Tuesday 13 October 2009

Sadiq says...

Via twitter...

In office trying to complete Red Box while listening to Rosie W doing great job at Report Stage of Bill I would be doing but for reshuffle..

Eye hopes the Noble Lord will soon give his Transport Minister something to get his teeth into.

Hello hello hello

Splendid policing from the BTP.

This from the Grauniad...

"He walked over and said: 'Do you know that young man?' I said no. He said: 'Fuck off, then. It's got nothing to do with you,'" Hinds said.

After insisting calmly that he was within his legal rights to remain, Hinds was first threatened with arrest and then marched across the station in handcuffs by two BTP policemen.


But why, when this alleged 'offence' took place in 2004, has it taken five years for Mr Hinds to receive justice?

Good effort though, errr... 'mislaying' the CCTV footage and all.

Cross Country faces significant hurdles

Exciting news from Arriva Cross Country

Click here to visit their new Beta site.

Eye wonders if it will ever make Release 1.0

UPDATE: This just in from J Alfred Prufrock...

Congratulations to Eye for this link to Cross Country's Beta Site - a classic example of how yield management gone mad is crippling the train operators' finances.

For example, £4.50 for Manchester-Reading?

At a time when the company is engaged on a major cost cutting exercise?


The madness!

UPDATE: This just in from Alex Gill, Account Director at GraphicoDMG...

Hi “Fact Compiler”

Thanks for posting the beta link on your blog. Always a good read!

Hopefully the new beta site will see the light of day (and very soon J) . We listened to what users were telling us, and are trying to improve the experience of searching for cheap tickets, as well as helping them with features like recent and favourite searches.

It works best in Firefox at the mo – we are now adding all of the required “Browser hacks” needed to make sites work across the plethora of slightly different or newly updated web browsers like IE8, chrome, safari…..as well as fixing the usual teething problems.

Would it be possible for you to amend the link to this.

This page explains what works and what doesn’t yet, as well as what’s new, and is a good place for people to start.


Any feedback welcome!

Fancy winning an award?

This just in from Woodhouse Communications....

Good news - the closing deadline for entries to the Rail Business Awards has been extended until Friday 23 October 2009.

Good news indeed!

Hopefully sponsor HSBC will be equally generous to mortgage customers who also miss their deadlines?

No matter.

Those who have already submitted an entry must be hoping that the field remains errr... 'perfectly formed'.

Wolmar blooming - Shocker

Let Railway Eye be the first to congratulate Wolmar on his exciting news.

As reveled on his very own website:


Eye didn't know he had it in him!

UPDATE: This just in
, amazingly, from the late Marje Proops...

Many may think it an old wives' tale but my long experience as an agony aunt tells me that a new partner, a new book published and a new mansion invariably leads to choosing the decoration of the new nursery.

And there are so many railway themed children's TV programmes to choose from.

But with 'steam' so popular in the titles of Christian's books I think we can safely assume it will be Thomas the Tank Engine wall paper.


Grauniad gagged - threat to Bill of Rights

This is an absolute disgrace.

Ian Dale has the story here.

Whilst Guido, who is offshore, furnishes further details.

Log on, get outraged and reclaim our ancient rights!

UPDATE: It was the web what won it!

Via Twitter...

@arusbridger: Victory! #CarterRuck caves-in. No #Guardian court hearing. Media can now report Paul Farrelly's PQ about #Trafigura. More soon on Guardian..

@arusbridger: Thanks to Twitter/all tweeters for fantastic support over past 16 hours! Great victory for free speech. #guardian #trafigura #carterRuck

UPDATE: Grauniad story here:

Gag on Guardian reporting MP's Trafigura question lifted

UPDATE: And here is the BBC Newsnight story on Trafigura.

Dirty tricks and toxic waste in Ivory Coast

With a bowler tip to Carter-Ruck for bringing this to everyone's attention.

Standard - more waste paper at railway stations

This from the Press Gazette...

The Evening Standard has won the right to use the distribution bins of rival free title Metro at London railway stations in the evenings.

Presumably Network Rail will be restoring station bins and making a contribution towards TOC on-train cleaners?

2009 Railway Garden Competition XXIX

This just in from our man in the four foot...

Here is Hellifield down goods loop - a safe walking route?


Note the big yellow Colas lawnmower in the distance.

Oyster progress update

This just in from Captain Deltic...



Good to see that the extension of Oyster PYG from my home station, a mere 20 miles from Kings Cross, is going so well!

NR - Ignorance is bliss

Telegrammed by our man at 222 Marylebone Road
Phew, narrow escape there for Rick Haythornethwaite and the Network Rail board.

It turns out that the Peter Waller, recently appinted a Public Member is not THE Peter Waller the railway writer.

Nearly had some dangerously subversive railway knowledge there.

Meanwhile, total radio silence from the normally forthcoming Lord Berkeley following the winding up meeting of his Members Review Group on 3 October.