Regular Eye readers may recall this piece of music:
Original post here.
Meanwhile there is an update to Jamie's sad story here.
Result!
Alas.
And here is the denouement :-(
No matter.
To all Eye's industry friends, a message:
Turn on, tune in, get social!
(Can you also mention that Orange have no idea either? Ed)
Remember the YouTube hit United Breaks Guitars?
Now rail users are getting in on the act.
This sorry tale from Jamie Anderson - you can follow the full saga over at Jamie's blog
Don't get mad - get viral!
So Richard has gone where Gordon dare not.
About time too.
According to the Southport Visiter:
The high-speed rail company's chief executive Richard Brown said he was "very, very sorry" about what had happened.
Giggling Richard has even set his slice of humble pie to music.
Eye is waiting for something similar from infrastructure operator Eurobungle, who have much to answer for.
UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...
Don't for God's sake suggest it's the wrong kind of snow.
Although according to the pretty graphics on the Grauniad website that's exactly what it is.
UPDATE: This from PR Monkey...
Eurostar are clearly missing Simon Montague.
I bet he wouldn't have stuck his half dressed CEO in a broom cupboard and released the footage to YouTube!
If Richard Brown still has a job by the end of Christmas he needs to recruit a new PR team.
UPDATE: This from our man at 222 Marylebone Road...
In a broom cupboard?
Looks more like a wrecker having been persuaded into confessing to his anti-soviet misdemeanours at a 1930s Moscow show trial before being taken out and liquidated.
And has any body seen the so-called Brown on TV again?
UPDATE: This from Charles Yerkes...
This is like the bad old days, immediately after privatisation, when the UK rail industry couldn't talk with one voice.
This is the headline from a Eurotunnel press release:
Eurotunnel rescues Eurostar
Bloody cheek!
Perhaps someone should ask Eurobungle who kept shoving trains into the Chunnell after the first couple failed.
UPDATE: Over to Longrider for words of wisdom...
Hindsight always illustrates missed opportunities.
More here.
UPDATE: Wolmar offers his reflections on the PR disaster over at The Times:
The tone adopted by Richard Brown, the head of Eurostar, said it all. He was vaguely apologetic, but he did not get the enormity of the cock-up. Like a football manager whose team had just lost 7-0 he still thought they had played well.
Meanwhile the Daily Mail has its sights on Eurostar Ops Director Nicolas Petrovic.
Petrovic was due to be promoted to the role of Chief Executive in the New Year when Richard Brown is supposed to become Executive Chairman.
Alas, with both the French and British governments looking for someone to blame the planned succession may now be in disaray.
The sound of industry CVs being burnished is almost deafening!
Telegrammed by our International Correspondent
Brian Souter has told London's leading evening newspaper that leisure travel is down due to the credit crisis.
But what's this?
No mention that leisure fares have been all but been abolished by greedy SWT.
Perhaps the perfectly formed, carrier-bag wielding, Clause 28 fan is hoping the Treasury will bail out his franchises on the same, over-generous, terms offered to the bankers?
EUROSTAR STATEMENT
12 September 2008 – 16.30 (UK time) update
Due to the incident involving a Eurotunnel shuttle train in the Channel Tunnel on Thursday 11 September, Eurostar is unable to operate any services today, Friday 12 September.
Until Eurotunnel and the emergency services have undertaken their assessment of the incident, Eurostar is unable to say when services will resume.
Eurostar must await permission from Eurotunnel before it is able to re-start operations.
Once the single tunnel that is unaffected by the fire is re-opened, Eurostar hopes to begin a limited service with longer journey times.
Eurostar is therefore advising all travellers who hold Eurostar tickets for today, Saturday 13 September and Sunday 14 September that they should seek alternative means of making their journeys.
Travellers holding tickets for travel today, Saturday and Sunday are also able to exchange their tickets for travel at a later date, or get a full refund.
Eurostar will issue a further update when more information becomes available.
-ends-
Somewhat disingenuously Eurostar claims this is an "update".
The last press release from the company was on Wednesday afternoon and concerned bikes on trains!
National Express loathes Open Access Operators and would do almost anything to stop Hull Trains and Grand Central services running on the East Coast Mainline.
Recent tactics include retail staff at Kings Cross (employed by National Express) telling passengers that the operator of a rival service had gone bust (not so) and changing the validity of previously open First Class tickets so that they can only be used on National Express East Coast (NEEC) services.
However, NEEC's arrogance may well be its downfall if recent events are anything to go by.
On Sunday Network Rail closed the East Coast Mainline between Stevenage and Peterborough for planned engineering works.
Whilst the two open access operators on the route continued to serve London (via Cambridge) National Express couldn't be arsed, preferring to use generous Network Rail compensation payments to buy in rail replacement services from its own bus and coach divisions.
Alas the bus operation turned into a complete shambles, leaving hundreds of passengers milling around stations as NEEC platform staff went to ground.
With the plan unraveling canny train-crew on Anglo-Scottish shuttles told passengers that Open Access services to London would be a better bet.
As many of these passengers had been sold NEEC-only tickets there were near riots at York and Doncaster as National Express customers tried to clamber aboard the already full trains of other operators.
With no platform staff in evidence and the situation fast deteriorating the Boys in Blue were finally called; after of course significant delay minutes had been recorded by both Open Access operators.
NEEC has yet to apologise.
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