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Reminds me of a tale from the Blackout in World War 2. Very dim lights in the carriages, no lights outside. Trains stops and a man thinks he's reached his station, gets up opens the door, others in the compartment shout a warning, but too late, and he falls out onto the track. The others help...

There has either been disruption on the previous day, meaning the unit may have been outstationed somewhere, or there wasn't time to refuel it. Or, one of the engines wasn't working and the others were using more fuel moving the whole train around. A gauge on the tank outside. Trains with a...

Looked at a major house builders 'Key Worker' discount scheme. Literally every key worker who worked through the pandemic - except... anyone in the bus or rail industry.

Accidental, not misadventure?

I am a driver who used to sign this route. The points from slow to fast line are 50mph, then if power is taken after the rear end of the train is clear of them, then 76mph is quite possible as you come around that curve. This a pretty modern EMU we are talking about, so the acceleration is...

This is the thing though, LU are saying people can remain on 5 day week, but is less clear on whether all the other parameters of earliest start/latest finish, when a break can be placed in a shift etc. on old 5DW contract or new 4DW one. It isn't just a case of how many days at work but the...

Someone has to regularly assess your competence. So who would do that and keep records of it? Any minor incident, and you wouldn't be used by anyone in the future. Drivers have been unable to move companies due to small things on their record, so anyone self employed would find it difficult to...

Real life isn't like this of course, but if you were to send a child to school either by walking cycling or even giving them a lift yourself every school day, OR putting them on a train on all seven days of the week and all year including the school holidays - the train would be safer.

Yes. You are right. But people make mistakes sometimes. Anything that can mitigate against mistakes (or their potential consequences), should attract consideration at least.

Agreed. This is a good discussion. Personally I have seen many trains in my career overtake me, and due to sunlight and the narrower beam of LEDs, struggle to see the tail lights at a distance. A yellow end is useful, and I think upto now, it's dropping from requirements has only been looked...

Generally Scotrail traincrew are on a four day week, but this doesn't always apply to rural depots. Kyle of Lochalsh are likely to be on a five day week, and Wick a less than four day week. Also, it's possible that the early shift at Wick (who work the 0618) come in earlier and prep both the...

The old trams in London - Inspectors made hand signals to Conductors to open windows by however many inches, or all shut, or all the way open. It was very military based with orders passed down, and little letting on the ground staff think for themselves. I dare say the Underground was similar.

"Please pass along the platform [unless you don't want to use first class, in which case stay where you are blocking the platform]" "Please use all available doors [except those ones labelled first class, if you haven't got a first class ticket]" "Please give up this first class priority seat...

Well, you can still change trains there, as the train to platforms are step free. Although... must those trains be in the same direction? As there are lifts to the intermediate landings. And a lift from there to the surface. So maybe it wasn't coherent. It isn't coherent. I... I...

"London St Pancras International (STP) is a striking blend of Victorian engineering and international high-speed travel. Known as the "Cathedral of the Railways", this architectural masterpiece is the UK gateway to Europe, bustling with over 50 million passengers annually. Some of these 50...

The headcounts do not differentiate full time drivers and part time, or job share drivers. Just the total number of people employed in a driver role.

All the talk of sacrificial beams... yet we have checkout conveyor belts that stop when they detect a shopping item or 'next customer please' divider. Big red stop sign lights that illuminate when a high vehicle approaches? 'Overheight!!!' Fixed signage that is there all the time has it's...

Well there's an easy way around that. Just like there's an easy way around the 50km bus route limit without a tachograph, and associated stricter driving hours limits. Split the route up, e.g. Cambridge to East Croydon, East Croydon to Stevenage, Stevenage to Cambridge.

What you say makes sense. As I said, the railway has seen changes in the past like when the normal workweek shifted from 6 days to 5. But actually, before it changed to a shorter day on a Saturday (with a lunchtime peak for travel home), it was a full day on Saturdays at one time. So what you...

Earlier 'start up' to match weekdays was mentioned (which I forgot to mention!). I expect a weekday finish time would be matched on a route with such an early finish on a Saturday. The main point is there will be less peak hour extras on a Friday, with the base service being similar to a...