Snapper snaps

Unusually, serving Rail Minister, Tom Harris, elected to discuss transport on his now infamous blog.

What caused Tom to bend his own unwritten rule was the ruminations of a mad Vulcan to which he felt compelled to respond.

The posting proved an immediate hit with readers commenting in droves with thoughts of their own.

Needless to say both Captain Deltic and The Fact Compiler shoved their ha'p'orth in, to greater or lesser effect.

So excited became the debate over whether additional trains or new track would increase capacity (the answer is of course both) that Paul Bigland, the industry's very own 'Pictographer Royal', felt compelled to post.

The brave Snapper even signed off with:

"Of course, further electrification would allow greater fleet utilisation too..."

Of course extending the Pendolino network would also allow Snapper to recharge camera batteries on even longer distance assignments!

Some you lose

Telegrammed by Eboracum (50A)
The RAIB report into the collision of a train with a demolished footbridge at Barrow upon Soar was published today.

Section 9 of the report is reproduced below

"The causal factor was that the lorry driver forgot to fully lower the body of the lorry
because he was distracted from his normal routine by having to unlock the cab passenger
door to allow access for the COSS."

The COSS is of course the Controller of Site Safety – or perhaps not!

Gated!

Telegrammed by Eboracum (50A)
Despite NEG’s promise that GNER’s high customer service standards would be maintained on the ECML this seems not to be the case.

Yesterday late afternoon 3 out of four sets of the automatic doors into York station had failed and were locked OOU.

Perhaps passenger numbers would be a little higher if they could actually get into the station in the first place!

Cash in hand

It would appear that The Fact Compiler is not alone in being irked by fatuous railway announcements.

A Railway Eye regular has been in contact to bemoan the decline in the quality of announcements at Derby station.

"Only last week" he moans "my ear drums were assaulted by the following phrase:

'The xxxx train will be delayed here for half an hour awaiting an essential member of staff.'

"Of course he's bloody essential, with stiff penalties for late running most TOCs barely wait for passengers let alone non-essential members of staff.

So if they mean "driver" or "guard" why not just say so?

Quite right Mr Westmount, but of course the essential member of staff may not be traincrew!

In these financially straitened times, with rising fuel costs, shares collapsing and banks failing it may be that Network Rail is only allowing trains to depart if the TOC Finance Director turns up with cheque book in hand.

A state of affairs not unknown to some of those in the charter train community.

Winging it

Announcement on a Virgin service from Liverpool:

"We are now making our final approach into Euston".

Congratulations to Beardie Rail for discovering how to stack trains

Getting DafTer

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road

All four shortlisted bidders for the new Thameslink train fleet are expected to submit fully funded finance packages.

At an optimistic £1.5 million per vehicle that means ringing commitments totalling £6.6bn.

In these turbulent financial times that much finance simply doesn't exist.

Particularly when the customer is calling for price cuts on leases it was happy to sign less than a year ago.

So DafT has asked each bidder to come up with funding for a quarter of its fleet on the basis that the commitments from the three unsuccessful bidders can be transferred to the winner's financial pot.

Railway Eye finds it hard to believe too, but we are assured it is true by a harassed looking man in red braces down to his last Porsche.

Railway Gardens #13

The Fact Compiler is indebted to Al from Whittlesford Parkway for this entry to the Railway Garden Competition.

Al writes:

"It's nice to see the positive benefits of not having retention tanks on the West Anglia line.

"I was admiring this display when a train pulled in, and lo and behold, the most verdant parts of the track appears to be immediately below where the discharge pipe drips down when the train is at a stand.

"Lovely."

Indeed it is lovely Al - and thank you for this splendid entry to the Railway Garden Competition.

Don't run

Telegrammed by our independent expert
Your correspondent is aboard a Piccadilly line train from Heathrow where the driver has just announced:

"Wishing you a safe journey with me."

Is LU about to enter the airline business we wonder?

Or have they all been listening rather too closely to the Stockwell inquiry?

Sword of damocles

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road

Today's Financial Times undertakes some high brow analysis of transport policy post Ruth Kelly

The Pink 'Un says: "As for the mainline railways, a deal struck last year securing the network's funding until 2014 will reduce dependence on subsidies and shrink the issue's potential to cause political headaches".

Perhaps someone should explain to the FT's transport specialists that the High Level Output Specification and Statement of Funds Available wasn't a 'deal'.

And that if Network Rail decides to challenge the Office of Rail Regulation's miserly allowance, which it looks set to do when the final determination is published at the end of October, then a referral to the Competition Commission will follow; causing whoever sits in Ruth Kelly's vacated chair one hell of a headache.

And DafT knows all about the CoCo's ability to cause headaches (see Railway Eye passim).

The McMafia speaks

Scottish Tory Boy: Is it Tom Harris' time?

Publish and be damned

Telegrammed by Barry Spotter
The Times online reports that a Eurostar service came to a stand in the Chunnel this morning.

Keen to make a mountain out of a molehill the electronic rag opined:

"The incident is likely to cause passengers further misgivings about travelling to France via the Channel Tunnel."

Well possibly, but only because The Times has suggested it!

Tom on Ruth

A nice valedictory from Tom Harris to his soon to be erstwhile boss

Read it here.

The Fact Compiler wonders what the reshuffle holds for Harris.

Perhaps SofS for Transport?

More likely the blogging minister will be tasked with disbursing the £700 that Gordon has promised to each family so their kiddies can get on-line.

Should generate a few more readers for Tom allowing him to sell advertising on his blog a la Guido.

Procrastination

With the industry desperately hoping for a tangible commitment to electrification and additional capacity what did the Secretary of State actually have to say for herself this morning?

"So Labour will develop options for a rolling programme of electrification of our railways - potentially the largest programme of electrification in our history. I have asked Network Rail to consider the case for new lines if passenger numbers continue to grow in the future.

"And if we need new lines, of course we should be asking whether they should be high speed. We all know that in the current climate, with high food and fuel prices, getting good value for money is more important than ever.

So the promise of jam tomorrow but no 'bread'!

Runes misread

Telegrammed by Arrow Head
Be careful what you wish for.

The Apostle of the Pantograph did indeed slip in something radical, just not what was hoped for!

Mystic Wolmar can rest easy, for now.

Kelly to go

***Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly has announced her intention to leave the cabinet. Reshuffle expected within a month.***

 

Railway Garden #12

Queenstown Road triffids rule!

Self evidently the "Do Not Alight Here" sign is cheaper than a man with clippers.

Does anyone on the Southern care anymore?

Carpo il diem

When a truck or lorry strikes a railway bridge the infrastructure owner (Network Rail or London Underground) is obliged to suspend rail traffic until a visual inspection of the damage can be made.

Last year such incidents led to 5,000 delay minutes to rail services on Network Rail alone.

In an attempt to address this NR is undertaking a trial in Ashton-under-Lyne using interactive signs (pictured below) that measure the height of approaching vehicles and alert the driver when their vehicle's height is too great.

Bugger this! thunders The Fact Compiler.

What's wrong with a dirty great girder across the road at the maximum safe height, either side of the bridge.

And if NR wants to pussyfoot around with new technology then why not add a laser cannon targeted at trucker head height?

That'll stop the bridge bashing, delay making, yorkee bar chomping toe-rags in their tracks.

Problem solved!

Back to the future?

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
It's good to see the owlish Robert Wright maintaining the long tradition of Financial Times transport correspondents passing on technical press releases uncritically.

In today's paper he writes, of Freightliners' new General Electric locomotive that it will include 'several innovations for the European market. The electric motors that drive the vehicle will use alternating rather than direct current as is becoming increasingly common on both GE and EMD's North American locomotives'

We presume that by 'European Market' Robert is referring to the market for imported American antiques, since AC traction has been near universal on locos built by Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens et al for approaching two decades to the extent that no one in Europe makes DC traction motors for new locomotives or trains any more. .

Making the best of obsolete technology, as ever, EMD's European sales manager told the FT that lighter European trains did not require the power of AC traction.

To crib from Hitachi 'Inspire the last'.

Our tune

Today's FT has come out firmly in favour of 'The Frankenstein' train as a means of accurately describing the IEP.

'The IEP has been nicknamed the “Frankenstein train” because the specification brings together so many irreconcilable parts' asserts the Pink'un confidently.

But what's this?

The quote emerges from the mouth of soi disant 'veteran observer' Rupert Brennan Brown, who fails to give Railway Eye due credit for originating the term.

Fortuitously The Fact Compiler was recently sent a clipping from a July 1991 Railnews which pictures carpet Bagger-Brown in a less than flattering light.

The so called "veteran" (on the right) is pictured alongside a "dinosaur".

Simon Bates, for it is he, was once mainstay of Radio 1, alas he is now serving out his twilight years on Classic FM.

All together now: Ner ner ner nerrr...

Screwed

There are dangers in believing that old canard about the 'earth moving' during passion.

As this South African couple quickly discovered.

Was it the Jubilee line extension that claimed it went faster, deeper, longer?