Recent content by Phatcontroller

Ian Walmsley’s description was brilliant. The Chief Exec would sit for “a few seconds in the manner of a parachutist braced for impact” then “moments later the cheapest seat was approved”.

I concur that WiFi on the Aurora is excellent and capable of supporting Teams video conferences (using a headset of course) without interruption.

It’s an attractive livery, rather similar to the old Solent Blue line livery

Though not part of the UK, Bus Vannin on Isle of Man deserves a mention for its immaculate presentation inside and out. Vehicles resembled a high quality private hire operation. I particularly like the Citaros with a high spec interior.

Go coach vehicles and drivers are always well presented in west Kent. Hams Travel operate only a few routes but do so very well with good presentation and reliability. Both are significantly better than Arriva.

There certainly were some scruffy BB vehicles but they did invest at Midland Fox and Maidstone and District. In particular the retro M&D cream and dark green livery looked great. I wish Arriva would bring it back.

1772141566 Please can you advise what stock will be on the Chiltern mainline this weekend apart from the single mk5 round trip? Will it be mk3 or 168? Thanks

Many thanks

We’re planning a trip to Birmingham this Saturday (28/2). Could anyone please advise if the new stock will be running on the mainline and on which diagrams if a mixture is in service? Thanks

Would the new Tata electric arc steelworks at Port Talbot be a major customer in future? It’s a few years off though.

Again to be fair to Hitachi, the standard seats they fitted to the Kentish high speeds are far far superior to the Sophia design and have lasted really well. They have only just had a re-foam.

Mark Hopwood discussed the potential for 99s hauling the Great Weetern sleepers and commented that he wanted the power and triaxle configuration but also batteries to reduce noise nuisance at depots. This was also an issue with TPEx 68s at Scarborough. I wonder if a halfway solution will emerge.

There’s an excellent film by Richard Bowker on the Green Signals You Tube channel in which he visits Taffs Well and interviews the TfW CEO. This suggests units in service this coming summer.

No serious politics please. My starter for 10 would be Sir Kier Starmer who could be a class 68+mk5 rake. Initially attractive but permanently coupled to units of questionable quality. Frequents northern cities. More expensive than first thought and gives the impression of impending structural...

It is interesting that Siemens has recently announced an increase in % of Picc line trains to be made at Goole. Could this be Government pressure to generate good news about uk manufacturing and/or an indication that Siemens has wider ambitions?