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Paul Bigland

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Paul Bigland

Monthly Archives: June 2019

The Tory party have become an economic death cult.

30 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Brexit, Politics

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Brexit, Politics

Remember when the Conservatives were considered a safe pair of hands on the economy and thought of as the ‘party of business’? Those day are long gone. Now they’ve become an economic death cult where you have Boris Johnson saying “fuck business” whilst the other candidate in the race for the Tory leadership and job as Prime Minister has said he’d tell people to their face that them losing their jobs and livelihoods is a price worth paying for Brexit! You couldn’t make this stuff up, but this really is is the madness that’s taken hold of politics in the UK since the Brexit referendum. Here’s today’s Hunt story in the Guardian (link).

hunt

Bizarrely, few Brexit supporters seem to have the brain cells to rub together to notice how the narrative has changed since the days before the referendum, when we were told that “we hold all the cards”. Remember these charlatans?

brexit lies

Nobody put “Vote Leave, if you lose your job and your home it’ll be worth it” on the side of a bloody bus, did they?

This country has gone stark, staring mad. How on earth a developed, supposedly educated and long standing democracy can get itself in this unholy mess is beyond belief – yet here we are. It’s actually happening. The Tory’s are hooked on a belief in Unicorns and are going to elect one of these two to be the next Prime Minister. my only hope is that the tory party implodes before either of these clowns can do too much damage to the country. But our problems won’t end there. There’s no credible opposition party waiting in the wings to step in and save us from this mess. Instead we have ‘Magic Grandad’ Jeremy Corbyn and his ideological bedfellows on the far left who’re also pro Brexit. It’s like being given the ‘choice’ between a slow lingering death or a lingering slow death!

Meanwhile, many of our fellow citizens are more concerned about who’s winning ‘Love Island’. Truly, we are screwed…

 

The curious case of the revised HoC research paper on Hs2

30 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Andrew Haylen, Hs2, Parliament, Railways

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Andrew Haylen, Hs2, Parliament, Railways

On June 20th a new House of Commons research paper was released, written by one Andrew Haylen. HoC research papers are normally well-balanced and unbiased, but this one seems anything but. It places a lot of weight on newspaper reports and uncritically swallows the House of Lords Economic Affairs Ctte report which criticises HS2

Haylen’s report claims that “there are alternatives (to HS2) available that could deal with the capacity constraints on the West Coast Main Line at a lower cost.”

Really? We’ll look at that in more detail in a minute. The report also claimed that the  estimates for the cost of HS2 were actually £65bn, way over the budget envelope of £55.7bn.

Needless to say, this paper was leapt on by opponents of HS2, who made all sorts of daft claims.

Then mysteriously, the report vanished only to re-appear on the 27th June with a new co-author, one Oliver Bennett. One of the changes that was made to the report was the idea that HS2 was going to cost £65bn, the forward to the report now says this;

“It seems the estimated costs for the full Y-network of HS2 had risen and have been estimated in this paper to be around £65 billion at the time of the 2015 Spending Review. This estimate is derived using figures published by the National Audit Office (NAO) and the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2016 and 2017 about the estimated scale of efficiency savings that would be required to keep the project within the funding envelope.

Since then, HS2 Ltd and the DfT have sought to reduce the costs of the infrastructure for Phase 2b by around 40% from the 2015 Spending Review estimate, with the total savings ambition for Phase 2 of the scheme at around £12.8 billion (in 2015 prices). As at November 2016, £7.14 billion of these savings had been embedded in the Phase 2b cost estimate. The revised cost estimate for the full Y-network, based on efficiency targets set out in the July 2017 financial case, is therefore £52.6 billion”.

Clearly, someone, somewhere ‘had words’ and pointed out the financial errors in the report! You can find the revised report here.

But there’s not just financial holes in the report. Bizarrely, there’s not a single mention of freight! How on earth Haylen can claim that the strategic alternatives to Hs2 can supply sufficient capacity when he’s only looking at WCML passenger services? He clearly has no idea that the Existing West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed traffic railway in Europe. Freight could be a big beneficiary of the capacity HS2 releases on the WCML, that not only encourages modal shift off our congested roads, it also has an impact on meeting our carbon cutting targets. Is any of this considered? No.

Nor does Haylen seem aware of the fact that HS2 doesn’t just release capacity on the WCML! HS2 also removes long-distance non-stop services (such as Kings Cross-York and beyond) from the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and also releases capacity on the Midland Main Line too! I can only question just how much research Haylen has actually done into the strategic case for HS2 if he’s managed to miss these important details out. Or is it that they’re too inconvenient as they’d destroy his claim about the supposed ‘strategic alternatives’?

Let’s have a look at a map of the HS2 routes and associated services to illustrate the point that HS2 isn’t just about the WCML – and it certainly isn’t just about that route’s passenger services.

HS2-route-map-July-2017[1]

Haylen seems blissfully unaware of the existence of the Eastern arm of Phase 2b – the one that goes to East Midlands Hub, Chesterfield and Sheffield (thus relieving the Southern end of the MML) and onwards to Leeds and York (thus relieving the ECML).

How will his belief that tinkering with capacity upgrades to the WCML is sufficient help them? Simple. It won’t. Not one bit. His conclusions, (and his briefing paper) are so badly flawed they’re worthless. Not only that, they’re actually misleading. This is not the standard we should expect from the House of Commons library.

Even Haylen’s claims about the WCML passenger services don’t stand up to scrutiny. Let’s look at the issues in detail and the scheme known as “P1” from a 2013 report on HS2 strategic alternatives Haylen champions. Here’s the summary from the report.

P1.PNG

P1 is is a package of works costed at around £2.5 billion, that is said to increase capacity on the WCML to an extent that makes HS2 unnecessary. That report dates from 2013, so clearly whatever argument was made for P1 was not accepted as HS2 was chosen instead. What’s changed?

First, what is “P1”? Essentially, it’s everything that was rejected as part of the last WCML upgrade – grade-separation at Ledburn and Colwich, and 4-tracking just North of Nuneaton and on a short section of the Birmingham line. No work is said to be necessary at Euston, on the basis that turnrounds can be shortened.

And for that we get – what? One extra train per hour net out of Euston, making 16 instead of the present 15 on the Fast lines. The Birmingham and Manchester routes both go from 3 tph to 4 tph, but the present 2 tph in peak hours to Runcorn and Liverpool reduces to one, compensated for by detaching a portion off a Glasgow train at Warrington (something than in itself demands a stretch of quadrupling of the Chat Moss line).

But why? Seats on long-distance trains are not the pressing problem. The problems on the WCML out of Euston are capacity for commuters, and interurban connectivity. All four fast line commuter services from Euston in the evening peak hour are “double red” for crowding; two of the four are 12 cars already. And through minimising journey times, connectivity is poor – Watford and Milton Keynes each have only an hourly fast train to the West Midlands, not much good for commuting and no good for accessing an airport. There is no direct service in peak hours between the employment and residential centres of Watford and Rugby.

So how does P1 do in these terms? In terms of connectivity, it’s a disaster. For instance:

• Watford doesn’t even feature on the service diagram, so its link to the West Midlands, poor today, is presumably beneath notice;

• Milton Keynes is there, but what is shown is no direct service to the West Midlands, just two through trains running via Northampton and making local calls on the way, extending journey times;

• Presumably to minimise journey times, Coventry and Birmingham international are each served by alternate Euston – Birmingham fast trains, in place of all three today;

• Trent Valley stations are served by putting their stops into the Chester service, slowing that probably by about 15 minutes. And as it doesn’t now call at Milton Keynes, presumably in mitigation of the extended journey time, they have no link to that employment centre other than an hourly slow service via Northampton;

• And what happens to the Trent Valley stations peak services, formed by through trains dropping in, up in the morning and down in the evening? P1 is presented as a peak service, and there they aren’t;

• Rugby has no fast trains to London at all.

As for capacity, the real benefit seems to be just the chance to put one more 4-car unit on two outer suburban trains in each peak hour. This is an indirect effect of the grade-separation at Ledburn, allowing trains to be presented to Northampton at reasonable intervals instead of in pairs, increasing the chance of being able to reduce trains to 8 cars for the sake of platforms on the Birmingham line, or simply to save unit-mileage and fleet by not losing a 4-car unit to Birmingham or Crewe unnecessarily. But this is a pretty small return, especially as these trains are now the only service for commuters to Rugby, who currently have a number of stops on InterCity services. And whilst stating an assumption that all slow line services will be 12-car, no mention is made of the fact that, short of major work at Euston, platform 10 at Euston remains unable to take 12 car trains, so they can’t all be 12-car.

And if we take the service diagram at face value, there must be doubts about practicability of what it shows. Can New St and Piccadilly accept four Intercity trains per hour in place of the current three? Probably not. Can two trains per hour be timed to make the slow crossing move to the Manchester line at Crewe in the face of everything from Up North? “Not proven”.

Then, how valid is the underlying assumption that Euston can handle another peak hour train without enhancement? Ironically, it probably is valid for the peak hour itself, as things can only be efficient in the peak, or else they don’t work at all, although a platforming pattern that is efficient at Euston may deliver trains to the rest of the railway at times that don’t suit constraints elsewhere. The difficulty is the transition to the off-peak service. We are given no clue as to what the off-peak service is, but if a 15- or 30-minute peak cycle has to be adjusted to something like the present 20-minute cycle, the platforming pattern at the transition becomes irregular, leading to either excessive use of platforms or weird gaps in the service. Alternatively, you might create the off-peak service by dropping from 4 tph to 2 tph on the Manchester and Birmingham lines, but that is less frequent than now, which can only deter optional travellers.

So P1 is not a shovel-ready alternative to HS2. The useful capacity it adds is minimal, and the journey time savings it presents are achieved at the expense of connectivity. Maybe it can be improved – probably some calls could be reinstated given careful flighting of trains, but what makes a “timetable solution” at one place almost inevitably creates a timetable problem at another. Meanwhile P1 costs about as much per extra path as HS2 Phase 1, but without the journey time savings or potential for 400 metre trains, or availability of paths to relieve the MML and ECML, so the chances of a positive business case are pretty low.

The lesson is – within a mixed-traffic railway, you can’t have it all! Journey times come at the expense of capacity and connectivity. Station stops come at the expense of journey time and capacity. Capacity comes at the expense of a timetable fine-tuned to commercial needs.

Which is where HS2 comes in. As well as simply creating another pair of tracks’ worth of trains, in effect it relieves the WCML of one of the competing pressures, namely journey time for the end to end travellers. Once able to focus on capacity and connectivity, the railway we already have can do what it is good at – serve commuters, local and interurban passengers, and freight. P1 is just a diversion from this objective; it’s a clever attempt to show what we might have to do in the absence of HS2, but it didn’t work in 2013 and it doesn’t work now.

There’s really only one place to file this research paper, and that’s the bin.

 

Rolling blog: New trains for Northern.

28 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in LNER, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, RAIL magazine, Railways

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LNER, Northern Rail, Rail Investment, Railways

09:00.

I’m currently heading to Doncaster from Leeds aboard one of LNER’s new ‘Azuma’ trains, the second one in two days. I’m just as impressed as I was yesterday and could certainly get used to these. That said – I’ll have to as they’re the future of East Coast travel and they’ll see me out as I’d be over 100 by the time they come up for replacement!

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Today’s very much a new train day as I’m meeting up with RAIL’s Richard Clinnick to have a look at Northern’s new Class 331 EMUs. The first two of which will go into public service between Doncaster and Leeds on the 1st July.

13:21.

It’s been a busy day at the Class 331 train launch. I’ve not had chance to blog until now, so here’s a few pictures from the event and on-board the train, which you can sample for yourselves from Monday.

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L-R: Richard Allan, Northern Rail deputy MD. Chris Burchill, MD of Arriva. Andrew Jones MP, Rail Minister, at the Class 331 launch this morning.

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A view of one of the passenger saloons.

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It’s a step-change from a Pacer!

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Disabled seating/wheelchair area adjacent to the accessible toilet.

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The same area as above from the side.

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The vestibules are wide and spacious, with tip-up seats at one side.

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Looking through the gangway into the next car. There are no internal doors, giving a feeling of spaciousness

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Rail Minister Andrew Jones MP being interviewed by the BBC.

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Our train after arriving at Leeds.

The weather’s so good I’ve stayed at Doncaster for a while getting library shots. The rail scene is going to change dramatically over the next year as the LNER Mk4 sets and HSTs disappear, along with the Nirthern Pacers and Hull Trains Class 180s, so I’m getting shots whilst I can.

Our trip on the CAF built 331 went really well. They have great acceleration and braking – as you’d hope for from 100mph units. The interior’s a step-change to anything Northern’s had before. Unlike the 158s there’s plenty of legroom, both in the airline seats and table bays. The old table bays could be a bugger to get out of as your legs could get trapped. The vestibules are roomy, with some tie-up seats provided. My only observation was they’re so wide it would be difficult to find something to hold onto if you’re in the middle and it’s crowded.

Seats are always a contentious issue with some. My personal view is the seats on these units are comfortable with good lumbar support and the airline ones have big, solid seat back tables. The seats were chosen in a competition by the public who were given a choice of three different versions. The same ones are used in the refurbished class 158s.

18:39.

I’m finally on my way home from Leeds. It’s Friday, the traditional day for the ECML to break. So it did today with my train from Doncaster being 35 mins late. On the bright side, it was another ‘Azuma’ so the air-conditioning worked – which is more than I can say for the unrefurbished Class 158 I’m on now! I ended up getting way laid in Leeds watching the British Transport Police carrying out an operation where they had a heavy presence along with a metal detector in an effort to combat knife crimes. After observing for a while I popped into the adjacent Sainsbury’s, where I had one of those totally random experiences that offer an insight into the world. I bought a sandwich and paid at a till staffed by a young Asian girl. Nothing unusual in that as Yorkshire has a significant Asian population. Except for the fact that – as we spoke, I realised she had an Irish accent! I’d have loved to have stopped and spoken to her, explaining why I was interested and ask how and why but the place was busy and in some ways it’s a bit awkward in these Brexity times.

Rolling blog: Doncaster detour…

27 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in I love my job, Northern Rail, Photojournalism, RAIL magazine, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport

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I love my job, RAIL magazine, Railways, Rolling blogs, Wellbeing, Yorkshire

08:48.I’m on my way from Halifax to Doncaster for a Rail Safety week presentation at DB Cargo’s offices. My first train if the day is Northern’s 08:44 to Leeds, which is worked by a Class 150/153 combo. I’ve plumped for the better all round visibility of the 153, which is busy but not rammed. The only problem with these units is there’s very little leg-room in the airline-style seats.

Today should be an interesting event as it deals with mental health well-being and my old friend, RAIL writer Richard Clinnick is speaking. I’ve already had a busy day as I was up at 6am to polish an article I’ve written for RAIL about the ‘3 Peaks by Rail challenge’.

09:47.

I’m now ensconced in the quiet coach in LNER’s 09:45 to Kings Cross as far as Doncaster. Leeds station was busy with inbound commuters who moved like a shoal of scared fish through the barriers only to break in different directions due to changes in the concourse layout. The entrance to the concourse has been widened by removing the old ‘Upper Crust’ cafe and a new gateline is being installed further back from the platforms. The whole area’s a building site at the moment as it’s dotted with scaffolding holding up the decking from which the new roof’s being installed.

I’m travelling on a Mk4 set as this service hasn’t yet gone over to ‘Azuma’ operation, although that won’t be for much longer…

11:14.

I’m now at the DB offices at Donny and the first session today is about Defibrillators.

16:30.

Wow! That was an even more interesting day than I expected. I’ll blog more about it later when I can download my camera pictures. Right now I’m heading back to Leeds aboard one of LNERs brand new ‘Azuma’ trains. They’re quite impressive as they’re fast, the ride quality’s far better than the old Mk4 sets and the legroom in the airline seats is very good. Oh, the seat reservation system’s rather good too as it has coloured lights to indicate if seats are free or reserved.

18:00.

My final train’s just pulled out of Bradford Interchange en-route to Halifax on a glorious summer’s evening. What a day to have been cooped up inside an office! That said, I did manage to get a few library shots in the sunlight which I’ll add to my website soon. But not tonight as Dawn and I are out with friends enjoying bar food at the Moorcock Inn at Norland Moor. If I don’t get told off for being anti-social I might add a couple of restaurant pictures later. If not – expect another rolling blog tomorrow as I’ll be back in Doncaster for a press event.

Where do the days go?

26 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in I love my job, Musings, Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Musings, Railways, Travel, West

For the past 3 days I’ve been working from home, which has been lovely after all the travelling I’ve been doing recently – even if the weather’s hardly been a vintage summer. Even so, I’m wondering where the time seems to go as my ‘to do’ list never seems to shrink much. I’ve edited pictures, written blogs and articles, supplied pictures to clients but still seem to have only scratched the surface of things. Can someone please invent a 30 hour day?

Tomorrow I’m on the rails again as I’m off to Doncaster to take part in a Rail Safety week event. I’ll be meeting up with some old friends including Tracey Barber, Lucy Prior and Richard Clinnick, who’ll be speaking, so watch out for a rolling blog throughout the day. In the evening I’ll be back in Sowerby Bridge as Dawn and I are out with friends, munching Thai tapas (no, really!). Next week is shaping up into a busy one as I’ll be flitting between London, Manchester and points in between for a client before starting judging the 2019 ACoRP awards. A quiet time it ain’t! In between all this I’ve still got a few historical blogs in the pipeline, and also an analysis of a rather curious House of Commons research paper on Hs2.

 

Grand Central release details of their new Blackpool – London service, starting in 2020.

25 Tuesday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Grand Central trains, Modern Railways, Railways

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Grand Central, Railways

Yesterday open-access operator Grand Central Trains (part of the Arriva group) announced details of their new service which is due to begin running in Spring 2020. Five trains a day each way will operate Monday – Saturday, with four on Sundays. Trains will call at the following stations – although the last two Southbound M-F service won’t  call at Milton Keynes.

GC blackpool 1

The company has also released a provisional timetable. The stopping pattern has been changed (with no Warrington call as originally proposed) to address ORR’s concerns about abstracting revenue from existing franchises. The services are expected to be worked by Class 91 locomotives, 6 Mk4 coaches and a Driving Trailer (DVT) which will ne taken off-lease by LNER later this year.

GC blackpool 2

These services were proposed as long ago as 2015. In fact, I remember doing the photography at a stakeholder event with GC in Blackpool back in November 2010, which gives you an idea just how long it can take to get these new routes off the ground.

Originally, the service wasn’t expected to be able to get into Euston station due to constraints caused by the construction of HS2. Instead, Network Rail could only guarantee paths as far as Queens Park station where there’s an interchange with both the Watford DC lines and also London Underground’s Bakerloo Line. However, changes to the HS2 programme around Euston mean that there’s a lot less disruption so GC will be able to ‘go all the way’.

It will be very interesting to see how this service develops. Grand Central have a proud history of developing routes that would normally be neglected by the franchises but it can take time, faith and money. I remember when GC started their West Riding service from Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross back in 2010. In the very early days passenger loadings could be as little as 24 on a 287 seat train (I know because I’ve been a regular since the service started so used to keep count). Nowadays, you’ll be lucky to find a seat – even in First Class! Hopefully the Blackpool’s will start from a higher base. Whichever way, the service will provide around 90 more jobs and better connectivity between one of the North’s most popular seaside resorts and the capital, allowing this livery to become a regular sight on the West Coast Main Line…

DG268093. 180105. Oakleigh Park. 27.3.17crop.jpg

 

Home again (naturally).

23 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Musings, Pubs, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

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Musings, pubs, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire

Apologies for the lack of blogging these past few days. After all the travelling I’ve been doing, this weekend’s been one for spending time at home and catching up with a shedload of stuff – some work, some pleasure.

As you can imagine, there’s been a huge amount of pictures to edit from the ‘3 peaks by rail challenge’. I finished those yesterday, so tomorrow many people’s inboxes are going to be alive with pictures. I’ve added a selection to my Zenfolio website which you can find here. I’ve also been busy sorting out the pictures from Pembrokshire. You can find the travel ones here and the rail ones here. Oh, I also managed to add a few more old rail slides today. I’ve had them set up ready for scanning but ran out of time. Now I need the desk space. Here’s a sample. The pictures were all taken in the Manchester area back in April 2000. My, how things have changed! People may complain about ‘Pacers’ nowadays but back then many services were operated by life-expired DMU’s like these.

7655. L835 51432 + 51498. 14.02. New Mills - Manchester Piccadilly. New Mills Central.14.4.2000crop

Unfortunately, the good weather we brought back with us from Wales was fleeting, to say the best. I spent several hours tidying up our garden which had run riot over the past week due to all the rain. This was done in muggy weather that never actually graced us with sunshine despite all the teasing. Afterwards, Dawn and I walked down along the canal into Sowerby Bridge to stretch our legs and enjoy a drink. We called into the Hogshead brewhouse.The pub’s started to serve all it’s own brewed beers in a 6 half pint paddle, which is a great idea. Here’s a look at what you can get.

This being ‘flaming June’ we got soaked walking back home as t’heavens decided to dump upon us! Because of the inclement weather we’ve had a quiet night at home in front of the TV. That’s a rare event as I watch so little of it, but we both enjoy ‘Killing Eve’. It’s one of those rare programmes that has everything – great actors, an excellent script and wonderful camera work.

Tomorrow I’m back to the grindstone, but (as usual) there’ll be a variety of work, so expect a few different blogs as I’ve got a backlog of stuff to write about.

Rolling blog: Pembrokeshire travels by rail.

20 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Photography, Pubs, Railways, Rolling blogs, Station buffets, Transport, Travel, Wales

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Railways, Rolling blogs, Travel, Wales

My plans changed today at the last moment so I find myself sampling the railways of Pembrokeshire, starting out at Pembroke Dock.I’d no idea what to expect as I’d never been here before, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the old station building was not only intact – it was also in use as a bar and restaurant! In fact, it has been for the past 26 years, which is pretty good going when you consider the train service is one every two hours! The station Inn is one of those rare beasts nowadays as it’s also a live music venue (I’ll add a link to them later). There’s also a seating area outside for those who want to catch a bit of sun, which is what we’ve got today.

The sparse train service is relaxed to say the least as there’s a long turnaround time here. The inbound working arrived at 12:23 and it’s not due out until 13:09. I’m assuming there must be a crew messroom in the station building somewhere.

13:25

I’m now pootling my way along the branch which is actually very pretty as we pass castles, backyards and countryside whist stopping at a variety of single platform stations and level crossings where our driver still makes liberal use of the train horn – something that’s forbidden on many parts of the network due to complaints from those living alongside the line.13:44.We’ve now left Tenby, the major station on the line. It’s a town I’d never visited until this week but I can see the attraction. It has an interesting history, lovely beaches and good places to eat. Sadly, it’s a bit of a beer desert! Tony’s one of those towns that’s been taken over by the curse of ‘Doom Bar’. In many pubs it’s the only real ale you can find, which is why the arrival of the Tenby Harbour Brewery has been such a saviour!14:51.I’m now kicking my heels in Whitland, which is the junction for the Pembroke Dock line and the routes to Milford Haven and Fishguard. The station has two platforms, a BR(W) era signal box and rudimentary passenger facilities.

The single-storey modern station building is used as a base for Network Rail. At least there’s a platform canopy. Passengers on the Westbound platform have to make do with two bus shelters.

15:46.

I’m now on the 15:44 from Whitland which is heading for Milford Haven from Manchester. When you think about it, that’s quite a long trip. I wonder how many passengers (if any) do it point to point?

The line’s double track as far as Clarbeston Rd where the two lines diverge. The junction’s still controlled by an old GWR brick built signal box. The landscape around here puts me very much in mind of Devon & Cornwall, it’s gently rolling hills and rural nature are very similar, although they have a far better train service!

16:14.

Wer’e now West of Haverfordwest, a two platform station whose brick built buildings look like they date from the early 1950s. Unlike many stations it still sports a goods yard, although I’m pretty certain it’s only used by the occasional engineers train.

16:58.

I’ve arrived at Milford Haven, just over a mile from where I started. It’s another badly truncated branch line that’s seen far better days. After getting a few shots at the station (most if which is now shops) I’ve wandered through the harbour to explore. The inner harbour basin’s full of yachts whilst the quayside is lined with mock warehouse buildings that are a mixture of residential and retail. It’s a far cry from the harbours origins as a massive fish dock. I’m observing all thus from a modern restaurant/bar called The ‘Harbourmaster’ which straddles the yacht basin and the real docks on the other side of the river under the former refineries. The fact they’re mothballed now is evident from their chimneys which are all dead. Tankers still dock her, but only to fill the storage tanks on land.

Pembrokeshire perambulations…

19 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Uncategorized

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*This blog is currently under construction*

We’re  spending a few days wandering around Pembrokeshire, an area I’ve never explored before. The mixed weather’s not managed to detract from the beauty of the area, as some of these pictures will show.

DG326004. St David's cathedral. Wales. 17.6.19.crop

DG326017. St David's cathedral. Wales. 17.6.19.crop

DG326034. Strumble Head lighthouse. Pembrokeshire. Wales. 17.6.19.crop

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HS2 antis get stitched up by Boris Johnson!

17 Monday Jun 2019

Posted by Paul Bigland in Anti Hs2 mob, Boris Johnson MP, Hs2, Politics, Railways

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Boris Johnson, Hs2, Politics, Railways

I can’t help laughing, I really can’t! Those of us who’ve observed the formerly occasional London Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson for years have known that you can’t trust him as far as you can throw him. HS2 antis however, have always been good at grasping any straw. So much so they could have thatched the dome of the O2 arena with them by now.

Today, the predictable has happened. The Birmingham Mail has carried an exclusive story from the Tory leadership hustings in Birmingham. Written by Johnathan Walker, the piece reports that Mr Johnson said: “I have already asked provisionally Douglas Oakervee, who was the original chair of Crossrail, to have a look at the business case for HS2 and to think about whether and how we proceed.”

Chair of Crossrail eh? Hang on a minute, Oakervee was ALSO HS2 Ltd Chairman between Apr 2012 – Dec 2013! Does anyone honestly think Oakervee, a man who’s been building major civil engineering projects (including railways) around the world for decades, and who’s seen their transformational impacts, is going to say “HS2? Nah, scrap it”.

Furthermore, Johnson is also quoted as saying “I worry about cancelling a big national project of that scale without anything else to replace it.” Now, given Johnson’s penchant for large infrastructure projects that he can put his not inconsiderable ego – sorry – name to, does anyone seriously think he’s going to cancel HS2?

Even some HS2 antis are beginning to realise that they’re on to a loser as Johnson isn’t the only Tory leadership hopeful to row back from opposition to HS2. I predict further wailing and gnashing of teeth from what’s left of the StopHs2 camp as it’s clear the political support of regional leaders like Birmingham’s Mayor Andy Street (a fellow Tory to Johnson) and Labour Mayors in the North is firmly behind HS2. If he manages to become PM, Johnson’s going to need some good news pretty fast – and cancelling HS2 isn’t it. It might satisfy a tiny bunch of Nimbys and the lobbyists of 55 Tufton St, but the political shit-storm it would unleash in the Midlands and the North (not to mention in London) is the last thing Johnson would need.

UPDATE.

My old friend Alan Marshall has been in touch to remind me of something…

“Despite Boris seemingly (or reportedly) being very anti-HS2, in fact when he was Mayor of London he was very much for it . . . so much so that in 2015 he set up the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation to exploit the opportunities arising from the OOC interchange with the new Crossrail station to be built on the GWML. What’s more, he made himself the first chairman of the OOPRDC”.

No HS2 = no OOPRDC = no 24,000 new homes and no 55,000 jobs…

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