Author Archives: Paul Bigland

A personal view of Railtex

16 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in Hitachi, Rail Investment, Railtex, Railways, Siemens

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Earlier this week I spent a couple of days at the Railtex trade trade fair at the NEC in Birmingham. In truth, I could have done with being there for all three days as the show had a record number of exhibitors and an awful lot to see & do – and people to talk to.

The event was opened by Network Rail Chairman Professor Richard Parry-Jones who delivered a keynote speech in which he talked about way technology is transforming lives (and railways), the cost of providing extra capacity & his worry that the industry is under-providing capacity for future demand. Afterwards he went ‘walk-about’ to visit some of the exhibitors such as Siemens, Hitachi and Derby based Rail Vehicle Engineering Ltd (RVEL).

Network Rail Chairman, Professor Richard Parry Jones chatting to Andy Lynch RVELs Managing Director on their stand at Railtex

Network Rail Chairman, Professor Richard Parry Jones chatting to RVEL Managing Director, Andy Lynch on their stand at Railtex

Meanwhile, the show was getting into full swing. The Chinese had a big presence this year with both CSR and CNR having large stands that must have kept Chinese model makers busy for months as both displayed huge numbers of product models – including CNRs high speed trains. On the CSR stand a signing ceremony was held to seal co-operation between the company & the universities of Birmingham, Southampton & Central London by forming the China-UK joint research & development centre for rail technology. In a statement, CSR said the centre would look at developing new technologies, new materials and new production processes.

DG213298. China - UK rail research co-operation agreement. Railtex 2015. 12.5.15.

Although they had separate stands, the two companies are merging to create the world’s largest railway equipment manufacturer. The merger should be complete by the end of the year.

Elsewhere, Hitachi were demonstrating their 3-D interior images and design theory of their ‘British Bullet train’ – a potential offering for Hs2. The design draws upon key influences from existing and influential rolling stock in the UK. Using these to look forward & address the needs of future passengers by providing a train that has the flexibility to grow and evolve with their needs. Take a look..

Sleek & stylish, the British bullet train from Hitachi.

Sleek & stylish, the British bullet train from Hitachi.

How standard class might look

How standard class might look

Could this be the 1st Class of the future?

Could this be the 1st Class of the future?

The Europeans had been busy too. Siemens had a large stand showcasing their impressive array of products, including Trains, signalling systems & power supplies. In a low key launch the company had slipped out a model of a new 125mph EMU for the UK market – the Desiro Verve. Siemens told me they’ll be doing an expanded launch for this train later in the year.

The new Desiro Verve.

The new Desiro Verve.

Of course Railtex wasn’t all about new trains. One of the strengths of the event is variety of exhibitors from the massive multinationals through to the small UK companies who supply equipment & expertise worldwide. Railtex is the ideal opportunity to check-out what they have to offer. It’s also a fantastic place to touch base with companies you already work with -and meet potential new ones. I ended up working for several at the event itself as well as arranging new business. At the end of day 1 the networking event allowed many of us to meet in an relaxed atmosphere over a drink & some snacks before heading off to more events – or take the weight off tired feet!

Day 2 began with another keynote address, this time by Alstom UK President  Terence Watson (wearing his Rail Supply Group Co-Chair’s hat). Terence spoke about the value of the rail supply chain, how big the world wide market is – and how small UK exports are at the moment compared to the likes of China & Germany.

Wednesday seemed far busier than the first day & I found myself tied up with visiting as many of my contacts, colleagues & friends as I could before I had to leave. This meant that I missed out on many of the interesting seminars that I’d wanted to listen to altough I did make time to get to the Hs2 update. Sadly, Prof McNaughton was double booked, so a change in the programme saw him replaced by Jon Kerby, Director of BIM at High Speed 2 who talked more generally about the strategic implementation of BIM & the development of a digital railway. I’d have loved to have made it to the Thameslink & Great Western route modernisation seminars too, but I ran out of time. Another day – hopefully…

From my personal perspective Railtex was a great success. Many others I talked to thought so too. I’ll certainly be back next time. One theme I was left with was the continued development of rail technology & the growth of high speed rail. What was on offer at Railtex shows just how uninformed & stupid Jeremy Paxman’s Financial Times rant about HS2 & HSR being ’19th century’ really is!

If you want to see more pictures of Railtex,follow this link to the gallery on my picture website;

http://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/p508759096

 

 

Trains, beer and the anti Hs2 mobs latest disaster

14 Thursday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, Hs2, Hs2aa, rail ale

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I’ve finally got a few minutes spare to blog an update from this special train from St Pancras to the Barrow Hill Rail ale festival, where I’ve been taking PR pictures on board.

To say it’s been another busy week would be somewhat of an understatement. I’ve spent the past few days at the excellent Railtex trade fair at Birmingham,(I’ll be blogging about that over the weekend). Two days really wasn’t enough – I could have done to stay for all three as it was a hectic whirl of networking, photo opportunities and making new contacts.

In the midst of all this, the anti Hs2 mob provided a bit of light relief with Hs2aa’s ridiculous ‘thunderclap’ (an attempt to capitalise on social media that backfired spectacularly). Here’s the final score:

thunderclap

A paltry 1221 members shows just how irrelevant their campaign’s become. To make matters worse they forgot to include a rather important hashtag so its internet impact was zero! How much longer their campaign can survive is a very good question as they’ve nowhere left to turn.

I’ll drink to their demise when I get to Barrow Hill later. In the meantime, if you fancy a visit to the rail ale festival, here are the details;

Railale

Another busy week…

11 Monday May 2015

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After a week at home I’m back on the rails & heading for Birmingham. I’ll be based there for the next couple of days as this years Railtex exhibition is at the NEC. It starts tomorrow & should be a fascinating event. From what I’ve seen so far it promises to be the largest ever. There’s a whole host of presentations on matters such as rail electrification & Hs2, plus train builder Hitachi has something to say on their vision for high speed rail. Railtex is always a good event to catch up with friends, colleagues & keep abreast of developments in a diverse & growing industry.

In the meantime, we await the announcement of the new Tory transport team & who will be appointed Transport Minister. Whoever it is will have a busy time! There are some huge schemes & big ticket items for the department to look after.

Meanwhile,  Labour have to choose their shadow team. I suspect the industry won’t be sad to see the back of Michael Dugher as his grandstanding & attitude made him few friends. It would be good to see Labour match the Tories pledge to get more women into senior roles & give the job to the talented Lilian Greenwood…

Expect some blogging & lots of pictures to appear over the next few days. After B’ham I’m back in London for another event that combines two loves – beer and trains!

Election 2015 – an absolute disaster for the anti Hs2 campaign.

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, General election, Hs2

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Phew – what an election night that was! Those pundits claiming it was going to be boring were proved wrong. Then again, so were the pollsters. So much for a hung Parliament and another coalition…

I’ll ignore my personal disappointment at the overall result to focus on the implications for HS2 and a look at how badly the night went for the anti Hs2 campaign. OK, let’s not beat about the bush here it didn’t go ‘badly’ – it was an outright disaster. Throughout the election campaign I’ve been blogging about how the anti campaign’s been writing cheques it can’t cash. Their laughable ‘no votes for you with Hs2’ being the classic example of hype & hyperbole. Now the results are in and so we can cut through the spin & look at the reality.

First off has to be the supposed anti Hs2 ‘strongholds’ which are the Chilterns & Warwickshire. The results in both are very, very telling. Antis claimed Hs2 was the pivotal event that would decide the election in North Warwickshire (formerly held by Dan Byles MP, who was standing down). The result?

N warks

Well, that went well then! Meanwhile, in the Chilterns, UKIP were making great play of their opposition to Hs2 as they expected it would deliver them Aylesbury. After all – wasn’t this the epicentre of opposition to Hs2 with the whole county up in arms about the project? Obviously not…

Ayesbury

As the article states, Lidlington’s vote was down a mere 1.5% which, when you consider the outrageous claims of the anti Hs2 campaigners is a pretty damning indictment of their supposed influence. Mind you, If I was UKIP I’d be very pissed off with the anti hs2 mob. They promised the party thousands of votes & failed to deliver every time. It’s clear UKIP were fooled into banking their votes, assuming this meant they were a shoo-in at constituencies Hs2 passed through.

It’s not just the general election either. There were council elections too. Here’s the results in another supposed stronghold of the anti Hs2 campaign – Wendover in Bucks, where all 3 seats were won by the Tories.

Wendover

In fact, there’s nowhere the anti Hs2 campaign manifested itself in the popular vote. They failed to wield any influence in their supposed ‘strongholds’ or anywhere else on the route. As for away from the route – forget it! I’ve long said that their campaign’s a chimera, oft talked about but never seen. Sections of the media have given them an easy ride & never scrutinised their claims. That needs to change & I hope this blog will encourage fellow journalists to do that.

Back in the real world it’s clear that Hs2 will continue just as soon as Parliament reconvenes. The election result couldn’t have been worse for the anti Hs2 campaign. The Tories return without coalition partners, UKIP have been emasculated and the one Labour front bencher who was seen as wavering on Hs2 (Ed Balls) has lost his seat.

One can’t help wondering how long it’ll be before those who fund StopHs2 & the other anti organisations wake up, smell the coffee & realise they’re only throwing their money way…

UPDATE:

After grabbing a few hours sleep I’ve woken up to find some of the anti Hs2 mob are still dreaming! A quick look at social media has shown just how utterly deluded members of their campaign are. Here’s a few examples;

Crazy

Talk about being in denial? The PM’s just been re-elected for another 5 years with the Hs2 antis having shown they’ve absolutely no electoral clout – even in the Chilterns.

More delusions that aren’t even worth commenting on..

Bonkers 2

Bonkers 3

Daft

Oh, there’s one result that speaks volumes. The only constituency that had someone standing purely on an anti Hs2 ticket was Westminster North. Here’s the result.

Westminster Nth

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14001036

So, what next for the anti Hs2 mob? The oblivion I predicted earlier in the year. They’ve had the worst possible result. Within hours of the results becoming clear, returning Chancellor George Osborne tweeted this:

Osborne

Of course, Hs2 is a major plank of Osborne’s Northern powerhouse…

I predict it won’t be long before Warks millionaire Joe Elliott (the man who’s bankrolled StopH2) finally puts his chequebook away & that group folds. Will Hs2aa be far behind?

Crunch time for the anti Hs2 mob…

07 Thursday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, General election, Hs2, Hs2aa

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Today the anti Hs2 campaign finishes its electoral campaign not with a bang but a whimper.

What’s been remarkable is how low key their campaign has been. Admittedly, both StopHs2 and Hs2aa are skint due to a shortage of donors & having blown all their money on futile court cases so a big poster or mainstream media campaign was out of the question. The only way they could try & make a fuss was on social media but even that’s been quiet. If it wasn’t for UKIP supporters desperately trying to keep the issue alive in the vain hope of grabbing some votes there’s be bugger all going on. Remember, there’s meant to be THREE main groups opposing Hs2. The presence of one (AGHAST) has been so off the radar it’s positively subterranean! Their Campaigns Manager, Deanne Dukhan (@DuKhanD)has tweeted a grand total of twice this month & only a handful of times during the entire campaign. No-one else from AGHAST has even bothered. Mind you, up to the start of the election their campaign website was STILL advertising a petition that closed in 2012 so it’s not really a surprise.

Contrast this with the antis fantasy claims of a million people ‘blighted’ by Hs2, or that the majority of the UK opposes the project & you really do have to wonder what planet they’re living on. Whatever it is – it obviously doesn’t have access to Facebook, Twitter or the letters pages of UK newspapers!

Poor Hs2aa have tried to pretend they’re still an influence by recycling the same old lies, like the £138bn ‘cost’ of Hs2 I exposed here

Their latest wheeze is a ‘thunderclap’. Here’s the explanation from their website.

thunderclap

What’s laughable about this is the fact they never learn. Last year the anti Hs2 campaign tried what’s known as a ‘Twitterstorm’. The idea was that if enough people tweet about Hs2 the hashtag would ‘trend’ – showing their influence & how many folks were opposed. The result was nothing short of total embarrassment. Less than 100 folks tweeted. All it demonstrated was how few real people supported them. They’ve never tried it since. Until now…

Here’s their results so far.

hs2aa

Embarrassing, isn’t it? Remember this is a campaign that claims to represent the views of millions of people & that Hs2 is such an important issue it could seriously influence the result of the election. These ridiculous claims will be laid bare on Friday – and I’ll let you know how their ‘thunderclap’ goes as I doubt anyone will hear it otherwise!

In the meantime, I’ll be staying up to watch the election results tonight. I’m looking forward to one or two ‘popcorn moments’ – especially the one from Thanet South. I’ll be taking time to Tweet & run this blog until tiredness or boredom sets in.

Crazy anti Hs2 campaigners of the week. No 3.

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Crazy anti Hs2 campaigner of the week, Hs2

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Yet again the week’s crazy campaign award goes to Mop Denson. Yes, the person who who brought us the bonkers campaign against leather seats has managed to come up with another classic…

Denson

Without the slightest trace of irony, Mop claims there’s ‘comedy’ in the photo of Ed Balls in an empty First Great Western 1st Class coach en-route to Cardiff. We’re not told where he’s coming from, what day – or even what time of day. But hey, why should facts matter to Mop?

Of course, the real comedy is in Mop claiming a man on a train to Cardiff has any relevance at all to rail capacity on the WCML, or Hs2. You might as well claim that because a bus between Skipton & Bradford is half empty we should scrap London bus improvements.

If this sort of bonkers nonsense is meant to swing voters on the last day of campaigning for the general election it’s easy to see why the anti Hs2 mob have had such a lousy election campaign.

UPDATE:

The level of frothing on Twitter is beginning to rival a Fairy Liquid factory – so I have to give a mention in dispatches to this UKIP Tweeter for his supremely bonkers comment that Hs2 is ‘insanity gone mad’…

Bonkers

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More election dishonesty from Hs2aa.

03 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, General election, Hs2, Hs2aa, Politics

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Having blown all their money (and that of a lot of taxpayers) on futile attempts to stop Hs2 in the courts the High Speed 2 Action Alliance (Hs2aa) is doing very little nowadays. However, it has produced a card to help support the ineffective ‘no votes for you with hs2’ campaign. It’s their usual mixture of spin & lies in the form of 5 loaded ‘questions’ that are supposedly meant to put MPs ‘on the spot’.

HS2_5QuestionsForAnyoneWhoWantsYourVote-724x1024

I’ve dissected each for the benefit of those MPs who might not know how to deal with these loaded questions.

1). 452 MPs have already answered this by passing the Hs2 Hybrid Bill with a massive majority! Contrast that thumping total to the 41 MPs who voted against the bill. As Hs2 remains the policy of all the major political parties & all those likely to form the next Government I don’t think this one will bother any MPs.

2). “Hs2’s absurdly high speed, faster than any other train operating in Europe” – claims Hs2aa. Like most of their other claims it’s load of deceitful rubbish. Hs2 is designed to allow trains to run at 400kph in the future when the technology allows. In the meantime, they’re expected to run at 360kph. In fact, that technology already exists and started running in Italy last week. TRENITALIA launched its new flagship high-speed train on April 25 -the Frecciarossa 1000. Also known as the Zefiro 300, this Bombardier built train has a design speed of 400kph;

Here’s the technical details of the train;
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/frecciarossa-1000-very-high-speed-train/

Here’s an article on the launch of the Italian service;
http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/high-speed/trenitalia-launches-frecciarossa-1000.html?channel=

At the moment the Frecciarossa 1000 will be limited to speeds of 300kph. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s exactly what Hs2 have in mind. It’s worth remembering that Hs2 won’t be up & running until 2026 & who knows what speeds the next generation of high-speed trains will be capable of by then. So Hs2’s planned speed of 400kph is an eminently sensible choice that future-proofs the line – and Hs2aa are being dishonest with their claims (again).

3). ‘Adequate’ compensation. Ignoring the irony of Hs2aa (a group that’s lost dozens of court cases) talking about a lost court case, let’s remember one thing. That court case wasn’t about the amount of compensation, it was about the methodology of the compensation scheme. For some people, no level of compensation will ever be enough. In truth, the Hs2 compensation scheme is more generous than previous ones. No-one would want to see people compensated unfairly, but what all this is about is a cynical attempt to load more costs onto the Hs2 bill to make it seem unaffordable.

4). Cuts – yet another cynical ploy. We’re the 6th richest nation on the planet. The cost of Hs2 is spread over 18yrs at less than 0.17% of GDP (or around £2.5bn pa at the height of the projects spending). The idea that scrapping Hs2 will stop cuts elsewhere is nonsense. Where to cut is a political decision more than a financial one – and the different parties have different ideas on how & when to do it.

5). Hs2 ‘cuts £8.3bn of existing rail services’ This is Hs2aa’s biggest & boldest lie. I’m copying my original exposure of this to save you having to look for it.

“It is true that in the Economic Case analysis (table 9 on page 78) is a figure of £8.265 billion, labelled “classic line savings”. So what’s that all about? Well first, it refers to the full network in Phase 2, not Phase 1. Then, it’s a Present Value, that is, 60 year’s worth of annual sums all rolled into one. So the annual figure relevant to Phase 1 will be a lot – and I mean a lot – smaller.”

The cuts lie has also been nailed by the plans that have published to EXTEND rail services after Hs2 is built. As usual HS2aa ignore such inconvenient evidence as it shows them up for what they are, nothing but a deceitful bunch incapable of telling the truth.

So, next time somebody waves around Hs2aa’s ‘5 questions’ card, feel free to link to this.

The anti Hs2 campaign in the last week of the election.

02 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in General election, Hs2, Hs2aa, Politics, StopHs2

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As we’re in the final week of the election campaign I though I’d take a look at how the anti Hs2 campaign’s going. The answer is – very badly indeed.

Their laughable ‘no votes for you with Hs2’ campaign has got absolutely nowhere. It’s not even persuaded individual politicians to backtrack on their support for Hs2 never mind the actual parties. Instead, all the major players (including the SNP) have restated their support for the Hs2 project in no uncertain terms. Take this example from Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, who gave an interview to the Liverpool Echo;

Ed Balls

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/general-election-2015-ed-balls-9148898

Or this, from Labour leader Ed Miliband, who was talking to the Yorkskire Evening Post:

Ed Milliband

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/labour-will-back-hs2-miliband-1-7194044

All political parties know that (in reality) the anti Hs2 campaign is tiny. It has little real support & commands fewer votes. To illustrate this fact here’s the latest antis social media ‘scores on the doors’. These are a record of the leading anti Hs2 groups & leaders following on social media (Twitter & Facebook). Note the usual caveat. Not everyone following them opposes Hs2. Some followers are pro’s there just to keep an eye on them!

Scores

To say the results are pathetic is an understatement. They started off from a ridiculously low base and have hardly made any progress since February.There’s been no election effect at all. To put their campaign numbers in perspective, the total number of UK parliamentary electors in 2013 was 46,139,900. I’d work out what % of the electorate is actually following StopHs2 or Hs2aa but I don’t have a calculator that works to that many zero’s!

That’s not all. The main players (Stophs2 & Hs2aa) have been almost absent from the fray. Having run out of money & with a shrinking activist base they’ve relied on both UKIP & the Greens to make all the running. Their problem is – both parties are slipping in the polls.

What will be interesting to watch is what happens to their campaign after the results of the election come in and it becomes obvious they’re a disaster for them.

Watch this space…

On the road again..

30 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by in Politics, Railways, UKIP

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– well, rails really, but you know what I mean!

After a day at home I’m heading South on Grand Central’s 08:04 from Halifax to Kings Cross. I’m actually on my way to Norwich as Abellio Greater Anglia are showing off the first of their refurbished Mk3 sets to the press tomorrow. Norfolk’s county town isn’t the easiest place to get to from West Yorkshire so I’m heading down a day early & using the time to get pictures for my library. For once I’m not working over a bank holiday & I’m looking forward to having some quality time at home on my return.

Before I left this morning I remembered to get my postal ballot in for the general election. The list of candidates caused a wry smile. Despite the range of parties they all (bar one) had something in common. They all live in Yorkshire. The one that doesn’t is (yep, you’ve guessed it) the UKIP candidate, who actually lives in that well known Yorkshire town of Canterbury, Kent!

20150430_065014

I dunno, coming up here, taking our votes…

Those dogshit blues…

29 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by in Abandoned railways, Leicestershire, Melton Mowbray, Walking

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I had a commission in rural Leicestershire on Monday so my partner, Dawn and I decided to use it as an opportunity to explore the area. We booked a couple of nights at the Sysonby Knoll hotel on the outskirts of Melton Mowbray. The hotel’s part of the Best Western group & displays all the quirkiness & individuality that many of their properties do. It’s set in an attractive garden that’s bordered by the meandering River Eye. Our gorgeous first floor room looked out across the river & meadow beyond to the embankments of an old railway. As we had fabulous sunshine blessing our visit we both decided to go for an early morning walk along the footpath that’s replaced the rail tracks*. What could possibly go wrong?

Lazy & ignorant dog owners, that’s what!

We noticed the first pile of poo within minutes of stepping off the pavement. After 100 yards it became obvious the area was heavily used by dog walkers. It was like walking through a faecal minefield – and some of these dogs were clearly a damned sight bigger than Chihuahua’s! What should have been a pleasant walk & chance to explore was marred by inconsiderate dog-owners who (metaphorically & literally) didn’t give a shit.

The condition of the River Eye wasn’t much to write home about either. Perhaps I’ve been spoilt living on the clear Calder with its abundant wildlife & pristine waters. In contrast the Eye is a murky mess that bares the hallmarks of pollution from phosphate run-off from farmers’ fields along its banks.

What a shame. People remember Melton Mowbray for its pork pies & cheese. Sadly, Dawn & I will always associate it with dogshit.

* For anyone interested in old railways & who’s foolhardy enough to run the dogshit gauntlet here’s a link to the line’s history (and a selection of fine old photographs) run by local enthusiast Peter Smith;
http://www.meltonmowbrayrailways.info/

I’ve added a selection of pictures from the walk & the rest of our trip here:
http://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/p921265531