But as the crisis approaches a key part of his day-to-day job – managing the railways – a series of bizarre interventions have caused concern and unrest. What exactly, the industry wonders, is happening to Shapps and the Department of Transportation? Unrest has erupted in unequivocal condemnation in some quarters as the largest railway union, the RMT, has launched a nationwide strike, amid lost revenue, big cuts and an uncertain future. While the pace of promised reform and investment has been slow, Shapps has launched personal whistles that parts of the rail industry believe are, at best, misplaced and smell YouTube as Rome burns. The Shapps Allies say the fast-paced, low-budget videos are reaching new audiences – and one minister who hit them has been relatively viral. Using acting talent from his previous life as Michael Green, when he had a job as a fast-growing marketer, Shapps put in films that promised to end “annoying” train announcements, announced a public vote to choose where the headquarters would be located. railway offices and renamed a small ticketing offer as the Great British Rail Sale. Another Shapps production – explaining moves to deal with noisy cars – was expected to decline this weekend. Few elements of the railways have openly expressed dissatisfaction, but others from the payroll have come out fiery. In a shocking article, Nigel Harris, the boss of the Rail Industry, described Shapps, a diligent pilot, as the least committed Secretary of State he had met in 25 years, accusing him of “not just a shameful lack of leadership, but also a shameful lack of interest. ” Speaking to the Department of Transportation, Harris said the Secretary of Transportation “does not build railroads.” Shapps with Michael Portillo in a photo shoot to promote a town and city competition to argue why they should host the Great British Railways headquarters. Photo: Department of Transport / PA Even formally supportive organizations such as the Railway Industry Association (RIA) have issued statements of despair. In April, the RIA completed 900 days since the government updated the engineering pipeline, “leaving the industry in the dark.” On Shapps’s predecessor, Chris Grayling, DfT’s annual update was vital for railroad suppliers to plan for the future. For some, a lack of commitment is not necessarily a bad thing. A senior rail official said: “Grayling would be constantly interfering with the railways; the danger with Shapps is that he does not, until there is a small political advantage or a TikTok video.” Christian Wolmar, a railway historian and author, says: “It’s one of the most effective means of communicating with the government. But he is not interested in transportation other than general aviation and where he can fly a plane. The person in charge of transportation is called A Gilligan and he is at No. 10. This depiction of the relative influence of Andrew Gilligan, Boris Johnson’s transport consultant, is disputed by government experts, although the No. 10 interest in rail investment as a way to ‘climb’ has kept the DfT on a tighter leash than some sections. As a well-placed rail source puts it, Shapps is “stuck between a rock and a hard place; every major announcement has to go from Gilligan to No. 10 for revision and modification, and the Treasury holds all the wallets.” . Control is tight, with significant government subsidies – £ 15 billion extra since the pandemic began, to replace lost revenue from the number of passengers stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels – and investment battles that are squeezing the DfT between No. 10 and No. 11 in key decisions for HS2 and the integrated railway project. As one industry leader puts it: “The government is more involved than ever, even under the British Railways.” State micro-management has ironically been identified as a problem in Williams’s revision of the old franchising system, which was scrapped due to economic necessity under Shapps in 2020. But as the industry awaits reforms to the long-delayed Williams-Shapps impulse to intervene in small things has not yet been suppressed. The Great British Rail Sale started at Shapps’s office and it is understandable that it came as a surprise to some, especially the budding Great British Railways. Even within the DfT, senior officials expressed shock at the final presentation: “It was shocking. What were they thinking? “ Officials are complaining about Shapps’ lack of attention to detail and his reluctance to be briefed by experts outside his inner circle. “He has no meetings with people, he just sees his immediate team. “Everything must be written on two sides of the paper for him.” Shapps allies confirm that they will politely reject the larger information notes – but argue that the summary is vital to the management of a wider segment, where all sectors have been plunged into crisis during Covid. “He takes home a red box every night and reads everything,” said one. Give Man a Bloody Opportunity… has a 96 96 billion railroad settlement and is trying to reshape the rail industry, an ally of the Saps Railroads remain, sources insist, the heart of his ministry – and consume disproportionate time compared to cars and even buses. Shapps said he wanted the job of transport and as a railroad passenger he understood the passengers’ point of view, they argued. Someone said, “Give the man a bloody chance; he’s a 96 96 billion settlement for the railways and he’s trying to reshape the railroad industry” through the Williams-Shapps project. For Anthony Smith, managing director of Transport Focus, “the tough test is whether investment’s keep coming; and that Secretary of State has done it.” Nevertheless, the perception remains widespread that Shapps is promoting himself, in the style of Liz Truss, for a cabinet seat more in his best interest. “All these things would be okay if he paid attention to everything else. “There are so many important issues he ignores,” says Harris. The videos are trivial but also damaging, he argues: the vote at headquarters, which potentially uprooted thousands of Milton Keynesians out of public whim, could bleed vital staff: “When you move, you bleed.” The Rail author is clear: “He is the worst transport secretary I can remember. And yet he is actually very good at communicating – and he could do very well. “
