"RMT revealed that Deutsche Bahn have instructed that the Bombardier bogies be used on their ICX fleet of high speed trains, due to them being reliable, compliant, and having more than a billion miles of operation to date on the clock. The Bombardier B5000 is currently used on East Midland's Trains Meridians, Virgin's Voyagers and Super Voyagers, and Southern's Turbostar's. These companies have commended the quality of the Bombardier engineering. The Bombardier bogies took 10 years to develop and construct and are now seen as the world’s leading bogie frame and has proven reliability as opposed to the undeveloped and untested Siemens bogie."On this basis a contract was awarded to a foreign production company, over a British one.......? Oh, the benefits of EU legislation.......!
As the RMT is not flavour of the month with the Labour party, local Labour MPs and comrades may not have been fully informed yet.
Just thought this 'snippet' of news may be of interest.........
7 comments:
Keep your eye on this space.
The hugely arrogant and overpaid Bob Crowe is never going to be hugely popular - but his anti-EU credentials are impeccable.
I only want to be free of the EU and I don't care who takes us out - Conservative, Labour, or the Monster Raving Loony Party.
The Bombardier/Siemens issue is now the tip of a very broad arrow.
At last the general population are beginning to wonder what's in it for us.
As JH suggests - this one's going to run.
Thanks to you WfW and Mr Spalton for bringing this to our notice.
The possibility that 'incentives' may have been part of the award of this contract can't be ruled out. Siemens have a bit of previous.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/16/regulation-siemens-scandal-bribery
It seems a more likely explanation of the pig-headed determination to go along with this contract than a simple desire to be 'Good Europeans'.
I think I must be missing something here. Siemens AG is a German company with factories in the UK, Bombadier is a Canadian company based "across the water" and without any factories that I am aware of in the UK or the EU. Siemens "bogies" aren't yet in production so the award of a contract to them does seem strange, but could be about keeping jobs in the EU rather than abroad. OK, that's being charitable.
The other half of this that doesn't make sense is the bit about the Civil Service having entered in to a tendering process... They don't. The system is to pick two or three "preferred bidders" off a Treasury created list. Let them write the specification for you, go to lots of meetings with them (and probably a few really nice dinners, a football match or three and ...) and then get the secretary in the office to pick the winning bidder out of the hat - or even better, use the "Buggins Turn" selection process.
I would suspect that there is a pay-off from Siemens on some other kit the Civil Service has ordered on a poor or badly written spec and Siemens have got this contract on the basis of "OK, we'll fix that one and won't charge you for it, if we get this contract and can load it a bit to cover ..."
Britain's greatest enemy is right there in Whitehall. Five million of them.
JH: We all will.....
BJ: I'm sure it will run - on rails the government lays............
In other words a blanket will descend on this story.
c: Yup, saw that piece and posted about it earlier this month.
TGM: Bombadier have a big works in Derby with lay-offs now being implemented......? Or is that not what you call a factory?
You point about the tendering process being rather 'murky' is well made - likewise the possibility there has been a trade off.
bad news for seimens
zc: I doubt it - they will still get the contract.........
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