Benedict Brogan, over at the Telegraph, asks if Gordon might go to the country on the 22nd April.
This to avoid the doom contained in the next round of GDP figures.
Adonis had better buy singles for his new Pilgrimage of Grice, just in case.
Has Lord Adonis his own headcode?
Eye revealed yesterday that a spare train shadowed Adonis when he travelled to York on Saturday.
Now we hear that the Pendolino on which he is currently travelling to Stockport was routed past two local trains after a track circuit failure outside Crewe.
On the privatised railway all trains are equal but evidently some passengers are more equal than others!
UPDATE: This from Lobby Fodder...
Looks like Adonis will soon be doomed to having his oflactory system bombarded by the smell of fresh paint wherever on the network he goes.
Lord Adonis is indeed a wag.
The Secretary of State is racing round the country, escorted by Captain Deltic no less, to highlight the 10 worst stations on the network - as identified by Messrs Hall & Green, official Stationers to Lord DafT Vader.
To celebrate this mini Pilgrimage of Grice the DafT website has some words, apparently crafted by the Noble Lord himself:
And yes, I am travelling around on another national Rover ticket to minimise the cost. I confess that this time it is First Class – at a cost of £650 for seven days – because it also had to get me to and from York on Saturday for the first day of the new nationalised East Coast service and it also needs to get me to and from the regional Cabinet meeting in Nottingham on Friday (with official papers intact.)
So not as good value as my last Standard Class Rover (then £375) – but not bad for a week of unlimited First Class travel across the rail network.
Last time I publicised these Rover tickets, the train companies put up the price immediately, so buy yours now to avoid disappointment.
Nice, with an appropriate dig at ATOC.
Speaking of which do we know whether ATOC's "1.1% average increase in rail fares" includes a further hike in the price of the All Line Rover?
UPDATE: This from Scotch Corner...
Interesting the number of Virgin West Coast stations in the top ten worst list (Crewe, Stockport, Preston, Wigan North Western & Warrington Bank Quay).
Especially as we could all mention worse ones.
But who authored the report?
Step forward Chris Green, former Chief Executive of errr... Virgin Trains!
UPDATE: The report by the Stationers to Lord DafT Vader can be downloaded here.
And the Government's response here.
UPDATE: This from Globetrotter..
I note that media reports about the worst stations emphasise the fact that none are in Scotland, where steps had apparently been taken to invest in station modernisation over many years.
Those of us with long memories may remember who started the ball rolling by installing Terazzo flooring at Inverness some 25 years ago ... a certain C**** G**** if I recall correctly...
Eye suspects that the silence on the state of Jockanese stations has more to do with transport North of the border being devolved to the Scottish Executive.
UPDATE: This from @swlines via Twitter...
RE: Price increases to the All Line Rover:
ATOC supposedly not releasing NFM 05 data until 30th Nov on FRPP/The Manual so we'll find out then!
Good to see that state owned East Coast Main Line has already overcome any rolling stock shortages.
Lord Adonis celebrated the start of nationalised East Coast Main Line by travelling to York on Saturday, aboard the 08:00 Kings Cross - Edinburgh (1S07) .
He then returned from York to London at 11:00 aboard 1E06.
Happily both journeys took place without incident.
But better to be safe than sorry.
As is evident from these two mysterious empty trains that also ran on Saturday
5Z07 08:04 Kings Cross – York
5Z06 10:55 York – Kings Cross (dep 11:02)
Eye wonders what on earth they were for?
Perhaps they were tasked with carrying the Noble Lord's official papers?
UPDATE: This from the Shunter...
The Noble Lord will soon be getting ideas above his station.
Not even Her Majesty the Queen has a 'spare' train in tow.
Telegrammed by the Globetrotter...
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.
Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Now that Lord Adonis is responsible for all transport, and not just railways, can we expect him to embark on a seven day coach tour of the British Isles?
No double Richard Bowker would sell him a pass to the National Express Coach network?
Or is the charabanc just too declasse?
An exciting new competition from the Eye!
Using your skill and judgement can you tell the biggest single difference between the following stations?
This from the Pilgrimage of Grice blog:
"Sheffield station is a real delight. It has been beautifully restored in recent years and has excellent retail and waiting facilities for passengers – open to a reasonable hour in the evening, unlike my recent experience at Southampton Central station."
Clue: One has barriers...
Telegrammed by Libby Fodder
Matthew Parris' piece in The Times yesterday on the Pilgrimage of Grice may be more telling than you realise.
It is rare for any transport minister to receive public plaudits and particularly unusual from these to come from someone as well plugged into the Westminster village as Parris.
As Parris pointed out, Adonis has a real passion for transport and genuinely loves the job. Who else would spend a week of their own time "on the cushions" actually meeting the great British public.
Adonis has impressed to date (apart of course from his peddling of the usual DafT deceits. Ed). And he numbers amongst his friends several key players on the opposition benches.
Indeed, in his previous role no less a figure than Tory Education spokesman Michael Gove said he'd happily keep him on under a Tory government!
Adonis has also been clever enough to avoid being drawn into the usual Westminster Punch and Judy show.
Of course he makes ritual attacks about how the Tories privatised the railways but even they now accept (the deranged Vulcan excepted) that Major's method of privatising BR was a disaster.
Clearly Adonis loves the job but could he survive a change of administration?
He already has form for crossing the House.
He started off as a LibDem before taking the new Labour shilling and once done it becomes habit forming - even Churchill managed to make a virtue of it.
Adonis is discreet about his aspirations but at the recent C4 Politics Awards he made it quite clear that he hoped his legacy would be bipartisan (or even tripartisan) support for high speed rail.
Were he to make the transition between administrations the benefits to the industry and transport as whole could be enormous. Allowing him to really develop a long term strategy.
It was Gordon Brown who made great play about producing a government of all the talents.
For Cameron it will be a necessity as we face the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.
He could do worse than calling on Adonis.
This from Matthew Parris in today's Times (with a bowler tip to Nigel Harris)
As a transport minister, Andrew Adonis is travelling the 2,000 miles of our rail network that he knows least, just to see what's going on. He plainly loves railways, but with technical knowledge and without sentimentality.
Why, after a change of government, can't we keep ministers who really care about their jobs?
If we had more Adonises in British politics, the fungus in Downing Street would never have spread.
That's his ministerial career over then.
***More from My Lord Adonis on his railway odyssey, courtesy of The Times***
UPDATE: These from Pete Waterman and Nigel Harris who were invited to accompany the Minister.
This from The Times...
No red signal when minister plays with train set
All aboard the Adonis Express. Frustrated commuters will get direct access to the Transport Minister next week when Lord Adonis embarks upon a railway voyage to criss-cross Britain in six days.
The Minister will board the Paddington to Truro sleeper service on Easter Monday, just one man, his laptop and a £375 standard class Rail Rover ticket. On Saturday he will arrive in York after a 1,500-mile Michael Palin-style trip, involving 45 trains and extensive knowledge of the timetable.
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