Get thee gone from this place!

The Fact Compiler was in danger of listening to the hype, almost believing that new Secretary of State for Transport, Geoff Hoon, was a good thing.

Unfortunately he now realises that this is bollocks - as evidenced by Hoon's fervent desire to erode further our freedoms.

As the Government had the cheek this week to freeze the UK funds of Icelandic banks, using anti-terror legislation, it might have been reasonable to assume that they would be too embarrassed to propose further restrictions on civil liberties (restrictions which would be equally vulnerable to misuse).

Alas Hoon, and those who share his desire to control and dominate their fellow citizens have no shame and certainly, ought not to be trusted.

Ministry of Truth

Is the National Audit Office now colluding in DafT's dishonest declarations about the amount of new rolling stock it has ordered?

According to the BBC it is:

"The NAO said 1,300 new train carriages had been ordered, and ministers say they are tackling passenger growth."

Poppycock!

Captain Deltic calculates that, "because of a combination of double counting and someone in DafT keying in 42 (for 24) the real total is only 1,156 vehicles".

He is of course an optimist!

Meanwhile it is disingenuous for the BBC to claim "ministers say they are tackling passenger growth" because none of these vehicles have been built yet!

So BBC - bias or balls-up?

Mad Cowes

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
According to a reader's letter in today's Daily Telegraph:

'In the 50 years of nationalised railways virtually no repair or maintenance was carried out and it took 10 years after privatisation and a mountain of money to bring them up to scratch'.

The writer lives in the Isle of Wight, and probably has restricted access to sharp implements.

Health warning

The Fact Compiler has received the following helpful information from a reader:

As there is a lot of meeting and greeting in the railway industry this news story is a salutary warning

Northerners have the dirtiest hands!

Those attending the NRM dinner on 23rd October may be well advised to wear latex gloves.

ECML delay

The chaos caused by Network Rail's publication of it's East Coast capacity assessment report continues unabated.

Latest to be hit by the mad scribblings of NR's timetable planners are those hoping for additional ECML paths in the December timetable.

ORR's announcement on who had won the paths was due at the end of October, but the regulatory body is now blaming the East Coast capacity assessment for its inability to reach a decision.

As yet no new date for this announcement has been set.

What was Network Rail thinking of?

Robson Jam

Telegrammed by The Raver

One of the non-executive directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland is none other than Sir Steve Robson.

 

Robson it will be remembered is the former senior Treasury mandarin who pushed for vertical disaggregation on the railways. 

 

Now he clearly did not do his job in trying to prevent RBS from overextending itself. 

 

Shockingly, the non-execs are surviving the purge of the RBS bosses because, apparently, there is a shortage of candidates. 

 

Surely there are more than enough competent and qualified bankers looking for lucrative part time jobs...

 

 

 

Renationalisation?

***An old timer speaks***

Freed

*** RMT demanding an apology from transport police after two track workers arrested in connection with the Grayrigg crash and kept under caution for eleven months were finally cleared today.***

Read the RMT release here

Kneel

Christian Wolmar has emailed to thank those Railway Eye readers who sponsored his half marathon on Sunday.

"I ran the half marathon in just over two hours - not bad for an old timer!" he writes.

Here is our man in action.

Judging by the marks on Wolmar's knees he left nothing to chance, beseeching the help of Higher Powers for his Sabbath breaking run.

Finn soup

Blogging MP Derek Wyatt has taken up the cudgels on behalf of his local heritage railway.

Railway Eye readers will recollect that the Sittingbourne Railway is threatened with closure by its Finnish landlords.

See Derek's update on progress here.

Further proof, if it were needed, of how the interweb can help MPs communicate not just with their constituents but also with those interested in particular topics or campaigns.

In space no one can hear you scream

A petition has been added to the No 10 website against the proposed withdrawal of rail services between Walsall and Wolverhampton.

It has been posted by Lee Fletcher, the moderator of the The First Great Western Coffee Shop Forum.

View the No 10 petition here.

The Fact Compiler doesn't hold out much hope that anyone at DafT will listen - but full marks for trying.

Quiet!

Is there a section in Debrett's Guide to Modern Manners that deals with this?

The Modern Dilemma

If it's not policed then it's not worth having. And who should do the policing - the passenger or the train crew?

I am not a number

The Fact Compiler has been asked to help with a survey on ticket machine use.

Normally this sort of request would be placed in the circular filing cabinet, under recycle.

However, just as the delete button was about to be fingered, a press release from Passenger Focus thudded into the inbox:

"South West Trains and Passenger Focus have today released research showing passengers are still queuing at ticket offices despite knowing that ticket machines are available.

Although 78% of people questioned in the survey said they had used ticket vending machines, a variety of reasons were highlighted for those who had not tried them including wanting a more personal service, being unable to get the ticket they required and not being sure how to use the machine."

Sounds like the wrong question was asked.

Therefore, Railway Eye readers may like to answer the right question which can be found at the I work for First Great Western website.

That should save FGW a couple of bob on research - which The Fact Compiler hopes they will put in the new train kitty.

Numbers

National Express East Coast is reporting much improved performance.

"Latest statistics covering four weeks to Sunday, October 12, show that for the first time since rail privatisation in 1996, National Express East Coast’s public performance measure (PPM) – the percentage of trains arriving at their destination within ten minutes of time – reached 91.2 per cent."

Good news!

Especially when we are hearing that a certain owner group is planning to announce swinging headcount reductions across all its franchises.

Railway Garden Competition #15

Off to the beautiful Derbyshire spa town of Buxton.

The Romans called the town “Aquae Arnemetiae” which translates as “The Waters of the Goddess of the Spring”.

And here are those self same waters - beautifully preserved by Network Rail.

Note the small oblations, lovingly gifted to the goddess, surrounding what once must have been the high altar.


Rumour has it that EWS will be refurbishing the station - and not a moment too soon.

Pips squeeking

So First Great Western has been cap in hand to the Department to renegotiate it's £1.1bn franchise

A freedom of information request, reported in today's Bristol Evening Post, reveals that the train operator is looking to reduce it's franchise premiums so it can obtain more rolling stock.

The Fact Compiler would like to know from where?

Mayor's diary

Telegrammed by The Raver
Boris was meeting the deputy mayor of Beijing, this morning, whose name is:

Mr Chen Gang.

We wonder how many people came with him!!

Sins of the father

Several pundits have pointed out that Geoff Hoon's father (and grandfather) worked on the railways.

The Fact Compiler is struggling to see how this is relevant to the job now in hand.

Take the case of bungling, back to basics philanderer and former Tory prime minister, John Major - the man who broke the railway.

Major's father had no political experience and worked in a circus.

Ah - now I begin to see your point!

Short changed

Before you ask - no we do not now own a Rosco.

The £37bn of our hard earned cash that Gordon is throwing at the profligate wankers (sic) will not see one Rosco returned to public ownership.

HSBC isn't supping with the devil, Porterbook is owned by Spanish bank Santander and Angel was flogged off by RBS to a consortia owned by Babcock and Brown earlier this year.

However, the Voyagers are partly owned by demic bank HBOS.

So today we can celebrate the return of a small part of the fleet to the public sector. Probably the bit by the vestibule areas where the constantly leaking loos make it smell of piss.

Road rail interface

Our North American cousins experience a little local difficulty with a road railer.



It would appear that incompetent contractors are not solely a UK phenomena.