Recent content by Ferret

Then how in times gone by did they relocate Control to International or more recently, somewhere out towards Aston? What’s happened here is that somebody has made a cost-based decision to dispense with the contingency. With predictable consequences. I sincerely hope to see XC’s MD before the...

How far CrossCountry has fallen. This is a total shambles, very much on brand of course, but a shambles nonetheless. In days gone by, it was off to a back up - the so called “War Room” at International, and carry on as if nothing happened. To end up abandoning the entire service is just...

Coincidence.

Not sure about that. But, there is a known problem on CAF diesel units where choosing forwards when the driver has changed ends, does not always yield the expected results, and instead of moving in the intended direction, one moves backwards! I think it’s linked to how much air is in the main...

The 810 was at a stand around a bend. Not sure how much yellow ends would’ve helped? Maybe on a straight section, it could be an issue, but a lot has potentially gone wrong to get to the point of collision already.

195s made by CAF aren’t they? Usual incident involving the chosen Direction Selector being a mere basis for negotiation, depending on air levels? If you know, you know.

I have a whole heap of questions which only RAIB can answer. A key piece of information is what AWS indication(s) the 360 driver received. It seems to me that he clearly wasn’t expecting the red signal to be red - when on restrictives, you just do not chase the red at 76mph. So, did he get...

It seems clear the DfT are quite happy for CrossCountry to save cash by just running the bare bones. There are clearly savings that could be made within the management structure too, but perhaps nobody has mentioned to DfT that there’s a plethora of ludicrous job titles created and approved by...

It is incredibly sad. Andy Cooper was not perfect - the lack of driver training school at his direction is having serious consequences now. But the real culture issues started when Cooper left. Some Managers were appointed who had no idea of how to run a railway, not even having a good record...

Not an inaccurate assessment. Much would be solved by having sufficient rolling stock to meet demand.

CrossCountry’s problems were rooted deep, long before Covid compounded them. There is just no excusing the culture that has been created there. Joyner’s departure should only be the start, there are several others who need to follow him out of the exit door. Starting with HR and the entire...

It’s like he has the reverse-midas touch. The acid test for someone in a leadership role is did they leave things in a better state than they found them in? It’s impossible to argue that Joyner did that. When you look at the state of the XC Operation: - Traincrew shortages. - Stock shortages...

Most CrossCountry staff seem delighted by this development, which perhaps tells you all you need to know? Whatever happened seemed very abrupt - it was a matter of weeks ago that he was ‘re-imagining the train service to Cardiff’ or some such nonsense (just run trains FFS, without the word salad...

The basic gist is that the RMT have a huge fight on their hands. As it stands, I believe they are something that rhymes with ‘butterly ducked’! The latest missive from Mick Lynch suggests RDG plan to implement reforms without negotiating with RMT - it’s a like it or lump it scenario. A...

The political horseshoe theory is real.