The ‘office’ is moving to Peterborough for the next few days as I’ll be working at a friends wedding tomorrow. I very rarely ‘do’ wedding photography – except for friends. This is one of those times. A young colleague from one of the rail magazines is getting spliced tomorrow and I’ve agreed to do ‘fly on the wall’ pictures of the big day.

Obviously, while I’m in the area I’ll be taking the opportunity to get some rail shots. Peterborough station has undergone a major rebuilding programme in the past couple of years & work continues to make the area ready for the new Thameslink trains from Siemens. There’s going to be lots to photograph…

I’ll update this blog through the day (as time permits, obviously). Right now I’m off to Leeds to catch the train South.

Update 1.

Having fortified myself with a coffee at the ACoRP office with Dawn & Hazel (aka the ‘ACoRP angels) I’m now standing on a busy Trans-Pennine service to Leeds. Not unusually, it’s running slightly late. This line has reached saturation point on capacity so any delays tend to have a ripple effect across the day. It’s one of the reasons I’m not unhappy with the ‘pause’ on electrifying the line. That pause is allowing a rethink & rescope which should mean the extra capacity that’s clearly needed can be factored into the revised scheme. All the signs are that fingers will be taken off the pause button in the autumn. Watch this space…

Right now I’m wedged into the wheelchair use space at the front of the unit, hemmed in by a three prams & half a dozen kids. I wish I had the IEAs ‘transport expert’ Richard Wellings here. Like other members of the anti Hs2 mob he’s always claiming that the railways are the reserve of the rich! Clearly the man has never been on a train outside of the London commuter belt (or, for that matter, the North London line).

UPDATE 2

I’m esconced in the Great Northern hotel opposite Peterborough station after a smooth trip down here with VTEC (Virgin Trains East Coast). Here’s food for thought: Some people always complain UK rail fares are too high. I bought my ticket online yesterday morning. There was a range of prices on offer depending on the time of day you wanted to travel. My single ticket cost me the princely sum of £19.50 in Standard Class for the 10:45 departure which arrives at 12:07. I don’t think that’s expensive at all. Clearly, a lot of other people don’t think the prices are bad either as the train was nearly full. Of course, you’ll never see the national media mention this, they’ll find the most expensive open fare & pretend it’s what everyone pays.

My visit to Peterborough has proved to be (unintentionally) very sociable. The power of social media meant that my travels had been tracked through this blog, so I ended up having a catch-up and a coffee with @mainspringmike who is based nearby. I also bumped into an old friend, Chris Leech (from Business in the Community) who was having a meeting in my hotel. It’s one of the unexpected joys of being an itinerant – you never know who you’ll bump into, or for that matter – where!