Pointless signs - XC misses the point!

Eye salutes the crew of 1V50 (or possibly 1Z50).


Clear, concise and relevant information displayed.

And the technology did not get the better.

Good effort!

Golden Aerial awards - nominations requested

There is an open letter to Arriva Cross Country's MD over at John Popham's blog, with a bowler tip to @watfordgap.

In the letter John bemoans the lack of connectivity aboard Arriva Cross Country's Voyager fleet.

And he politely suggests that Arriva Cross Country "consider introducing signal boosters into Voyager carriages."

Now the Fact Compiler has used XC's Voyagers on numerous occasions and to be honest, he found them particularly good for both phone and mobile broadband connectivity.

At least they were, until a couple of weeks ago when they become as connectivity friendly as the dreaded Meridians and Desiros.

So John has a very good point, but it's not a problem that is restricted to Arriva Cross Country.

With this in mind Eye invites readers to suggest the best and worst TOC fleets for mobile working.

Eye will then award Golden Aerials to the best connected fleet (free wifi), Silver Aerials (paid for or no WiFi but your own kit can still pick up a signal) and Bent Aerials (train made of lead).

Eye's starter for 10:

Golden Aerials (free wifi)

• East Coast (HSTs and IC225s)
• Grand Central (HSTs)
• Heathrow Express (332s)
• Virgin (Pendolini - First Class Only)
• Wrexham and Shropshire (only on refurbished sets)
  

Silver Aerials (I can connect!)

• Arriva XC (HSTs)
• C2C (Electrostar 357)
• Charter Operators (Mk1s and Mk2s are pretty good)
  
• EMT (HSTs)
• FCC (319s)
• First Great Western (HSTs)
  
• Northern (14x & 15x fleets do connectivity)
  
• Southern (377s)
• South West Trains (159s)
  
• Virgin (Voyagers)

Bent Aerials (if the bomb drops I want to be sitting here)

• Arriva XC (Voyagers)
• EMT (Meridians)
• SWT (Desiros)
• Virgin (Pendolini - Standard Class)

Eye welcomes any additional contributions and suggested regradings.

UPDATE: This, via Twitter, from @SWLines...

Don't forget @WrexShropRail have free WiFi in all classes on all the refurbished sets. Dunno how many unrefurb left, though.

And you may care to point out that Arriva Cross Country promised WiFi in all Voyager and HST trains by 11th November 2009 (2 years into the franchise).

And so they did - naughty Arriva Cross Country! I wonder what the supine Department for Transport plan to do about that broken franchise promise?

UPDATE: This, via Twitter, from @Richard_Baker...

All virgin trains have orange signal boosters I think.

UPDATE: This from a Mr Willis...

I'd like to nominate First Great Western (HSTs) for a silver aerial - at least for most of the route between Paddington and Oxford.

There's a black hole somewhere in the Cholsey Gap...

UPDATE: This from Pendolino Warrior...

Phew,home at last and able to communicate with the world......reliably.

Virgin Wifi is slow and unreliable. It just can't take the demand placed upon it.

Effectively it ticks the box for Wifi on trains but does little more. It is provided by TMobile and can be very Germanic...


General Error advances west.

UPDATE: This, via Twitter, from @AMonkster...

As for dongles, c2c route fairly friendly.

Blackspots at Limehouse, East Ham, Dunton Bank and just west of Southend Central.

357014 is pilot free T-Mobile Hotspot. 357034 has trial signal dampener in the Quiet Zone to reduce no. of bars reception.

UPDATE: This, via Twitter, from @SWLines...

AFAICT XC ripped out boosters upon the franchise change as all stickers disappeared, instead of having VT reference removed.

UPDATE: This from Billy Connections...

Of course the East Coast WiFi is "first generation" with remarkably low data speeds and regular disconnections.

DOR "wonder-woman" Elaine Holt says one of her first priorities is to get it upgraded - but don't expect it to remain free of charge for Standard Class passengers.

Meanwhile over at Virgin people are finding better reception and less drop-outs on its SuperVoyagers.

Veteran operator Chris Gibb says this is because his 221s have a dedicated receiver for every vehicle, whilst the Pendolinos share fewer receivers and the signal, especially north of Crewe, gets lost more easily.

Finally WSMR may have free WiFi, but logging on requires the inputting of an email address and contact details.

Give it a couple of days and the mailshots will start arriving in your in-box... shameless!

UPDATE: This from Murray...

RE East Coast (HSTs and IC225s) - it may be free, but have you tried using it?

It is slow at the best of times, but on my last journey it crapped out at least six times between Edinburgh and London.

In most cases it was much faster to use my iphone & 3G even when the train wifi was "working".

You get what you pay for.

Credit where credit's due

This just in from Driver Potter...

Perchance GNER is not dead, it does but slumber.

Potter, having attended his brothers wedding in Newcastle this last weekend, travelled to Kings Cross on the 15:50 Up service (1A53?) on Sunday.

I was astonished. If you believe the wibbling anoraks masses, NXEC have all but abandoned customer service. Potter begs to differ. The staff were nothing short of exemplary; prompt, courteous and all questions answered quickly with a smile.

I once mourned the loss of GNER - the blue and red, "Route of the Flying Scotsman", named locomotives and staff with pride. Now I see that perhaps I was wrong to worry.

All NXEC have done is change the livery and the uniforms; the pride remains unchanged. And even not knowing what the future brings has not dented the professionalism on the East Coast.

FC, would you be good enough to post this on your rather fine site? We hear enough wibble about poor customer service. Fine efforts should not go unsung; especially from staff who face an uncertain few months ahead.

South Eastern shows a caring side

This just in from from Our Man in Bradway Tunnel...

Nice to see that there are still youngsters who are excited by the railway.

This from the BBC...

"The parents of a boy who has run away to try to catch a train have asked railway staff to put up warning posters to stop him getting into danger."

I note the young gentleman has tried to buy a ticket to leave Marden.

Can't say I blame him.

It's heartening to read this, though:

"Railway staff at stations all along the line from Tonbridge to Ashford now have pictures of Toby to help them keep a lookout for him should he try to get on a train again."

A bowler tip to staff on South Eastern - clearly they are taking their duty to their passengers seriously.

Here's to Daz & Kev

Telegrammed by our Independent Expert
After yesterday's WCML pasting by the media, here's the good news you won't hear on the Beeb or in the Mail.

Tonight's 17:58 Preston to Euston departs without catering crew to serve busy first class.

Train manager takes over the job himself and serves food and drink with charm and grace in between collecting tickets.

Well done Daz - and Kev from the shop.

This is Beardie Rail at it's best.

Let's hope Christmas bonuses are on their way!

Humble pie

Seen in the letters page of today's Daily Telegraph:

"Service with a smile

When I travelled by train from London Paddington to Kingham station on August 19, I stupidly alighted without my umbrella.

A guard noticed me trying to return to the coach to retrieve my possession and explained that this would cause a delay. She suggested that if I stood on the platform on the following day at the same time and at the same spot, she would endeavour to find my umbrella and hand it to me.

Without really believing this amazing promise, I drove to Kingham station the following day and waited on the empty platform. The 18.44 train arrived and the passengers alighted. As they left the platform I was seemingly left alone.

Then, through the train door window, I was beckoned by a different guard who asked me whether I was looking for my umbrella. It was returned to me with a wonderful smile and my joy was clear for him to see.

I feel that this incredible gesture of goodwill deserves an accolade for First Great Western and its staff, who are clearly making welcome improvements to its service.

Geoffrey Maitland Smith, Fifield, Oxfordshire"

It would appear that the spirit of the Great Western lives on...