Railway Garden Competition - Forest Hill

This from a Dr Gloucester...

I hope you enjoy the following specimen, which was spotted recently at the aptly named Forest Hill station:

I wonder if this might also qualify for a Pointless Signs entry?

Wattage Watch - Slough

Railway Garden Competition - Britannia Bridge

Pointless sign - SWT 455

HS2 redesigns train after criticism - Exclusive

This from MC Hammer...

Thought you might be interested in having a sneak preview of HS2 rolling stock.

Apparently it has been designed specifically with the IoD, IEA, UKIP, John Bercow and the Chilterns in mind.

Its codename is the 'Nimby Nonk Train'...

Pointless sign - Reading

This apparently sent from Samsung Tablet...

Good luck with that one!

London to Brighton - 60 Glorious Years

This via the Beeb with a bowler tip to @PaulCliftonBBC...

A brilliant side by side view of London to Brighton in 1953, 1983 and 2013:



Paul Clifton's report can be found here.

Good effort.

The silence of the Lambs...

So today the Institute of Directors came out against HS2.

Don't forget to cancel your IoD membership in protest (shurely 'sign up as many people as possible to overturn this guff'! Ed)

Perhaps timely, therefore, to publish this article that appeared in Passenger Transport on the 2nd August...

The next edition of Passenger Transport is published on the 30th August.

Pointless sign - Cannon Street

With a bowler tip to @JimWaterson

The road to hell is paved with....

This from Just for Stu...

Here is the Metro leaflet for the Leeds Festival.

Note the stern injunction about mud and boarding trains:

And here is the concourse at Leeds Station on Monday afternoon, with most of Bramham Park deposited on it.

Presumably clean up costs are having to be borne by the railway?

On the plus side the Metro leaflet makes no mention of muddy festival goers being denied access to the station...

Railcare out of administration?

Sources suggesting that Railcare may have come out of administration.

New owners believed to be Knorr Bremse.

Awaiting details of implications for Wolverton and Springburn... 

UPDATE: This from ITV...

Rail maintenance firm Railcare has been sold to Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems, securing two UK sites and more than 200 jobs, said administrators BDO. 

UPDATE: This from Knorr-Bremse...

Knorr-Bremse Acquires Railcare Business

Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems (UK) Limited has acquired the rail vehicle component and overhaul business of Railcare.

The acquisition sees the UK Company of the global Knorr-Bremse Group taking over the Railcare operational sites at both Springburn in Glasgow and at Wolverton near Milton Keynes.

Following the acquisition Knorr-Bremse has formed a new company called Knorr-Bremse RailServices (UK) Limited. This company now joins the three other established Knorr-Bremse Rail Group operations in the UK. Located at Melksham in Wiltshire is the UK engineering and manufacturing headquarters, at nearby Corsham is a satellite precision machining operation and at Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, Knorr-Bremse operates a specialist HVAC facility.

Knorr-Bremse RailServices (UK) Limited will be fully supported by Knorr-Bremse UK but will operate as a specialist company with its own identity. The company will continue to offer customers its previous portfolio of services and remain fully focused on train maintenance and repair.

Paul Goodhand, Managing Director of Knorr-Bremse in the UK commenting on the acquisition of Railcare said, “We are delighted to welcome Railcare into the Knorr-Bremse family of companies based here in the UK. My team and I in the UK and the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse are committed to the future success of Knorr-Bremse RailServices (UK) Limited. We see Knorr-Bremse RailServices operations developing and expanding in the future in what we view as a dynamic area of rail operations with much potential. Railcare currently has many skilled and experienced individuals working at both its sites, in vehicle overhaul and repair but also in specialist incident repair and logistics. We believe that with the support of Knorr-Bremse, both in terms of solid financial investment and in process and management experience and support, we will, together with the existing team, be able to create a strong, new company. Our vision for Knorr-Bremse RailServices (UK) Limited is to create a company which supports customers in keeping their trains running through offering them an outstanding range of quality train maintenance and repair specialist services going forward.”
 
ENDS

Lookalike - TfL red faces edition

Railway Garden Competition - Long Eaton

This from John-John...

The 1745 from St Pancras had a brush with Long Eaton's reforestation programme yesterday.

There was a time when one could safely walk along the cess, sight signals, etc...

Best foot forward at St Pancras!

This from the Wicked Weaver...

Nice!

Railway Garden Competition - Ashurst

Farewell Trent Power Box!

This via Network Rail...

Good effort.

Meiklejohn re-emerges!

Word reaches Eye that the Ninky Nonk Train has gained another supporter!

Graham Meiklejohn, late of DBS, has set up his own communications consultancy - Meiklejohn Communications - specialising in rail and logistics.

According to a PR puff piece sent to Eye the new entity "has already commenced project work to support the Intercity Express Programme, employee engagement and passenger rail franchising."

Good news indeed!

Leaving Hitachi and DfT with just another 62 million people to convince...

Something in London's water?

Interesting revelations in the Currant Bun about TfL's Transport Commissioner.

Happily for London, Hendy's boss is not exactly in a position to take the moral high ground on marital fidelity!

Eh Boris?

Pointless signs - Ladywell

Pointless signs - Reading

Message for Tom...

Nothing for the rest of you to see - please move along!

Pointless signs - Spondon

Gideon strikes!

So farewell iDave!

Your time has come, and gone.

For some of us, not a moment too soon.

And who wielded the knife?

Why, officials in the department of your best friend - Gideon George Osborne!

Or so we are led to believe by Wednesday's FT, which suggests that notoriously competent "senior Treasury officials" are looking to cape HS2 in favour of more roads.

Happily, it looks like constituencies in the Chilterns will get all that they wished for and possibly deserve (sic).

Meanwhile, which way will the ever loyal Patrick McLoughlin jump?

For Eton or St Paul's?

UPDATE: HS2 Comes out fighting!

This from HS2's 'Project Manager for Ambassadors and Advocates' (who knew? Ed)...

The FT piece represents nothing more than nonsense scare mongering re: HS2:

• The project has wide political support across the country
• Any cost increases as a result of adding VAT are returned to government - the true cost remains the same
• All at HS2 and our supporters recognise the importance of controlling costs and the necessity of continuing to delivering this vital piece of infrastructure on time and on budget
  

Errr... that'll certainly tell them!

Pointless sign - missing the point

This from Huffpo, via Pike...

Someone, please tell me it is real!

UPDATE: This from Pike once more...

Original would appear to be here.

Sadly less funny...

 

For shame!

Tom Birch RIP

This via the Institution of Railway Operators...

It is with great sadness we share the news that Tom Birch passed away on Thursday 8th August 2013 in the presence of his family, after his courageous battle against cancer.

Tom was most recently Operations Director (Projects) at Chiltern Railways and a member of the Arriva Franchise Bid Team. 

He was also previously a Board member of the IRO and a member of the Midlands Area Council since its inception. He was a great proponent and contributor to the IRO education programme and, as members of the IRO, we owe Tom a great deal. He will be missed by all who had the pleasure of working with him.

We would like to pass on our condolences to his family, his many friends and his colleagues.

Tom's funeral will be held in Derbyshire on 3rd September 2013.

Rest in peace Tom.

Wattage Watch - Reading

This from Rover...

The new canopy at Reading is so high the lights make no difference in daylight. 

But even on the temporarily uncovered platforms, makeshift lights have been installed that burn the watts all day:

Switching off that lot during daylight hours should provide one or two immediate savings for CP5. 

You're welcome!

Pointless signs - Retford

This from a Swift Tern...

The contents of both near identical.

Railway Garden Competition - Mill Hill East

Bunker steps out of the err... bunker!

Word reaches Eye that former TOC MD Graeme Bunker is reining back on his commitments in the kettle and charter world.
 
Interesting.

Perchance this is connected with the dearth of operating talent in the industry, a situation compounded by the need for bid teams able to handle a bow wave of franchise renewals and extensions?

No doubt Bunker's background in high profile special rail projects (and kettle based stunts) will see him re-emerge in TOC-land soonest!

Time for HS2 to be scrapped?

There is an exciting poll on the Express and Star website!

It invites readers to vote on whether HS2 should be scrapped.

Affirmative views appear to have the ascendancy at the mo...

You know what to do!

Remember: Vote early, vote often!

Railway Garden Competition - King's Cross

This from Only Two Misters...

These buddliea are prospering from within the NR boundary above Gasworks Tunnel at King's Cross. 

What I particularly like is the way they offset Kings Place, which houses NR's corporate HQ.

Railway Garden Competition - Wolverhampton

Railway Garden Competition - Worcester Shrub Hill

This taken at the appropriately named Shrub Hill station..

And complemented by a delightful mobile planter!

Marvellous!

The Fact Compiler is on his hols...

So posting will be, at best, intermittent.


No doubt a source of relief to many.

Leathley hits the DECC!

This from PR Week...

Virgin Trains' Arthur Leathley to fill long-vacant DECC comms role

The Department of Environment and Climate (DECC) change has hired Virgin Trains' Arthur Leathley as its director of comms.

Leathley will start in the coming weeks, having been comms director at Virgin Trains, where he has spent the past nine years heading the company’s media, political and internal comms operation, as well as customer relations.

A hard act to follow and for Virgin to replace!

All the best in your new role Arthur.

Railway Garden Competition - Weybridge

This from Buisson Grass...

Years of (no) effort have obviously gone into these.

Railway Garden Competition - Victoria

With a bowler tip to @Peter_Mount

Not a pointless sign!

This from Northern Rail...

 
Good effort!

Voters remain to be convinced on East Coast privatisation....

According to a Survation poll on Politicalbetting.com privatising East Coast looks like an electoral winner!

Or not.