Advertisements

Category Archives: Transport

Rolling blog; Berlin bound…

15 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by in Germany, Transport, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

Time at home never lasts long. After 48 hours I’m on the road again, this time bound for Berlin. The timing could have been better as I’ve been torn away from a very pleasant afternoon with friends. We’ve been celebrating Tony Allan (of Phoenix brewery fame) 50th anniversary in brewing with a barbecue at his home in Halifax. Tony has set up a cellar bar with two of his beers on – plus plenty of other refreshments.

Now I’ve had to begin the schlep to Stansted airport for a silly ‘o clock Sunday morning flight to Berlin in readiness for the Innotrans rail trade fair. Dawn was kind enough to drive me to Huddersfield to catch a TPE service direct to Manchester Piccadilly so I’ve dodged a bullet in the shape of another futile Northern Rail strike.

Touch wood, things are going well. We left early as Huddersfield Town were playing at home today, so traffic can always be hit and miss. Add to the fact TPE are often late which means it always pays to give yourself a one train cushion. I’d planned to catch the 18:29 but found I was in time for a late running 18:08 which gives me plenty of time to get my London connection.

The trip across the Pennies was, fine. I missed the footy crowds and secured a tip up seat outside the disabled toilet where I heard a fascinating conversation between two TPE chaps with their refreshment trolleys who were on their way home. One was from Greece and the other Georgia. They were talking about their native foods and comparing recipes. It was delightful to overhear but it also made me angry. Not at them, but the whole Brexit shambles and the fact it’s causing such uncertainty for people like this pair.

19:31.

Oh joy. This is going to be a long trip…I’m now on Virgin’s 19:35 to Euston. Not only is this 11 car rammed, it has that delightful combination of football fans, inconsiderate people – and drunks. On the bright side, the football fans are Man City supporters. If they were United fans I’m sure there would be far more of them heading back to London!

The downside? As I was (foolishly) intending to try and do some work I’d reserved a table seat with a power socket. When I arrived I found that a young woman travelling alone had spread her unruly brood (and the contents of of their McDonald’s meal) all over the table & didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned other people had reserved seats as she was too busy talking on her phone (on speakerphone). We had ‘words’ when she expected me to accommodate her noisy ‘bin lids’ and their mess whilst she ignored them as she was far more interested in her phone. One chap behind her’s already told her to take the damned thing off speaker mode, so I know I’m not the only one hacked off.

Meanwhile, drunk woman and her boyfriend 3 groups of seats ahead have broken volume controls….

20:14

Mercifully, phone woman and her brood have left the train at Stoke. In fact, many people have in this coach (B) whilst a handful have joined us. Next stop is Milton Keynes…

20:37

The evening’s not completely wasted. I might not be able to write, but I can edit pictures. The slightly frustrating thing is the chap who’s sat next to me (And who does a very good job of filling his seat) has made no effort to move and spread out into the empty ones around us, but then they’re all backwards facing seats, which I know some people are funny about. Oh well, if he won’t…

21:22

After Milton Keynes this train’s less than 50% full. I can stretch out and work on photos whilst listening to music. The old iPod’s been dug out and I’m taking a bittersweet trip down memory lane, listening to The Waterboys and Fisherman’s Blues…

22:27

Not a vintage journey with VWC: we were right time to Berkhampstead, then ended up crawling the rest of the way on the slow lines into Euston where we arrived around 15m late. The frustrating thing was the complete lack of any real information, just generic announcements. There was no ticket check nor any apology (or explanation) for the delay – which in this day and age really isn’t good enough.

To add insult to injury I’m now on the 205 bus from Euston to Liverpool St as the tube is shut for engineering work! Good job I’m in no hurry…

23:11

When I said I was in no hurry, that wasn’t entirely true. I’m currently sat on the last Stansted Express of the night, the 23:25. If I’d missed this it would have meant spending a night on Liverpool St station until 04:30 tomorrow! I’d like to think my days of kipping on railway stations are long gone.

The bus journey across London brought back many memories. So much of it was familiar yet so much has changed. I passed through places I remember from my days with the National Federation of Housing Co-ops back in the late 1980s, plus areas Lynn and I would regularly cycle through on her way to/from work when we lived in the East End.

Liverpool St itself holds lots of memories, as does the areas of London we’re about to pass through now. Tower Hamlets and Hackney.

Compared the old 317s they replaced on the Stansteds the 379s are a great bit of kit. They fast, comfortable and roomy. The wifi’s pretty good too – which is why you’re reading this now! Here’s a view of the interior of set 026.

Odd to think these EMUs will be surplus to requirements in 2020 isn’t it?

00:23

I’m now ‘settled’ at Stansted airport. It’s times like this you realise how passenger unfriendly these places are. There’s literally hundreds of people here who are on ridiculously early flights who’ve decided it’s not worth shelling out for a hotel room so have decided to stay at the airport and maybe get a couple of hours shut eye. But Stansted (the bastards) – unlike any other UK or international airport I’ve ever used has got a nasty surprise in store. Take a look at this!

To say that I’m not happy is a f*****g understatement!

In all my 40 plus years travelling around the world I’ve never known an airport that holds its passengers in such contempt. I’ve just been told off for reclining on my suitcase as it’s a breach of the rules. Stansted makes its money out of cheap flights at silly hours of the day, but (cynically) it won’t provide the facilities to cater for then and even forbids them from trying to sleep. This is what happened to a young girl who tried to lie down outside an area of closed desks, so wasn’t blocking anything.

Well congratulations Stansted, not only is this the last time I use you. I’ll be publicising your contemptuous attitude to your passengers far and wide.

It’s 03:00 now and the rest of the airport building’s been opened. Until 02:30 it was blocked off, hence us being corralled in a tiny space. The only reason I can see why they’ve opened it is that flights have started arriving, so we’re in the way. I can’t see any logical reason why the rest of the airport was closed other than a desire to save money. I can’t understand any rational security excuse as Heathrow can keep vast spaces open overnight without a problem. So why can’t Stansted – which is far smaller?

04:52.

I’m now airside. Once the rest of the airport opened I managed to find a space to pay my head for nearly an hour before it was time to check-in. To be fair to Ryanair that was pretty quick even though the airport’s buzzing now. Security was pretty good to although my lack of sleep was starting to tell.

Once I got through I realised where all the space I used to remember from the past has gone. After security you’re led along the yellow brick road and a meander through shops. Lots of shops. When you get through you’re deposited in a packed seating area that’s surrounded with-more shops!

Essentially, Stansted treats you as an economic battery hen. Facilities are minimal, this is about squeezing as much cash out of you as possible before you catch your plane. Of course, this time of the morning airports exist in their own time zone. I walked through the huge Wetherspoons at 05:20 and it looked like this.

06:13

We’ve just boarded! Now for some sleep….

I’ll start blogging again from a civilised country later.

Advertisements

Rolling blog: Escaped!

29 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Huddersfield, Railways, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

After several days working from home I’ve managed to escape the confines of the office and do some research for a forthcoming article. Dawn dropped me off at Huddersfield station on her way in to work at ‘ACoRP Towers’, allowing me to pick up a train to head East

I’m now in the lap of luxury – a six car TPE set working a local Leeds stopper! Whilst this is lovely, I can’t help wondering about using 100mph Class 185s on such a service. It hardly strikes me as a sensible use of resources.

Still, I’m not grumbling, it beats bouncing along in a Pacer or a 150!

14:31. South Gosforth.

I’ve moved a bit! I’m now on the Tyneside Metro en-route to Whitley Bay after a stop in Durham to sample the new station bar – The Waiting Room. This is the latest edition to the stable of stations with decent pubs and it’s a cracker!

The rooms have been rescued from dereliction after their previous use as a newspaper delivery room and restored to a very high level. The bar has three hand pumps, all dispensing beers from the region.

DG305953. The waiting room pub. Durham. 29.8.18crop

DG305956. The waiting room pub. Durham. 29.8.18crop

18:42 Aboard a TPE service back from Newcastle to York..

Today’s been busy – and suffered from a lack of internet access so I’ve not updated this blog as much as I’d hoped to. That said, it’s been a fascinating day. I’ve not explored the Tyne and Wear metro for several years, despite planning to – and today’s trip was very spur of the moment (so apologies to Paul Young when he reads this). My diary’s very few empty days in it right now, so when needs must.

What can I say about the T&W metro apart from the fact that it’s showing its age and it’s not just the trains? OK, it dates from the very early 80s (which makes it younger than the Merseyrail network which has been refurbished) but it has a lot of brutalist architecture and stations that really don’t feel that welcoming. It’s almost a throwback to the Thatcher years in someways. I travel the length & breadth of the country every year and I’m stuck to think of many places with stations this dispiriting, never mind a network of them.

To be fair, there are older (far more attractive) stations on the T&W network, but that just goes to show these ones up even more. Travelling round today reminded me of the former East Germany in some ways.

It’s not all bad. I stopped off at Monkseaton station which is a fine example of North Eastern Railway architecture and boasts a wonderfully eccentric real ale pub (The Left Luggage Room) that opened in 2016.

DG306013

It’s a fabulous jumble of mismatched furniture and tables, books, guitars plus a piano (Sunday nights are buskers nights). There’s even a rhino’s head on the wall behind the bar. Oh, and where else in the country can you play ‘Rhino Quoits’?

DG306012. Left luggage room pub. Monkseaton. 29.8.18 crop

15:00 Whitley Bay.

I nipped along the line one more stop to have a look at Whitley Bay. In the last century it was a popular resort for Geordies taking a break from the mines or shipyards. Like most seaside towns the death of heavy industry and the emergence of the cheap package holiday abroad spelled trouble. After years of decline investment is coming into the town and there are obvious signs of improvement as derelict building have been replaced with new developments, but it’s still a bit of a sorry place. Many shops are vacant (when charity shops close and the local British Legion’s up for sale, you know a place is in trouble).

DG306043crop

DG306046crop

But there are green shoots, like the local Whitley Bay brewing company, who’ve recently taken over this wonderful looking pub on South Parade.

DG306045crop

There’s also new developments like this, which until recently was a derelict site on the corner of the Promenade and Esplanade, directly down from the station.

DG306036crop

Even the station’s come up in the world as it now possesses both a cafe and a bar/restaurant. The café (Coffee Central) is decorated in whimsical style and possesses a large covered seating area outside as well as a cosy interior.

DG306027crop

On Tuesdays you can even get Spanish lessons there (see sign on right)!

DG306033crop

The bar and restaurant (Olives) occupies another wing of the station and also has a large outside seating area.

21:00. Leeds

I was trying to pass through quickly but delays meant that it wasn’t to be. That said it was an interesting experience when I nipped through the barriers to grab a sandwich. The diminutive woman (and sole member of staff) crewing the barriers was trying to deal with a 6′ 4″ transvestite who was trying to attract attention (in every wrong way), as I crossed the concourse there was the obligatory drunk trying to make friends with any poor mug who’d sat down & was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

21:24.

Escaped again! My connection was running late so I’m on a different train that will arrive in Halifax with just a few minutes difference. This is one of the beauties of an increase in Calder Valley services – I don’t have to hang around for long. OK, we’re not at London metro standards yet, but when I look back at Calder valley timetables from the 1970s-80s this is luxury.

Off to the moor…

25 Saturday Aug 2018

Posted by in Pubs, Tesla, Transport, Travel, Walking, Yorkshire

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

The weather forecast isn’t as good as it was but we’re off to Ilkley for a days walking with friends regardless. For once we’re not travelling by rail. Instead we’re in a rather different vehicle. Can you guess what it is?

It’s a Tesla.

So, part of the day was really interesting for a completely different reason – the chance to travel in an electric car, hear what the owner thought of it and gather our own impressions.

Jason’s had his Tesla for two years and covered a fair bit of ground in it as he uses it for both business and pleasure. I doubt he’ll mind me describing him as a car enthusiast who’s owned many different vehicles over the years.

Firstly, here’s my impressions of the Tesla S. It’s very roomy, but then it’s a big car. A lot of space inside the saloon is saved by the lack of a transmission. The fact it doesn’t have an engine means it has a (small) front boot as well as a rear one. It’s also very quiet – and stable, that’s because the battery covers the base of the chassis between the wheels, giving the vehicle a very low centre of gravity. Acceleration is impressive, very impressive. It would easily beat shit off a shovel. Jason told me it will do 0-30 in something like 1.5 seconds. He gave us a demonstration of what happens when by putting his foot down for a few seconds and it really did move (all within the speed limit of course).

Then come the caveats. Jason and his partner Nikki talked about the vehicles autopilot and the problems they’ve experienced. Apparently, you can trust it(ish) on roads where there’s clearly defined white lines, but if there’s none – forget it. Jason talked about the time he’d left the car in Autopilot when he was in a queue at traffic lights. The car suddenly decided to take off. Now, when you consider that at Tesla S weighs well over 2 tons and can accelerate rapidly, that’s a lot of kinetic energy – as the car in front that the Tesla didn’t sense found out. Jason’s Tesla rear-ended it so hard that it caused £10,000 worth of damage! Other things I learned were that the build quality is ‘typically American’ (and no, that’s not a compliment) and that because of the cars limited (but still impressive) battery charge life, you really have to be careful about travelling long distances as you have to make sure you can find working charging points. They’re not ‘go anywhere’ vehicles, but I’m sure that this factor will change as the technology improves and expands.

All in all I was quite impressed with the vehicle, just not the much-vaunted auto-pilot capability. Electric cars are certainly here to stay and the technology will continue to develop and improve. They cold make a real difference, but we have to be realistic about them. I still remain deeply cynical about the autonomous car hype and Jason’s experiences re-enforced that. Oh, there’s also the small matter that a Tesla isn’t exactly cheap, this one cost North of £65,000, which doesn’t exactly put it in the household car spending bracket. That said, other car companies will produce mass produced vehicles – which Tesla is failing to do.

OK, I realise that I’ve turned into ‘Top Gear’ here, so let’s get away from cars. The four of us had headed over to Ilkley for a day walking and chance to catch up – and we couldn’t have chosen a better day. Despite the forecast we didn’t see a spot of rain. In fact, the weather was far sunnier than was expected, so we had a great few hours exploring Ilkley Moor. Here’s a selection of pictures.

 

DG305910

Looking across Wharfedale North-East from above the Cow and Calf rocks on Ilkley Moor. There’s an interesting collection of ‘golf-ball’ radar installations on the horizon, but I’ve no idea where they are as I can’t find them on any maps! 

DG305913

Looking down on Ilkley from the Moor, with the railway station middle left of the picture. 

The Cow and Calf rocks are a busy tourist destination as there’s a car-park just below them. They’re a good base from which to explore the Moor.

20180825_1529584980975540208170194.jpg

A closer view of the Cow and Calf rocks. 

DG305904

Close to the rocks is the hotel and pub of the same name. It’s a great place to have a meal or a drink whilst admiring the views. 

 

The selection of real Ales isn’t bad either! 

Rolling blog: The final countdown…

06 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by in ACoRP, I love my job, Musings, Northern Rail, Pacers, Rail Investment, Rolling blogs, Transport, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Paul Cook and I are back on the ACoRP judging trail today, visiting the last 3 of the 25 stations on the shortlist for 2018. There’s two in the Manchester area then one much closer to home back in West Yorkshire. 2018 brought some fantastic entries which means the pair of us are going to have a tough time choosing an overall winner.

Right now I’m heading over to Manchester from Sowerby Bridge on a Northern Rail Class 156. These units were rare visitors to West Yorkshire until recently as they worked services out of Liverpool and Manchester until they were displaced by electrification and an influx of former Thameslink Class 319s.

Northern’s DMU train fleet is a real mixture of cascaded units in a variety of liveries right now. 150s and 153s from GWR and 158s and 170s from Scotrail have been added to the fleet recently (with more to come). Meanwhile, the first of the new DMUs from builders CAF has arrived and sits in the depot at Edge Hill, Liverpool. Clearly, the writing’s on the wall for the old BR ‘Pacer’ fleet…

The run of sunny weather appears to have ground to a halt. We had a superb day at home yesterday. Today the skies wall to wall with grey clouds of a variety of hues and densities. I’m hoping it will recover as I’ve more scenic rail pictures to try and get in the can this week.

12:09.

First visit done! Now we’re moving on from suburban South Manchester out to rural Derbyshire, this time aboard a refurbished Northern Class 150/2. These are my least favorite DMUs. Noisy, slow and with high window cills and poor visibility, they’re less than ideal on scenic lines. The 2+3 seating doesn’t help make them feel any less cramped.

14:24

We’re heading back to Manchester now ready for the final visit. Here’s a clue to where we were visiting.

DG305004

The weather’s warming up and the skies are clearing, so I might see the last station at its most colourful…

16:16

Having made the dash over the Pennines to Huddersfield I’m now aboard yet another of Northern Rail’s Class 150 fleet. Oh, for a Pacer with their big windows! Luckily, I’m not on here for long…

18:04.

Dun judging! That’s it for another year. Now I’m bouncing my way back to Sowerby Bridge on a Pacer.

As predicted, the sun had got his hat on and the afternoon’s turned into a lovely evening. I popped into one of my locals, the Jubilee refreshment rooms on Sowerby Bridge station for a celebration beer. The Jubilee is unique in that it tells you when the beer barrel was put on.

As well as being blessed with the Refreshment Rooms the local station friends group has built a very attractive garden by the car park (as well as maintaining tubs and planters on the platforms).

Rolling blog: Wednesday wanderings

04 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by in I love my job, Railways, Transport, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

After a rare day at home I’m on the move again. This time I’m off to explore (in detail) the railway from Bidston to Wrexham. I’ve traversed it several times but never stopped off anywhere on the route. Today I’ll be putting that right, so expect some notes and pictures.

Right now I’m crossing the Pennines on the beautiful Calder Valley route. The skies are picture perfect again, clear blue with just a wisp of cloud here and there. I honestly can’t remember when we’ve had so many days of unbroken sunshine. They bring back memories of childhood, when your mind remembers every day like that!

Stopping to change trains at Manchester Victoria I was stuck by how many ex-GWR diesel units were working services. Here’s 153305 (in a neutral white livery) with much-travelled 150129 (ex-Centro, ex-Silverlink, ex-GWR).

My onward train to Liverpool was another recent addition to the Northern fleet as it was an ex-Thameslink Class 319 electric. These 4 car 100 mph have made a huge difference to services as they’ve replaced 2-car Class 156 diesels. Despite the doubling in capacity, my train is 85% full! By the time we reached Rainhill even the vestibules were rammed.

On arrival at Lime St we pulled into one of only two working platforms as the station’s in the middle of an extensive rebuilding programme which will see platforms extended, extra ones added and the track layout modernised and resignalled.

I always laugh when I see work like this and remember Hs2 antis perennial refrain “invest in the existing network instead”. If they could be bothered to get out of their armchairs to take a look around the UK network they’d know we’re doing exactly that. The problem is, it soaks up what little capacity we have left on our existing main lines, leaving nothing for the future. Here’s how Lime St is looking right now.

Moving on by Merseyrail I crossed under the river and emerged into the daylight at Birkenhead before arriving at Bidston, a small Island platform station which is the junction for the Borderlands line to Wrexham. I’m old enough to remember when this service ran as far as Birkenhead, before it was cut back to Bidston. In those days the area was busy with freight. Iron ore was imported through the docks and moved to Shotton steelworks by rail. The infrastructure’s all long gone now. Instead, an hourly passenger service run by Arriva Trains Wales is the sole survivor.

For many years the line was worked by single car Class 153s. Nowadays 2 car Class 150s are the norm.

My first stop on the service was Shotton, where I came to photograph what’s become the symbol of the line – the triple span bridge over the River Dee.

The bridge is only a short walk from the stations. Yep, Shotton’s graced with both high level and low level! The low level station’s fairly recent. Built on the former Chester to Holyhead railway, the platforms are on what was the slow lines when this was a four-track railway.

Shotton is an odd little place. It owes its existance to the nearby steelworks established by John Summers (and now owned by Tata). At its height it employed 13,200 people. Now it’s around a 1000. The towns fortunes reflect that of the steelworks. My first memories of the place are from the early 1970s when I’d encourage my dad to take this route on the way to family holidays with relatives on Anglesey as it followed the railway, allowing me to try and see the trains. Sometimes my parents and sisters would humour me – other times not.

Now this bastion of heavy industry is a shadow of it’s former self (like many UK locations). I’m always truck by this when I travel across Germany, a country which still possess these places. Shooton seems to rely on the pensioned-off (hence the size of the towns Wetherspoons) and also the nearby Airbus aircraft plant at Broughton – which is under threat from Brexit. It’s deeply ironic to think tbat nostalgia for the past and heavy industries is putting the future of towns like Shotton at risk.

20:30

I’m now back in the bosom of West Yorkshire, heading home on the Calder Valley line again. I managed to get the scenic shots on the Borderlands that I needed but the further South I went towards Wrexham, the more the clouds started to creep in. Here’s an example, taken just outside Cefyn-y-Bedd station which can be seen in the background.

DG301529

Having the shots in the can I made my way back to Shotton low level to catch a train to Chester which is only 15 minutes away. This gave me time to get a few shots at yet another boyhood haunt before catching a direct train to Manchester. I’m not sure if these are the regular units on the service but I have to say a two car Class 150 is less than ideal – even if they have been refurbished to a high standard.

DG301589

Tomorrow I’m off again, so I’ll draw this blog to a close.

(Rolling blog). Ready, steady, go!

12 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by in Hs2, Transport, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

The marathon’s started. Right now i’m wedged in the vestibule of a 2-car Class 158 making its way to Leeds from Halifax. I’m an infrequent user of these services so it wasn’t until the Conductor apologised for the short-formed set that I realised this wasn’t the norm. There’s 14 people in this vestibule and we’ve had to leave people behind at Bramley because we’re so full. Good job I wasn’t planning to try and do any work on the train!

Despite everything, it wasn’t a bad journey and I arrived in plenty of time to make my way to the High Speed Rail Industry Leaders conference which was being held at Leeds Music College.

20.38.

Time for an update on the day. I’ve been to a lot of conferences but this was one of the better ones. Over 250 people attended and the line up of speakers was excellent. One of the highlights of the morning was Lord Andrew Adonis who was on scintillating form! He gave an absolute barnstormer of a talk covering everything from Hs2 to Brexit (which he happily slipped a knife between its ribs)! He was funny and informative in equal measure. As he’s been a Transport Minister and Chair of the Infrastructure Commission he knows his subject and isn’t afraid to offer opinions – if you agree with them or not!

DG298323low

Lord Adonis with Daisy McAndrews, ITV’s former Economics Editor, who chaired the conference.

The day passed very quickly despite the crowded programme and it really deserves a blog in its own right (although I’m not sure that I’m going to find time to write one right now). What I will say is that – unlike many conferences, it didn’t tail off after lunch as the first person up was Hs2 Ltd’s Chief Executive Mark Thurston, who came across very well when it came to the Q and A session.

DG298386crop

The final section of the day was given over to a panel debate and Q & A session with Tim Wood (Northern Powerhouse Rail Director, TfN). Susan Hinchcliffe (West Yorkshire Combined Authority Chair and Leader of Bradford Council), Paul Griffiths ( Phase 2b Director, Hs2 Ltd), Angela Barnicle (Head of Asset Management, Leeds City Council) and John Downer (Director of HSRIL). This was a genuinely informative and inspiring session where the groups really laid out what Hs2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail mean to the North and the synergy between the two projects that could see TfN building parts of the shared route before Hs2 do. Tim also laid bare TfN’s ambition to build entirely new rail lines between Leeds-York and Manchester-Liverpool.

After leaving the conference I made my way back to Leeds station with some colleagues before getting a few photos. Whilst having a mooch around, one thing struck me. Despite the impact Northern’s timetable problems are having, there’s not a single poster anywhere offering an apology or explanation. Nothing. You wouldn’t even know there’s a temporary timetable in operation. It’s bizarre. In the days of MD Heidi Mottram and (later) Alex Hynes, you can guarantee there would have been profuse apologies (not to mention regular updates) – even a presence on the front line. This is no way to run a public service…

Now I’m speeding to London on a late running VTEC service. Apparently, a Northbound working ‘sat down’ near Peterborough leading to delays, but as I’ve plenty of time I’m not too bothered and VTEC have done what Northern haven’t – kept me informed and apologised!

22.56

I’m now back in London and emailing pictures to RAIL mag in readiness for press day tomorrow before heading off to Germany and a couple of days with the press pack at the Siemens Innotrans preview. Expect pictures and details when I can post them…

Rolling blog: Back on the rails…

07 Thursday Jun 2018

Posted by in Railways, Transport, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

I’m currently heading South once more as I have another commission on the South coast tomorrow. Sadly, this means I’m stuck in a train when the sun’s blazing and I’d rather be out and about with the camera. Hopefully I’ll have chance to grab a few shots later.

I’ll also have the chance to sample Southern and GTR train services again. To say it’s been a torrid time for the industry following the May timetable change would be an understatement. I’m not going to go over the reasons why as they’ve already explained in detail by my colleagues on RAIL magazine. My observations would be that as well as the managerial and political failures there’s also been a huge PR failure. The fact is that Northern did themselves no favours at all with a bunker mentality that meant they refused to put up any Directors for media interviews to explain the problems until it was too late and the narrative had been set.

Whilst I have sympathy for rail staff caught up in the problems, I also have huge sympathy for passengers. My nephew tells me that he lost his job due to the impact of delays. Clearly, the railways failed in their primary duty, to get people (reliably) from A to B so I hope the lessons are learned. I believe the railways will, but I’m not so sure about their masters in Parliament and the DfT…

One of the ironies of the situation is people complaining that what happened shows our railways are badly managed and run-run down when the truth is – the root of many of the problems was delays in commissioning new investment in both infrastructure and trains!

I hope when the dust finally settles, people will start to appreciate the major investment the railways are enjoying.

Update. 19:13.

Due to the VTEC service in front of us being cancelled my Grand Central train had a fast clear run into London and arrived 15 minutes early. This allowed me to make a dash across London by tube to Victoria in time to catch an earlier service to the South coast in the shape of the 18:24 to Littlehampton. Needless to say, this 8 car trains rammed! It was wedged departing Victoria and positively sardine-like after leaving Clapham Junction! Our call at East Crodon eased matters slightly but I was interested to see that nearly as many suits got on as off, which says something about the way the towns changing nowadays.

As we head for Gatwick I cast an eye over my fellow passengers and – sure enough – of the 16 people in this section of the coach 12 are staring at screens on smartphones, laptops or ipads! One’s on the phone and another female passenger’s reading a book. One chap’s sleeping, but i’ve no idea about the last guy as all I can see is the back of his balding head!

Unfortunately, the stunning weather I’d enjoyed through Yorkshire and into Cambridgeshire has given way to unappealing heavy grey cloud by Gatwick Airport. There’s still no seats available, but the squash has eased to leave just six passengers standing in the adjacent vestibule.

19.13.

Finally, after pulling away from Haywards Heath a handful of seats became available and the vestibule was bereft of standees. By the time we called at Burgess Hill the light was so bad that the station lights had come on automatically. At 19:18! In June!

19:26

We’re leaving Preston Park on the outskirts of Brighton and space has eased considerably. The train’s still busy (and still profitable) with a seat occupancy of around 60% – although this is about to reduce as we’re pulling ino Hove as I type! After swapping a few commuters for leisure travellers it’s down to 50%. As we’re coach 2 of 8 there’s a fair few folk moving forward as stations here have short platforms.

19:42.

I’m now at Lancing. It’s hard to believe this place once had a railway carriage and wagon works that employed over 1,500 people! It closed in 1965 and i’m hard put to guess where it stood.

22:22

I’m now esconced in my room in the Burlington, a Victorian seafront hotel after arriving in Worthing, checking in and setting off to explore the town. Well, at least t3he beach was attractive!

To be fair, so’s the pier that you can see behind me, but after that it all goes downhill…

I headed back to the main comnercial street to look for a bite to eat and see what the place had to offer. The answer is – not much! OK, there’s a few restaurants and plenty of fast-food joints, but what the place is lacking in is any life. Here’s tbe main shopping area.

Not exactly buzzing, is it? Worthing suffers the same malaise that many small towns do, the main street is nothing but shops it’s not mixed-use. So once the shops close it’s deserted. The other thing I noticed was the lack of pubs and bars. I only saw one ‘proper’ pub (which didn’t look very inviting) and a shop converted into a bar. I’ve never known anything quite like it. Even the promenade is free of pubs or cafe’s. The only one is in my hotel – and half of that’s sheeted off because they’ve got the decorators in (in June?).

What I can’t figure out is why (when you see what the town has to offer) so many hotels were booked up. People can’t be coming here for the nightlife!

There’s an underlying air of poverty about the place too, with a fair few street-drinkers and rough sleepers, but then this part of the world has long had a reputation for DSS hotels. The South coast isn’t always as affluent as some people think. I must admit that what I’ve seen so far won’t have me rushing back. Still, at least I’m being paid to be here! So on that note I’ll bid you goodnight.

Hs2 to Crewe and Manchester. Where’s the opposition?

04 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by in Hs2, Hs2 to Crewe, Mid Cheshire against Hs2, Rail Investment, StopHs2, Transport

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

It’s now the best part of a week since the Hs2 Phase 2a Hybrid Bill sailed past its 2nd reading in the House of Commons by 295 votes to 12. I’ve been crunching the numbers on the latest Stophs2 petition so I thought I’d take a look to see if this has galvanised opposition to Hs2 along the Manchester route. The answer is – anything but. Here’s a spreadsheet examining signatures to the petition allocated by constituency.  I’ve data going back to November but this snapshot goes back to a few days before the bill had its 2nd reading – along with totals for December and January.

phase 2

The first five constituencies on the list are on the Phase 2 a route and the numbers are lousy, the ‘best’ (Lichfield) has only just managed to get over a third of one percent. It’s slightly behind the overall best which is Tatton with a measly 0.35% of constituents. The petition’s doomed of course, but it does provide an interesting snapshot of feelings along the route and provides an indicator of where the ‘active’ Stophs2 action groups are. They’re few and far between – and nothing in the Greater Manchester area at all.

Here’s what passes for an active group – Mid Cheshire against Hs2 (link). Don’t bother clicking on the ‘events’ section of their website ‘cos there’s nothing there! It’s the same with their Facebook page. Googling them doesn’t reveal any activity either other than moaning to newspapers!

Meanwhile, what of the MPs along the route? Well, of the five phase 2a MPs, only two (Bill Cash & Michael Fabricant) voted against the Phase 2a bill, two abstained and one – Tamworth’s Christopher Pincher voted yes. The 13 MPs on the rest of the route abstained!

I’ll be monitoring the petition result to the bitter end in order to mine the data and judge the strength of the opposition to Hs2 but on current results it’s fair to say it’s ineffectual. The next data of interest will be the number of petitions posted on phase 2a. Unlike on phase 1 there’s no groups trying to canvas petitions or issuing templates for people to follow, so the results are likely to be very different. Of course, the template petitions were a waste of time as they were grouped together!

Now that the national anti Hs2 campaign’s collapsed, the local groups are increasingly isolated. Their ability to lobby MPs is both limited and ineffective as Hs2 continues to enjoy cross-party support and has the backing of most regional political and business leaders, especially in the metropolitan areas. I expect that support to grow as more and more Hs2 construction contracts are let and firms recruit staff and place orders for equipment.

2018 is going to be a very interesting year for Hs2 – if not for its opponents!

London calling…

30 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in I love my job, London, Rail Investment, Transport, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Despite having plenty to blog about the one thing I haven’t had is time. I’m 2/3 through my commission in private residential old people’s homes in North London and it’s absorbed nearly all my time, but here’s a quick update.

As expected, it’s been a fascinating couple of days. The staff at the two homes I’ve visited have been inspiring. The level of care and attention they give to residents (who all have different needs and levels of support) is bloody hard work. It’s not a job for the casual or the faint-hearted. I’ve also met some lovely residents and heard their stories. The whole experience has been uplifting  – if sometimes sad when you see the ravages of dementia on people who obviously shone before the onset of such a cruel disease.

I’ve also reacquainted myself with commuting across London by public transport. It’s not something have had to do for a long time. When I lived in North London but worked in the East my daily commute was by bicycle. It was the same when I did relief shifts on newspapers based at Canary Wharf. Once I turned to photography my commute was never normally to the same place more than two days in a row.

Since those days London’s population’s grown – as has the number of people commuting in. Today I was using Thameslink services from Herne Hill to Kentish Town & expecting that the new 8-car Siemens Class 700s might have provided a bit of breathing space compared to the Class 319s they’d replaced. Not a bit of it. The trains were rammed – despite all the extra space they provide. It was like being on the tube! It was the same with 12 car trains I saw passing through. Now, these trains are people movers. The 8 cars can carry 1146 and the 12’s take 1754 souls. If they’re already full it’s clear the full 24tph timetable through the Thameslink core can’t come soon enough…

20180130_083008_001

Despite the fact this thing’s a real people-mover and there’s several an hour, I had to flag the first two as I just couldn’t squeeze on. This was 3rd time lucky.

 

Hs2 news: Phase 2a to Crewe Hybrid Bill 2nd reading.

18 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by in Hs2, Hs2 to Crewe, Parliament, Rail Investment, StopHs2, Transport

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

The 2nd reading of the Hs2 Phase 2a West Midlands to Crewe Hybrid Bill has been scheduled for Tuesday 30th January.

phase 2a

A number of important decisions are made at 2nd reading. Firstly, the principles of the bill are established. A debate is held, the length of the petitioning process is decided and finally, the premise of the bill is assured. This final bit means that 2nd reading is regarded as Parliament’s intent. If the bill passes with a large majority (as the phase 1 bill did), Parliament’s intent is very clear. After the Second Reading, there can be no amendment which can destroy the principle of the bill.

In addition to referring a hybrid bill to select committee, the House may also give instructions to the select committee. Instructions can prevent the Hybrid Bill select committee from amending certain provisions or allow it to make alterations to infrastructure provided for in the Bill

After the bill passes 2nd reading the petitioning committee (made up of MPs unconnected with the project) will be established.  The composition of a select committee reflects the party balance in the House. The select committee will mostly sit in a quasi-judicial capacity. It will not be looking at principle or policy; its focus will be restricted to addressing mitigation, compensation and adjustment.

It’s the same after the bill passes the formality of 3rd Reading & goes on to the Lords. The whole petitioning process isn’t rerun, and the Lords will have no power to reject or fundamentally alter the Bill.

So, what does this mean for the Stophs2 campaign? They’re toast! It means the focus has moved away from phase 1 and shifted North. Their campaign’s always been very weak and disorganised on this section. All their national groups were Phase 1 based. There are very few active ‘action’ groups locally. Staffordshire’s is a great example of this, they were always divided by the ‘cult of personality’ as local eccentrics or ‘kippers’ (UKIP supporters) tried to use the issue for their own ends. As UKIP has collapsed and is on the verge of bankruptcy, don’t expect much organised opposition there! The recent Stop Hs2 petition on the Government website is a useful indicator as to the health (or otherwise) of the anti Hs2 campaign in the area. Here’s a spreadsheet from yesterday which has a breakdown of the signatures by constituency. From this it’s easy to see how few active anti Hs2 ‘action groups there are.

revised petition

There will be  number of things to watch out for at 2nd reading, including the size of the majority for the bill, the number of MPs who vote against – and where their constituencies are. After that there’ll be about 3 weeks for people to petition the Committee. The number of petitions will also be of interest, especially as this time electronic submissions will be accepted. For phase 1 petitions actually had to be delivered to Parliament in person.

I wonder if StopHs2 will be organising a rally outside Parliament on the 30th the way they did for 2nd reading of the Phase 1 bill. That was an embarrassment as less than 100 people turned up!

DG177046. Anti Hs2 demo. Westminster. London. 28.4.14.

This was meant to be a national demonstration from all the different phases of Hs2. Remember over 6.5 million people live in constituencies Hs2 will pass through, yet less than 100 people turned up to protest!

If there’s no demonstration this time it will say an awful lot about how far the Stop Hs2 campaign’s collapsed.