Rail Regulator attacks political interference
The outgoing Rail Regulator has sharply criticised politicians for “unwarranted interference” in the railways.
Tom Winsor’s five-year term as Rail Regulator comes to an end in June, and he will not be involved in the new Office of Rail Regulation which will take over in July.
Speaking on Tuesday to the Rail Freight Group’s annual conference, Mr Winsor said “alarming” interference from Government – such as attempts to control the response to the Hatfield rail disaster – had been part of the “considerable turbulence” of the past five years.
This he said had contributed to a lack of clarity over who was running the rail industry.
“Unwarranted interference from ministers has always been harmful,” he said.
Attacking earlier comments from the Labour Party’s transport spokesman in the Lords, Lord Davies of Oldham, who said politicians had the ultimate authority over the railways, Mr Winsor said politicians were guilty of making “misleading and unnecessary” comments when they implied they could overrule the Rail Regulator’s decisions.
Ministers he argued needed to plan five to ten years in advance and stick the decisions he said, adding that there was a statutory obligation on the Secretary of State to “make his mind up”.
Mr Winsor was however upbeat about the overall health of the railways, saying that recent reforms have focussed the industry’s attention on the customer.
He praised Railtrack’s successor, Network Rail, for its reform efforts. “We are seeing really strong improvements in a number of key areas,” he said.
On the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), Mr Winsor said its statutory remit had been clear, but its behaviour had created “considerable uncertainty”.
This uncertainty had been added to by politicians’ assertions of the SRA’s “omnicompetence” he claimed.
The last few month’s of Mr Winsor’s tenure have been marked by run ins with Ministers.
Last month there was a widely publicised spat with Transport Minister Kim Howell who described as “insane” a system where the Rail Regulator rather than the Government could decide how much was spent on the railways.
In an interview with the Financial Times Mt Howell said the £22.3bn boast for Network Rail announced by Mr Winsor caused the Transport Department “enormous difficulties.”
Mr Howell further hinted that the Government would be looking to curb Mr Winsor’s powers.
Mr Winsor hit back publicly at the comments, telling the BBC that spending was a decision for the government “If it has the political courage to make them”.
“It is for the regulator to translate those decisions into the kind of network we need to have” he argued.
