I'm off to Birmingham on business tomorrow. Have to drive on this occasion, which means I won't be able to go to Moor Street, which I rather like.
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I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man. -
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To shift the attention for a bit from the trains to the stations, here's a new book by Simon Jenkins (he's talking about it on Radio 4 as I write):
Britain’s 100 Best Railway Stations – a new book by Simon Jenkins – celebrates these long-overlooked buildings that help link our nation. It’s destined to become a classic work on the subject, thinks Jack Watkins.
...After a well-executed jaunt through the development of the railways and their stations in the first two chapters, the rest of his book is a region-by-region look at what the author considers the one hundred best of Britain’s 2,560 stations... Nationally, his five-star selections are Liverpool Lime Street, York, Newcastle Central, Bristol Temple Meads, Glasgow Central and, probably the least known, Wemyss Bay, on the Firth of Clyde the Lowlands of Scotland – one of the few stations, in Jenkins’ view, that qualifies as a coherent work of art: so good in fact that there’s a picture of it on the book cover.
In London, his five-star stations are King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington and St Pancras, with the latter the one that he admits gives him the biggest thrill...Comment
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Most, even the "best" ones, are boring compared with some American ones.Comment
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Nice day in Exeter today. Some half-decent charity shop purchases, then an invigorating trot across the city in pursuit of 35028 Clan Line up from London on a steam special along the old LSWR 'main line' - such as it is these days - into Exeter Central (recte Exeter Queens Street
), round to St Davids to see her pulling out after final unloading of passengers, and then northwards to the carriage sidings to see her coaling for her return to London via the GWR main line. Alas, could't wait to see her pull out with a full load, 12+(?) coaches.
Haven't seen a Merchant Navy pulling a train since the end of steam at the bottom of my school playing field in Winchester c.1967...I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
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Wemyss Bay is possibly the finest station I have been in, Jean - always bearing in mind that I have never been beyond the shores of mainland GB. It features in many tourist publications, and deservedly so.Originally posted by jean View PostMoney can't buy you happiness............but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery - Spike MilliganComment
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The seemingly never ending strikes are going on into the new year.
I for one am not clear as to the rights and wrongs, but I do wish it could get resolved.I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
I am not a number, I am a free man.Comment
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I am sure it won't, until the train people get their way.Don’t cry for me
I go where music was born
J S Bach 1685-1750Comment
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My son returned to Scarborough from Paignton on a Sunday, when there was a strike, snow and a tree blocking the line. He ended up travelling via London.Comment
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Seems to me the railways are the last redoubt of the untransformed industrial / union system. (The police largely neutralised by pay restraint and numbers drifting down to the level where the state needs to protect itself). And the franchised train companies had little interest in the cost of training drivers so they had a margin of comfort on staffing. Consequently , refusal to work late/weekends on overtime and "unusually high levels of sickness" amongst drivers reminded the operators where power lay. (I speak from experience when the Thameslink franchise changed hands, the complement of drivers was well down, together with the ageing running stock lead to late night cancellations. Rammed 4 car trains with people on platforms outside London begging us to make space but being left on the platform at 11:30pm).Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
I think I read of a new training academy for drivers. I wonder if there is a long term plan to make the rail industry less of a hostage situation for the employers and travellers (and the customers - remember all those pay and condition costs get passed on to fare payers).
(And incidentally Thameslink, to be fair to them, explained their problems and how they were rectifying them -there are new 8 or 12 car trains running after midnight, far less cancellations or lateness, except perhaps for signalling etc reasons....).Comment
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Strike, strikes, strikes - Why do we bother Fawlty?Originally posted by teamsaint View PostComment
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The RMT has both major political aims as well as job preservation re the use of guards on local services - even ASLEF have now agreed to operate Driver only which for example include the Thameslink services - the strike on SWT is merely to indicate their strength as all stock currently used by SWT cannot run DOO and the operating company have announce no plans to do so.Originally posted by cloughie View Post
On a different note I guess many may have missed the well hidden bailout of Stagecoach aka Virgin who have pulled out of the East Coat line 3 years early as they got their sums wrong and can't afford it - hence the public-private partnership to bail them out - isn't it good to have friends in Government?Comment
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Train staff are needed to protect and reassure passengers. In 2006, we travelled by train from Biarritz to Scarborough in a single day:-
Biarritz to Paris (TGV)
Paris to London (Eurostar)
London to York (East Coast)
York to Scarborough (Transpennine)
The final train was the last of the day, and there was a group of young men who were the worse for alcohol consumption, though not really drunk. Another (older) man was becoming increasing aggressive, and the guard intervened. His tactic was non-confrontational and was working reasonably well in that the aggressor backed off slightly. However, the group of young men felt they had to protect the guard and started to threaten the older man. The guard managed to contain both sides, radioing the transport police, who met the train at Malton to eject the man. The guard's handling of the situation suggested considerable training. We would not liked to have made that journey without him.Comment
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Exactly, EA, and well said, because these points are never made by the operating companies, government and reactionary press, nor BBC reporters for that matter - namely that "improved technology" eg CCTV can never make up for having a driver at one end and a guard at the other of trains which are themselves now getting longer to cater for the increased numbers of passengers in all conditions and at all hours being asked to use public transport to alleviate congestion and pollution, not just restricted to the morning and evening rush. There are also growing numbers of complaints at unstaffed stations which doesn't help for security. The only alternative to strikes, working to rule, has I understand been tried and found inadequate.Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View PostComment
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