Good news from First Great Western!
Ever conscious of the need for Value for Money procurement the TOC is apparently trialing a new uniform for its Senior Conductors...
Sharp eyed readers will note that the 'mankini' is in the new O'Toole tartan unveiled by Scotrail only last month.
This from a Mr Drayne...
Willersley Tunnel (Northern portal), near Matlock Bath, Christmas Day 2010:
According to the Met Office the temperature was officially recorded as 'brass monkeys'.
Good news from Dick Murray on the Standard!
But what's this?
Oh Dick - flay those subs alive!
This from Network Rail's Internet Rapid Rebuttal Unit...
Eye readers may be interested in some video of the work completed at Reading over the Christmas period.
Some great time lapse of a 1,000 tonne bridge deck replaced over Caversham Road.
I always think that time lapse video should be accompanied by the Benny Hill music…
Network Rail's wish is of course Eye's command. With a very deep doff of the bowler to @Twitdan
UPDATE: This also from the Internet Rapid Rebuttal Unit...
PS You can learn also more about the UK's newest - or most recently re-instated - passenger railway, between Airdrie and Bathgate, here.
This one with sound!
With ATOC floundering over fare rises Network Rail appears to be inveigling itself into the Tory party's good books.
The new, improved, cuddly, Coucher-lite Network Rail has begun a discreet charm offensive designed to win industry, stakeholder and political support for reform to the company's corporate governance and accountability as mandated by Petrol-head.
So a big Eye welcome to Sara Rajeswaran who joined NR yesterday as Ricky Haystack's new 'strategic adviser', tasked with consulting on governance change.
Sara's remit will see her working with NR's Chairman to "facilitate the emergence of a widely accepted framework of governance and accountability that:
In 2010 Railway Eye was visited 372,966 times by 73,836 unique visitors.
Eye thanks all readers and contributors for their continued support throughout 2010.
UPDATE: This from The Archer...
That’s a 62% increase in visits since 2009 and 39% more unique visitors.
By my reckoning you’ll achieve your passenger journey equivalent of 1 billion hits in 2027 if you keep this up.
This from Guido...
It seems Labour’s replacement for Prezza in Hull, the uninspiring Karl Turner, is as ham-fisted and polite as his predecessor. On the morning train out-of-town on the Wednesday before Christmas Karl was in standard class, but thought he would help himself to a complimentary first class newspaper. Problems ensued when he was politely reminded not to steal by one of the train staff.
More here.
Has Mystic Wolmar embraced the Dark Side?
Possibly - judging by a picture used to illustrate an article by the World's Greatest Living Transport Correspondent in yesterday's Mail on Sunday 'Live' magazine.
Eye readers are invited to read the runes and draw their own conclusions.
UPDATE: This from Captain Deltic...
Surely this is much better lookalike?
Happy New Year!
Eye would like to wish all readers a peaceful Christmas and prosperous New Year
And in particular The Fact Compiler would like to thank the following for their contributions and continued support: Biggles, Billy Connections, Captain Deltic, Dr Dyonisius Lardner, Driver Potter, Gordon Gecko, Ithuriel, Kendo Nagasaki, Leo Pink, Nigel Harris, Our International Correspondent, Our Man at 222 Marylebone Road, Reginald Slicker, Robert Wright, Sim Harris, Sir Humphrey Beeching, Sir William Pollitt, SN Barnes, Steve Strong, The Archer, The Indpendent Expert, The NR Internet Rapid Rebuttal Unit, The Mad Hatter, The Major, The Shunter, The Velopodist, Tony Miles and all others who have contributed to this blog over the last year.
Finally a tip of the bowler to all those in the industry who take Eye's splenetic utterances in good spirit.
Here's to 2011...
This from Pedal Steel...
How to spot that First Capital Connect Great Northern is running an emergency timetable.
Platform staff have no idea when the next train is arriving.
All trains are listed as cancelled - until they arrive.
Telegrammed by Our Man at 222 Marylebone Road
Clearly the esteemed Transport Correspondent of the Financial Times has failed to pass on the Transport Style Sheet to his News Desk colleagues before going on Christmas leave.
The paper's report today on the extension to the c2c franchise fails to refer once to the franchise as 'lucrative'.
Does this solecism hint at slipping standards at the Pink 'un?
This from Invicta...
Alistair Dormer, managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe, in today's Northern Echo, said that the manufacturer had nearly five decades’ experience in building high-speed trains in Japan, where some areas regularly saw severe weather during the winter.
He said: “The Hitachi Class 395, which runs between London St Pancras and the Kent coast, has performed exceptionally well in all weather conditions, on all routes, while other trains have been unable to operate. We have not let passengers down and have continued to deliver a reliable service.”
Hmm. Even though only 22 of of the 29 class 395s are diagrammed for weekday service, Ashford Depot has struggled to get a full allocation out, sometimes with at least one cancellation in the morning due to lack of available stock.
And between the peaks 10 of the Class 395s sit around at various locations having a breather...
So getting 40% of your fleet to work all day can't be all that demanding.
Meanwhile, how have the "other trains" managed? Those that according to Mr Dormer "have been unable to operate".
Well, on 22 December SouthEastern's hard working engineers put out 99 out of 112 Class 375 units - that's 88% availability compared with the usual 91%. The shortfall was largely down to units stuck in the snow...
That compares with 76% for the Class 395 fleet on a good day.
This from several Liberal Democrat MPs...
We wonder if Eye readers have noticed the following remarkable similarity?
No. No. And just no!
This from Sir Humphrey Beeching...
I suspect many of your readers will have delighted in this morning's media performance by ATOC on the Today programme (2.10 in).
Certainly it is the talk of my former colleagues in Marsham Street.
In the new spirit of constructive dialogue between the Department and the train operators I have been asked to discreetly convey the views of senior officials as to how ATOC might have improved its on-air performance.
With ATOC's core message in mind perhaps it would have been best for all concerned if their own Corporate Affairs Director had not 'got through'.
UPDATE: This from SN Barnes...
With their obvious attention to detail in delivery of rail information it took until the early hours of Thursday morning for ATOC's National Rail site to wake up to the fact that they should be including London Midland services on their Journey Planning database ... whilst London Midland had spent previous 24 hours having to tell punters that NRES had yet to correct their system.
Is this what is meant by 24 hour (and 7 day?) railway - the time it takes to convey information to the passengers?
UPDATE: This from a Mr Loughton...
The Humphrey Beeching story is nonsense - the ATOC guy was given the standard Humphrys beating.
So what?
The DfT today are far more interested in Norman Baker's indiscretions, telling the Telegraph that Villiers gets LibDem policy while Hammond is oddly immune.
UPDATE: The Fact Compiler observes...
Does anyone really care whether 'Villiers gets LibDem policy' if the Sectretary of State remains immune?
If either DafT and/or the LibDems think this is important then they seriously need to retune their political antennae.
UPDATE: This from Sir Humphrey Beeching...
The Fact Compiler is quite wrong.
The views of the Minister of State for Transport are extremely important to my erstwhile colleagues in the Department.
Why at least once a month she has a one-to-one, lasting almost twenty minutes, with the Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary's Permanent Secretary.
UPDATE: This from Leo Pink...
I fear Mr Loughton may be talking nonsense.
Humphrys could have been pinned back with a few well chosen statistics backing up Robin Gisby's interview of yesterday.
For example, how many trains ran compared with the normal service, how many hundreds of thousands of commuters were got to and from work, etc.
If ATOC could not put someone up with the knowledge and media training to survive the inquisitors of the Today programme then it should have declined the invitation rather than make things worse.
It was hiding behind the sofa embarrassing and an insult to the efforts of railwaymen and women who have battled to keep the railway running.
Eye salutes London Midland for this encouragingly festive message seen at Tamworth station today.
No doubt an equal source of delight to CrossCountry and Virgin West Coast who also serve the station.
Doomed I tell you, we are all doomed!
Posts
