Recent content by Railman

I suppose it will save having to count the votes, to see who won the competition to host the new headquarters. That said if it is cancelled whats next?? maybe leave it a year and announce a new review. Possibly cancel HS2 north of Crewe as a "Public spending cut back"

Article in the Guardian newspaper seems to think the GBR bill might not get through in time for 2024, with the demise of Schapps and the slow progress is it really just another plan to be put in the Bin??

If trains for the North are to leave Crewe on the conventional lines, will this announcment not have a big influence on the Crewe proposals of an underpass for HS2 trains, since the additional costs for fewer trains will be extortionate???

Looking at the pictures the junction points that are on view would suggest the last "Signalled move was the train entering the tunnel from the Left, and then stopped due to derailment. The following train would not have been given a signal with the junction still set for the first train, that...

Not been a good year for the Tories, Re nationalising the Railways, Energy companies going bust, lack of cheap foriegn labour causing them to say HGV drivers pay should go up. Starting to think they are more Labour than Labour!! Time to push on with the new gBR, and dont waste time on a...

There is no point in calling it anything other than BR, any attemt to call it anything else will surely just be laughed at, and hence a PR disaster. Get the double arrows back on every train ( although an additional logo for any private involvement as well) and settle down to being a public...

Should not be a problem getting any agreements for overtime now, the TOC isn't paying the bill!!!! Maybe a good time to go for better pay and T&Cs also!!!

The buisness case for all the franchised services is now totally caput!! and it is the "new Normal" that must be managed. Any service will require tax payer subsidy for years to come and probably for ever. the way to asses that service requirement is also totally new, and new rules/formulas are...

The "new world" post Covid will need a big re think on passenger demand versus service pattern and subsidy. Can we rely on the captive Commuter season ticket and business "first class" tickets?? We are back with the situation when BR was formed the first time around. The fragmented industry is...

I wonder if the extra rails fitted in the 4ft to protect some bridges and I think some viaducts in case of derailment would have helped keep the train from going over the side as it did in this case? No doubt the site didnt qualify for such protection as it stands, but maybe the standards could...

When you have an industry where safety in No1 but nothing ever goes wrong (major incidents) then over time complacancy WILL come in. Clapham, Ladbrook Grove etc, wil not mean anything to staff with less than 20 years service, which is an awful lot of staff. That also means most managers and...

Not surprised really, a lot of trains are driver and guard only around the North west, especially out of what was the peak hours. Must be a lot of TOcs who want to "give up" running trains for nobody to travel on. I wonder if any services in the country are paying at the moment (ignoring the...

There seems to be a situation not unlike the creation of BR the first time around, only now its a virus and not the second world war. Might make the much delayed "Williams report" obsolete before its finished??The TOCs that were struggling before will surely go under now. Of course the goverment...

Nice if it could be on good "long distance" rolling stock, the only problem with combining 2 services into 1 through working, is the unwanted risk of a distant problem cancelling a previously unaffected local service. possible late running from Shrewsbury resulting in a "turn back" at Chester...

It might just be me,but I think on the shop floor there was a big void between Northern Management and the staff on the ground in particular train crew. The guards dispute probably didnt help, but the large scale refusal of rest day working etc smelled of poor industrial relations and "bad...