Beware fake Virgin staff - Shocker

Merseyside police have warned rail passengers to watch out for a very large group of gentleman who appear to be impersonating Virgin train crew.


Apparently you can spot the fake ones by the noise their jewelry makes.

With a bowler tip to Who ate all the pies.

For the cricket lovers amongst you the Grauniad is live blogging the epic rail journey from Melwood to Madrid.

Come on you Hammers! (Is this right? Ed)

Election levity - but a serious point

With a bowler tip to Guido...


A nice bit of Labour Party self deprecation from Ali Campbell towards the end...

Train Lord's dark plans for Sheffield

Be careful what you wish for.

Regular readers will recollect that The Thin Controller surrendered Sheffield in the Battle of the Barriers.

Alas.

Evidently the Train Lord now plans to get his own back!

This from the Sheffield Star...

Rush hour commuters will be meeting Doctor Who's arch-nemeses tomorrow morning when the terrifying Daleks appear at Sheffield railway station.


As Davros might say "Do not anger me, Passenger. I can destroy you... and this miserable, insignificant station!"

Eversholt sale update

This from Reuters...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - CVC Capital Partners and a consortium of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, 3i Infrastructure and Star Capital have made indicative offers in the 2 billion pound ($3.1 billion) auction of HSBC's rolling stock firm, several people familiar with the matter said.

Looks like another nail in the coffin for investment in new rolling stock.

UPDATE: This from Gordon Gecko..

In fact the staple debt linked to the Eversholt sale reportedly includes £200 million for capital investment.

And DfT won't be able to afford the lease rentals on new trains after May 6 so the HLOS 1300 is nearer 700.

But no new trains means a lot more refurbishment, re-engineering and life extension.

We guys in red braces call it 'polishing the assets'.