Tuesday 6 November 2012

Wisdom from Aslef...

This from Aslef...
 

Scots derailment: Union calls for action

Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, today called for rail safety modules to be introduced into UK schools as it was confirmed that last Sunday’s train derailment in Inverkeilor was the result of vandalism. British Transport Police officers found an obstruction at the scene which they said today they believed to have been placed there deliberately.

‘An understanding of the dangers and potential tragedies on railway lines at a young age is vital,’ he says. ‘It needs to be embedded in our young people. We can’t simply say that whoever did this is a wicked person and leave it at that. It is not one person. It is not an isolated accident, and it would be wrong to treat it as such.’

Trespass on the track and hurling missiles at trains, causing the risk of murdering train drivers and passengers, is, he says ‘an endemic sickness in our society’. ‘Whoever did this must be tracked down and punished. But that is not enough. We need to educate to prevent as well. ’


This is one Aslef campaign that we can all get behind.

ATOC - Mobile ticketing goes live

Good news indeed from ATOC... 

Buy your rail ticket on the move with National Rail Enquiries

It is now even easier for passengers to buy train tickets on the move using their smartphone, thanks to National Rail Enquiries (NRE) updates and improvements to its mobile website and smartphone app.

Wherever they are and whenever they want, people using either the NRE mobile website or the NRE downloadable app can for the first time get the latest up-to-date train travel information and buy their rail tickets in one place.


So does this mean that passengers can now buy tickets whilst on the train without being treated like criminals?
(No, of course not! Ed)


UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

When I first saw this I got quite excited, thinking that the franchised TOCs had taken a leaf out of the Open Access Operators book and were now allowing passengers to buy tickets aboard trains, through their Smart Phones.

If you can't do this what is the point of announcing this 'improvement' to the app and claiming you can 'buy a ticket on the move'?