‘Guiding mind’

Sunday Telegraph report claims Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines is being primed to be railway‘s ‘Guiding Mind’.

Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines is being primed to lead a ‘Guiding Mind’-style body as part of the reorganisation of the railway, according to a letter leaked to The Sunday Telegraph.

Creating such a body would follow calls made by RAIL

Managing Editor and Events Director Nigel Harris, in recent editions of Comment, for an ‘armslength body’.

According to the newspaper, Haines has been asked by Government to begin reviewing routes as if he was already in the new position, rather than his current NR role.

By appointing Haines (and Network Rail) to such a role, it’s hoped that this will reduce Government interference in the railway.

As recently as November 4, Public Accounts Committee Chairman Meg Hillier wrote to Department for Transport Permanent Secretary Bernadette Kelly expressing concern that the pressures on the DfT are affecting its ability to deliver.

Hillier wrote: “We [PAC] are very aware that the Department had a large and challenging portfolio before the pandemic, including delivering of major programmes such as HS2, the future of rail, and preparation for the end of the EU exit transition period.

“We are acutely aware that COVID has significantly intensified these pressures and brought many additional challenges.

“We are concerned about the impact these pressures are having on the Department’s ability to deliver, particularly given that major pieces of work such as the Williams Review, the Decarbonisation Plan and the Aviation Recovery Strategy are either yet to publish or have been delayed. At the same time, the Department is also increasingly becoming involved in local transport issues and providing support for local transport bodies.

“We encourage the Department to be realistic about what can be achieved with its current resources and what it needs to meet these new challenges.”

In RAIL 914’s Comment (published on September 23), Nigel Harris wrote: “It’s time for Treasury to accept that the railway is a system and needs to be managed as such. So, make a rebooted NR responsible - and accountable - for tracks and trains, and require it to draw up a unified, balanced plan that works for all and where any pain is also shared by all. And if NR fails to perform, fire the men and women in charge.”

The Sunday Telegraph also reports that DfT has asked Haines to analyse “the East Ccoast network that was most recently run by Virgin and Stagecoach”.