At last some Northern trains are getting CCTV, so no longer will Northern be the only train operator without any CCTV except on units transferred to them from other operators. Unit 323238 was the first to be fitted; the rest of their 17 class 323s are following. Here are some shots I took on a [...]
Rail in the North – Poster Invitation Looks interesting and it’s free to attend. It’s good to see so much focus going into developing transport systems in England elsewhere than just in London & the South East. See you there if you can make it!
Those of you following the train service performance post and comments will be aware that over the last 9 months the main factors leading to poorer performance are infrastructure failures, shortage of traincrew, especially Piccadilly drivers, and continuing unit failures. In the last week, I’ve been on four trains where the unit has failed in [...]
Courtesy of an internal Network Rail source …. “All employees planning to dash through the snow in a one horse open sleigh, going over the fields and laughing all the way are advised that a Risk Assessment will be required addressing the safety of an open sleigh for members of the public. This assessment must [...]
Last October and not for the first time a Government Minister has talked about fares in Northern England being far behind those in the rest of Britain making it difficult to justify new or extra trains. Transport Minister Teresa Villiers brought this up again in her speech in Leeds last October – click the link in [...]
Roy Chapman of TfGM (who helped us back in 1990 with our original studies into putting a passenger service back onto the line through Middlewich) coordinates events for the Institute of Railway Operators in the North West & North Wales. Here’s details of their latest event next Wednesday from Duncan Law, Network Rail’s Northern Hub [...]
Hitting the “Subscribe” link on the Blog page get’s the system to let you know when there’s Blog posts and comments. Many of you know this, but for those who don’t, here’s a reminder …. It’s the next to last item on the lighter green banner above. Mike Battman’s post about his trip to Dublin from the [...]
With acknowledgement to STORM for this, we ask that as many of you as possible complete Network Rail’s questionnaire on the perceived benefits to you and your colleagues of the Ordsall Lane Curve, Victoria Station Improvements, Northern Hub and North West Electrification. Click here for the survey.
We hear from various sources, including Jen on this Blog that the Chester free buses from the railway station to the city centre end on 20 November. A new service starts the following day operated by Aintree Coachlines and registered as Route 40. (In the “old days”, route c40 was from the Town Hall to [...]
There were worrying words from Teresa Villiers, Rail Minister at Northern Rail’s Conference in Leeds on 20 October. It seems apart from the Ordsall Curve, that the rest of the Northern Hub may be cut back or postponed due to overspends elsewhere (South East England – where else!!) It’s apparently “an expensive package”, though it’s [...]
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