East Coast introduces Dry Train on Fridays!

Bad news for thirsty North British passengers!

This from East Coast...

Train operator East Coast is to trial an alcohol ban on a morning train from North East Scotland to ensure comfortable travel for passengers.

The four-week trial will apply on Fridays only from 10 May to 31 May inclusive, and will only apply to the 09.52 service from Aberdeen, for journeys as far south as Newcastle. The train calls at several stations along Scotland’s North East coast, including Stonehaven, Montrose, Arbroath and Dundee.

The restriction means passengers will not be able to bring alcohol in any form onto this train, or to drink it on-board. No alcohol will be sold at the train’s cafe-bar, though other hot and cold refreshments will continue to be available as usual.

East Coast’s Commercial and Customer Service Director Peter Williams said: “We are trialling this for four weeks from next Friday, following discussions with the British Transport Police.

“The trial follows a number of recent instances of anti-social behaviour on this train between Aberdeen and Newcastle. Our aim is to ensure that all of our customers can enjoy a more pleasant and comfortable journey." 

Happily those travelling on 1E15 beyond Newcastle can break the fast at 13:59.

Britain's least friendly station?

This from the Mad Hatter... 

Passing through Gainsborough I thought I'd pay a visit to the town's Central station.

Alas!

I was unable to access the platforms or footbridge as station is open SATURDAYS ONLY, although there is nothing to say as much on the outside of the palisade fencing. 

Inside the locked and bolted gates are three notice boards, but because of the angle of the board and the small type size you cant see what time the trains run (on the Saturdays they do run), only a printed part of the timetable that says ‘Saturdays only’.  Even National Rail doesn’t list the station’s opening times.

A contender for one of the most unfriendly stations – with no payphone, no notice with opening times on the locked gate, no easy sight of the notice board for train times, etc...

Oddly, just a few miles up the line at Kirton Lindsay, where the service is the same (Sat only), you can walk on the platform with no restrictions. 

Daft, innit. 

Freighties diversifying?

This from the Hammer Man...

Genius!

Lookalike - Fastest in the West edition

Parry flees First for the Cut

This from the Canal and River Trust...

New chief executive appointed

Richard Parry is to swap trains for boats as he takes up the role of chief executive of the Canal & River Trust starting this summer.

Currently at FirstGroup, Richard headed up First's bid in 2012 for the InterCity West Coast line and more recently has been leading First's highly-regarded Hull Trains company as well as other wider development programmes across First's rail businesses 

Before that he spent 19 years at London Underground (LU) and Transport for London (TfL) where he had a range of senior roles, spending eight years as a director of LU, including a year as interim LU managing director (2009-10), and then a further 18 months as deputy managing director, TfL Rail and Underground (2010-11).
 
Interesting. Does this herald some further moves at First?

UPDATE: This from a Mr Tony Miles... 

Am I alone in wondering whether the role of MD at First Hull Trains is now timed to change with the same frequency as that of the Secretary of State for Transport? 

If so anyone offered the job may want to take this into account! (Which one, Parry's or McLoughlin's? Ed)

Exceptional customer service explained...

You may need to click on this to view it in all its glory...

 

Pure genius and thank you Twitter!

Pointless signs - Railtex edition

I counted them all out...

This from the Thin Controller 

Perhaps Eye readers can advise just how many of the industry's great and good (including one if not two ministers) made it to the Rail Delivery Group away-day at Westwood... before Freightliner's Felixstowe - Ditton sat down with a failed brake pipe, completely shafting the southern end of the WCML?


Just asking.

Kettle alert...

Railtex this week so mostly busy.

Here something to delight, or not...


 
Ooops!

Griffiths - two out of three ain't bad!

Much Sunday morning spluttering of cornflakes, courtesy of the Telegraph's business section.

In an interview Martin Griffiths, the soon to be Stagecoach supremo, offered the following terse observations on the railway:

HS2 - 'in the wrong place'.

Waterloo throat - 'knackered'

Railways - 'a middle class thing'.

Whilst items one and two will no doubt be causing palpitations in Whitehall, item three should at least endear Stagecoach to ministers.

After all it is only nineteen months since millionaire Philip Hammond, then Secretary of State for Transport, decreed that trains were 'a rich man's toy'!

Good to see that the Deep Alliance is at least delivering a marginally more inclusive railway...

Soup proves popular in engineering world

Good news for fans of Mk3s!

This from the Railway Gazette:

Porterbrook Leasing has awarded Railcare a £5m contract to undertake the C6 scheduled overhaul and additional corrosion repairs to 111 locomotive-hauled MkIII coaches operated by Abellio Greater Anglia on London - Norwich services.

The work is scheduled to start in October 2013 for completion in July 2016, with five coaches undergoing overhaul at Railcare's Wolverton plant at any one time.
 
Good news indeed.

But what's this?

A number of cryptic messages have reached Eye suggesting that sales of soup have been rocketing in areas around Milton Keynes and Glasgow!?!

The Fact Compiler admits he is confused…

RDG announces first Associate Members

The Rail Delivery Group has published the minutes of its 22nd April meeting.

It contains a list of the first organisations to be accepted as Associate Members:

• Birmingham Centre for Railway Research
• Bond Dickinson LLP
• Brisk Projects
• Carillion
• MTR
• Rail Media Group
• thetrainline.com

An eclectic selection!

Apparently further applications are due to be considered in May.

Remember - you've got to be in it, to win it!

Application form here.

UPDATE: This from Alecto...

Encouraging to see so many of the industry's heavy hitters signing up to have no influence at all on whatever the owning groups and Network Rail have decided they want to do...

Railway Khazi Watch - NRM Workshops

Time for an exciting new Eye feature - Railway Khazi Watch!

Our first entry is via the Hammer Man...

I found this sign in the salubrious traps at the National Railway Museum's workshops (those of a sensitive disposition may wish to stop reading here! Ed).

Perhaps this particular 'explosion' occurred whilst reading the Flying Scotsman Report?

In war and peace we serve... The Book!

A new tome from Eye favourite Michael Williams is to be published on the 13th May.

Steaming to Victory tells the tale of how Britain's railways won the war against Hitler's Germany.

Agreeable promo video here:


 
Michael kindly donated a bottle of champagne as a competition prize for readers of this blog.

Unfortunately it arrived at Eye Towers... err... empty !

Burns Lite - Stabbing your own TOC in the back

Good to see Simon Burns MP acknowledging the herculean efforts of his own employees!

Despite East Coast operating on a railway that last received significant investment in the 1980s and sweating a train fleet with an even older age profile our Burnsy is apparently peeved that the state owned operator isn't run by Beardie Rail.

Mr Toad opined in the House of Commons yesterday that East Coast performed ‘reasonably well’ but it is ‘plateauing’. "What it needs is an infusion of innovation and a stimulus, which I believe only the private sector can do".

Quite so minister, quite so.

And all those franchises in revenue support are clearly a testament to the private sector's skill at both innovation and stimulus!

Meanwhile the searing intellect that resides in the Honourable Member for Poop-Poop claimed he 'did not accept the premise' of an ORR report which last week announced that East Coast made the second highest TOC payment into Treasury coffers.

Still, a pleasure to see that Third Degree Burns is keen to throw good money after bad whilst belittling his own workforce.

Freighties make the case!

Bad news for fans of good Route MDs!

Dyan Crowther, MD of NR's LNW Route, confirmed at yesterday's meeting of the Rail Freight Group that she is now a 'freight geek'!

Eye hopes this isn't the end of a promising career.

No matter.

On the upside that leaves the RfG with only 9 more Route MDs to convince...

UPDATE: This from Loose Coupled...

I think you'll find that the new Sussex Route MD is already aligned...

Franchising process explained!

Good to see that the DfT is making the franchising process as simple as possible!

Hope that's clear then.

Burns Lite on Cumbrian services

This from Captain Deltic...

There's nothing like a straight answer to a straight question.

This reply from Simon Burns on the 16th April...

John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the statement of 26 March 2013, Official Report, columns 1487-99, on rail franchising, if he will ensure that the franchise extensions for the TransPennine and Northern franchises will be negotiated on the basis of at least maintaining the current level of service on the Manchester Airport to Lancaster to Barrow-in-Furness route.

Simon Burns (Chelmsford, Conservative)
The Secretary of State for Transport has a duty to secure the best deal for both the passenger and the tax payer when negotiating with the incumbent operators. Taking in to consideration value for money and affordability; the primary aim is to ensure that passengers are not adversely impacted and that current service levels are protected as far as possible

And this is nothing like a straight answer!

Pointless signs - Northern Class 150

This from a Mr 12x12...

Good news for all you budding DIY surgeons in the North!

Pointless signs - Ashford International

This from Simon...

Spotted in the 'waiting room' on P5/6 at Ashford international. 

There only one door in or out.