Railway Heritage

Annual Dinner of the HRA

2012-02-21T10:55:00.001Z

24 September 2011: Inaugurated earlier this year as president of the HRA (Heritage Railway Association), I was asked to speak at their annual dinner held in Criccieth.
The text of my speech can be read here

Steam Special celebrates Cotswold Line improvements

2012-02-21T10:44:00.013Z

17 September 2011: Travelled on the Cathedrals Express from Worcester to Paddington to celebrate the completion of the reinstatement of double track on the Cotswold Line in the company of local MPs Harriett Baldwin, Peter Luff, Robin Walker and Transport Minister, Theresa Villiers.

Locomotive 5043, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, arriving at Paddington Station.

Watch a video of the journey with the
Earl of Mount Edgcombe on YouTube

Party at St Albans South Signal Box

2011-07-05T17:44:00.049+01:00

3 July 2011: Unveiled a plaque to mark the restoration project of the St Albans South signal box, the largest preserved Midland Railway box in the country still in its original 1892 position by a fully functioning and busy main line. It gives visitors the opportunity to go into a signal box, watch modern trains pass outside the windows, and re-live the former days of semaphore signalling.
Watch video of unveiling of plaque marking the Heritage Award

Listen to the Radio Verulam Broadcast

Public Bodies Bill: Committee Stage: 7th day

2011-03-01T12:05:00.011Z

"My proposition is that the RHC ceases to be a non-departmental public body in the Department for Transport and that its functions and statutory powers are administered by the National Railway Museum on behalf of the National Museum of Science and Industry."

Watch video footage of proceedings of the debate on Monday 28 February when Lord Faulkner of Worcester moved Amendment 46 referring to the Railway Heritage Committee.

See Hansard entry for contribution in full

Appointment as President of Heritage Railway Association

2011-02-21T11:36:00.003Z

Members of the Heritage Railway Association Board had known for some time that the Association’s President, Dame Margaret Weston, was considering standing down from the position. However they were delighted when she agreed to accept the position of Patron. This would allow her to retire from some of the activities she at present undertakes but meant that her knowledge and experience would still be available for the Association to call upon.

One name came up for the position of the new president and, was indeed suggested by Dame Margaret, so the board were delighted that Lord Faulkner of Worcester agreed to accept the position.

To the unanimous approval of all those present, the new appointments were confirmed at the Association’s AGM held at ‘Steam’ The Museum of the Great Western Railway on Saturday 5th February.

Dame Margaret has had a remarkable career, beginning with a degree in engineering and carrying out war work on the shop floor. Following a career in industry, she joined NMSI and became Director of the Science Museum in the early 1970’s. One of her first acts as Director was to set up the National Railway Museum, which opened in 1975. She also became President of the then Association of Railway Preservation Societies, which later became the Heritage Railway Association.

Richard Faulkner joined the House of Lords as a "working peer" in 1999, and has since then held a number of prominent positions in Parliament. He is a Deputy Speaker, and was formerly a minister in the government whips' office, with particular responsibility for transport and energy and climate change.

He has extensive experience of the railway industry, and particularly the heritage sector. From 2004 to 2009 he was chairman of the Railway Heritage Committee, is a member of the Railway Heritage Trust's advisory panel, and speaks regularly in parliament on the subject Lord Faulkner is a graduate of the University of Oxford, having studied philosophy, politics and economics at Worcester College, where he is an honorary fellow.

Railways: Heritage Sector

2011-02-02T09:48:00.003Z

During a short debate on 1 February 2011, Lord Faulkner of Worcester expresssed cautious optimism on the future of the Railway Heritage Committee:

The status and role of the Railway Heritage Committee is about to change as a result of the Government's decision to include it in the Public Bodies Bill. I shall not anticipate the debate that we are due to have in Committee on that Bill, other than to say that we are very close indeed to agreeing a way forward that would provide for the statutory powers and duties of the committee to be transferred to the Science Museum.

Read debate in full

Public Bodies Bill [HL]: 2nd reading

2010-11-13T15:10:00.003Z

9 November 2010: Lord Faulkner of Worcester: ........ a public body with which I have a particular interest and which I had the honour to chair until 2009, standing down when I became a Minister in the Government Whips' Office: the Railway Heritage Committee. It is a body which has a link with Henry VIII because, as your Lordships may recall, Benjamin Disraeli predicted as long ago as 1845, in his novel Sybil,that the railways will do as much for mankind as the monasteries did.

Appeal to save the Railway Heritage Committee

Hansard report

Appeal to save the Railway Heritage Committee

2010-10-23T10:01:00.015+01:00

Speaking at the National Railway Museum annual dinner on 21 October 2010, Lord Faulkner of Worcester appealed for support from the railway industry and its heritage sector for the retention of the Railway Heritage Committee (the body he chaired until 2009).

He said that in the run-up to the Government’s announcement on the future of non-departmental public bodies on 14 October around 30 influential and well-informed individuals had written to the minister of state for railways, Theresa Villiers, urging the government not to include the RHC in the list of non-departmental government bodies facing abolition. Many of those - including Sir William McAlpine, Ian Brown, Mark Hopwood, Tim Shoveller and Steve Davies - were present at the NRM dinner.

“The news I have to share with you is that not only is the government proposing the abolition of the RHC, it is also suggesting that the thousand or so artefacts and records which have been designated since 1996, which was when the committee was set up in its present form by a Conservative government with all-party support, should lose that designation.

“The reasons for this decision are not to do with saving money. Every member of the committee is a volunteer, and without it being possible to designate items in future, there will be additional costs for the NRM, for other museums and heritage railways. Neither is it about reducing administrative burdens, as these will increase for everyone in the industry concerned with railway heritage.

“The decision has been taken because they see no case for viewing the heritage of our railways any differently from other parts of the transport sector.

Andrew Adonis wrote the Foreword for the 2008-2009 RHC annual report.

He said this: I have been constantly impressed as I meet railway workers at all levels at the extent to which a sense of the railway’s past is a real inspiration to those who work in the industry today. And, as a historian myself, I am all too well aware of the risk that both artefacts and archives can be lost for good if they are not properly appreciated and cared for.

“Can ministers really ignore the passion of the British people to visit railway museums, ride on heritage railways, volunteer to open up new stretches of preserved line, recreate the experience of steam and vintage railway travel, and even build a new main line steam locomotive from scratch?

“Can they really take the view that the country that gave railways to the world, whose own society was transformed by them, should no longer regard that heritage as something that needs specially to be protected?

“I am reminded of that wonderful exchange in the Titfield Thunderbolt where Gordon and the vicar are anxiously talking about the possible closure of their branch line.

The Reverend Sam Weech: "They can't close our line, it's unthinkable ."
Gordon: "What about the old Canterbury-Whitstable line? They closed that."
Weech: "Perhaps there were not men of sufficient faith in Canterbury. "

“I believe that there are enough men and women who have sufficient faith in railway heritage to be able to persuade the government to think again. Many of them I believe are here this evening. We are working on alternative ways forward, and we shall come to you and ask for your support. I believe that the current political catchphrase is “We’re all in this together”. Let’s work together for a sensible solution.”

as submitted to The Railway Magazine

Speech at National Railway Museum, 22 October 2009

2010-10-23T09:51:00.004+01:00

Speech at National Railway Museum, York, 22 October 2009

2009-10-28T10:58:00.014Z

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a huge privilege to be here on such a splendid occasion. It’s my very pleasant duty to welcome all our guests this evening, and to thank our sponsors, without whom the event would not have been possible.

Among the guests, I’m particularly pleased that Rick Haythornthwaite, chairman of Network Rail, is here, and will be speaking to us in a moment. Rick and I have two things in common: we share a passionate dedication to the railway, and a determination to do all we can to ensure that they do well.

We are also both former trustees of the National Museum of Science and Industry, the benign parent of the National Railway Museum. It’s great that there are so many members of the railway family are here tonight, and we have a really splendid list of sponsors. They are:
Delta Rail ; First GB Railfreight ; Grand Central ; Siemens ; Northern Rail ; Atkins

Tonight is also a slightly sad occasion, because we are saying goodbye to Andrew Scott - well not exactly goodbye, because he’s going to be around for a bit yet. There have been some astonishing things achieved here during Andrew’s 15 years. The NRM has become Britain’s most visited museum outside London, with annual numbers approaching a million. It was the European Museum of the Year in 2001, and Yorkshire’s Attraction of the Year in 4 of the last 7 years.

Andrew brought the Bullet Train here from Japan and saved the Flying Scotsman. He opened the Yorkshire Rail Academy at the NRM, and the wonderful Locomotion museum at Shildon. He was chairman of the York Tourism Board for 10 years. He’s been a member of the Court of the University of York.

He’s the world’s expert on the North Eastern Railway, a passionate supporter of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, whose trains puff by the window of his house, and he was an absolutely invaluable member of the Railway Heritage Committee under my chairmanship and that of my predecessors.

Search Engine has been created at the NRM under Andrew’s leadership, and he and I hope passionately that we shall see the Railway Industry National Archive created here in York – I should remind everyone that there’s a £500,000 grant on offer from the Government if we can get it up and running this year.

International Railway Heritage Conference in Ipswich, Queensland - October 2009

2009-10-20T09:46:00.009+01:00

"When I first accepted your invitation to speak at this conference, I did so as Chairman of Great Britain’s Railway Heritage Committee, which was a job I took on in 2004. As some of you will know, things have changed a little for me since then. In June I accepted another invitation - and one that was equally difficult to refuse. I was asked to join Her Majesty’s Government, as a minister in the whips’ office in the House of Lords, with particular responsibilities for transport.

So I am rather in the position of poacher turned gamekeeper. But as one of the themes of this conference is the scope for partnership between the heritage rail sector and government, my new job means that I should have something extra to contribute to your session today." read speech in full......

Visit to Didcot Railway Centre 23 August 2009

2009-10-20T09:21:00.005+01:00

Visit to Didcot Railway Centre with my grandson. Although there in a personal capacity, I was able to discuss plans for the centre's future development with Peter Jennings, duty manager on the day, and Richard Antliff, civil engineering manager. The image shows us on the footplate of Tornado.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association visit to Australia 2008

2009-10-20T09:20:00.006+01:00

Whilst in Australia last year with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association I was able to add my own railway programme - visiting the steam railway in the Adelaide Hills and the railway museum in Perth.

I was fortunate to see the famous Zig-Zag railway in the Blue Mountains above Sydney. The commentary you can hear on the short video clip below is by Tim Fischer, former deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Country Party, who was recording for his Great Train Show on ABC Radio.

After the official delegation left for home I travelled to Cairns to speak to the annual meeting of the Australian Tourist Heritage Railway Association about the work of the Railway Heritage Committee.

Zig Zag Railway

2009-10-20T09:07:00.003+01:00