Wildly off topic but absolutely brilliant!
Commander Hadfield offers his variant on 'Space Oddity' before departing the Space Station to return to Earth.
On a scale of 1 to 10 just how cool is this?
Pure 11 !
This, apparently, taken yesterday...
Much excitement across the airwaves!
The most recent edition of Radio 4's excellent programme 'The Reunion' brought together some of the key players involved in the Hutton Report.
Amongst the likes of Geoff 'Buff' Hoon, Andrew Gilligan and former BBC DG Greg Dyke was NR's very own media guru Tom Kelly - then the PM's official spokesman.
Fans of hard core verbal punch-ups can enjoy the prog courtesy of Listen Again.
Those with long memories may recall the questionable claim that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction that could be "ready within 45 minutes".
Unlike Gilligoon, whose eventual arrival at the studio exceeded even that generous time frame.
This from Oratorian Brother Cletts...
Regularly seen nipping between Waterloo and Friarsgate House your snapping sleuths might try to catch Phil Dominey of SWT on an SWT branded Brompton folding bike.
Less certain is whether you'll see Andy Saunders FGW Integration & Partnership manager on an FGW version, or whether Arthur Leathley can be persuaded to swap his own machine for a Virgin branded Easy Rider type.
Charles Horton also has his own Brompton, but they are scheduled to go live with hire points at Ashford, Canterbury W, Maidstone E and Tonbridge by the end of May, so whether he gets snapped on a SouthEastern branded bike is up for grabs.
East Coast has also partly supported the bikes at Peterborough (but no jokes about on your bike and the refranchising). I did try to suggest that RAIL's brightest and best might find the 5-6 miles from PBO to their offices a suitably invigorating and time saving way to connect with the local rail service but no joy yet.
Other cyclists of the folding fraternity include Alistair Dormer MD of Hitachi Europe and Tony Berkeley chair of the Rail Freight Group (who used to have a most venerable machine, often seen outside the House of Lords).
Yet to convert Anthony Smith of Passenger Focus to the glories of folding, but he regularly rides in to the Passenger Focus offices from S London.
Surely Eye readers can supply photos of some the above great and good aboard their noble collapsible steeds?
UPDATE: This from a Mr Philip Haigh...
I rather enjoy my Brompton ride from PBO to RAIL Towers.
Although I must be honest and say the novelty of winter was beginning to wear off by April.
No matter.
Interesting news from the 'heart of the railway industry'.
According to the Derby & Derbyshire Rail Forum the new DG Rail, Clare Moriarty, has been out and about visiting rail businesses in the East Midlands:
Ms Moriarty met with the forum’s Chairman Colin Walton and Vice-Chair Michelle Craven-Faulkner together with the Managing Directors of forum member organisations Datum, ESG and Garrandale.
Ms Moriarty also spent time with DDRF member companies Porterbrook Leasing and Railway Vehicle Engineering Limited (RVEL), concluding her visit by touring RVEL’s extensive workshops on London Road...
Ms Moriarty said that she was keen to work with partners from across the rail industry to advance a shared agenda and promote the success of rail in the UK.
Could it be that Whitehall is finally waking up to the fact that the railway industry also consists of a massive supply chain, as well as Network Rail and the TOCs?
Hopefully next in-line to experience such a Damascene conversion will be the Rail Delivery Group! (In your dreams! Ed)
This, allegedly, from a Mr Tudor Arrow...
Unbelievably some people in the railway industry still believe that we Roscos are populated by rather dry and humourless people.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
The image below had my colleagues in Accounts Payable rolling in the isles so hard that we had to move their comptometers out of reach for precisely 2.75 seconds! Can you imagine what that did for productivity!
How we laughed! Until the boss returned from lunch, obviously.
This from Northern Spirit...
On Saturday 27th April locomotive 26038 was named "Tom Clift 1954 - 2012" at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.
The Fact Compiler's latest column in Passenger Transport published on the 26th April...
This from the Daily Mirror...
Sir Richard Branson has been forced to buy his train staff new bras – because their latest uniforms are too skimpy.
Virgin Trains workers say their blouses are too short and so flimsy that passengers will see if they are wearing dark bras.
Virgin’s business support department is now offering them a £20 voucher for new underwear after delaying the uniform by three weeks.
Unlike Beardie Rail to get into a pickle over ladies' embonpoints, as this picture from 2009 shows...
Or should that read South Western Railway?
No matter.
This is the bespoke case that SWT's twitter supremo has had created for her iPhone.
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.
This from the Mad Hatter...
Passing through Gainsborough I thought I'd pay a visit to the town's Central station.
Alas!
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)
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.
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