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SURPRISE GOVERNMENT REVIEW LEAVES IEP ON A KNIFE EDGE

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 14:26:05 GMT

Plan on hold until after election

ORR WARNS NETWORK RAIL OVER NEW TRACK WORK PLANS

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 14:20:49 GMT

Concern for safety of maintenance teams

EASTERN PROMISE

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 14:16:19 GMT

Plans are being developed to boost East Anglia’s rail prospects

A WELCOME IN THE WELSH VALLEYS

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 13:01:27 GMT

RAIL reports on a railway success story.

RAIL REGULARS

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 12:53:07 GMT

Providing you with the industry’s best news, comment and analysis.

Say it plainly: level crossing abuse kills – Tuesday February 23 2010

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:21:28 GMT

I’ve always felt that level crossing abuse ads in the UK pull their punches too much. I’m sure it’s done for reasons of what is perceived as ‘good taste’ but there’s too much of a tendency to avoid tough messages and very direct images.

Charity begins at home – Well done Graham! – Tuesday February 17 2010

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:32:53 GMT

RAIL is proud to have the Railway Benefit Fund as its ‘official’ charity because charity does indeed begin at home and I’m keen that we help former railwaymen and women who fall on hard times.

Election date confirmed! – Tuesday February 9 2010 (Part II)

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 10:26:46 GMT

We’ve just been talking to the diary staff at Conservative Transport Shadow Theresa Villiers’ office about an event on Thursday April 22 2010 - and stumbled across the General Election date!

Train hits lorry: lorry loses – Tuesday February 9 2010.

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:25:20 GMT

Despite several roadside signs making clear that big rigs are banned from this level crossing, this fruit n’veg trucker decided to take the chance.

Do they think we’re stupid? – Monday February 8 2010

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 09:20:43 GMT

I think I first noticed the trend when Hillary Clinton, having been found out being economical with the actualite about landing in Bosnia ‘under fire’, said she ‘mis-spoke.’

Only in today‘s Britain, sadly - Thursday February 4 2010

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 13:52:06 GMT

This has absolutely nothing to do with railways, but knowing RAIL readers as I do, I'm confident you'll find this is as unbelievably stupid as I do. No further comment needed!

Birmingham-London Mystery Shopper latest! – Tuesday February 2 2010.

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 08:39:40 GMT

Here’s a blog I’ll be taking a look at each day for the next week and you might like to add it to your daily online reading list too, as it’s providing a fascinating informed snapshot of passenger rail services via a variety of companies between Birmingham and London.

Two-day rail journey blog - Friday January 29 2010

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:45:24 GMT

I started writing this two-day rail journey blog aboard a Northern train at Liverpool Lime Street at 0800 this morning and am concluding it on an EC Leeds-KX train (not service!) back to Peterborough, reflecting on the last few days travelling about by train, on RAIL business and to attend a funeral near Lancaster.

Adonis announces National Grice II: the Campaign Tour – Wednesday January 27 2010

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:24:41 GMT

As the general election approaches (on May 6, if Defence Secretary’s apparent gaffe last weekend is anything to go by) I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the oncoming bout of baby-kissing and 24-hour political gurning which passes for campaigning these days.

Back to the future with Eversholt! - Friday January 22 2010

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:19:46 GMT

Occasionally it pays (or at the very least it can be amusing) to ask ponder whether we are gazing down the right end of the telescope.

I’m currently aboard an on-time EC train from Peterborough to London, heading for a day’s appointments in London. I am mulling over the issue of RAIL we put to bed the day before yesterday (subscribers should have it on Saturday morning; everyone else waits until next Wednesday) and a small, but interesting story about a ROSCO.

Watch your Rs – Tuesday January 19 2010.

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:40:58 GMT

A real hoot of a picture here, which I couldn’t resist sharing with you all. My thanks to Paul Whittle, Vice Chairman & Public Relations Officer, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.

Says Paul: “This unintentionally amusing station sign was spotted recently by our Darjeeling Tours Manager, Peter Jordan, on a station in West Bengal. It may make your readers smile as well.”

Railways on TV and radio – Monday January 18 2010

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:52:30 GMT

It’s a good evening to settle down with some good quality railway and TV – hopefully – tonight.

First of all there’s Michael Portillo’s ongoing railways journeys series which despite some very shoddy continuity work by a production company which should have tried harder (goodness knows there are enough names on the rolling credits, vying for glory) is nevertheless worth seeing.

The shame of Eurostar & Eurotunnel – Saturday January 9 2010

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 07:02:50 GMT

This blog is intended to be read in conjunction with my Comment and News coverage in RAIL 635, about the traumatic experience which Eurostar and Eurotunnel inflicted on their customers over three days, December 19-21.

The failure of the five Eurostar trains in the Channel Tunnel on the evening of December 18 was bad enough and the sequence of events has been well chronicled in both general and specialist media. I don’t intend to repeat that chapter of cock-ups again here, nor do I intend to pick apart the cack-handed rescue/recovery operation, botched media response and other incompetence which was writ large throughout this ghastly chapter of events.

Encouraging start by Portillo - Tuesday January 5 2010

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 10:54:27 GMT

I was quite impressed with the opening episode in Michael Portillo’s new railway journey’s series last night. Portillo was annoying as a politician but he clearly turned the humbling experience of the end of his political career to good use and he has successfully reinvented himself as a really excellent documentary maker.

Not a great start - Monday January 4 2010 Part II

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 21:15:03 GMT

An inauspicious first rail journey of 2010. The weather wasn’t that bad but the East Coast was all over the place – and it was infrastructure failures rather than train problems. Well, at first, that is….

Happy New Year! - Monday January 4 2010

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 08:56:26 GMT

OK, I know it's nearly a week old now, but it's the first day back in the office and so I thought I'd make job Number 1 wishing all those who follow my online mumblings a very happy new year. I hope it brings health and happiness (wealth is looking a bit unlikely, unless you're a banker....) and I have a suspicion that in rail terms it's going to get a bit lively.

Thursday December 24 2009

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:18:43 GMT

As the dust settles (although sadly not for its appallingly-treated passengers) on the Eurostar/Eurotunnel debacle, a few random thoughts.

I karnt bileeve this….. Wednesday December 2 2009

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 16:54:45 GMT

Who the hell is being paid to put National Express promotional material online?

Oh dear, Bob…oh dear, oh dear. – Monday November 30 2009

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:46:37 GMT

I don’t know what possessed RMT leader Bob Crow to accept the invitation to appear on Paul Merton’s team on Have I got News for You on Friday November 27 – but it was a decision doomed to failure. Not to mention humiliation.

A virtuoso performance – Friday November 27 2009

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:44:52 GMT

If you didn’t hear it live this morning at a few minutes before 0800, have a listen to Andrew Adonis banging the drum for railways on Radio 4’s Today programme and doing a very good job against one of the great interrupters of all time – Sarah Montague.

Someone had to say it! - Wednesday November 25 2009

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:47:00 GMT

I considered saying this yesterday, but in the first instance it seemed a tad churlish when the initiative was clearly such a good one – but also, given the hyper-sensitivity of NR top brass to any criticism, I decided to hold off on this one.

Network Rail to the rescue in Workington…

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:31:22 GMT

Credit where it’s due – very well done indeed to Network Rail for its very rapid response to the plight of the population in Workington and West Cumbria more generally, where floods have devastated hundreds of homes and transport has been wrecked as a result of closed, weakened or collapsed road bridges.

Fantastic frieze at St Pancras - Wednesday November 18 2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:03:17 GMT

I had a fascinating meeting last week with London & Continental PR head honcho, the ever-ebullient Ben Ruse, who is alwaygreat company.

Before we parted, he insisted on walking to the famous ‘lovers’ statue as he had something that he was very keen to show me. He was right, it IS very eye catching and I urge you to go and have a look as you next pass by, or through St Pancras International.

World’s biggest investor goes for railfreight! – November 11 2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:09:17 GMT

Where-ever you look in the world, railways are an idea whose time has come again. Rail investment news from around the world is adding momentum to Lord Adonis’ stupendous effort to make sure that there’s cross-party consensus in the UK on the value and benefits of High Speed Rail UK.

The iron road…?! – October 30 2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:03:16 GMT

Am on a southbound NXEC train, at Newcastle, idly gazing out at a lovely bit of railway history – the massive former locomotive water tank sitting atop a stone base, at the south and of the station, on the river side.

Network Rail must stop, look and REALLY listen….

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:52:56 GMT

I was shocked - and alarmed - by Phil Haigh's level crossings investigation in RAIL 629 (in the shops on Wednesday October 21) but which should be with subscribers today, providing Royal Mail does its job!

Joined up DfT (not)

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:43:37 GMT

I’m updating some of my addresbook records and so my PA Lynne has just rung the Department fro Transport for details about Directly Operated Railways, based at Marsham Street, to check job titles and postal address.

An afternoon ‘quickie‘

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:53:00 GMT

It’s a RAIL press day and so Phil, Richard and I are up top our ears in page proofs, so this won’t be a long blog!

The Summer Silly Season 2009

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:47:31 GMT

Hello again! Now, where was I…..?!

Unbelievable stupidity - Monday August 3 2009

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 15:19:49 GMT

Other than 'unbelievable stupidity' I think no more needs be said.

Weedwatch : the original and the best! - Wednesday July 29 2009

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:29:59 GMT

I was very interested to see a week or three ago that a certain well known railway gossip website has appropriated the long standing RAIL ‘Weedwatch’ idea. And some jolly good pictures it has featured, too. Good luck to the Fact Compiler’s ‘Railway Garden’….because imitation, is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery!

Stay out of the ‘four foot’! – Monday July 27, 2009

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:46:42 GMT

Here’s a shocking piece of video, showing the aftermath of a rail crash in Croatia, just last week, on July 24.

Employment and electrification – Thursday July 23 2009

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:04:19 GMT

I'll get on to electrification in a moment. Meanwhile, are you the next writer destined to work with the RAIL team at Peterborough? Fairly recent recruit, Desk Editor Andy Brown had an opportunity he couldn’t refuse and has therefore departed for pastures new. Which means an empty desk in the RAIL office…. could you fill it?

The devil is in the detail – Wednesday July 22 2009

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:42:40 GMT

I’m a huge admirer of the TV drama ‘Taggart’ which uses Glasgow as its context – I’ve always loved ‘whodunnits’ and these scripts in particular are usually really good with more than a few challenging plot twists along the way. Sometimes I figure it…sometimes I don’t.

Beep, beep…here comes the paybus! – Tuesday July 21 2009

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:32:37 GMT

One of the victims of the modernisation and increased efficiencies we all want to see on the railway is character as defined by the operational quirks which railway-minded folk often love to see. I know I do.

The wrong kind of wind! – Monday July 20 2009.

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:05:19 GMT

On the off-chance you haven’t seen this yet (I’ve noticed it on a blog and have had it emailed a couple of times) I thought I’d share this video with you all here. It certainly has a 'Wow factor' towards the top of the scale!

What if 40 people a year were killed on trains? - Sunday July 19 2009

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:19:17 GMT

There would be media mayhem, without a doubt, if 40 passengers a year were killed on trains. And if that figure had increased by two-thirds compared with the year before then the story would be immense. Quite right, too.

Driving cattle? Treated like cattle! - Friday July 17 2009

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 08:11:52 GMT

Drifting into King’s Cross this morning, from Peterborough, I was on the eastern side of the NXEC train and so, as we passed the station throat, checked progress on the preparations for the new ‘Platform 0’ which is being built. It looks like track laying is not far away.

Photographer arrested for being too tall! – Thursday July 16 2009.

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:42:11 GMT

I kid you not. This beggars belief. We are now not only through the looking glass but across the field, through the woods, past the second star from the right and straight on till morning. And there, lying in wait for us, are the plods of the Kent Police……

Wicked humour at NX – Friday July 10 2009

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:34:09 GMT

The dust settled fairly quickly after the furore of the National Express Group announcement on July 1 that it wouldn’t support NXEC beyond the remaining £40m in its accounts.

A special ‘plug’ for Ruddington – Wednesday July 8 2009

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 22:53:33 GMT

A late posting tonight, after a long and busy RAIL press day in which the team have covered the East Coast Main Line/National Express story in a lot of detail. It’ll be with subscribers on Saturday morning (Royal Mail permitting) and then in the shops next Wednesday. I hope that our coverage ‘hits the spot’ for you and illuminates this hideously complex story more than somewhat.

Heritage charters pushing their luck? – Monday July 6 2009

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 13:31:01 GMT

As a former editor of Steam Railway magazine (although blimey, it was a long time ago now….) and having had lifelong, hands-on and active involvement in steam railways (37 years this year…ouch), my heritage credentials are proven, I believe.

So, it was with a heavy heart that I found myself being critical of heritage specials on the main line earlier this year when new steam locomotive Tornado’s first jaunt to King’s Cross caused the worst trespass I’ve ever seen, in February.

Reflections on a hot day in all senses - Friday July 3 2009

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 07:39:29 GMT

I actually wrote this posting yesterday, but never got near a ‘hotspot’ to upload it, so here it is a day late, but hopefully still of some interest as a personal reflection from the cdentre of the media maelstrom at a pivotal point in history of the franchising system in particular:

Blimey, what a day yesterday. If ever there was a day NOT to be running back and forth like the proverbial ‘BA fly’ between camera crews, TV and radio studios then it was yesterday in London, with heatwave temperatures peaking at over 30 degrees C in blazing sun.

“…Where this franchise will terminate….” Wednesday July 1 2009

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 10:05:48 GMT

Well, there’s a first. National Rail Awards Director Clive Nicholls and I were en route to London, on the NXEC 0700 from Peterborough when Phil Haigh rang from RAIL’s York outstation with the not unexpected news that NXEC will shortly be no more.

Wake up and smell the petrol! – June 30 2009

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:14:36 GMT

On Saturday I was tipped off by text to make sure I read that day’s column by motoring correspondent James May, in the Daily Telegraph. “It’s about railways,” I was told “and it’s really rather good.”

It’s now Tuesday morning and after a busy few days, I’ve finally caught up with May’s piece, online, courtesy of NXEC’s wifi service. And my tipster was quite right – it is rather good.