Railway Humour – Britain’s Railway

From the 1980’s satirical comedy show Spitting Image.  The really funny thing is that the spoof ended up being true.

HS2 high-speed rail link ‘white elephant’ MP claims

From: BBC News

A proposed £32bn national high-speed rail link was described as a “white elephant” during an MPs’ debate.

Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom made the claim adding that HS2 was “out of date before it is even completed”.

Liberal Democrat Dr Julian Huppert said the project was “a cold, hard necessity which we cannot afford to ignore”.

The line would first connect London to Birmingham, then to Manchester and Leeds and include stops in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

Ms Leadsom, whose South Northamptonshire constituency would be affected by the line, said she was against plans for a scheme that she thought was “unjustifiable and eye-wateringly expensive”.

“If this route was going from Truro to Paddington or from Leeds to Edinburgh, I would still be here today defending the taxpayer,” she added.

Coventry North-West MP Geoffrey Robinson (Labour) was also opposed to plans and said: “It’s the largest capital project this country will ever have engaged in and it is money, frankly, that could better be spent elsewhere.”

Successful economy

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers backed HS2 to defuse the “passenger capacity time bomb” on the West Coast Main Line and denied the scheme was only about cutting the London to Birmingham journey time to 49 minutes.

“It’s about delivering the inter-city transport links that are absolutely crucial for the future success of our economy.”

Labour’s shadow rail minister John Woodcock argued HS2 was “a vital lifeline of economic growth”.

“We will be failing future generations if we pass up the opportunity to employ the most advanced technology available,” said the Barrow MP.

A petition against the scheme has been delivered to Downing Street with 108,000 signatures.

Stop HS2 campaigners assembled at Old Palace Yard, opposite the House of Commons, to protest against the plans.

The line would also run through rural parts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire.

On This Day: 8 October 1952

At least 85 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in the country’s worst peacetime rail crash.

The accident happened at 0820 GMT at Harrow, a north-west suburb of London.

A London-bound express train from Perth ploughed into the back of the 0731 Tring-Euston commuter train as it was about to leave Harrow and Wealdstone station, on the London Midland region line.

Seconds later, a third train coming from Euston crashed into the wreckage.

Survivors described hearing a deafening sound like an explosion and then broken glass and debris flying everywhere.

John Bannister of Harrow was in the local train in a coach just under the footbridge at the time of the accident. He told The Times newspaper: “It all happened in a second. There was a terrible crash and glass and debris showered on me.”

He added: “I blacked out for a moment and when I came round I found I was lying on the line with debris on top of me. I managed to free myself and drag myself on to the platform.”

Harrow & Wealdstone Station

There were about 1,000 passengers aboard all three trains, with most causalities at the rear end of the Tring commuter train and the front coaches of the two express trains.

Some of the victims were on the platform as carriages full of commuters were hurled onto them. Others were killed on a footbridge over the track that was punctured by a pile of coaches 30-foot (9 metres) high.

Residents help rescuers

Rescue workers are battling to free survivors still trapped in carriages at the bottom of the pile-up.

Firefighters and police have been joined by railway workers and local residents.

The middle section of the footbridge has been cut away to free up the front two coaches of the local train which seem relatively undamaged. Other coaches have been cut through to bring out survivors and the dead.

Police officers occasionally shouted or blew their whistles for silence to listen for any signs of survivors in the wreckage.

The Queen and the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, have sent messages of sympathy to the victims and the bereaved.

“It won’t happen again”, promises Network Rail after £80k fine

From: Safety & Health Practitioner
Network Rail has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £32,000 after a train hit a collapsed public footbridge and came off the rails, injuring the train driver and all the passengers on board.

Leicester Crown Court, sitting on 3 October, heard that on 1 February 2008, a lorry delivering bulk material in darkness at 6am to a Network-Rail construction site near Barrow upon Soar station struck a footbridge over the railway with its upraised tipper, causing the bridge to collapse and block the rail line. A short while later, a train travelling from Nottingham to Norwich at 65 mph crashed into the debris and derailed.

The six passengers on the train suffered shock and minor injuries, while the train driver had to be freed from his cab by emergency services and sustained bruising, cuts and cracked ribs.

An investigation by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) found that Network Rail had failed to properly plan, manage, and supervise deliveries of ballast to its worksite. In this instance, the lorry had been allowed to drive along the site with its tipper body not fully lowered after emptying its load.

Commenting on the case, Allan Spence, ORR’s deputy chief inspector of railways said: “Network Rail’s poor planning and management of the construction site at Barrow upon Soar station placed the public, passengers and railway staff in great danger.

“Given the circumstances, it is very fortunate that no one on the train was seriously injured and that no one was crossing the footbridge when it collapsed.

“It is essential that incidents such as this never happen again. Since the time of this accident, Network Rail has made significant progress, acting on our recommendations to improve safety at its construction sites.”

Network Rail was fined £40,000 on each count for breaching the Health & Safety at Work act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of employees and non-employees. A third charge of breaching the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 by failing to effectively plan, organise and control preventive and protective measures, did not carry a fine.  Network Rail had previously pleaded guilty to all three charges at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court.

After the sentencing, a spokesperson for Network Rail said: “Network Rail accepts that it should have done more to have prevented this accident. We did carry out risk assessments at the time, but we did not foresee the possibility of a lorry driver leaving site and failing to lower his tipper for several hundred yards – this is what happened and we should have done more.
 
“We have changed the way we carry out such work since the accident and passengers can be confident it won’t happen again.”

ATOC responds to Labour’s claim they are “ripping people off”

Responding to Ed Miliband’s claim that train companies are “ripping people off”, Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said:

“Ed Miliband is at best suffering from amnesia or at worst displaying rank hypocrisy. Train companies are subject to rules laid down by the Department for Transport, rules that were created and rigorously implemented by successive Labour Transport Secretaries. It was also his party in government that switched from annual below to annual above-inflation fares rises in 2004 to reduce taxpayer subsidies to the railways.

“At a time when Britain needs the private sector more than ever to boost economic growth, this unsubstantiated slur seems to confirm an anti-business bias at the very top of the Labour party and is a unwarranted insult to the tens of thousands of people who work on the railways day in and day out to help keep the country moving.”

Fare Dodging Couple Who Defrauded The Railway Ordered To Pay £6K

A man and woman from Bishops Stortford who travelled on the railway using ‘short tickets’ have been ordered to pay back more than £6,000 to National Express East Anglia (NXEA) following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

The couple, Stephanie Thorndycraft (23) and Liam Cox (26) of Clipped Hedge, Bishops Stortford, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 28 September 2011, after they pled guilty to fraud by false representation.

During proceedings, the court heard that Cox was stopped by a member of NXEA staff while sitting in a first class carriage at the beginning of July.

When asked for his ticket Cox said he didn’t have one because the ticket machines hadn’t been working, despite holding one in his hands. Cox continued to give feeble explanations, which the vigilant staff didn’t believe.

The train next arrived at Tottenham Hale station and soon after the member of staff cautioned Cox, he ran away.

BTP investigators worked with NXEA’s fraud unit and discovered that Cox had been travelling on ‘short tickets’ between Bethnal Green and Liverpool Street stations, despite logging down his home address as being in Sawbridgeworth

At the beginning of August, NXEA revenue protection officers covertly visited Cox’s home address, and saw a woman, later identified as Thorndycraft, walking out.

She then travelled on to Liverpool Street and when rail staff asked for her ticket they discovered that she had also been travelling on ‘short tickets’.

Constable Mandy Humphrey, the BTP investigating officer, said that during interview Cox admitted to travelling from Sawbridgeworth to London Liverpool Street five times a week since February 2010 in order to get to work:

“Cox went on to admit that he had been stopped before by rail staff on several occasions but would continue to travel fraudulently, despite being issued with fines.

“What’s worse is that Cox had freely told his girlfriend what he had been doing and Thorndycraft duly copied her boyfriend’s dishonest activities since the beginning of this year.”

BTP officers and National Express East Anglia calculated that in terms of compensation, Cox was responsible for £4,719.60 while Thorndycraft was responsible for £1,640.80

Constable Humphrey added: “Cox and Thorndycraft clearly enjoyed not paying their full rail fares, spending their excess money on expensive items.

“Although the couple made full and frank admissions, travel fraud is a serious crime and for this they thoroughly deserved to appear in front of the courts.

“Their sentence should serve as a warning to others that BTP, together with our railway colleagues, will continue to investigate and put a stop to prolific fraud offenders.”

Alan Perry,  National Express East Anglia’s Head of Revenue Protection said: “These successful prosecutions should act as a warning to those intent on defrauding the railway that their actions will not be tolerated.

“We will continue to work closely with the BTP to ensure that honest fare paying customers are not subsidising the rail travel of fare evaders.”

At court, both Cox and Thorndycraft also received 24-month conditional discharges and ordered to pay £85 in costs.

On This Day: 5 October 1999

At least eight people are confirmed dead and 160 injured after two trains collided near Paddington Station in west London at the height of the morning rush hour.

Thirty-nine people are seriously injured, with three critically ill and 11 in intensive care.

There are thought to be some 200 with minor injuries.

Many more passengers could still be trapped in the wreckage, said Chief Inspector Brian Gosden of British Transport Police.

Hospitals across the capital are taking in casualties. St Mary’s Hospital has cancelled all out-patient appointments to treat most of the wounded.

The walking wounded are being treated at a local school and Sainsbury’s supermarket.

A Thames Trains 0806 BST from Paddington to Bedwyn in Wiltshire collided with the incoming 0603 BST Great Western 125 express train from Cheltenham at 0811 BST.

Carriages came off the track and one train burst into flames. A massive column of smoke could be seen across west London.

Up to 30 ambulances, 12 fire engines and 70 firefighters rushed to the scene.

Mark Rogers, a passenger on the 0806, said: “There was an almighty crash and the train rolled over and over, first onto its roof and then onto its side.

“One woman I saw thrown out of the window and she was trapped beneath the train. She was at least very severely injured.

“It is absolute pandemonium. ”

Mr Rogers said the carriage behind the driver had been “ripped apart like a sardine can” and was lying over the top of the 125 Great Western train.

“It is chaos. There are doors and broken glass lying everywhere.”

Prime Minister Tony Blair said: “I am absolutely appalled by what is a truly dreadful tragedy.”

Transport Secretary John Prescott has promised a public inquiry into the crash and praised the “swift efforts of all the emergency services”.

Conservative Transport spokesman John Redwood said: “We need a proper inquiry and we need some answers for the future.”

The trains collided on the same stretch of line as the Southall rail crash in 1997, in which seven people died and 150 were injured.

Health and Safety Executive inspectors are at the scene.

 

What’s Happened Since The Crash Occurred

Investigations revealed how 31 people died and dozens were injured because of a head-on collision when one of the trains passed a red signal.

Public inquiries were headed by Scottish judge Lord Cullen. He made dozens of safety recommendations and concluded Railtrack, the company then in charge of rail infrastructure and its investment, had failed to respond to earlier warnings about signalling problems.

He also criticised the Health and Safety Executive’s Rail Inspectorate and recommended an independent Rail Industry Safety Body.

Another inquiry comparing the Ladbroke Grove disaster with the 1997 Southall crash recommended implementing sophisticated safety technology.

Thames Trains was fined a record £2m in April 2004 for breaking health and safety laws. The court was told the train driver had not been warned about problems with the signal at Ladbroke Grove and had not received adequate training.

In December 2004 the Paddington Survivors’ Group complained that many of the safety recommendations made after the crash in 1999 had still not been implemented.

A year later, in December 2005, the Crown Prosecution Service said no individuals would face criminal charges over the crash as there was “insufficient evidence” to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.

In October 2006, Network Rail admitted health and safety breaches concerning the siting of the signal. It received a record fine of £4 million for its part in the crash on 30 March 2007.

On This Day: 4 October 1976

British Rail began its new 125mph High Speed Train (HST) service today. The first London-Bristol service arrived three minutes early.

The Inter-City 125 has been introduced to provide a regular high speed service between Cardiff, Bristol and London.

British Rail will extend the HST service to other major cities over the next two years.

Powered by two diesel motors the Inter-City 125 has recorded a top speed of over 140mph in trial runs, making it the fastest diesel-powered train in the world.

Intercity 125s are still used by First Great Western 35 Years Later

Most other countries have developed electrically powered high-speed trains.

The cost of electrification on Britain’s network was considered prohibitive so the diesel-powered 125 is a new product from existing technology.

In the absence of an official ceremony by British Rail to mark the occasion, few passengers were aware they were making history this morning as the first 0805 left Paddington on time.

New features

But most travellers did appreciate some improvement in comfort. The carriages feature aircraft-like seating, with sliding electric doors at each end.

Hot food is served quickly from an on-board kitchen with the aid of a state-of-the-art microwave oven.

Rail bosses are hopeful the improved service, which has been introduced without a rise in fares, will bring in more business.

Increased fares over the last two years have been linked to a fall in passenger traffic of 15 to 20%.

A Few Interesting Facts about the introduction & history of the Intercity 125

 

When the service was launched a single adult ticket between Bristol and London cost £5.

The month before the launch the train driver’s union Aslef demanded that trains be manned by two drivers when travelling at speeds in excess of 100mph.

British Rail estimated this would cost them £300,000 in over-manning.

The introduction of the Inter-City 125 made significant reductions in journey times across the UK and led to a marked surge in passenger numbers.

Variations of the 125 were sold to Australian railways.

Intercity 125s are still in operation although the faster, electrically powered Inter-City 225 has emerged as its successor.

In March 2006 the government announced the 125 would be phased out of service – although some companies, like First Great Western, say they are investing millions of pounds to keep them going for at least another decade.

Vision for the future of railways

Better services, improved passenger information, and cuts in the cost of running the railways have been outlined in future plans announced by rail chiefs.

Described as an initial industry plan, the programme covers the period 2014 to 2019, with the industry aiming to cut rail costs by £1.3 billion a year by the end of this decade.

Plans include £5.6 billion-worth of schemes, including the Northern Hub – a £560 million plan to deliver more than 700 extra services a day between Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sheffield.

The rail chiefs’ vision also includes journey time improvements in the East Midlands, Yorkshire, Bristol and Oxford areas and electrification of the Midland main line, the north trans-Pennine line, and further electrification schemes in Scotland.

The plan also envisages improvements to a number of stations including Fenchurch Street in London and Liverpool Central, as well as a £200 million scheme to improve services between Inverness and Aberdeen in Scotland.

By better linking Britain’s major cities, an extra 180,000 peak-time seats could be provided, as well as accommodating a 30% increase in freight.

Rail chiefs also announced plans to move from 800 signal boxes to 14 modern signalling centres. The hoped-for schemes, which will need Government approval, are in addition to £4.9 billion-worth of ongoing projects such as the Thameslink and Crossrail schemes in London and already-announced electrification schemes such as the Great Western line.

The rail industry also spoke of trying to improve the passenger experience in key areas such as journey information, comfort and accessibility.

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: “Rail has a bright future in supporting a successful green economy in the years ahead. This plan shows how we can do that by providing a better quality of service to growing numbers of passengers at a more affordable cost.

“We look forward to working with government to ensure the right framework is in place to make this possible.”

Railway Photography 28/9/2011 – Shortlands & Kensington Olympia

Here are a few images captured yesterday while I was out videoing The Sussex Belle & Tornado.

34067 'Tangmere' passing Shortlands on The Sussex Belle Charter 28/9/2011

 

60163 'Tornado' Passing Kensington Olympia on 28/9/2011

 

DB Schenker (EWS) 92037 'Sullivan' passing Kensington Olympia

 

I have also uploaded several photos of charter workings, test trains & special workings to my Flickr Photostream and over 120 images of Mainline Freight & Passenger workings, London Underground & London Overground from the past few weeks to my Photobucket Account.