Tuesday 7 June 2011

11 Car Pendolino Whitewash - Shocker

This with a bowler tip to Eastwood Ho!



How typical!

These Hollywood Blockbusters always manage to avoid mentioning the real heroes.


Stand up Marsham Street!

You got there. Eventually.

What a lovely figure - NR in the money markets

This from Reuters...

June 7 (Reuters) -Following are terms and conditions

of an FRN priced on Tuesday.

Borrower Network Rail Infrastructure

Finance PLC

Guarantor Guarantee by a financial indemnity from

UK Government

Issue Amount $500 million

Maturity Date June 14, 2013

Coupon 3-month Libor + 2 bp

Reoffer price Par

Payment Date June 14, 2011

Lead Manager(s) Deutsche Bank & Goldman Sachs

Ratings Aaa (Moody's), AAA (S&P),

AAA (Fitch)

Listing London

ISIN RegS- XS0637327619

144A- US64127WAC73

Security details and RIC, when available

Look at those lovely AAA ratings!

Heritage railway grows up?

This from the RMT...

RMT MEMBERS at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway are to impose an overtime ban and work-to-rule from a minute after midnight on Friday, June 10, in a dispute with the heritage line over allowances for carriage- and wagon-fitters.

Good to see that the NYMR is even able to recreate the 1960's industrial relations scene.

BarbieRail short formed?

Has anyone seen the Customer Services Director?

That is all.

Balfour Beatty loses Comms Director

This from GorkanaPR...

Duncan Murray, director of corporate communications at Balfour Beatty plc, is to leave the global infrastructure company towards the end of June.

No names yet for a successor.

Eye wonders if BB will be approaching Comms professionals from amongst its client companies?

UPDATE: This from The Major...

According to the above: 'BB will be approaching Comms professionals...'

Would that be BB the highly respected infrastructure company or BB the soi disant veteran observer who is, frankly, a bit rubbishy?


I think we should be told.

UPDATE: This from Brennan-Brown, the soi disant veteran observer himself...

Please can you stop calling me the soi disant veteran observer, it's not big and it's certainly not...
(sadly, owing to pressures of space, Eye is unable to reproduce in full this latest missive from the soi disant veteran observer. Ed)

NXEA excels at making photographers welcome

This from a clearly very annoyed Mr Tony Miles...

Station staff at Colchester just told me that it is not permitted to wear a switched off camera, with lens cap fitted, on the station!

No wonder NX haven't retained the franchise.

Customer service from the 'Attila the Hun book on How To Win Friends & Influence People'.

UPDATE: An update from Mr Miles...

On the back of the Eye piece above I've just had a call from Virgin Trains who said:

"You are welcome to remove your lens cap & take photos at our stations whenever you like."


That's the way to get shortlisted for a franchise!

Eye wonders if there are other ways to get shortlisted for a franchise? Not being German certainly appears to be one. Readers may know of others...

UPDATE: This from Our International Correspondent...

I didn't know that being nice or nasty to a railway hack was a way to win or lose anything of consequence, let alone a franchise.