Railway shows off the Big Society in action

This from Eye follower the Master Draper...

Last Friday I temporarily abandoned my City duties to travel out to the Cliffs Pavilion, Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend for the sixth annual Community Rail Awards held by the Association of Community and Rail Partnerships.

It now follows on from the National Rail Awards of the previous week but they could not be more different in style.

The National Rail Awards, rightly, focuses on big business and is a glitzy celebration of the industry as its best.

The Community Rail Awards recognises a deeper, more umbilical, relationship between the people and their railways.

The awards recognise those unsung thousands who voluntarily give their time to care for, promote and enhance their local railways - railways which act as a life line to the communities they serve.

Alongside these unsung heroes were elected representatives, local businesses and those within the industry who go out of their way to nurture these growing relationships so that rail can continue to remain at the heart of local communities.

Compared with the production values of a Park Lane event this was a lot less lavish but it was, in the true spirit of community rail, a fun evening staged by an enthusiastic and able team who put on a professional show with a Value For Money budget.

Your correspondent was delighted to see that Network Rail had kindly sponsored the 'Best Station Garden or Floral Display' award category. Sadly none of those shortlisted would have been suitable for Eye's Railway Garden Competition so clearly the message is getting through!

Overall a wonderful evening with Neil Buxton and his willing band of helpers making the evening a huge success. Showing yet again that ACoRP can shine a light on how railways and the community can cost-effectively work together.

I know that the Secretary of State is very busy at present but had he been able to spare the time I think he would have found it an educative and heart-warming evening.

He could then have boasted to his cabinet colleagues that he had seen the 'Big Society’ in action!

Vulture spikes... unstuck!

This from The Cynic...

You may be interested to learn that the Vulture Spikes on the York station clock, which Eye featured earlier this month, have now mysteriously disappeared!



As you can see, they haven't touched up the paintwork where the glue has been pulled off!


You may also be interested to know that the Starbucks kiosk is currently still in situ in the foyer, this despite York City Council winning an appeal to have it removed from the entrance hall.


Will we be seeing an elite hit squad from the City Council coming to banish it in the near future?

UPDATE: This from King Henry...

Nice to see our clock featured again in (nearly) all its glory.

Following the original pictures revealed on Eye I asked the City Council if permission had been sought for the spikes.

Evidently not, since they soon despatched their 'Enforcement' heavies.

As for Starbucks, I am told that "the Inspector did not rule out the possibility of a smaller bespoke unit provided it was sympathetic to the character of the outer concourse. It is up to [East Coast] to come forward with a solution in a 'reasonable' time period. We [the Council] have our eyes on the matter."

Achilles well heeled whilst supply chain unshod

This from Hero of Troy...

Whilst the government demands ever greater efficiencies from the industry one particular supplier is making hay whilst the sun shines.

Welcome to Achilles Link-up, the monopoly that suppliers to Network Rail have to register with to supply goods and services into the company.

Plainly imbued with the spirit of the age Achilles have just announced a whopping 16% increase in fees that suppliers must pay to register their products or services on the Link-up system from October.

Achilles service director Andy Harrison claimed the price increase would help simplify the system!

After all, says Harrison, “it was not increased last year and Industry should recognise that fully implementing Link-up as a supplier selection tool will generate savings”.

With Achilles exhibiting such bare faced cheek most suppliers now know exactly how Deidamia felt.

UPDATE: This from The Archer...

With RISAS slowly but surely gaining Industry momentum I wonder if it's time for Achilles to come to heel?

Poetry Corner - Changes at First

Clarence Spad writes disconsolately...

Among my close friends on Reading Station friends there is unalloyed sadness that Sir Moir Lockhead, great helmsman of First Group's rise from Grampia, I think it is called, is standing down after twenty-one years of unequalled leadership.

Sonia Alarp, that, of course, is not her real name but one she has assumed for her new life of freedom on Reading Station says his love of animals is particularly heartwarming especially towards badgers and greyhounds.

We were particularly upset when we heard of a report by Arbuthnot, who we think are private bankers in London, saying it was time he should go and that First Group needing sorting out.

Anyone who observes First Group today could not possibly want to believe this. We are sure Tim O'Toole will not find this to be the case

TWO STANZAS ON CHANGES IN FIRST GROUP

Stanza the First (Group)

So farewell then Sir Moir
You are still so young, so craggy yet debonair
On your 65th birthday (Refer to I June posting) we hoped you would stay for ever
Just like Kim Jong Il of North Korea
But now you are both going
I suppose you (but not Kim Jong Il)
Will now retire to your farm near Aberdeen
And every time you look at your herd of cattle
You might be reminded of your former passengers.

STANZA THE SECOND

Lines re-welcoming Tim O'Toole to First Group (see my previous Opus)

A re-welcome then Tim O'Toole
It is rumoured that in the past few days
You have been humming Roy Clark's catchy
'Thank God and Greyhound You're Gone'
But I cannot believe this is true.

Will this do?

UPDATE: This from a Mr Burns...

Looking at Rail-News.com this morning, it looks like Sir Moir has already stepped down.


Does the stock market know?

Railway Gazette offers free iPhone app

This from @Railwaygazette, via Twitter...

Posted at 18:47ish:

We've reached a 1000 followers... Thanks everyone! Anyone with an iPhone can download our new app on iTunes free for the next 24 hours!

Cool!

Downloaded, let's see how it works...

CSR - It ain't over till the fat lady sings

On Friday Wolmar delivered a powerful scoop.

He claimed that Petrol-head had signed off the DfT's reduced budget and would be joining Star Chamber, pronouncing on the departmental budgets of fellow ministers.

Interestingly the Treasury today confirmed that five Whitehall departments have reached agreement on spending cuts: Treasury, Cabinet Office, Foreign Office, Environment and Communities.

Now transport isn't on the list.

Which means one of two things.

Either the Treasury is trickling out the information - saving the 'good' transport news for later...

Or there are still some in DafT fighting a rear-guard action to preserve some semblance of a transport budget post 20th October.

Eye hopes it's the latter and encourages those fighting to preserve the shape of today's railway to redouble their efforts!

UPDATE: This just in from Wolmar...

I'd just like to make the following comment on the above:

My new book, Engines of War, will be launched with a lecture at the German Gymnasium, Pancras Road next to St Pancras, on the evening of Tuesday September 28th at a charity event in aid of the Railway Children.

Just turn up on the day at 18:00 for 18:30 or for advance tickets visit the Railway Children website or just call 01270 757596.

Frankly the Eye will be glad when he's delivered this. Please sign up, it's for a very worthy cause.

DB fails to finish race it never started

It rather looks as if our Teutonic friends are behaving in typically high handed fashion!

Much huffing and puffing from DB's Chief Executive, Rüdiger Grube, who claimed on the BBC Today programme yesterday that "safety bureaucracy" was preventing ICE3 trains operating between London and Frankfurt in time for the Olympics.

But what's this?

According to the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority DB hasn't even submitted a request to operate through the Chunnel yet!

Richard Clifton, the head of the UK delegation said “I cannot understand any statement that what is holding up his service is safety procedures relating to the Channel tunnel”.

Clifton claimed that once a request was received it could be dealt with in a couple of months.

Clearly DB is softening up the market for another 'great betrayal' myth when the much trumpeted service fails to start.

Railway Garden Competition - Paris Nord

These pictures taken at the southern end of the Eurostar branch by Herb Aceous...



Taken as I prepared to board the 18:13 to St Pancras on the 13th September.

Nationalised railways flex their muscles...

This from Rose Hill...

In the very week that the European Commission publishes its Recast of the First Railway Package, is it any co-incidence that ATOC publishes its proposals to re-monopolise the UK rail sector?

Around a third of UK franchises are now owned, or partly owned by European state owned railway companies, who make no secret of their dislike of liberalisation.

Imagine the joy if the UK turned its back on it after all and went back to those heady days when we all worked together in a single company in a low cost, cheap and cheerful, kind of way.

Except of course there would have to be more regional companies now – a German one, a French one, a Dutch one and so on.

Of course that would be ok, because they’re all used to working together.

The French and German governments in fact met recently to discuss their opposition to the Recast and by sheer chance, SNCF have now discovered that it will be far too expensive to operate passenger trains in Germany after all. Just fancy that!

Mind you, at least the state owned passenger operators have extensive experience of managing track and signalling, unlike the bus companies who run the other two thirds of the franchises…

Time for slimed down Regulation?

This from Eunoia...

Served on a silver platter courtesy of BBC, Panorama and inevitably some terribly overpaid public sector workers you may wish to take a look at the Public Sector Pay database available on the BBC website.

It reveals that the 17th highest paid member of 'Ministerial Government' is none other than Dr Mike Mitchell of DafT, weighing in at a princely £202,000.

Not to be outdone however, the Office of Rail Regulation fires its opening salvo in the category of 'Non-Ministerial Government' at number 19, with only £175,000, a pitiful amount being taken home by Bill Emery, the Chief Exec.

But it doesn't stop there - ORR then churns out an impressive list of plus-£100k salaries:

at 50, £130,000 belonging to Juliet Lazarus, Director of Legal Services;
at 56, £125,000 belonging to Michael Beswick, Director of Rail Policy;
at 59, £122,500 belonging to Ian Prosser, Director of Rail Safety;
at 60, £122,500 belonging to Anna Walker, Chair (the Beeb handily notes she only need clock in 3 times a week);
at 62, £120,000 belonging to Lynda Rollason, Director of Corporate Services;
at 63, £120,000 belonging to John Roberts, Director of Rail Markets and Economics;
at 85, £115,000 belonging to Michael Lee, Director of Rail Performance and Planning;
and at 92, £110,000 goes home with Lynda Williams, Chief Inspector of Railways.

Exhausting, non?

Strangely ORR seems to rate Corporate Services more highly than Performance and Planning - which doesn't seem right.

With the rest of the industry tightening its collective belt it will be interesting to see what savings the ORR will make come 20th October...

HS2 - Nimbyism alive and well in the 'nasty' party!

This from Channel 4 News...

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond faces protesters who are campaigning against the new London to Birmingham high speed rail line route.

Channel 4 News Political Correspondent Cathy Newman has learnt that at least two ministers may resign if the route is not changed.

Welcome to the New Politics or, in old money, Nimbyism.

Forget the LibDems tearing the coalition government apart - clearly the Tories are more than competent enough to do this on their own.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, probably best to wait till the 20th October when the whole HS2 thing will be declared unaffordable.

So all in all a non-story.

Poetry corner - Clarence Spad resurgans!

This just in from Clarence Spad, Life President of the Young Railway Poets Society...

I am just back from being the Young Railway Poet in residence at the summer-long Belarus Fraternal Festival of Vertically Integrated Railways held at the famous freight yards in Minsk where I was most honoured to be asked to write a poem by Premier of Belarus, Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko, no less

Lines on the proposal by Anatoly Siva, head of Belarusian Railways suggesting that Kazakhstan switch to common rail freight tariffs with Belarus and Russia.

'Oh mighty railways of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russia Federation
Bonds of steel, sinews of trade, muscles of cultural solidarity, veins of history, bones of grandeur
Why do you not have the same rail freight tariffs?'

I am told it translates very well in to Russian and even rhymes in part.

I have to admit I was a bit lonely at Minsk because UK national railways are, rightly, banned from the festival.

There was someone from LUL but whenever he talked about Boris everyone asked whether a miracle had taken place and Mr Yeltsin had risen from the dead and become Mayor of London.
Any attempt to say this was not the case was met with utter disbelief.

Anyway, you can imagine my surprise on returning to Reading Station to see that someone has written a poem in my name about the esteemed Doctor Mike Mitchell no longer having a job.

I am told this is incorrect information as a friend of Mark Hopwood who also knows everyone at First Group says that the Doctor was at a top table at the National Rail Awards last Thursday.

Surely this must mean he still has a job?

Lines on Dr Mike Not Getting The Sack

'It is the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain
When we remember brave men who saved their country
There is a man today in Whitehall doing the same
For our railway industry
But he is not the same as those pilots of yesteryear
Because he occasionally wears a beard.'

PS My close circle of friends on Reading Station are most concerned that we have not been consulted about Reading station redevelopment. It all seems to be rushed through without the thought of the consequences.

All the new platforms will be most confusing and the daily miracles, and sometimes source of sardonic amusement, that are Platforms 4 and 5 will disappear.

Railway Garden Competition - Leamington caped

This from BB...

Following the sabotaging of Wolverhampton's Railway Garden entry, perhaps you can find space for this particular effort to make my small corner of the railway kingdom look rather less shabby?


The Fact Compiler is impressed - good effort!

Is there any news on the buddleia that once used to straddle the bridge abutments at Leamington Spa?

Pointless signs - Bristol Temple Meads

This from the Wicked Weaver...

Bristol Temple Meads still has space for yet more signs.

My colleague pointed out this recent addition, adorning the subway, which specifically states "hold handrails" (plural).



Here he struggles to comply.

Exciting new PPE kit for the Ladies

This from the Commander...

After the risk-averse culture requiring track visitors to wear all-over orange including trousers, necessitating the long-ago prophesied collection of useless data such as inside-leg measurement, we now have the same for our female colleagues.

I am agreeably surprised that the original specification of ‘safety’ footwear has been subject to a partial derogation in this instance, and that the prohibition on the wearing of short trousers on the track has also been allowed to lapse.

The below is from page 20 of the recently issued September edition of Railstaff.

From the report on the Liverpool Rail Plant Show, the caption reads:

“And finally, full marks to Sharesh from Universal. When she was told to wear full-orange for the day she quite naturally put on her orange miniskirt and high heels.”

Naturally!

First for walking by on the other side...

Oh dear!

This from the BBC...

Staff at a rail company gave no medical assistance to a commuter who collapsed, it has emerged.

The man collapsed three weeks ago at St Albans station on a line into London run by First Capital Connect.

But bystanders were forced to give medical help. The company later said even if staff were trained, they were only permitted to help other employees.

Eye wonders whether there is a chapter on rendering assistance to stricken fare payers in Sir Moir's lovely book?

"Moving people is what we do best" claims First.

Perhaps not.

UPDATE: This from the First Capital Connect press office...

I think the piece above about FCC may need a bit of first aid of its own.

It was an FCC staff member who initially was so concerned about the customer's state of health that he encouraged him to leave a train early at St Albans so he could get assistance. He should be commended not derided.

When the customer subsequently collapsed, staff and other passengers made sure the individual was as comfortable as possible while we called an ambulance and made an announcement for any doctor that may have been on the station at the time.

Staff trained in first aid can give assistance to customers, but there was not one available at the time so the guys on the ground did exactly what they're trained to do - they called the paramedics who arrived within 7 minutes.

Having said that, we know we're not perfect so our MD has met the lady who made the complaint to see how we can do things better.

RMT flies the flag for Britain!

Good to see the RMT standing up for the Brits!

A RMT spokesman has demanded an apology from Stena lines after a director of the Dutch company, which now operates the former Sealink Harwich - Hook route, called British workers "fat and covered in tattoos".

Eye wonders if he had anyone particular in mind?

UPDATE: This from the Velopodist...

I was fascinated to learn of a new entrant to the ferry market, a Dutch company called Stena Lines.

Are they in any way connected to Stena Line, the Gothenburg-based Swedish company?

The Fact Compiler responds - Fair, ferry fair.

Lookalike - lowering the standard?

Exciting news for Eye's readers at Innotrans in Berlin!

The new ERTMS Logo is going to be officially launched on Tuesday 16h30 at the InnoTrans, Hall 4.2, (UNIFE) Stand 120 - you are cordially invited to participate!

For those unable to attend here it is...

At least someone has a sense of irony.

UPDATE: This, unbelievably, from Prof Stephen Hawkins...

Am I alone in seeing a strong similarity between the new ERTMS logo and a diagrammatic representation of an object falling into a black hole?

A sense of irony indeed!!

UPDATE: This from Inspector Blakey...

I don't think it was the famous theoretical physicist and cosmologist who contacted you.

He spells his surname Hawking.

Must be another expert on black holes out there with a confusingly similar name...

UPDATE: This from Chionanthus virginicus...

Clearly The Fact Compiler has spent too long on the cushions.

Had he spent anytime up-front he would know exactly what the new ERTMS logo looks like...

Been there, seen that, nothing new under the Sunflower!

Villiers vignettes... there may be troubles ahead...

Has the Saviour of the Jammy Dodger turned against Rail Barbie?

This from a House of Commons debate on the 15th September 2010:

Theresa Villiers (Minister of State (Rail and Aviation), Transport; Chipping Barnet, Conservative): That franchise experienced significant disruption between October 2009 and January of this year. That was largely caused by industrial action, and Thameslink services were the worst affected. However, there were also problems on the Great Northern line, which serves Enfield.

It was particularly regrettable that action by drivers meant that no trains ran on Remembrance Sunday last year on the suburban Great Northern line services.

I am relieved that the problems that led to that disruption have gone away for the moment, and that First Capital Connect's overall public performance measure has recovered to reach the levels prevailing prior to that episode.

Eye thinks we should be told.

PMs IEP phone call - Exclusive transcript!

As Eye readers are no doubt aware Hitachi has been carrying out a vigorous lobbying campaign to rescue the doomed IEP.

Even the Japanese prime-minister, Naoto Kan, has been pressed into service, phoning David Cameron to try and save the order

According to Saturday's FT:

Phil Wilson Labour MP for Sedgefield, said "Talks have taken place between our prime minister and the prime minister of Japan because the issue is so important for bilateral relations."

Fortunately Railway Eye's man in Whitehall, retired top Mandarin Sir Humphrey Beeching, has obtained a copy of the resulting Cabinet Office note.

Verbatim Minute of telephone conversation between:

Naoto Kan (PM-J)
DC (PM-UK)
PH (SoS-T) in attendance

PM-J said he had noted with approval the decision by the UK Government to endorse the superiority of Japanese railway technology by placing the order for the Intercity Express Programme with Hitachi.

However he was concerned to learn that the order was under threat.

PM-UK explained that in the current economic crisis affordability was paramount and the report by Andrew Foster focused on this issue. Hence the government's study of lower cost credible alternatives.

PM-J said it would be regrettable if short term financial decisions meant that the opportunity for the UK to return to the train building market was lost. The new factory would open up the European market to the Japan/UK joint venture.

SoS-T suggested that there might be resistance to sales of Japanese trains in Europe because the Japanese rolling stock market was closed to European manufacturers.

PM-J commented that this was was only to be expected given the inferiority of European rolling stock.

SoS-T said that this was not the UK's experience to-date.

PM-J offered to send the President of Hitachi to UK so that he could join the President (sic) of Network Rail in making humble formal apologies to travellers at Ashford and London for the inferior track which had prevent Japanese rolling stock from demonstrating customary flawless operation. He was prepared to make this gesture because the IEP contract was so important to bi-lateral relations.

PM-UK said that he understood bi-lateral to mean two-way and wondered whether there was scope for reciprocity in other aspects of railway technology. He noted that Invensys had recently signed a deal with China to supply advanced signalling technology.

PM-J regretted that this was unlikely because NR had already invited Hitachi to apply superior Japanse signalling technology to solve problems with European Standard Signalling System (ERTMS?). However, he understood that British expertise in branding through bodyside vinyls was unrivalled and suggested a suppliers' mission should visit Japan at his personal invitation.

PM-UK closed the telecon by thanking the PM-J for his interest and assuring him that his comments would be given serious consideration.

Conversation ended.

UPDATE: This from Billy Connections...

I'm not convinced that the Japanese PM would have been quite so confident of his country's superior technology judging by this picture which I found underneath the Alstom table at the end of the National Rail Awards.

On the back was written: "Here is a proper high speed train - no wobbles. Japanese engineers must strive harder to meet European levels of excellence and reliability!"

Fortunately though, it made no mention of the unique aroma surrounding the vestibule area outside the loos.

UPDATE: This from Kendo Nagasaki...

Smell of seaweed in Pendolino vestibules makes Japanese tourists feel at home so no wonder train gets the thumbs up.

I always assumed it was typical of the attention to detail by Branson San.