(Copying over my rant from the previously locked thread - here goes) :
I disagree with a lot of what Lord Adonis says nowadays, but I'd give my left kidney to have him back in the post. At least he actually understood what trains do. Now we've got a man who ignores every consultation and warning that comes to him and pushes ahead with:
- unwanted service route changes including a number of direct London services being cut and other services curtailed or split
- over-engineered and therefore over-budget electrification
- the subsequent cancellation of other much-needed electrification projects
- disastrous timetable changes forced through by the DfT without the slightest consideration of TOC and public concern raised in consultation
- a forced move towards bi-mode rolling stock to gloss over the chronic under-investment in electrification.
- a multi-billion pound cash pit in HS2 which, whether you agree with it or not, has not even begun construction yet despite sucking investment from the rest of the rail budget, a trend which will continue for at least another decade (disclaimer - I actually agree with it's construction, I just think it's disingenuous to claim it's not having an effect on the DfT's spending elsewhere while other much-needed network upgrades are being curtailed or cancelled left right and centre)
- The blind ignorance and failure to acknowledge the Government's complicity in the latest East Coast franchise fiasco.
I'm only in my twenties so I don't have that much to work with in living memory, but there's no contest - Grayling is a joke of a Transport Secretary - not just for rail but roads as well, and comfortably the worst I remember. A few shiny bypasses do not gloss over the complete lack of joined-up thinking and the DfT's abandonment of duty in rolling out the Major Road Network (MRN) then leaving local authorities to clear up the mess and work it out themselves. Hearing him brag about that in particular at the conference and take credit for the MRN's quote-unquote "progress" left a very sour taste in my mouth, because the DfT if anything have hindered the chances of it being a success through - you guessed it - regular dismissal of recommendations and consultation concerns, in doing so defeating the point of creating the joined-up, consistent network they claim to want.
He needs to go and never infect a post of government office again. The man is a tool, and by all accounts (including from those I know in my organisation who work with and regularly meet him) repeatedly ignores the advice of stakeholders, partners and third parties.
