This from Network Rail's increasingly impressive LNW Route.
Lest it be forgot, LNW is opening Euston Station for the homeless on Christmas Day.
Here Birmingham New Street staff outline the work of the #RailwayFamily over Christmas.
Words and more information here.
Terrible! But good effort.
This from the Railway Gazette...
UK: Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF has selected the Celtic Business Park at the Llanwern steelworks site near Newport in South Wales as the location of its future UK factory.
Indeed.
And a big #RailwayFamily welcome to CAF.
You got to be in it, to win it!
This from our 'Railway Plod'; which is very much part of the Railway Family.
Which makes it somewhat personal!
Statement from Chief Constable on British Transport Police officer injured at London Bridge
Following the horrific attacks at London Bridge last night, the British Transport Police officer who was injured is now in a stable condition.
Chief Constable Paul Crowther said: “Having visited the officer in hospital shortly after he was admitted for treatment, I was able to hear his account of what happened last night.
“It became clear that he showed enormous courage in the face of danger, as did many others who were at the scene and rushed to help.
“Although he is seriously unwell, he was able to recount how he faced the attackers armed only with his baton, outside London Bridge station.
“For an officer who only joined us less than two years ago, the bravery he showed was outstanding and makes me extremely proud.
“All of us at BTP wish him a swift recovery, and I know he will be touched by the hundreds of messages of support from across the UK and the world.
“Our thoughts are with all of those who died or were injured, and their loved ones as they try to come to terms with what happened.”
Big respect!
Good effort.
And our prayers and thoughts are with the officer, his colleagues, family and friends.
Also... thank you to all our BTP colleagues for all that you do to keep everyone safe, day in and day out, on or about the railway.
Of course, the BTP has often been at the forefront of policing.
This from the British Transport Police History Group...
The railway police were the first force in the country to use trained police dogs (1909), one of the first to use drug sniffer dogs (1974), and the first to introduce a computerised crime reporting procedure (1970s).
This from TfL, is brilliant!
A number of colleagues at the Department for Transport have been suspended.
This is part of an on-going independent review into the lessons to be learned from the Department’s handling of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition.
This review is being overseen by Centrica
chief executive Sam Laidlaw and former PricewaterhouseCoopers strategy
chairman Ed Smith, both DfT non-executive directors.
According to the DfT the review aims to
deliver an initial report by the end of October.
Whilst a number of names are circulating within the industry relating to recent events, as far as Eye is aware, nobody has been accused of anything and nobody has been found guilty of anything.
It is, therefore, entirely possible that those currently suspended may return to their duties with their reputations fully intact.
With this in mind the Fact Compiler respectfully suggests to all industry colleagues that perhaps we should be hesitant before mentioning names in connection with recent events?
Excluding the Permanent Secretary and Ministers of course, who do carry the can...
That is all.
Gaudete!
This year's Transport Benevolent Fund rail staff carol service takes place on:
Wednesday 21st December at 12:30
at St Mary's Somers Town, Eversholt Street, near Euston Station (NW1 IBN).
All supporters of the railway most welcome.This from York's The Press...
A BOOK of condolence for victims of the Japanese earthquake will be opened tomorrow at the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York.
The book will remain open until the end of the museum’s forthcoming Japan Festival on April 28.
This from the East Japan Railway Company, sent to members of the UIC...
Dear UIC Members
As you may already know, on Friday, March 11, 2011, Japan suffered an extremely severe earthquake, stronger than any other earthquake in Japan for as long as records have been kept. The earthquake caused an unbelievably large tsunami which brought destruction and especially heavy casualties to the eastern part of northern Japan along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Our station facilities, railway tracks, and rolling stock suffered enormous losses.
As far as we know at this point, none of our customers or employees suffered casualties or serious injuries on our operating trains or at our stations. At least 3 of our regional line trains were washed off the track by the massive tsunami, but very fortunately, all the customers and our employees that were on the trains and at the stations in the devastated regions had successfully evacuated to safety. Also, no derailment was caused on our operating Shinkansen. However, we have not been able to confirm whether or not all of our employees who were not on duty that day and the families of all employees survived this tragedy, and we are very deeply concerned that there may be some who did not survive or have suffered injuries.
Also, several electric generation plants (both nuclear energy plants and thermal power plants) located in the eastern part of northern Japan along the Pacific coast were heavily damaged, and since then, there has been a serious shortage of electrical power supply for train operations.
Because of this, even in our Tokyo Metropolitan Area (within the 100 kilometer range from Tokyo), we had to cancel, suspend or reduce a great amount of our train service, including Shinkansen trains, that otherwise would have been operated. By Monday morning, March 14, for our Tokyo Metropolitan Area, we had checked our facilities and trains and were generally ready to resume normal service, starting with the first scheduled morning trains, except for the power shortage. In the short term, there is no clear prospect as to when this enormous shortage of electrical power supply will be over. One fortunate aspect for us is that we have two electric generation plants (a thermal power plant and a hydroelectric power plant) of our own, and we hope that, by careful management of our overall electrical power supply including purchased electricity, we will be able to expand the number of trains that can be operated in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
On the other hand, there is absolutely no way for us to predict when we will be able to resume our train operation, both Shinkansen and conventional lines (urban and regional trains), in the regions along the Pacific Ocean coast that suffered massive casualties from the earthquake and the tsunami. In the western part of northern Japan where the damage and casualties from the earthquake and the tsunami were relatively limited, we have pretty much been able to resume our train operation on both Shinkansen and conventional lines, though a few sections are still closed.
We are very grateful for the words of condolence and strong words of encouragements that we have been receiving since immediately after the earthquake on Friday, March 11, from many of the members of UIC. We would like to express our sincere and heartfelt thanks to all our friends around the world who share with us the same "spirit of the railway men and women.'
The realities in front of our eyes are extremely harsh and difficult for us. But we must not look away from those realities. We must be strong and accept them as they are with our firm determination, gather our courage, and make our full concerted efforts for the earliest possible recovery and to fully resume our train operation. And whatever the situation may be, we will continue to thoroughly pursue our most important management policies of "safety" and "customer satisfaction."
By sending out full and accurate information to our friends around the world about what we experienced through this tragedy, we will continue to aim for even greater contributions towards the development of railways around the world.
Although we expect it will take a very significant amount of time for the full recovery of our railway system, starting from May, we are planning to be able to resume welcoming visitors from abroad. We are also planning to host the meetings and seminars in May as originally had been planned.
Finally, and once again, we would sincerely like to ask for your very kind and even deeper understanding and cooperation. And through this occasion, it is our true wish to be able to strengthen our relationships even more than before.
Sincerely yours,
Yoshio lshida Vice-Chairman, JR East. Chairman, UIC
Satoshi Seino President & CEO, JR East
Gaudete!
This year's Transport Benevolent Fund rail staff carol service takes place on:
Wednesday 15th December at 12:30
at St Mary's Somers Town, Eversholt Street, near Euston Station (NW1 IBN).
All those on, about, or supporters of the railway most welcome.
Meanwhile, for those unable to make it...
Hope to see you on the 15th...
This from The Railway Magazine...
A website promoting Christmas Carol services across the network can be found at railwaycarols.co.uk
Meanwhile Railnews invites railway staff to attend:
The Transport Benevolent Fund rail staff carol service at 12:30 on Wednesday 16th December at St Mary's Somers Town, Eversholt Street, near Euston Station (NW1 IBN).
Carols will be lead by the London Transport Choir and the readers are Len Porter, Arthur Leathley, Roger Ford, Tom Pulford, Sim Harris and Kevin Groves (if that isn't enough there are mince pies and refreshments after the service).
No tickets required, just turn up.
This for those unable to make it...
The Fact Compiler looks forward to meeting one or two Eye readers on the 16th...
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