TweetNetwork Rail are using convicts who are still serving time to help fix the railways. Apparently they are not involved in any safety-critical work and helps rehabilitate prisoners. Union bosses say this is at the expense of industry workers as prisoners are paid less. I’m not sure what I think about this. On the one [...]
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"Real benefits"
TweetFGW boss Alison Forster said in an announcement on 20 April that: Customers will see real benefits soon I dread to think of the reality of the benefits FGW will offer. Not to travel by train perhaps? She also said that last year was an “enormous challenge” for the rail company. How hard is it [...]
Ask a silly question… about the railways
TweetHere are parliamentary written answers to questions about the 1000 extra carriages promised by the government (at some point), posed by my MP Robert Key. Published on 24 April 2007. Q: Robert Key (Salisbury, Conservative) To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the additional 1,000 new railway carriages recently announced will be allocated [...]
RIP HP Sauce
Tweet The last bottle of HP Sauce was manufactured in the Birmingham factory where it had been made for over 100 years early this morning. US company, Heinz, who bought HP two years ago are now going to have it manufactured in the Netherlands. West Midlands MPs have protestested both against the closure of the [...]
Response to FGW bad service from Department for Transport
TweetI wrote to my MP Robert Key (Salisbury) about my concerns and complaints about First Great Western’s service in my area. He on my behalf wrote to Tom Harris MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, from the Department for Transport. Here is a summary of the reply. It seems to me that the [...]
Signalling cock-up
TweetThere’s not much to be said about this. Signalling work in the Portsmouth area has been going on for weeks causing considerable problems for commuters and other passengers. Network Rail have managed to screw up the entire installation of signalling equipment. I hope you look forward to raised fares next year for the pleasure.
Snow to cost Britain millions
TweetWhy is this country so crap at dealing with extremes of weather – and even these aren’t extreme when compared with other places on the planet. A couple of inches of snow and railway points stop working, people lose the ability to drive with extra caution (or be sensible and stay at home), can’t clear [...]
Packed trains are safer
Tweet…according to Rail Chiefs. It’s weird how it’s ok for trains to be over-crowded but not cars or planes…
Robbing Peter to pay Paul
TweetCornwall lost services on two of its branch lines for an entire week to salve the cuts made in the Bristol area. They said it was only for a week, but is this not setting a bad precedent? The cuts and bad service I have been discussing seem to be the product of badly written [...]
Help us save the trains
TweetYou may have heard or read about the recent cuts made to services on First Great Western’s network in South West England. This has affected my journeys to and from Salisbury and Southampton with many services cancelled or severely delayed. I reported my disappointment to Salisbury Journal who covered the story as Rail Passenger Fury [...]
