After Worst Group - Craptrain!

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Hot news from across the Channel (if you can get there, qv Eurostar)!

SNCF has finally recognised what its customers think about the standard of its freight services.

Its Transport & Logistics business SNCF Geodis has announced that it is consolidating its international operations under a single brand – Craptrain (shurely shome mistake – Ed).

The new Captrain brand is intended to bring together the former Veolia Cargo operations in Benelux, Germany and Italy with previously-acquired ITL Benelux and SNCF’s own subsidiaries in those markets, plus Freight Europe UK and VFLI Romania.

Within the single brand, there will still be five regional businesses:

• Captrain Benelux
• Captrain Deutschland
• Captrain Italia
• Captrain Romania
• Captrain UK

All we need now is some new Napier-engined Class 66s, and we can have Craptrain Deltic!

Pudsey overlooked in great East Coast giveaway - Shocker

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With apologies to the BBC, but isn’t his Lordship out by a week in his timing?

Surely it’s next Friday night (November 20) when UK taxpayers are traditionally invited to dig deep in their pockets and give generously for charitable causes?


Not that last year’s £28m would go far in filling the bottomless pit formerly known as NXEC.

UPDATE: This from J Alfred Prufrock...

Oh, I don't know.

£25 million would probably top up DOR East Coast's revenue shortfall for almost the next four months, now that NXEC's £40 million has gone.

A summer Saturday enlightened by Lady Theresa of Chipping Barnet

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Shadow Transport Secretary, Theresa Villiers wastes no time in jumping onto the bandwagon following the Transport Select Committee’s report which “found massive failings in the way our railways are run”.

Into the in-box thunders an indignant statement which underlines that the report is “scathing about the way Labour has run the rail franchising system. The Government has failed to tackle the problems on our railways, creating a franchise system which resorts to pricing passengers off the railway to deal with overcrowding. Labour's approach has been so flawed as to contribute to not just one but two failures on the same line.”

Maybe someone should have a quiet word to remind the fragrant lady just who it was that introduced passenger franchising to the UK rail sector in the first place.

Or maybe sending out a press release at mid-day on a warm sunny Saturday just as the Parliamentary recess begins is all part of her cunning plan to ensure that no-one who remembers the facts will actually notice!

No matter..

All will be well, and all will be well and all manner of things shall be well, prophesied the saintly Lady Julian of Norwich.

Theresa obviously shares this view: "A future Conservative Government would prioritise value for money on our railways. We would put the interests of passengers first, lengthen rail franchises and reform Network Rail to ensure taxpayers and fare-payers alike get the most from our railways."

Eye just can’t wait…

Road to nowhere

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At Thursday night's DafT press soiree Adonis confirmed that he is indeed looking to follow up the Pilgrimage of Grice with further explorations of Britain’s transport system.

As the Noble Lord hasn't yet joined the 82% of the Upper House that qualifies for free bus travel it seems unlikely that he will attempt the Lands End to John o’Groats record yet.

However, he is planning to mark the contract for the last stage of the M25 widening by driving all the way round – or perhaps being driven?

Asked how long he expected the trip to take, Adonis said he thought it could be done "in a couple of hours".

So clearly he isn’t planning to sample the joys of either Heathrow or Dartford in the rush hour.

UPDATE: This from Captain Deltic...

Perhaps The Noble Lord is planning to ride pillion behind Richard Hammond of BBC's Top Gear on a Vincent Black Shadow motor-cycle.