Pointless signs - East Coast media dinner

East Coast resurrects fine dining

This from the late Sir Peter Parker...

I am delighted to hear that the state owned passenger train operator will be unveiling their plans for the next five years of the East Coast Main Line at a dinner  tonight.

I was even more pleased to be told that the venue for this exciting event is British Rail's old headquarters at 222 Marylebone Road.

Does this presage an announcement that the franchise will be renamed InterCity East Coast and that the 'Swallow' brand will be restored to all trains?

McLoughlin makes extra-ordinary confession!

Good news for fans of Openness and Transparency!

At last night's ATOC sponsored wake for franchising Patrick McLoughlin made the following confession...

As a junior transport minister in the 1980s, I remember British Rail.
Underinvestment in tracks and trains.
Poor reliability.
Managers whose good ideas were too often stifled by a lack of cash…

Guilty as charged. Send him down! 

UPDATE: This from Captain Deltic... 

So when was Patrick McLoughlin a junior transport minister?

From 1989 to 1992.

Gosh they were grim times for investment. 

All we had was more electrification than under any government, including the East Coast Main Line with a brand new fleet of 140 mile/h IC225s that delivered a London - Edinburgh run in just 3hr 29 min. 

Plus total route modernisation of Chiltern, the re-equipment of Regional Railways with new trains - frequent DMUs replacing infrequent loco hauled services. Oh, and a new fleet of freight locos.

And what about the upgrading of the Kent lines to take the new state of the art Networkers, not to mention... (con't p94)

Oi Deltic, that's quite enough moaning about the bad old days! Ed

Railway Garden Competition - Marple

Railway Garden Competition - King's Cross

This from Fen Boy...

This was the scene at the shiny new King's Cross station yesterday morning at 08.10.