Recent content by MichaelJP59

Anyone know how long it took to rescue the stranded train? Presumably as Doncaster is only 30ish miles from Retford it would have been fairly swift? Also, would they wait until the trains in front had cleared then drive 'up' to Retford but on the 'down' line until they reach the stopped...

I've not been a rail commuter across a franchise change so not sure what to expect, will they re-livery the trains quite quickly or does it take months? And presumably every bit of grey/purple branding across all the infrastructure will have to be repainted red/white..

That's true, if you have 6 unrelated tasks all at 95% probability of success, simple maths indicates probability of all 6 succeeding is 73.5% or an approx 1 in 4 chance of failure.

I hope NR don't go overboard just to satisfy the politicians. It seems the main lessons are to do with project and risk management, especially testing untried equipment! I see nothing wrong with holiday work if the projects are correctly managed, the other alternatives are just as inconvenient...

Well it's Friday, anyone seen any sign of the much awaited initial report?

I gather NR were supposed to report preliminary findings on the KGX/FPK debacle by the end of last week, anyone seen anything yet?

That's an interesting analysis from a member of the public. It does seem that Finsbury Park was chosen without any thought as to how the much greater passenger flows could be organised. Hopefully lessons will be learned, if the station is used again under similar circumstances then special...

It might seem simplistic, but why aren't these franchises awarded as a profit sharing agreement rather than a fixed amount of premium promised (with cap/collar complications). It seems that the bid promising the highest premium wins when the only way they can make it work is to make the...

Two more days on the Retford-Leeds FC commute then working in London. Today was not so good. 0730 from Retford was cancelled (crew issues) so got the 0753 to Newcastle and changed at Doncaster onto the 0813 to Leeds (which doesn't stop at Retford). A cup of tea was offered but nothing else...

Are the reports accessible by the public, as all the aviation industry reports are, for the benefit of all? Animal incursions of course can often be a simple case of ensuring fence and boundary integrity. I guess this is done on a very regular basis.

It's been interesting reading some of the info on this thread about what might have happened on the engineering side and associated rescue. After incidents like this, is there an investigation and report done to learn about the different factors and how to improve incident management? Or is...

Back to normal today after Friday's full English, waited 20 minutes before having to ask for a cup of tea. Ended up having a banana and two Oat Crunch biscuits. Only got those by getting up and fetching them off the trolley myself as the crew were too busy tidying up to serve anyone (probably so...

That's true, at least the Thunderbird could get around to the other end even if it did take an hour to do so. Anyone have any idea how often this happens? I guess striking an animal is quite common but for that to disable the train?

That's a real surprise to me, only 4 locos to cover the full length of the ECML, no wonder a train failure is now an event dreaded by both passengers and train crews, as a 4 hour delay ruins most people's day. On a less serious note, perhaps the management could consider this simple...

I see about the brakes now. It's a bit like the undercarriage on some aircraft, which require positive hydraulic pressure to keep them up, so they fail safe down. What type of loco is the Thunderbird? Also, I noticed we broke down on a section of the line which allowed other northbound trains...