system will cost a lot of public money."

It echoed the views of Transport Minister Andrew Adonis, who has said National Express should be stripped of its two other franchises. The company has lost its chief executive and become a takeover target since the problems with East Coast emerged.

Britain's railways were privatised in the mid-1990s and are now run by several operators, most notably FirstGroup, Stagecoach, Go-Ahead, Arriva, Virgin Trains as well as National Express.

The latter is the third operator to lose or be stripped of a rail franchise in the past six years, following France's Connex in 2003 and GNER -- also on the East Coast line between London and Edinburgh -- in 2007.

The report said franchises should be let on a longer term basis to encourage investment rather than short-term cost cutting. It also called for an overhaul of the pricing allowances, which it said was too complex and costly.

"The fare rises we saw this year were excessive," Committee Chairman Louise Ellman said in a statement.

Trade unions welcomed the report.

"This report exposes the chaos of the franchise system on our railways and the risk of more companies going bust in a mirror of the National Express fiasco on the East Coast route," RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said in a statement.

CSX Transportation Employee Wins Association of American Railroads’ John H. Chafee Award

Mike O’Malley is CSXT’s Sixth Winner of the Industry’s Top Environmental Honor

Jacksonville, Fla. – April 21, 2009 – Mike O’Malley, assistant chief engineer of facilities for CSX Transportation, has been named this year’s winner of the John H. Chafee Environmental Award, which was presented today by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). The sixth CSXT employee to receive the industry’s top environmental award, O’Malley was selected for his leadership on green policies.

“Mike has been instrumental to the success of a number of industry-leading environmental issues," said Ed Hamberger, President and CEO of the Association of American Railroads. “Because of his leadership, we are pleased to recognize him today.”

Highlights of O’Malley’s nomination include energy efficient improvements that have lowered CSXT’s carbon footprint and resulted in over $9.3 million in net energy cost savings over the past 5 years. O’Malley has introduced facility consolidations that limit the number of buildings needed to operate successfully while also improving operation efficiency, incorporated solar-powered water heaters and marine navigational lighting which ensure the safety of operations while eliminating green house gas emissions from traditional power generation operations, and improved recycling practices that recover materials that would have previously been sent to a landfill.

The AAR’s John H. Chafee Environmental Award recognizes an individual railroad employee who has demonstrated outstanding environmental performance in the area of environmental awareness and responsibility.

“We are thrilled that the Association of American Railroads has recognized Mike O’Malley for his contributions to the industry and the environment,” said Carl Gerhardstein, director of environmental systems, CSXT. “This award demonstrates both Mike’s initiative and the dedication of CSXT overall to finding and implementing environmentally sound practices across our network.”

Over the past nine years, six CSX employees have been awarded the John H. Chafee Environmental Award for their achievements:
-- Donald L. Robey was recognized for his work designing, piloting and implementing a horsepower reduction program that reduces fuel consumption and locomotive emissions.
-- Russell V. Glidden was honored for his management of a wastewater treatment facility that allowed for a storm water pond to be turned into a wildlife sanctuary.
-- Robert D. Toms was recognized for his dedication to the CSXT Hazmat Sentinel Program and environmental emergency training for local first-response teams.
-- Ted Stewart was acknowledged for his role on the team that designed and implemented the Auxiliary Power Unit, a device that conserves fuel and reduces emissions.
-- Mike Bethge was recognized for his work developing hazardous materials planning and response practices.

CSX Transportation Inc. is a principal operating company of CSX Corporation. CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., is one of the leading transportation companies, providing rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services. The company's transportation network spans 21,000 miles with service to 23 eastern states and the District of Columbia, and connects to more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports. More information about CSX Corporation and its subsidiaries is available at the company's web site, www.csx.com.