St Pancras International
A nice entry from Eurostar.
Notice the clever use of recycled objects (including an ice bucket) to frame this particular visual ensemble.
A lovely effort and one that attracted considerable attention and comment from EMT customers aboard trains on the adjacent platform.
Richard Brown's team is mounting a stiff challenge this year.
Portsmouth & Southsea Station
Note the way that discarded bolts in the 4' compliment the verdant foliage.
And here how the station shed is beautifully framed by nature.
Disappointingly the introduction of retention tanks has meant that the traditional tomato plants are not much in evidence this year.
A commendable effort by Network Rail Southern all the same.
More entries for the Railway Garden Competition at the usual address please.
***Eurotunnel expects to be a bidder for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link if, as expected, HMG puts it up for sale next year.***
See Thomson Financial story here
Much excitement in the Charter Train community.
Rumours have it that publication of the next glossy Stobart Pullman brochure may be delayed.
When The Fact Compiler visited their website to confirm details he was greeted with the following message: Our site is currently unavailable. Apologies for any inconvenience.
***TransCom Release***
NEW MEMBER ELECTED TO SERVE ON TRANSPORT COMMITTEE
On Monday 14 July the House agreed that Mr Mark Pritchard MP (Conservative, The Wrekin) be added to the Transport Committee in place of Mr Lee Scott MP (Conservative, Ilford North).
***Steve Norris, former London Mayoral candidate and Jarvis Executive Chairman is being touted as the new Chairman of Cross London Rail Links Limited. The Crossrail bill is due to receive Royal Assent on the 22 July***
National Express loathes Open Access Operators and would do almost anything to stop Hull Trains and Grand Central services running on the East Coast Mainline.
Recent tactics include retail staff at Kings Cross (employed by National Express) telling passengers that the operator of a rival service had gone bust (not so) and changing the validity of previously open First Class tickets so that they can only be used on National Express East Coast (NEEC) services.
However, NEEC's arrogance may well be its downfall if recent events are anything to go by.
On Sunday Network Rail closed the East Coast Mainline between Stevenage and Peterborough for planned engineering works.
Whilst the two open access operators on the route continued to serve London (via Cambridge) National Express couldn't be arsed, preferring to use generous Network Rail compensation payments to buy in rail replacement services from its own bus and coach divisions.
Alas the bus operation turned into a complete shambles, leaving hundreds of passengers milling around stations as NEEC platform staff went to ground.
With the plan unraveling canny train-crew on Anglo-Scottish shuttles told passengers that Open Access services to London would be a better bet.
As many of these passengers had been sold NEEC-only tickets there were near riots at York and Doncaster as National Express customers tried to clamber aboard the already full trains of other operators.
With no platform staff in evidence and the situation fast deteriorating the Boys in Blue were finally called; after of course significant delay minutes had been recorded by both Open Access operators.
NEEC has yet to apologise.
The Fact Compiler has been supplied with these two remarkable images.
One shows someone surrounded by a diminishing band of supporters, about to be cruelly betrayed and ultimately sacrificed with the connivance of a capricious and deeply unpopular foreign overlord.
The other shows the Son of God.
A metaphorical bouquet goes to SWT following the retirement after forty three years of ‘Nobby’ (Alan Haynes) - an Area Route Controller based at Waterloo.
The company allowed a special train to be organised in secrecy to take him from Waterloo to Brockenhurst on a surprise jolly.
Nice to see a company that appreciates its staff.
***CORRECTION: Sources indicate that Network Rail has determined that there are no additional paths available on the East Coast Mainline for the December 2008 timetable.***
Further details, at the usual address, would be appreciated...
The Fact Compiler has received an agitated email from a gentleman endeavouring to reduce endemic overcrowding on the bus and railway network.
He writes: "I am very concerned about the ridiculously high levels of gross-overcrowding on public transport, caused by train, tube and bus operators pulling buses, tubes and trains out of service willy-nilly, without first putting decent acceptable alternative travel arrangements in place. I believe that this constitutes a grave health and safety matter; and more shockingly, there seems to be absolutely no legislation that addresses this serious problem.
The petition can be found at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/sardines/
The Fact Compiler is happy to alert his readers to the above but fears that the deepening recession may make overcrowding concerns somewhat academic...
Parliamentary Written Answer given on 10th July
"Tom Harris (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Glasgow South, Labour) | Hansard source
Officials in the Department for Transport meet Network Rail every four weeks to discuss rail performance and this meeting is normally chaired at ministerial level. As a key intercity route, all aspects of performance on the route are discussed."
So no Micro-management there then.The brave Aslef boys and girls would never do anything to compromise safety.
It is only right, therefore, that they hold an extra-ordinary branch meeting tomorrow (Sunday) to discuss the disgraceful dismissal of one of their safety conscious members by East Midlands Trains.
Regrettably the meeting in Nottingham will result in the cancellation of a large number of EMT services but if that is the price for a safe railway then it must be paid!
But what's this?
It turns out that the dismissed driver had not only passed a signal at danger and crashed into some level crossing gates but he had also been making a personal call on his mobile beforehand.
Good to see the "I'm alright Jack" culture persists at Aslef's Nottingham depot.
***There was a significant failure of TfL's Oyster ticketing system this morning with readers on both buses and Tube stations unable to read the cards.
As a consequence a significant number of Oyster cards have been corrupted...
UPDATE: Cards used in the last 24 hours are most likely to be affected, with the system unable to recognise them
UPDATE 2: Understood to be over 100,000 Oyster cards affected***
Good news from the Department for Transport which, rather than doing what it says on the tin and worrying about how to get us from A to B, is now more concerned about our girth.
As DafT is plainly unable to meet the Cartesian requirement for sentience (I think therefore I am) it has cleverly devised an alternative - I print therefore I am.
Latest publication off the Melton Street presses is 'Towards a Sustainable Transport System'.
Alongside a whole load of tosh plainly designed to justify Civil Serpent inactivity is the following entry under "Goal Narratives - Challenge" (I kid you not)!
Improve health outcomes for individuals through encouraging and enabling more physically active travel
Under Possible Metrics are a number of suggestions as to how DafT might respond to this 'Challenge'
Increased levels of walking and cycling
Reduction in obesity levels (child & adult)
Increase in % of adults meeting recommended minimum physical exerciseMore mutterings about the PassengerFocus National Passenger Survey.
Regular readers will recollect that publication of the survey was delayed for two months to allow figures to be massaged and that when published National Express cried foul when it's East Coast franchise with spanked with other dire operators despite a claimed 4% improvement in NEEC passenger satisfaction.
The saga gets murkier still.
The Fact Compiler has received the following note from a TOC source:
"NPS is somewhat flawed as they hang-around stations giving out surveys indiscriminately to people - a certain percentage of whom actually work for TOCs.
"The easiest way to get your score up is to find a survey team, flood the station with people in suits from HQ and pretend to work for the NHS!!"
The Fact Compiler awaits the PassengerFocus press release celebrating the record numbers of NHS staff travelling to York with interest.
With an incredibly tight timetable for introduction of the new Thameslink fleet the smart money must be on Bombardier.
The first units are due for testing in Autumn of 2011.
The company already has dual voltage electric trains operating on the Southern and the work done on developing a lightweight Turbostar for London Midland and Loo-Roll could presumably read-across to their Electrostar production lines.
Sources close to Litchurch Lane also indicate that capacity at Derby would not be a problem (despite the company talking up full order books).
Siemens may be in with a chance with the lard-butt Desiros but the Fact Compiler hears disturbing rumours that the company is quoting silly prices for desperately needed Trans-Pennine infill vehicles. Which may explain why no orders have yet been placed.
Alstom looks like also-rans as they haven't yet got a design.
Of course it would be dangerous for Bombardier to get too complacent as the inclusion of Hitachi in the pre-qualification list will require some serious sharpening of Derby pencils.
***DfT Press Release***
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