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(616 posts)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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It's hard to know who to trust in terms of the real story with this sort of thing, but it certainly appears as if RMT decided to try and use COP to push for more than they initially indicated they'd accept, it'll be a shame if the staff end up losing out altogether because the leadership decided to play chicken.
Posted 2 years ago # -
strike off; deal agreed.
Posted 2 years ago # -
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Train services were also disrupted by the weather, including the Edinburgh to Glasgow Central via Shotts, Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High and Glasgow Queen Street to Alloa/Aberdeen/Inverness services.
ScotRail tweeted that “there’s disruption on many routes this morning due to extremely heavy rain”.
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Posted 2 years ago # -
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Robert McCulloch
230001
Vivarail D-Train battery-electric prototype 230001 passes North Queensferry forming 5Z12 12:35 Inverkeithing Yard to Polmadie DHS.The D-Trains are converted from former London Underground D78 stock which used to run on the District Line.
The set was in Scotland to operate demonstration runs in conjunction with the United Nations COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.
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Posted 2 years ago # -
Except the new(ish) Class 374 Siemens rolling stock used by Eurostar is built to the European loading gauge. meaning in the UK it can only currently travel on HS1 (formerly the Channel Tunnel Rail Link). Eurostar retain some of their older Class 373 trains that can operate on the UK network, but then you run up against the issue of border checks etc. at UK stations - made all the worse by Brexit.
Nice idea - never going to happen.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Did they ever sort out the gauging issues north of York? I seem to remember this was a factor in the collapse of the case for Regional Eurostar serving Edinburgh (and perhaps Glasgow) as originally intended.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Not in any way suggesting age was a factor, but am genuinely surprised at age of driver.
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The driver of a train involved in a serious crash acted in an "impeccable way in a valiant attempt to keep passengers safe", the operator said.
South Western Railway (SWR) said driver Robin Tandy, 74, who was seriously injured in the collision in Salisbury, was a "deeply-respected colleague".
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-59143021.amp
Posted 2 years ago # -
Brexit bonus!
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For many, the prospect of a Christmas with their family is something to dread. Without alcohol, it risks becoming unbearable.
But Network Rail is trying to make sure that the misery of a dry Christmas is not on the cards, by laying on extra freight trains to bring the imported wine that would usually be picked up by HGV drivers to your supermarket. The UK now has a shortage of 100,000 lorry drivers.
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-train-now-arriving-is-bringing-your-festive-spirit-g7fnx7cdx
Posted 2 years ago # -
Bike-mugged
The continuing refusal of police forces to show the CCTV they must undoubtedly have on crimes like this (plus a 2 week wait before appealing for witnesses, unless the victim delayed reporting it) is pigheadedly counter-productive
Posted 2 years ago # -
Posted 2 years ago #
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The government has refused to confirm or deny reports that it will finally cancel plans for the HS2 link to Leeds this week, and instead fund a hodgepodge of disparate projects which favour Conservative constituencies and leave mysterious gaps in the rail network. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, is expected to announce the outcome of the long-delayed integrated rail plan on Thursday.
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Posted 2 years ago # -
Wow - I have rarely read a piece of such ill-informed puffery. The Scottish Government has not laid "500 kilometres of new electrified lines across Scotland". Since the SNP took office in 2007 the Scottish Government has authorised 9.5km of new railway (Levenmouth Rail Link), which will not be electrified.
One of the first actions of the 2007 SNP administration was the cancellation of both the Edinburgh and Glasgow airport rail link projects. It descoped the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme - removing the Dalmeny Chord, the possibility of increased frequency and most of the anticipated journey time savings. It also delayed and then descoped the Borders Railway project.
The SNP promised the construction of a new high speed line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which would form the northern end of a UK high speed rail network. It then pretended that this never happened.
Yes, there has been a programme of electrification in the central belt, which is welcome. There have also been significant electrification schemes in England and Wales, e.g. the Great Western line via Bristol to Cardiff.
Posted 2 years ago # -
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Voters should probably know that when the government boasts of investing £360m in smart ticketing, it cancelled Transport for the North’s project to do just that in the north (but for less than half the price) earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the government makes a song and dance about restoring a passenger service to Stocksbridge, a former steel town near Sheffield which is home to under 10,000 people. It justso happens Stocksbridge returned its first Tory MP since 1935 in the last general election.
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Posted 2 years ago # -
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The facts are stark enough. Up to 24 flights a day leave Edinburgh for London and vice versa, and according to a recent Which report the average UK domestic flight is half as cheap as the equivalent train journey and six times more polluting in terms of carbon emissions. The traditional policy of British governments has been to let the market decide, a tragic piece of hand-sitting in the face of climate breakdown, made worse when the chancellor announced in his October statement that the tax on domestic flights would be halved. The annual cost to the Treasury is estimated at £30m, and yet nobody had noticeably demanded this change, and certainly not the Scottish government. All Rishi Sunak could muster was that “in a sense” it was part of the UK government’s pro-union policy.
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Posted 2 years ago # -
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While government drags its feet, some rail operators are already adapting to a changing market. The new Dartmoor Line from Okehampton to Exeter opened in November, with operators explicitly hoping to attract walkers and cyclists. LNER, meanwhile, says “by mid-year 2022, we hope to have all of our Azuma cycle facilities upgraded to be more accessible and easier to use”.
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https://cyclingindustry.news/integrated-rail-fails-on-active-travel/
Posted 2 years ago # -
Cue for pressure on LNER - as I raised at Thursday's Scottish Stakeholder meeting to look at why they are still not carrying through the scheme initiated by their MD David Horne, when he ran E Midlands Trains, to carry premium rate parcels on the 125mph scheduled services (10 years ago) and use cycle logistics services for a fast & very reliable final mile
To do this they will need to have more 'flexible' space on the train, and throw out the policy set by DfT to shoe-horne in the maximum number of seats, to play the bean counter 'success ' story of x'000' more seats on the route (albeit never likely to get filled, and available at 'daft o clock')
We can now point to the progressing changes to Scotrail's HST's, where 3 rows of seats are to be removed and replaced with 6 tip-up seats and a 3 metre long 'cycle bay' created in one of the saloons (next to cycle cupboard) - nominally 4 bikes, but .... and a challenge then to show that its possible to load tandems through the outer doors and vestibule space
So the campaign, as LNER orders 10 more Azumas, and has to run a programme taking all of the current fleet out of service to change the aluminum bolster beams (2 per carriage) to deal with the stress cracking (suspected to be torsional loading from yaw damper mounting points) (& same bolster beam design on Scotrail Class 385), with the new design of cycle cupboard being fitted at the same time (I hope!) might also be the opportunity to get the same deal on the LNER Azuma fleet, moving the saloon partition & door to the same place as it is in the buffet area carriage, and using the space for cycles, tip up seating, and Intercity Railfreight flexibility
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yeah, sure…
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However, the mystery has now been solved after an Essex Police spokesperson confirmed the officers were escorting the transportation of equipment for the HS2 project.
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https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/mystery-of-huge-police-convoy-solved-258248/
Posted 2 years ago # -
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Sadly, due to updated guidance on coronavirus by the Scottish Govt, we have no option but to cancel all 4 Santa Express trips around the Fife Circle tomorrow & 18 December. We know how disappointing this will be, but the health & well-being of everyone is our priority.
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Posted 2 years ago #
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