Wholesale ministerial changes at the Department for Transport have received a mixed reception in the bus and rail industry.

The replacement of transport secretary Ruth Kelly by chief whip Geoff Hoon was followed rapidly by the announcement that Lord Adonis would take over from Rosie Winterton as minister for state and that Paul Clark would replace Tom Harris as transport minister. Only Jim Fitzpatrick remains from the previous ministerial team. Both Adonis and Clark come from the Department for Children, Schools and Families where Adonis had been schools minister and Clark parliamentary private secretary to head of department, Ed Balls.

Hoon, whose father was a railwayman, returns to Cabinet with a chequered career. He has previously held Cabinet level positions as defence secretary, where he was implicated in presenting some dubious justifications for the Iraq war, and as leader of the house. Between 2007 and 2008 he was chief whip.

Hoon's appointment produced some very contrasting reactions. He was seen by some in the industry as another transport secretary on the way down and likely to be in post for a short time before either a change of government or moving to Europe as an EU commissioner. "It may be that he doesnÕt expect to be there for long, and that won't help at a time when DfT civil servants seem reluctant to drive things forward," one senior industry source commented.

However, Go Ahead chief executive Keith Ludeman took a more optimistic line. He said that transport secretary should no longer be regarded as a poor political job and Hoon's appointment could be viewed as a reflection of the political experience and skills required in an increasingly important department.

"Transport has become a key spending department and as an issue, transport has risen dramatically on the political agenda, in terms of consumer issues and addressing carbon emissions," he told Transit,.

He added that he expected Hoon to challenge existing departmental policy where significant spending is involved but that this would not necessarily have an adverse impact on programmes.

"The DfT's civil servants will provide him with convincing arguments on policy," Ludeman said. "If it is important that rapid progress is made on issues, they will make that case, so I don't think it will cause programmes to be delayed."

In Hoon's new team, Adonis will be responsible for national networks and as such will take on Harris's rail brief and also CrossRail. His other key duties cover climate change and cleaner fuels and vehicles. Adonis is known to have a keen interest in the rail industry and was head of the 10 Downing Street Policy Unit at the time Railtrack was put into administration. Reviewing rail industry commentator Christian Wolmar's book Fire and Steam he said "the big debate for the future" would be if and when new high speed lines should be built in Britain.

Clark's responsibilities cover city and regional networks, and include buses, light rail and TWA orders. He will cover AdonisÕs rail brief in the Commons.

Fitzpatrick is responsible for international networks and his brief also includes security and London.

Tom Harris's departure to the backbenches was not unexpected given that he has never been viewed as a supporter of prime minister Gordon Brown, but his sacking as transport minister was seen as a loss by the rail industry.

Harris, who formerly worked for Strathclyde Passenger Transport, had been a transport minister since September 2006. He was known for his commitment to his railways brief and for his willingness to actively engage with the industry, transport campaigners and local interest groups.

After Harris announced that he had been "sacked" by Brown he received unusually supportive messages on his weblog from industry leaders and civil servants he had worked with, summed up by an entry from Railway Forum director general Paul Martin.

"I've genuinely feel that the rail industry has lost a great champion and friend," Martin wrote.

"The whole industry has seen you as the most effective rail minister in memory and we feel that your achievements richly deserve promotion in government rather than what has happened."