Pointless signs - Llanelli's speaking clock

National shortage of trackside loos - Shocker!

Barrow Hill - Matey on Tour!

Yesterday saw the preview day for this weekend's Fab Four steam gala at Barrow Hill.

Joining kettles and other preserved traction on display was an HST, chartered from EMT, which had brought hundreds of visitors from the South East into the depot's own platform.

Meanwhile, a number of industry guests took the opportunity to conduct business during the event.

Here Brother Towell (for it is he), draws breath having just delivered a Social Media Masterclass to three senior Stagecoach executives.


Oh to have been a fly on the wall...

Railway rob-dogs gaoled

This from the Runcorn & Widnes World...

A GANG of metal thieves who posed as railway workers to steal redundant rail and fencing, have been jailed for a total of more than 21 years.

As PJ Woodhouse was fond of saying: 'without the option'.

And Quite. Right. Too!

New 11 car Pendolino welcomes passengers

This from SolwayVoyager...


As Eye might say: Shurely shome mishtake?

PM bangs the drum for Britain!

This from a Mr Levele Playing-Field...

Well, there's a surprise.

No one from the UK railway industry in iDave's sales tour to Japan and Asia.

Not even someone from Wimbledon Depot, offering consultancy on how to achieve high reliability from EMUs!

Devon & Cornwall up the heat on Kettle moves

Good news for Kettle fans!

There is now a third operator able to move steam locos around the network.

Today Devon & Cornwall Railways moved Tornado from the Nene Valley to Barrow Hill, for this weekend's Fab Four gala.

Despite some confusion about the non-passenger move, by those not selected for the job, Eye understands all went well and as per licence conditions.

No doubt Berlin, and of course Carnforth, welcome the competition?

Sealink resurrexit on the South Eastern

This from the Premier Gardner...

I thought it was just Sealink who displayed the BR logo this way round?


As they say proudly in East Sussex: 'Harwich for the Continent. Frant for Bells-Yew-Green'.

Eye exclusive - First picture of IEP!

With iDave busy cosying up to the Japanese this week, can it be long before white smoke emerges from Tokyo over the IEP?

Whilst almost universally loathed by the operating railway there are those who continue to wave the flag for the Incredibly Expensive Procurement (an extra-big hand please for Stu & Norm Bonkers).

Such is the enthusiasm of Marsham Street's very own Chuckle Brothers for the madcap scheme they appear to have prevailed upon the Treasury to procure the blessed things in tranches, judging by this from the DfT:

The Department hopes to reach financial close for the Great Western phase of the deal in spring 2012. Financial close for the East Coast phase of the IEP is scheduled for 2013.

Happily of course there is no hint that financial close will take place before bidders sign up for the new GW & EC franchises, as that would drive a coach and horses through Government undertakings that rolling stock decisions should be left to Train Operators rather than Whitehall.

No matter.

In happier news, a reader has sent in the following picture, which allegedly fell from between the pages of an old rail atlas.

Asking to remain anonymous she asks "Is this what I'm buying?"


Sort of Justine, sort of. Although what it ends up costing tax and fare payers is what you really ought to worry about...

UPDATE: This from a snarling Captain Deltic...

What do you mean 'almost'?

So. Farewell Beau Bowker!

Eye style guide update:

From: Satirical Nomenclature Bureau
To: All Railway Eye Contributors
Subject: Richard Bowker CBE

Please note that following the subject's resignation as Chief Executive, Etihad Rail he no longer falls under the Satirical Nomenclature/Literary Pastiche/PCWren/Foreign Legion SNB Classification.

As a result, and with immediate effect, the nom de gare 'Beau Bowker' has been withdrawn.

Pending a new appointment a temporary SNB Classificatioin has been allocated reflecting the subject's directorship of the Football League.

The new SNB Classification is Satirical Nomenclature/Boys' Comics/Sport/Football.

Therefore, and until further notice, Mr Bowker should now be referred to as 'Ricky of the Rovers'.

That is all.

Chiltern Railways & the Orchestra of the Swan

This is quite agreeable...



Good effort.

A big Eye welcome to Stoke-on-Trene!

Network Rail statement on Grayrigg

Network Rail has been fined £4m for health and safety breaches which resulted in the Grayrigg derailment.

This from Network Rail...

NETWORK RAIL STATEMENT ON GRAYRIGG CASE

Wednesday 04 Apr 2012 14:45

David Higgins, Network Rail chief executive, said: “The Grayrigg derailment in 2007 resulting in the tragic death of Mrs Masson was a terrible event. Within hours it was clear that the infrastructure was at fault and we accepted responsibility, so it is right that we have been fined. Nothing we can say or do will lessen the pain felt by Mrs Masson’s family but we will make the railways safer and strive to prevent such an accident ever happening again.

“We have learnt from the accident, determined to recognise what we got wrong and put it right. An event like this affects everyone in the company, and especially those with responsibility for the track. Since the accident, much has changed in the way we plan and carry out maintenance work with new systems put in place to improve the quality and safety of our railway which is why we now have one of the safest passenger railways in Europe.”

ENDS

Pointless signs - Greater Anglia

A reader writes...

This from another satisfied Eye reader...

Having seen the weather forecast for the coming week it would appear your ‘Pointless Signs – Banbury’ post of 30 March now looks a little silly.

Get a grip man!

London Overground abolishes timetables

This from http://jonhind.lightbox.com

Looks like London Overground have abandoned the timetable and decided just to tell us when they will give us a train.

This taken at West Hampstead:

No doubt getting rid of all that pesky timetable nonsense will stop passengers complaining about late trains?

UPDATE: This from a Mr JMG...

I think your comment on this is unfair.

Except for very late at night, London Overground is now a turn-up-and go railway and with all trains calling at all stations.

The conventional Network Rail display formats are too complicated and require unnecessary scrolling which means that key information is actually not displayed for much of the time - witness many platform screens taking three pages to show the details of the next train.

I do believe it is much more helpful for passengers to adopt the London Underground practice of showing destinations and minutes to arrival - mostly now for the next four trains - and I am pleased to see that LO (LooRoll, Ed) is progressively switching to this method.

Having said that, your photo clearly shows that there is more work to be done on the details.

This sign at West Hampstead - which looks as if it is located in the booking hall - clearly needs to be further reconfigured to show the two directions separately and to reduce the display from two pages to one so that the most important information (where is the next train going and how long to wait?) is in view all the time.

Railway Children invitation to Cycle India

This from Eye's friends at the Railway Children...


Cycle India takes place 8th to 17th November 2012.

It’s a 480km bike ride from the Taj Mahal to Jaipur.

On day 1 we’ll take you to visit one of Railway Children’s projects, a fantastic opportunity to see first-hand how your fundraising benefits the children. The next day you will move on to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal where you can explore the monument before your biking challenge begins.

Your bike will take you to more remote locations than most other modes of transport, bringing you in direct contact with the country and its people. Once in Rajasthan the region offers dramatic desert landscape, fantastic wildlife, exquisite forts, bustling cities and rural life that seems frozen in time.

Your ride ends in Rajasthan's capital city, Jaipur.

For more information: phone: 01270 757596 or email: events@railwaychildren.org.uk

EMT dismounts desk-jockeys

Let's hear it for a very brave East Midlands Trains!

According to EMT

East Midlands Trains will be closing the doors of its Derby Headquarters for the day on Thursday 5 April, with all of the company’s head office managers and staff getting back to the floor and working at stations and on trains to help passengers with the Easter getaway.

The initiative, which has been named ‘Day of the Customer’, is designed to provide extra support to passengers travelling on Maundy Thursday which is traditionally one of the busiest travelling days of the year.

David Horne, Managing Director for East Midlands Trains, said: “We’re all really looking forward to our first ‘Day of the Customer’ on Thursday. Since recently taking over as Managing Director, I’ve spent a lot of time working with our staff on the front-line to understand more about how we deliver the day-to-day service to our customers. It's really important that we see and experience things as our customers and front-line staff see them and we have to get out of the office to get this experience.

Now there's a dangerous precedent to set!

After all when doctors go on strike mortality rates drop by as much as 50%.

The worse case scenario is that no one even notices that the shiny-bums are missing!

What a saving in executive salaries that would notch up!

Pointless signs - Darlington

Good to see the state owned railway company resurrecting the 'Arrows of Indecision'.

FGW in 'shiver my timbers' Shocker

This from Cap'n Smith...

Alterations posted for Reading-Basingstoke over Easter, Jim Lad...


Aha me hearties!