Laughing stock

Good news for fans of vomit inducing modern art.

According to today's Indpenedent the "artist" who created the kitsch lovers statue for St Pancras International has also designed a new frieze to wrap around the base of the monstrosity.


As this piece of crap appears designed to offend just about everyone perhaps London & Continental should complete the job by renaming the station Agincourt International.

Rail blog

***Railway Eye welcome Rail editor Nigel Harris to the blogsphere***

See Nigel's postings here

Napiered!

A message from Captain Deltic!

The good Captain has asked the The Fact Compiler to point out that Lord Adonis fails to mention Sir Robert Reid in his Wolmar book review (Railway Eye passim).

"As experts now acknowledge Sir Bob's Chairmanship ushered in the golden age of British Rail (business railway, sectorisation, declining subsidies, etc...)."

Perhaps the Noble Lord's latent Tory prejudices have led him to suppress memories of a once cost effective railway?

Beancounting

Train looking like a pigsty?

Less people wandering round with bin bags picking up rubbish?

A visible reduction in the number of contractors working at the coalface?

Welcome to Recession Rail - getting shot of the easy stuff first!

Panegyric

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Last of the Privatisation Jihadis?

Lord Adonis, the grandly titled 'Minster for National Networks', was considered sufficiently qualified by the editor of chattering-classes glossy mag 'Prospect', to review Christian Wolmar's historical opus 'Fire & Steam'.

He produced a glowing review, except on those sections of Wolmar's tome covering recent history.

According to the appointed peer:

"Wolmar's one over-romantic flourish is his panegyric on the last years of British Rail.

"He paints the BR of Richard Marsh and Peter Parker as a golden age, contrasting it favourably with today.

"While he makes some good points in relation to efficiency and the loss of engineering expertise since 1997, he otherwise recalls an entirely different British Rail to the one I knew.

"I remember customer service, restrictive practices and unreliability that were a national pantomime, not to mention the relentless campaign by British Rail itself for major line closures and service withdrawals long after the Beeching axe of the 1960s.

"Wolmar hails BR's marketing of its largely slow and unreliable inter-city services, but what I remember of the "Age of the Train" adverts was the hilarity that greeted their every appearance. It was this reality which made the railways prey to the great Tory ideological experiment of privatisation."

Alas, it looks like the archetypal sclerotic bank manager aboard the 8.15 is now in charge of our destiny.

But, perversely, when he was with Lady Vadera and the as yet, oddly, un-elevated Dan Corry he formed part of the cabal which drove Railtrack into Adminstration.

Indeed he was urging the prime minister to look at all viable options for Railtrack "including a possible return to the public sector".

Oh well, consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.

Captain Birdseye?

Paul Thomas is appointed Chairman of RSSB

Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) today announced the appointment of Paul Thomas CB as its Chairman.

Mr Thomas has spent time in both the Royal Navy and the civil nuclear industry.

Self mutilation

Telegrammed by our International Correspondent
Brian Souter has told London's leading evening newspaper that leisure travel is down due to the credit crisis.


But what's this?

No mention that leisure fares have been all but been abolished by greedy SWT.

Perhaps the perfectly formed, carrier-bag wielding, Clause 28 fan is hoping the Treasury will bail out his franchises on the same, over-generous, terms offered to the bankers?

Wimp

Geoff Hoon today approved plans to expand Stansted Airport in Essex.

Planning permission for the expansion was originally refused by Uttlesford Council in November 2006 on grounds of noise and environmental concerns.

Of course, former defence secretary, Gende Homo is renowned for his bravery.

Therefore, Railway Eye readers will be unsurprised that he choose to sneak the announcement out via a Written answer, rather than delivering it on the floor of the House.

Looks like Labour is now resigned to loosing all their seats south of the line from the Wash to the Severn.

Diamond geyser?

***BBC reporting a chill wind blowing over BoJo's transport budget as TfL takes a £40m Icelandic bath***

Granny hater

The Treasury's plan to shore up the banks appears to have received a cautious thumbs up from the City.

But what's this?

A brooding presence at Tuesday's late night discussions with panicky bankers was one Baroness Vadera.

According to The Times, Vadera "serves as Gordon Brown's eyes and ears".

According to Railway Eye Vadera served up the disastrous LU PPP and hates "grannies".

Memo to Bankers - Those who sup with the devil should use a long spoon.

Charidee

Wolmar is running a half marathon on October 12th for the Railway Children charidee.

He writes: "I know these things are a pain but it is a really worthwhile charity that helps runaway and homeless children at stations across the world.

It is really easy to give as I have set up a just giving page, and you get a free copy of my latest book if you give £75 or more.

For details of the Railway Children visit their website."

The Fact Compiler wonders how much we would need to sponsor him to keep on running?

Visions

***Iowa Pacific Holdings plans to reinstate all of the Weardale railway's 18 miles of track by the end of 2009.***

Read the BBC story here

A bridge too far?

Alas, all appears not to have gone well at today's Railway Forum annual conference.

Dr Mike "Death" Mitchell was given a speaking slot and invited to answer questions afterwards.

Death, the rudest man on the railway, left the event post haste to crawl back under his Marsham Street stone leaving questions unasked, let alone unanswered.

Meanwhile event sponsors, Mouchel, were given two bites at the presentation cherry.

Unfortunately their second slot, on 'bridge maintenance', proved so exhilarating that several delegates were seen to drill out their own fillings in a desperate attempt to remain awake.

Richard Brown, Railway Forum Chairman, may well be nursing sore ears tonight, judging by the number of delegates keen to bend them with less than complimentary views of the event.

Integrated control?

Not a good day for Network Rail Southern and SWT.

Local press in Hampshire are up in arms following the electrocution of an escaped shire horse after NR refused to turn off the juice.

Read the Aldershot News & Mail story here.

It also emerges that the driver's request to isolate power was declined despite three people, endeavouring to catch the horse, being trackside.

Aslef are rightly concerned.

Fat Controller?

Anglo Polish Railway website 'Behind the Water Tower' has scoured Geoff Hoon's website to come up with the following pictorial hostage to fortune.

The Fact Compiler hopes that the press doesn't get hold of a copy.

Infamy, infamy, they've all got it infamy

Tim Collins and Robin Gisby have a lucky escape!

I blame the government

Beautiful!

Ones to watch

The Tories have also announced a reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet.

Not many moves, but interestingly they have chosen to create a Shadow brief for Energy and Climate Change:

Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change - Greg Clark MP

Shadow Minister for Climate Change - Greg Barker MP

Shadow Minister for Energy - Charles Hendry MP

Their opposing numbers on the Government front bench are:

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change: The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP

Minister of State - Mike O'Brien MP

Minister of State - Lord Hunt of Kings Heath OBE (jointly with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs); and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Joan Ruddock MP

A nice long list of names that uber-consultant Jim Steer and Greengauge21 can get their teeth into.

Lords to the slaughter

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Dominating transport debates in the Upper House are the feared Railway Peers, masters of the Parliamentary Question.

For some time these latter day Marcher Lords, roaming the wasteland between Government and Railways, have been looking for an opponent worthy of their steel.

So hapless is the Government's Spokesmen in the Lords, Lord Bassum of Brighton, that the Railway Peers have started feeling sorry for him, as DafT sends him into battle with yet another feeble brief.

But presumably, new Rail Minister, Lord Adonis will now be press ganged into delivering these cods of wallop.

Buy your tickets now

Loved by Aphrodite

What is the industry to make of the appointment of Lord Adonis as the Minister of State for Transport.

As the DafT web wonks have still to include his details on their site it falls to The Fact Compiler to supply the necessary background details.

According to those who have worked with him he is "obsessive about detail" to the extent that he is a "micromanager".

So far so bad.

However, he is also "his own man" and "master of his brief" - so will not be hoodwinked by Officials.

More good news.

Contrary to today's Daily Telegraph story that he has not "shown any interest in transport", Railway Eye can reveal that he is in fact "passionate about railways".

As may be witnessed by his review of Wolmar's recent book 'Fire and Steam' in Prospect Magazine.

He is also a great fan of 07:30 meetings - looks like the DafT numpties will have to up their game.

UPDATE: At the end of his review of Fire and Steam Lord Adonis adds:

"The big debate for the future is if and when High Speed Two and Three are to follow".

Well my Lord. Perhaps you can now tell us?

Rest of the pack

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT:

Minister of State - Lord Adonis

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Jim Fitzpatrick MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Paul Clark MP