Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Shaken and stirred - Leathley to London TravelWatch

This from the London Assembly...

New Chair of London TravelWatch appointed by Assembly
The London Assembly today announced the appointment of Arthur Leathley as the new Chair of London TravelWatch[1], the statutory watchdog for transport users in and around London.

Arthur has senior level experience as a communications director in the private sector and Whitehall. In particular, he spent nine years at Virgin Trains, during a time of great change in which customer satisfaction became the best in the rail industry. Prior to that, he worked as a political and transport journalist at The Times, covering many of the key debates affecting London transport.

Arthur Leathley, newly appointed Chair of London TravelWatch, said:

“The views of millions of transport users in London are crucial and I am excited to represent consumers during a time of very positive change. Travelling in the capital is likely to be transformed beyond recognition over the coming years and London TravelWatch will ensure that the interests of the travelling public are always put first. The need for an effective consumer champion has never been greater and I look forward to building on the work of the previous Chair, Stephen Locke.”

The appointment was made by the Transport Committee on behalf of the London Assembly.


Older hands will remember Arthur was previously communications director at Virgin Trains, before undertaking various roles across Whitehall.

Wednesday, 6 September 2017

Transport Select Committee - New Tory members

A big Eye welcome to the following Tory MPs elected to the Transport Select Committee.

  • Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay)
  • Huw Merriman (Bexhill and Battle)
  • Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes)
  • Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes)

They join chair Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) and the following Labour MPs.

  • Graham Stringer MP (Blackley and Broughton)
  • Luke Pollard MP (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
  • Daniel Zeichner MP (Cambridge) 
  • Laura Smith MP (Crewe and Nantwich) 

Eye understands there is one more place to fill, drawn from the smaller parties in parliament.

Tuesday, 5 September 2017

Railway Garden Competition - Rugby

This from Sealink Sam...

See how beautifully crowned with vegetation are the tops of the buildings at Rugby station.


And here the bay platforms, and in the distance walls pregnant with arboreal magnificence!


Decline, what decline?

SWR gets ideas above its stations...

This from the SWR website...



On our network - Cambridge?

Peterborough??

London Bridge!!!

Who knew?

Monday, 4 September 2017

Shaken and stirred: Veitch brings Talgo to the British Isles

This via twitter...


Eye would normally have linked to the press release on the company's website, rather than reposting a tweet, allowing readers to savour all the details...

Alas - still nothing posted yet.

Looks like an ever expanding remit for Mr Veitch!

Problems remain once the circus moves on...

This from Hieronymus Bosch...

Reporting exclusively for Eye from today's exciting SWR launch at Waterloo! 

So the Top Brass turn up at WAT for the launch. Shiny livery, cleaned etc etc. Then..the signalling goes at Eastleigh, points failures at WAT, crews become displaced and chaos starts.

The top brass disappear.

It makes no difference what the livery is and what colour it is if the management of incidents is poor. That is what this railway suffers from.

So, Crew displacement made to work by a roster of split working. The removal of TCS's to be replaced by robot ORM's who are lower paid and cover larger areas. The loss of experienced controllers with the move to the ROC at BSK from the raft at Waterloo. Questions over the adequate training of staff to replace the control. Lack of investment in infrastructure. The signalling loss at EH was caused by a COMs link being eaten by rodents. SnT shortages mean basic maintenance is being deferred.

At the end of the day asset management is key. Both human and bits of rail.

It is no good building shiny new overpriced track and stations if Incident Management is dire. That means building redundancy into the system.

As that costs money, it will not occur.

Shaken and stirred - Mary Grant to Porterbrook

This from Porterbrook...

Porterbrook Leasing has confirmed the appointment of Mary Grant as its new chief executive officer. Mary will be joining the company and its board on 13 September 2017. She takes over from Paul Francis, the retiring CEO who has been with Porterbrook for over 20 years.

Mary has over 20 years’ experience working in the UK and international transport sector including senior roles at FirstGroup, National Express and Eurostar International.

Phil White, chairman of Porterbrook said: “Mary has an excellent reputation within the transport sector and I am looking forward to working with her and welcoming her onto the board. Mary’s experience and knowledge of the industry will be a great asset to the company.”


Interesting!

SWR - master of all it surveys!

This via twitter...

Attention top to detail!

Thursday, 31 August 2017

Railway Garden Competition - Sleaford

This from Dogboxdriver...

Here is the Sleaford North Jn - Sleaford West Jn single line, showing how well Mr Verster's famed vegetation control policy is working so far.


Photo taken during an assessment ride, in case anyone should ask!

Railway Garden Competition - Derby

A wonderful example of the plantsman's craft.


Outstanding!

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

RAIB on Waterloo collision

RAIB has confirmed it is conducting an investigation into the 15th August derailment at Waterloo.

The RAIB statement says:

The collision occurred because a set of points were misaligned and directed the passenger train away from its intended route. The misalignment was a consequence of a temporary modification to the points control system which also caused the train driver and signaller to receive indications that the points were correctly aligned.

Our investigation will examine:

  • the circumstances leading to installation of the temporary control system modification
  • the safety measures provided while the temporary modification was in place
  • the checking and testing procedures applicable to the modification
  • any relevant underlying management factors.
Bloody hell!

Eye thought the IRSE's vice like grip on signal testing was supposed to prevent this sort of thing happening?

Tuesday, 29 August 2017

Dft Policy Explained via Twitter Meme

This is very good!

Sadly, only too true.

Friday, 25 August 2017

Railway Garden Competition - Peterborough

This from Albatross...

Snapped these from the comfort of my Virgin EC Saloon – photographs of just North of Peterborough, around Eastfield SB and the sidings.





It appears that everyone has given up on vegetation clearance here!

Railway Garden Competition - Newquay

This from Talgo Tony...

Who knew that the Cornish branches had been converted to tramways?


Colonel Stephens would be proud!

Bombardier to retraction LUL 92 Stock

Good news for the Shire!

This from Bombardier...

Press Release - Bombardier Wins Contract to Supply New Propulsion Technology to London Underground



- Bombardier to supply new traction systems for trains on London Underground's Central line

- MITRAC propulsion technology will significantly improve fleet reliability, availability and energy efficiency

The project will be led from Bombardier's Västeras site in Sweden, also leveraging the capabilities of other sites in the Bombardier manufacturing network. 

The installation of the first train, plus associated vehicle integration works and testing will be undertaken at Bombardier's Derby site in the UK.

Very good. Carry on.

Thursday, 24 August 2017

Pointless sign - Kings Cross

This from a Mr Greg Tingey...

Perhaps not an entirely pointless sign.

Although the branding harks back to an event that took place five years ago.


Is this now an integral part of the much vaunted Olympic Legacy?

Best railway tweet, ever!

And the prize goes to - Greater Anglia!


Run Away!

Pointless signs - St Erth

This from Harry the Voice...

Pictured at St Erth today.



Hmmm... 'regularly patrol', although on an infrequent basis?

Perchance a case of Optimism Bias?

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Labour proposes gender segregation on rail

Good news for fans of Chris Williamson MP (Sid and Doris Gricer).

The Shadow Home Office minister has suggested a return to Ladies Only carriages.

Alas, this discrimatory nonsense will not do!

As any ful kno there are now at least 39 genders that will need similarly catering for if the industry is not to fall foul of equalities legislation (40! You forgot to include Mighty Oaks, of which I am one. Ed).

Despite his proposals being subjected to wide spread derision, Eye understands at least one part of the industry has welcomed Williamson's 'bold and exciting' initiative.

Step foward the Roscos, who are expecting a bumper bonanza as all those displaced vehicles are hurriedly pressed into gender specific service!

Tuesday, 22 August 2017

Osborne undermines his own case for enhancements

So, George Osborne is on manoeuvres, again.

The former Chancellor, and now free sheet editor, made the case for Northern Powerhouse Rail in yesterday's FT and on BBC Radio 4 this morning.

Good news for fans of connectivity and rebalancing of the economy.

But what's this.

Whilst George was busy tripping the light fantastic between green rooms, his own title is running with the following headline:


Not exactly a headline that will enamour readers to the vital works that enable delivery of much needed additional railway capacity, whether in the North or the South (don't forget the Squeezed Midlands! Ed).

Perhaps time for George to focus on the day job and exercise some editorial judgement?