Pointless signs - Emergency Electrification!

A welcome return for Eye's occasional series of Pointless Signs!

This from Steady as She Goes…

Emergency electrification?

Has someone just discovered 'the Reading area' needs to be juiced?

Steve Marshall RIP

Captain Deltic writes...

I was saddened to learn of the death of Steve Marshall at the early age of 60.

Steve took over as Chief Executive of Railtrack when Gerald Corbett resigned, under pressure from a pusillanimous board, a month after the Hatfield derailment in October 2000.

As Railtrack's Finance Director he had been in the thick of the Company's battles with Rail Regulator Tom Winsor over the settlement for its second Control Period, against a background of the cost of the West Coast Route Modernisation spiralling out of control and performance  reacheing new lows after Hatfield. To cap it all a new Chairman with zero railway experience was appointed.

Then, in October 2001, transport Secretary Stephen Byers forced Railtrack into Administration. While his Chairman prevaricated Marshall resigned immediately, agreeing to stay on until a replacement was appointed in March 2002.

His immediate concern was to obtain compensation for his shareholders, which eventually came to pass. During this second drawn out battle  he continued as a non-executive director of the residual Railtrack company.

Most of my contact with Steve was during this turbulent period. It could not have been easy for a reserved  finance man to be pushed into a high profile public position.

To me he was the only player to emerge with dignity from the enforced collapse of Railtrack, which was reflected in his subsequentlly successful career.

Rail and Air Quality crawls up the agenda

This written answer from the Rail Minister…

Andy McDonald(Middlesbrough) Asked on: 12 September 2017
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the announcement of 26 July 2017 on the end of sales of all new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040, what his policy is on the use of diesel trains after that date.

Paul Maynard Answered on: 09 October 2017
We are encouraging the railway industry to improve air quality by proposing solutions that reduce emissions from trains and also to develop innovative solutions around future fuel technologies such as hydrogen and battery power. In the nearer term, there are currently a number of new bi-mode trains being delivered or on order. The rail industry expects rolling stock to typically have an expected life in the range of 30 to 35 years. There is no policy at present on the use of diesel trains post 2040.

The key words appear to be 'no policy at present'. Developing...