'THE GOVERNMENT'S ABSOLUTELY AWARE ... - Rail Professional

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INTERVIEW THE RAIL PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW TOM HARRIS PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT Government decisions in 2007 could shape the railways for years to come. Can Tom Harris wield true influence over the Treasury to keep the railways high up the political agenda? The rail minister speaks to Paul Coleman PHOTOGRAPHS BY SIMON WEIR As long as the painting of a Glasgow Subway Clockwork Orange train remains on his office wall, Tom Harris knows his tenure as rail minister is safe. The garish framed image, of a train being lowered onto tracks at Govan, was lent to him by Malcolm Reed for as long as Harris remains rail minister. Reed, now Transport Scotland’s chief executive, was Harris’ former boss at the now defunct Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive. Harris, 43, quit his job as SPTE’s chief spin-doctor to win the Cathcart seat for Labour in the June 2001 general election. In his maiden speech in the House of Commons, Harris wryly quoted George Bernard Shaw who once said: ‘He knows nothing and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.’ ‘I was cock-a-hoop,’ Harris recalls when Tony Blair phoned him last September to offer him the ministerial job. ‘No other job is as interesting in terms of its remit,’ says Harris, as his afternoon is split between a meeting with Douglas Alexander and an imminent three-line whip Commons vote. Harris’ ascent from New Labour’s backbenches comes as passengers and some train companies are crying out for the Government to fund major investment in extra capacity to cut overcrowding and cope with projected increases in demand. The next six months will reveal whether Harris has exercised any real influence over Gordon Brown and the Treasury or whether prudence has tied his hands. Can we afford not to build Crossrail and Thameslink? ‘The Government’s absolutely aware of the capacity and economic benefits of Crossrail,’ says Harris. ‘These arguments about the capacity and economic benefits of Crossrail have been strongly made to the Treasury so I am optimistic about the Comprehensive Spending Review.’ Harris is similarly confident that the Treasury, the DfT, Network <strong>Rail</strong> and the ORR are constructively toiling over this year’s High Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available. ‘It’ll be about what Eddington referred to as lowhanging fruit about capacity enhancements,’ says Harris. ‘We’re not going to solve capacity problems everywhere but it’s a really exciting departure for the industry and for the government. ‘We plan for there to be 1,000 extra carriages on the network – an increase of 10 per cent. This investment programme will run through to 2014, but we will start bringing in the first of the new trains as soon as possible. Indeed, we're already talking to the manufacturers.’ Harris was asking <strong>Rail</strong> Group officials to spell out industry acronyms when he first got his feet under his Marsham Street desk. ‘On my first day, I had to say, “hold on, HLOS isn’t a real word”. Within a couple of weeks, the deputy speaker called me to order, asking me to spell acronyms out. Departmentalitis set in much more quickly than expected. ‘I really do love this job,’ emphasises Irvine-born Harris, 14 RAIL PROFESSIONAL : APRIL 2007
‘On my first day, I had to say,“hold on, HLOS isn’t a real word”.Within a couple of weeks, the deputy speaker called me to order, asking me to spell acronyms out. Departmentalitis set in much more quickly than expected’
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'THE GOVERNMENT'S ABSOLUTELY AWARE ... - Rail Professional

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