Recent content by chris parkinson

In Colin Marsden's excellent 'HST Silver Jubilee' book, he references the seemingly unofficial 'Railway Performance Society' (RPS), in which a number of drivers sought membership of the '140 club'. When HST's arrived in fleet service on the Western Region, there was a lack of speed governer...

Hello - i cannot track down a reliable source for the current capacity of the Channel Tunnel in paths per hour, per direction. In 1997, it appeared that the theoretical limit was 20 per hour, but only 12 was authorised. Have signalling improvements since then raised it up to the suggested...

class37 - id like to commend you upon a fine spot - worthy of note for streetview spotters of any level and persuasion!

Yesterdays 1630 departure from edinburgh to KGX was full & standing with declassified first class right through from Alnwick to London. This got me thinking - to what extent are EC able / willing to adapt their timetable and run extra trains - for example by providing a relief service at...

thanks - whats the incentive for the franchisee to express a desire for new stock (other than DDA legislation requiring larger fonts on the on-train LCD displays [swt junipers]), and for what are the ROSCO's bidding?

The DfT say that rolling stock in the UK is privately owned and financed - almost all of it through operating leases. How does this work? Surely ROSCO's and operators can only make profit from raising the capital for new trains if the capital is underwritten by the Gvrnmt i.e...

Can anyone advise? Thanks,

Cracking discussion - thanks chaps. Am most intrigued by this flimsy 'depriving TOC of revenue' stance. Government policy is for rail travel to be made attractive and fares reasonable, fair and transparent for the passenger. TOCs / DfT to increase prices a little above RPI, but...

I apologise for inappropriate language. I do not wish to dispute the legality of starting a journey short - for sure, its against the rules [for AP tickets]. I am more interested in establishing whether there are some interesting examples which remain within our current 'intricate' fares...

Are there some good examples where it pays to buy a ticket from a station that is further away, but the train subsequently stops at the station you wish to travel from - i.e. starting your journey 'short' ? I gather this is technically against the NR CoC.

Most of the mainlines into London are operating on a knife edge, very close to [or at] maximum capacity during peak hours. How are they monitored and who by? For example, a failed train on the slow up at Wimbledon on the SW Mainline in the AM pk. By whom and how would a decision be taken to...

At Willesden Jcn today, footbridge to the south of the Overground station crammed with bods and their lenses - can anyone advise as to the special event? Thanks,

Now that they have started running the gatwick express as through trains to brighton (the 442's at pk times), its interesting that the fare from victoria to gatwick is the same as the fare to haywards heath - the extra ten miles or so come for free! Now, whilst it is possible to get railcard...