David Leeder

Managing Partner of consultancy Transport Investment Limited (TIL). previously director of FirstGroup plc, National Express Group plc, West Midlands Travel

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

Forget “Ulysses”: I still think that this is his best book.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@Captain_Deltic @amotorhomme @Modern_Railways But ORR/DfT appear unable to stop the cash spending except by the brutal act of stopping / curtailing schemes as unit costs inflate.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@amotorhomme @Captain_Deltic incentive.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@amotorhomme @Captain_Deltic Not a topic for tweets. Would need an article in MR to skim the surface. But there must be be a change in inventive structure, and more risk capital IMHO.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@Captain_Deltic @amotorhomme Indeed. They have the RAB left over from Railtrack, which is an incentive to deploy more capital, and de facto deficit financing since Prescott which is free money. And an ORR near zero risk target that incentivises almost any safety-related opex and capex.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@amotorhomme @Captain_Deltic But there have been 3 official reviews into costs since 2010, all have which have been kicked into the long grass by industry resistance.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@jerryalderson @Captain_Deltic Fully agree. And the franchising system created an incentive to avoid confrontation with unions and passengers over cost issues that could be deferred into the next franchise period. As for NR, it has in practice been deficit financed for 20 years.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@Captain_Deltic I’m glad that someone is !

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@Captain_Deltic @r4Today The question for Burnham etc ought to be “are you prepared to raise any local taxes, or cut back other spending in the NW, to make-up some of the cost overruns ?”

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@Captain_Deltic @r4Today This would be consistent with a pattern of recent civil service leaks, which then lead to precisely these kinds of journalistic pile-ons “Minister, will you deny the rumours etc etc”.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@Captain_Deltic @r4Today Presumably people with a vested interest in continuing the project (of whom there are many) have leaked the review to embarrass the Gov and bounce them into a statement that it will be continued. So we are now in the period of disorganisation

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@WFHWORLD @CeltTurtle @JohnOBrennan2 @IrishRail QMV means that every member doesn’t sign up - it means that a weighted majority of votes by population and number of countries get to decide. No vetoes under QMV, I’m afraid.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@CeltTurtle @WFHWORLD @JohnOBrennan2 @IrishRail for national voters

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@CeltTurtle @WFHWORLD @JohnOBrennan2 @IrishRail I’m not really offering an opinion on that. I personally favour more competition and outsourcing. But I think this should be a matter not national voters. I don’t think that this should be decided by remote committees of technocrats with no democratic override.

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@Call_Me_Angus @CeltTurtle @JohnOBrennan2 @IrishRail This is correct. And similarly in France SNCF owns the infra again. But there is plenty of open access freight in both countries and pax and tendered regional in Germany (who are closer to following the rules).

[David Leeder @DavidLeeder2]

@dsquareddigest @JohnOBrennan2 @DenisMacShane @Peston Im sure that Peston hasn’t read any of the EU law in this area either. But he will support the concept of it without bothering to check what it is. Or how it was made.