SIX months ago this week, local man Richard Bowker took the helm of the Strategic Rail Authority, tasked with giving both the industry and the public the confidence to get moving.

He's outlived one transport secretary already and, as the Government turns up the heat, is he still enjoying the job?

Local government reporter David Higgerson found out...

WHEN Stephen Byers walked into number 10 Downing Street last week and announced his resignation as Transport Secretary, the rail industry became the focus of national attention once more.

So maybe it was a bit strange to see Richard Bowker, chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, in an upbeat mood as he returned to the North West to enjoy a day on a steam train laid on for the Golden Jubilee.

"I don't like to dwell on what has happened, I try to look to the future," said the remarkably relaxed 35-year-old former Blackburn schoolboy. Remarkably relaxed because firstly he is responsible for making the railways a better experience for travel and secondly because he is being interviewed in the home of his former Queen Elizabeth Grammar School headteacher, Philip Johnston, who arranged his trip on the Jubilee Express.

"A lot more should have been achieved in the last six months and what we need now is a period of stability to get on with the job.

"I have met with the new transport secretary, Alistair Darling already, and have spoken to him about what needs to happen."

The Strategic Rail Authority's regulates the rail network and works on strategies to improve it. One of the most contentious tasks he will oversee is the issuing of new franchises. The plan is to reduce the number of franchises, with fewer train operators overall. That means there will be fewer franchises, putting all of the North's local services -- such as the Blackpool to Colne route -- together and creating a new Trans-Pennine franchise. Mr Bowker has pledged that this will include the Blackpool-Yorkshire service, the only express train to come through East Lancashire.

He said: "It is important areas such as East Lancashire have good services and we want to increase them, not reduce them."

One of his most controversial moves has been to fine Arriva Trains, the firm which runs the current Trans-Pennine service, £2million after it persistently failed to meet punctuality targets.

As a former co-chairman of Virgin Trains, which runs the services along the West Coast Mainline through Preston, he is able to recognise the problems faced by rail operators from both sides.

Mr Bowker said: "I want a good working relationship with the rail operators, not a negative one. My aim is to improve the rail network for people, not make it worse.

"People look at a very narrow part of the issue when talking about train operators like Arriva and Connex (the much criticised southern train operator which is also bidding for the Trans-Pennine contract).

"They have had lot to deal with over the last year, from dealing with the works which had to be carried out across the network following the Hatfield crash to the effects of foot and mouth, which took away a lot of their leisure and tourism customers.

"But that isn't to make excuses for them. Things like the ongoing industrial action do need to be resolved, but that isn't just Arriva's fault. They have pledged to take on more drivers and I do actually think things are improving and getting better."

Mr Bowker will be deemed successful if he gets more people to travel by rail. For that to happen, he says, there need to be more services, reliable trains and an improvement to what he describes as the 'customer experience.'

As a Blackburn Rovers season ticket holder, he regularly returns -- by train -- to East Lancashire and is impressed with the multi-million pound facelift given to the town's railway station.

"I normally get off at Mill Hill because it is easier to walk to Ewood Park from there," he said. "But I have seen what has happened to Blackburn Railway Station and I am very impressed.

"People will have a go at us and ask what the point of improving the stations is if the trains aren't up to scratch, but to encourage more people onto trains, there needs to be a better customer experience.

"Women travelling by themselves need to feel safe and extra security measures, like those at Blackburn, help a lot towards that. People need to be able to buy tickets, access information easily and wait in comfort for their train.

"That is something being achieved at Blackburn and I like it."

Mr Bowker attended QEGS from 1979 to 1985 travelling from Leyland -- where his mother still lives -- by bus.

After successfully studying maths, physics, economics and general studies at A Level, he went to Leicester University where he took an Economics Degree before moving on to London where he has been based since. "Although I lived in Leyland, I had mates in Blackburn, Great Harwood and Rishton and I grew up in Blackburn. That's what I regard as home."

He added: "A lot has happened in the last six months. My job has been to start giving the industry its confidence back. I want to make things simpler as well, which is where the changes to franchises comes into it.

"There is a lot to be done. We are always in the spotlight. It has been a tough six months but I wouldn't change my job for the world."