Having enjoyed an evening at home after a weekend in London with friends I’m heading back to the capital once more – this time for work. I’m at the Rail Forum (East Midlands) Parliamentary reception this afternoon. The Palace of Westminster is always a fascinating place to visit as it’s so rich in history and political power. Plus, events like this are normally a good time to catch up with people – and gossip.

Right now I’m sitting back in air conditioned luxury aboard one of Grand Central’s 125mph Adelante’s, sipping coffee & admiring the view from the window as we speed down the East Coast Mail Line. Well, what view there is as the countryside has been blanketed in fog since we started. Despite the fog we’re bowling along – unlike the airlines, who’ve had to cancel many flights, as the BBC reports here.

In contrast, the railways are unaffected. Here’s the running reports for services through Peterborough between 08:00-13:00 today – not a single cancellation reported. Needless to say this is a great advert for the railways & also Hs2…

Talking of Hs2 – On Thursday I’ll be at another important event: The National Rail Conference is maintaining its recent focus on Hs2 so it’s moved location to another crucial city on the route – Leeds. You can find the details of the event here. There’s an excellent line-up of speakers so I expect the event to be well-attended. There’s still time to book if you want to come along & hear the latest on this transformational project.

In between these events I’m looking forward to a few days at home. The new office at home is coming along but I’m desperate to have some time to get it more organised. Then there’s the backlog of paperwork to deal with before I decamp to the South once more. There’s going to be plenty to blog about in the next few weeks…