Eye helps DfT with rolling stock sums

To commemorate Alstom's delivery of the final vehicles for the Extendolino fleet it's time for an exciting new Eye survey!

Ever keen to play a constructive role, Eye is inviting readers to help the numerically challenged Department for Transport with its rolling stock sums.

Remember - value for money is absolutely central to the railway of today!

So using your skill and judgement can you determine the difference between the cost of a diagrammed Pendolino and IEP vehicle?

As ever the poll is on the right hand menu bar - remember vote early, vote often! 

Virgin deflowered - Official

This very odd piece of PR puffery from Beardie Rail...

Virgin Trains is pleased to announce that ‘Penny’ is pregnant and expecting twins. ‘Penny’ is the 22nd of Virgin’s Pendolinos and is due to give birth in mid-May at Alstom’s H3 hospital located in the Longsight area of Manchester. Penny is doing well, but will also receive a full health check by Alstom’s engineers before being allowed back out on the main line, with her two new coaches in tow.

When released from the train hospital, ‘Penny’ is expected to be the tenth Pendolino to be running around with 11 carriages.

The news comes as ‘Penny’s’ friend, the ‘Virgin Lady’, now given a new identity of 390107, prepares to re-enter service tomorrow morning (19th April 2012) after receiving the H3 health-check and gaining two new vehicles. ‘Virgin Lady’ is the first of the original Pendolino sets to be increased from nine to eleven vehicles.

Evidently Penny is no longer a virgin...

WCML Upgrade suffers whiteout

Our man on the Pendolino reports...

Conductors on WCML Glasgow to London route have been told to announce over the intercom that:

"trains are not allowed to travel at over 100mph because of adverse weather conditions."

Why?

If this is an engineering or design problem, we should know.

Or is it just another 'wrong kind of snow' excuse for general slackness and lateness?

My 13.53 from Preston is over an hour late yet barely a flake has fallen on entire journey...

UPDATE: This from a Mr Tony Miles...

Ice thrown up is breaking outer skin of windows.

I gather 100mph avoids it being thrown up as much in the first place.

I think all 125mph trains are restricted to 100mph when this happens & 'tilt mode' is deactivated on Pendos.

Sensible really.

UPDATE: This from Sunny South...

You will find that NR have written into the rule book that speed restrictions apply in any case where disc-braked stock and drifting snow are concerned, so VWC are merely being good boys & girls and looking after both rules & regs and keeping Joe Public informed.

Yours watching South Eastern self-destruct with growing concern...

PassengerFocus - on another planet

Is this for real?

This from TransportXtra...

Virgin’s Pendolinos have received the worst rating of any long distance train in a Passenger Focus survey... However, another modern train, the Meridian fared best.

You've got to be kidding.

Better than an HST?

Never!

Meridians have the worst seat alignment of any train on the network.

Even in first class the seats appear to have been designed to minimise the view of the outside world.

And has anybody ever succeeded in making a call or keeping an internet connection open in the dreadful things.

They may thump and rattle but at least you can connect to the outside world on a Bendydildo.