March 2009
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Archive for March 2009

The train now standing…

31/03/2009 by admin.

I went today to York to interview two new directors of Northern Rail…and discovered a major flaw in their stupid new Calder Valley timetable which sends trains speeding through Littleborough where they have just put upa sign saying “Alight here for Hollingworth Lake and the Rochdale Canal”.

One train in three now doesn’t stop at Littleborough, a station which does not appear on the timetables at York or Leeds. So I jumped on a train at Leeds and only knew it wasn’t going to stop at my station until it had set off!!!

Posted in Transport | Print | 3 Comments »

Diesel prices up????

27/03/2009 by admin.

“Here we go again” says RHA

Diesel prices are going up again, the government is making matters worse and it should scrap the diesel duty increase planned for April 1st – or at the very least rebate the increase to haulage businesses.

That is the message from the Road Haulage Association, whose weekly fuel price survey (out at noon today) shows that the national average diesel price paid by hauliers rose by 2.88 pence a litre this week. The new price is 82.45 pence (ex VAT).

The Chancellor will add 1.84 pence to that on April 1, after adding 2 pence last December. Together, these two fuel duty increases add more than £2,000 to the cost of running a typical articulated lorry.

“This latest increase will take the duty rate to 54.10 pence a litre – or £2.46 a gallon,” which is by far the highest diesel duty level in the EU,” said RHA Chief Executive Roger King.

“There is little the government can do about diesel prices, certainly in the short term. But its policy of ever-increasing duty rates on road hauliers will be felt, not only by transport firms and their customers but by everyone in Britain through the prices they pay in the shops”.

Posted in Transport | Print | 1 Comment »

26/03/2009 by admin.

BVRLA to fight on for VOSA victims

Enforcement agency ignores the worst recession in 50 years to hit the road transport industry with an inflation-busting test fee increase

The BVRLA will continue to fight VOSA’s (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) plans to introduce a crippling 9% increase in the annual goods and passenger vehicle test fee.

The association is writing to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, pointing out the discrepancy between VOSA’s fee increase and his pledge to try and reduce the impact of regulation on business costs.

VOSA has ignored the unanimous and robust industry opposition to these proposals. This fee increase will earn it an extra £4.3 million this year, and the government agency has indicated that further above-inflation fee rises will be necessary to pay for its failure to cover its costs in past years.

“These increases will place a serious financial burden on an already ailing sector and will contribute to some operators going bust,” said BVRLA chief executive John Lewis.

“Remember that these businesses are vital customers for the UK automotive industry Lord Mandelson is so keen to preserve.”

VOSA also wants to raise an extra £5.3 million a year by merging the annual O licence vehicle fee with the annual test fee, bringing thousands more vehicles into scope.

This merged fee would put a completely unjustified burden on the rental and leasing industry and many other vehicle owners who would essentially be paying for enforcement costs despite not being subject to O licence requirements. This runs contrary to the “user pays” principle trumpeted by central government.

The merger of test fees will see the sector’s annual bill rise by £3.2 million in 2009 and £7 million in 2010.

“VOSA expects our members to act as third-party tax collectors, and to recover these costs from their customers in the form of increased hire or lease charges. But this will be next to impossible in a fiercely competitive business environment,” said John Lewis.

‘Transformation’ in testing provision

According to reports, VOSA also plans to have 85% of all annual vehicle tests conducted at private sector sites (Authorised Testing Facilities or ATFs) by 2013. The BVRLA will be closely monitoring the scheme to ensure that it is delivered on time and with the desired cost benefits.

“VOSA claims the introduction of ATFs will produce a ‘transformation in testing provision’ that will reduce costs for operators,” said John Lewis.

“However, with its poor track-record for managing its infrastructure and reducing costs, we would suggest that its goals are more of an aspiration than a concrete target.”

BVRLA (British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association)’s site entry on headlineauto

More power to their elbow…the BVLA, that is.

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Lakeland wanders (2)

24/03/2009 by admin.

This image should be of daffodils by the side of a minor road leading to Staveley. We beat the rain today, setting off early from the door and walking along the Dales Way to Burneside before striking off uphill towards Longsleddale and then taking the narrow lane back to Staveley for lunch at the Eagle and Child. About 10 miles and back indoors before the rain!!!

A connoiseur’s walk.

Posted in Outdoors | Print | No Comments »

Back in the Lakes

22/03/2009 by admin.

What you should see here is a picture of a 1900 road sign between Kendal and Brigsteer in the English Lake District. I took it on my phone during a pretty special walk across Scout Scar to Sizergh Castle and back. Sadly, the technology to get it into this blog is a bit lacking. Any help would be appreciated.

Great walk!!!

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Leaves off the Line

20/03/2009 by admin.

Taking a slow train into Manchester Victoria today, the activities of Network Rail’s tree fellers was laid bare…with a vengeance. They have spared no trackside vegetation for miles in North Manchester in their battle against that nasty slippy leaf mulch which causes so much trouble every Autumn.

For all our sakes, however, they should urgently employ some litter pickers to follow the flails….

….because the new bare land now displays tonnes of rubbish fly-tipped there by the locals.

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Taking pictures at railway stations

19/03/2009 by admin.

The current tiff between Virgin and the train spotter who was taking a video of a train at Macclesfield station without permission reminds me of a frustrating incident back in the early days of Railtrack.

I spotted a sign on a lift shaft at Manchester Piccadilly advertising it as a “retail opportunity”. Excited, I asked the picture desk to send a photographer…who promptly asked permission and guess what?

Well, of course, Railtrack promptly took the notice down!

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Rochdale

18/03/2009 by admin.

So my home town centre is on its knees. Can we blame the council?

When I first started this business, I wondered if Rochdale would hire my services to promote its tourism…surely the most underused asset this birthplace of the Co-op has.

I had visions of an Ironbridge of the Pennines, combining history with beautiful, if rugged, countryside. Then I went to a meeting to hear a councillor proudly proclaim that the authority now had an annual tourism budget of £10,000!

Add to that some of the craziest traffic schemes in Greater Manchester and a force of parking wardens the third reich would have been proud of …and is it any surprise we are in trouble?

Posted in Business | Print | No Comments »