Virgin offers animal petting as court date looms

As the date for Virgin's Judicial Review of the ICWC decision draws ever closer...

It is good to see that the needs of passengers are not being neglected. 

This from Virgin Trains...

Virgin Trains has joined forces with Staffordshire based animal education and therapy providers, Critterish Allsorts in a UK first to provide a pet therapy service at a railway station. The company will have a collection of animals available for commuters to sit with and pet. 

The idea is to give rail travellers a chance to unwind after their long journeys and busy working days, before the next leg of their journey. 

This will hopefully lead to calmer onward journeys for all of those that take the time to join in.

Eye wonders if Dodos will be on offer for stressed Virgin execs? 

Merseyrail has twitter meltdown

This from Globetrotter...

Has Merseyrail had a twitter meltdown?

After assuring followers that everything was running normally a strange string of messages appeared:

Initially there was no indication of which line, which services or even which stations might be affected.

Presumably the final message, signing off for the day, was because someone needed a lie down in a darkened room?

Virgin gets its day in court!

So purveyors of popcorn are in for a bumper month of sales!

Last Friday saw a pre-hearing for Virgin's application for a Judicial Review into the process behind the InterCity West Coast franchise award.

M'learned friends are expected to square up in court on the 17th or 18th of this month, with legal debates expected to last a number of days.

Hopefully all interested parties will remember that this Thursday is the cut off point for submitting evidence...

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

As no doubt the wheels of Justice will take many months to turn, DOR must now be a shoe-in for running InterCity West Coast from the 9th December.

Unless of course the newly emboldened ORR objects... 

NRESballs - Heroic travel tweet

This from Dr Strabismus...

The scenic route?

ORR blows raspberry at Marsham Street

As is well known the dead statist hands of mandarins at Marsham Street are doing their level best to kill off competition on the railways.

This of course comes as no surprise, as the control-freaks of Great Minster House have zero control over Open Access Operators, preferring to see paths granted to their own nationalised Directly Operated Railways or indeed the running dog Owner Groups bidding for franchises.

So bad news for Open Access Operators and of course passengers, who regularly score companies like Grand Central or Hull Trains much more highly in satisfaction surveys then their franchised peers.

But what's this?

Despite Rutman and La Greening having issued new directions and guidance telling ORR to squish Open Access aspirations (Eye passim) the plucky ORR issued the following on the 21st September in respect of Grand Central's desire to run additional services to the North East:

69. Clearly, the introduction of the proposed services would have a number of benefits for existing passengers, would promote the use of the network and would promote competition. It would also allow Grand Central to make more efficient use of its existing rolling stock, and plan its business accordingly. However, it would run contrary to the general guidance issued by the Secretary of State and would impact on the funds available to the Secretary of State, and would be unlikely to improve railway performance.

70. Where, as in this case, our duties do not all point in the same direction we are required to balance them. In particular, where the benefits to passengers of new competing services on the one hand are offset on the other by a negative impact on the funds available to the Secretary of State, we use the NPA test in order to help us strike the appropriate balance. As indicated above, this application passes the test. We therefore have decided to approve the application.

Who would have thought such bravery and independence existed in Kemble Street? 

No doubt Price and Co have been subjected to number of meetings with the new Secretary of State, sans coffee!

A bad case of mistaken identity?

This from The Tea Boy...

Those arriving for the ATOC Integrated Transport Conference in Manchester on Thursday were surprised to see a practice run for next week's Labour Party Conference, and the Scrap McNulty campaigns of RMT and TSSA.  

This welcoming committee must have been a particular surprise for one John McNulty, former head of Interchange Integration at TfL, who turned up to make one of the presentations.

Unfortunately the protestors also missed the minister!

Norman Baker's keynote speech was scheduled less conventionally for the close of the morning session rather than the opening address. This allowed Stormin' Norman to miss both the 'red-eye' from Euston and the Brothers, as they had packed up and gone before he arrived.

Still, better luck next week?

A stock farewell - Back to the future?

This with thanks to @13MilePost...

Good to see London Underground sending the Metropolitan line A stock off in style today.

Here Howard Collins, LUL's Chief Operating Officer, stands next to the last A60 stock at Harrow on the Hill.

The Cravens built trains entered service on the Met on the 12th June 1961 - over fifty years ago. They have been displaced by Bombardier built S stock. 

Below the Metropolitan line's General Manager (holding the commemorative headboard) stands in front of a set of the new S stock at Amersham.

So 'Back to the future'... ahem... in more ways than one!

Pointless signs - Waterloo

This from the Lost Tribe of TOC...

Another pointless safety initiative apparently from the Ministry of the Bleedin' Obvious:

.

.
If the escalator is congested, and people are queueing, I'm not sure where NR expect you to stand.

Perhaps Waterloo East or Charing Cross would be a nice safe distance?

Party Conference news - LibDems

This from the Ninja

Thought Eye readers might be interested to see that the anti-HS2 mob were busy lobbying at the LibDems' Conference in Brighton.

Expect similar appearances at Manchester and Birmingham.

The arguments in their slide presentation were simplistic, contradictory and easy to demolish.

In particular I loved the comparison between the beautiful woods of the Chilterns and the maintenance depot on HS1!

I wonder who is actually paying for the stand, glossy leaflets and chocolate white elephants?

Trying to persuade them of the error of their ways was the most fun I had in Brighton this week.

Apart from hearing Cleggy's 'songified' apology, obviously.

Preston showcases 'joined up railway'

This from Old BR Engineer...

This is Platform 6 at Preston. 

The platform extension for 11 car Pendolinos was done first, then resurfacing of rest of platform, nearest to camera. 

With coper edge & height specified within tolerances of less than 25mm (relative to track) how can the joint between contracts end up like this!

Also note:

• Channel drains not joined-up;
• Platform 6 extension longer than Platform 5 but other end of Platform there is no difference;
• Expensive type of paving slabs used - Wigan North Western and Warrington done with paviours (bricks) which take ages to lay and are hell to lift & relay if required.  Down south they use quick, cheap, and easy tarmac (Wimbledon and Winchester for example);
• The main resurfacing contract clearly has some other problems still to resolve:- around column bases, and over the subway - which as an afterthought now has to be partially reconstructed to achieve the desired levels!

Oh Dear!

The worst ICWC scare story EVER - Official

This from the RMT, in scraping the barrel mode... 

RAIL UNION RMT warned today that the continuing franchise chaos on the West Coast main line could force the Government to run trains over the busy Christmas and New Year period blown over in grey primer with no livery as they continue to drag their heels over the renationalisation of the service under East Coast operator, Directly Operated Railways

Forgive me if I don't get excited. 

UPDATE: This from a Mr Tony Miles... 
 
Indeed - scraping the barrel - because obviously state owned East Coast repainted all their trains the day they took over from NXEC, didn't they? Well actually no they didn't as some are still in GNER livery…

Franchise handover rules just require the departing operator to remove their logos from trains.

Remember how long it took Arriva CrossCountry to remove the Virgin colours from the Voyagers when they took over?

Perhaps Bob should have gone to Specsavers?

UPDATE: This from Shades of SNG...

As somebody once nearly said, clothing engines in plain grey would be
like letting them run around with their whites un-washed.

Might I suggest the addition of some discreet steel bands to steel grey
as the new DOR livery, in conjunction with a suitably tapered front end.

Well it worked for me.

East Coast tweets it like it is...

Seen on twitter earlier this afternoon...

Good effort! 

That is all.

UPDATE: This from the late Sir Edward Heath...

I am disturbed to see East Coast using gallons rather than litres.

Under my inspired leadership, and since the 1970s, the UK has been using... (cont' p94).

Oh... Gotti off! Ed

Government parks tanks on ROSCOs front lawn

This from Virginia Water...

According to the Pink-un yesterday:

The £1bn order for new trains for the Crossrail east-west London rail line will be among the first recipients of a government guarantee designed to revive investment in essential infrastructure, Danny Alexander will announce on Tuesday.

Your exam questions for today are therefore;

1. This guarantee is being offered to reduce the lease payments and hence long term rail subsidy bill.  On that basis, why doesn't the Treasury and DfT offer this finance to all future rolling stock deals?

2. If Treasury/DfT is guaranteeing all rolling stock, why not just RAB finance the lot?

3. What are the implications for the as yet unsigned Thameslink order? and

4. What does this mean for the future of the ROSCOs?

Privitisation is dead. Long live state intervention!

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

Surely the deeply unpopular LibDems don't propose using this finance method to pay for the Thameslink fleet which will be built entirely in Germany?

Or the Crossrail fleet which will no doubt be manufactured in Japan and ahem... 'assembled' by three men and a dog at Newton Aycliffe.

Good to see taxpayers money being used to export skilled jobs overseas!

Pointless signs - King's Cross

UPDATE: This from Dr Strabismus

Au contraire.

 

I saw this the other day and thought to myself “how pointful, informing the plebs and oiks who aren’t purchasing franchised comestibles that all and sundry may sit here without fear of ejection, thereby depriving your humble correspondent of a comfy spot to sit and write postcards”.  

 

Although a forest of similar seats has suddenly appeared beneath the departures board, albeit already inhabited by the homeless (despite the absence of a pointless sign).

UPDATE: This from Geddes Axe...

Surely the sign is to tell passengers that seating in what may appear to be a food area (where the passenger might expect a seating-only-for-food-purchasers policy as applies to every other similar space) is in fact available to everyone, without their having to buy food or drink. That is information that needs communicating if passengers are to take advantage of the concession.

Given the size of penalty facing the Advance ticket holder who misses their train, the rational behaviour of the cash-conscious passenger is to aim to arrive at the departure station a long time before their train, in case you get held up on the way. That means that one often ends up with considerable time to kill at the station. Not sure about the new KX, but at St Pancras, that usually means standing up (or sitting on the floor) if your budget doesn't run to eating out - there were (when I last counted) just ten public seats available for East Midlands passengers wanting to sit down while they waited for their train.

Station operators pay little concern for the needs of the passenger who doesn't want to spend money with their retail tenants: I think you should celebrate (rather than mock) this modest gesture to the needs of the less affluent.

Railway Garden Competition - Altrincham

This from The Clitheroe Kid...

 

Plenty of horticultural interest for waiting Metrolink passengers at Altrincham.

New DfT Special Advisers appointed

According to @JimBethal of Westbourne the new DfT SpAds are:

Julian Glover (who) has been released from Downing Street where he was crafting speeches for the Prime Minister. A former Guardian journalist, he is an enthusiast for HS2 (he weekends in Derbyshire near GO and PMcL). 

Ben Mascall (who) has become one of the Coalition’s most trusted press operators. He worked previously at heavy-weight brands like Coca-Cola and Tesco, and high-profile politicos like Gove and Bozza.

On the plus side they can't be any worse than the last lot. 

UPDATE: This from Our Man at 222 Marylebone Road...

Once upon a time Special Advisers were there to guard a minister's back against the devious civil servants who can obviously run rings round here today/gone tomorrow politicians on the detail of their Departments.  

In this they are, or should be, a sub-set of Policy Wonks. By and large the SpAds at DfT have been singularly useless in this role. 

Andrew Adonis was of course a hybrid - half minister/half wonk, a rare combination feared by Permanent Secretaries who can generally see off wonks.  An exception was the wonkocracy which emerged under the Blair Government - the wonk-driven demise of Railtrack is the classic example.    

These latest guys sound more like Political Advisers than Policy Wonks or SpAds.  

Political Advicors (PADs?) are concerned not with the practicality of policy but with how it will be presented and perceived. So expect more nonsensical written answers.

Old railway hands who remember Permanent Secretary Philip Rutnam in his youthful Treasury days expect him to eat these new SpAds for breakfast.

 

Lessons in deckchair rearrangement

Good news for fans of Management wibble.

The Fact Compiler has received an invite to the following exciting event from the University of Wolverhampton Business School...

Presumably one in a series including: 'How to exit the railway industry' and 'Losing with Good Grace - A Masterclass'.

Pointless signs - FGW Turbostar

This from a Mr A Spanner...

A passenger information display on a FGW turbo-thingy going from Redhill to Reading on Monday. 

Instead of the calling pattern it was displaying a load of numbers.

Perhaps this gives a clue to the amount FGW is receiving in Cap'n'Collar payments?

Railway Garden Competition - Fenchurch St

This from D1039...

 

One of several charming specimens adorning the viaducts at Savage Gardens, Fenchurch St.

Some good news from York...

This from the York Press...

A RETIRED museum worker had a special message for a police community support officer – thank you for saving my life. 

Ray Towell, 66, had a heart attack and stopped breathing as he went to catch a bus home from Blossom Street, in York. 

But PCSO Lee Johnson was passing on patrol and immediately started emergency first aid, as did paramedic Craig Barley, who also happened to be passing. 

“It is just amazing to me I am still here,” said Mr Towell, of Moor Lane, York, a former curator at the National Railway Museum. “How lucky can you be? I am extremely lucky that the right people were there at the right time. “What they did –it means my life to me.”

After being rushed to the cardiac unit at Leeds General Infirmary by ambulance, he made a full recovery...

Matey!