Ramifications of "Brexit" for railways

David Benton wrote:I think the loss to London will be bigger than anyalysts are making out, its role as the English speaking worlds gateway to Europe will diminish. Channel tunnel traffic must suffer as a result .
speaking of Mother England, It never really translated to us buying most of our Railway engines and rolling stock from England, more came from the USA, even in the early days.

The vote in London was in favour of"remain" by a large margin.

David Benton wrote:I
speaking of Mother England, It never really translated to us buying most of our Railway engines and rolling stock from England, more came from the USA

The state owned railroad thar I work for gets it lovely Alp45dps direct from Chermany! Ach der Lieber! (Apologies to our German speaking friends.)

It may be the indirect result of Ms. May replacing Mr. Cameron will have the real effect. What are her thoughts on railway policy?

From a Daily Telegraph article on what Mrs May thinks;
"On transport

16 Dec 2003 when shadow secretary of state for transport:

“Far from setting a clear way forward for air transport in the UK, today’s announcement [of expansion] is a fudge from an incompetent Government, which will deliver only blight to millions of people living around airports across the country. Indeed, anyone living around any of the airports in the south-east is now faced with indefinite uncertainty... We need railways before runways.” "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07 ... ches-over/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
However, I don't think a prime minister has as much "say" as a president, she must convince her caucus, or be convinced by them.On the plus side, normally a prime minister is not voted down by the opposition, so once she takes her party with her, the bill will go through.
I would also caution that it is alot easier to say things when in opposition( with no hope of voting it through ), than it is once in power.
All said though, that is quite a promising statement coming from a conserative politican .

Actually I think she will have real effect. She is well known to be very effective. She has sacked several ministers. She has appointed a number of Brexit people to the European negotiations. It is not at all clear what she requires them to do. It is at least possible that she intends them to fail and make them take the blame. She is not to be underestimated.

Potential jobs fallout; somehow connected to Brexit?

The Times (UK)

Rail franchise delay puts Derby jobs on line

The train maker Bombardier could be forced to cut hundreds of jobs if Britain’s vote to quit the EU derails the award of rail franchises.

Fears are growing that an imminent contract to run the Greater Anglia route between London and Norwich could be delayed as bidders face the prospect of far lower profits from the route — potentially triggering a domino effect on an already congested rail franchise timetable.

That is believed to have stoked fears at Bombardier, which hopes to win work for the 2,000 staff at its Derby factory. Derbyshire voted 59.1% in favour of Brexit....

The rest is behind a registration or pay wall.

"That is believed to have stoked fears at Bombardier, which hopes to win work for the 2,000 staff at its Derby factory."

I think this would be the former BREL( British Rail engineering Ltd)factory, British Rail's main design and Manufactering facility. The Apt, Hst225, MK3 , and I think MK4(Canada's Renaisance equipment), originated here.

Well, the above is mere speculation; the below is fact. Not all is doom and gloom. Sam

CAF confirms UK assembly plant

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/b...bly-plant.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

15 Jul 2016

UK: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF confirmed to Railway Gazette on July 14 that it is preparing to open a UK assembly plant to support the contracts it has won in recent months.

The company says it intends to establish facilities ‘to carry out rolling stock assembly and testing, as well as maintenance’. These will be supported by a new headquarters ‘at a strategic point on the Northern network’. CAF Rail UK currently has a base in Coventry, and has started recruiting technical and management personnel; it expects to announce details of the new facilities ‘in the coming months’.

Last year CAF signed a €200m contract to supply 75 coaches for Caledonian Sleeper services between London and Scotland, which are due for delivery in 2018. In January, the company signed a €740m deal with Eversholt Rail Group and Arriva Rail North to supply 43 Civity EMUs and 55 DMUs for the Northern franchise. This was followed in May by contracts from Eversholt and Beacon Rail to supply 12 EMUs and 66 push-pull coaches for FirstGroup’s TransPennine Express franchise.

The TPE deal includes a separate €310m agreement under which CAF will provide technical support and spare parts management until 2023. To this end, the company committed to establishing a dedicated Spares Supply & Management Logistics Centre to support train maintenance and servicing in various locations.

While the assembly plant is initially intended to deliver existing contracts, CAF says it is looking to win further orders to sustain the business in the longer term. The company was shortlisted in January for a contract to supply around 50 EMUs for the Merseyrail network in Liverpool, for which a preferred bidder is expected to be announced towards the end of this year.

CAF has been active in the UK market since the 1990s, when it built EMUs for Heathrow Express and West Yorkshire. In 2002 and 2008 it supplied DMUs for Translink in Northern Ireland under contracts which include 15 years of maintenance support. It has also built trams for Edinburgh and Birmingham, and currently has a workforce of around 200 employees across the country.

I believe Hitachi is working on a large current order as well.
However, expectations of any large new orders over the next couple of years must be pretty low.
CAF may get a bonus alteration of installing customs facilities on those Caledonian Sleeper services if thinks really go to custard between England and Scotland !

David Benton wrote:I believe Hitachi is working on a large current order as well.
However, expectations of any large new orders over the next couple of years must be pretty low.
CAF may get a bonus alteration of installing customs facilities on those Caledonian Sleeper services if thinks really go to custard between England and Scotland !

I think the future is very uncertain. I think the chances of customs for the Scottish border are unlikely. The new prime minister has gone up to Edinburgh today to find out what Nicola really wants. The idea of an EU border at Carlisle seems so ridiculous. But if Scotland did become independent and then applied to join the EU they would probably be required to adopt the euro currency.

It's not even certain that Britain will actually leave the EU. In any case negotiations to do so could go on for years. It certainly won't happen soon.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a general election called over the issue. If enough Tory MPs are against Brexit measures, a vote of no confidence in the govt may get pushed through .
I guess we are talking politics , but I think it is justified to show how the parliamentary system works , and the effects of railways are by no means certain at this stage.

It is hard to say what the real opinions of the new Prime Minister are. I suspect she is in favour of remaining but is aware that many of her MPs are in favour of leaving. The situation is much more fluid than many people seem to think. The popular vote for remaining was very high - 48% - and would make a quick departure unpopular. I think a non-party vote in Parliament would be in favour of remain, as many Labour members are Remainers. If she could get the SNP members to vote, with enough Labour MPs I can imagine a vote in favour of Remain. This is a situation that could go on for months or even years. She has already declared that negotiations will not begin this year.

Brexit 'could affect London transport'

Rail projects likely to lose staff and investment following Brexit – Balfour Beatty

It is still much too soon to know what effects on the rail industry will be.

Of course. But it's interesting that I have not yet seen any speculative article headlined "Railways will thrive and expand due to Brexit". It seems at best it will be business as usual, at worst there will be new challenges due to Brexit.