Friday 29 May 2009

TSC Snow Report is slush

This just in from Sim Harris over at Rail Management...

Today's HoC Transport Select Committee report on the effects of snow on public transport will be a great read for bus fans, because railways are hardly mentioned, even though hundreds of trains from south of the Thames were cancelled on 2 February.

Ms Ellman and chums went into the withdrawal of all London buses at some length, interviewing operators, council people and of course Peter Hendy.

Mayor Boris was also dragged into the evidence chair and didn't like it. So that's all right, then.

But who explained why and how the railways were affected?

Only Gary Backler of the DfT, who was permitted to say a few words about lack of information to rail commuters (which didn't even make it into the final report).

No one was called from any of the TOCs, nor Network ("our little conductor rails are frozen") Rail.

Neither did the Committee know that Southeastern is one word (if you are referring to the TOC), and also seems to think that main line trains from north of London can be referred to as "Overground" (nothing to do with the actual TfL Overground).

What a bunch of nothing.

Come back Gwyneth - all would be forgiven, if there was anything to forgive.

Special

Telegrammed by the Velopodist
Readers may appreciate this proof from Leipzig today that bustitution is not a purely British phenomenon.

Mind you, in Germany they're special buses...

Shuttle bus sign, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof

It takes the German's to say what the rest of us only dare think.

Carriage crash test at Long Marston

MIRA staged a full-scale rail collision to showcase opportunities for technology transfer between road and rail.



With a bowler tip to the Railway Gazette...

Is it just the Fact Compiler or does one of those dummies look like it's soiled itself?

UPDATE: This just in from PJ over at Network Rail...

When I arranged the much more exciting Top Gear crash a few years ago we wanted dummies in the car.



Unfortunately, the Top Gear team deemed it 'tasteless'.


I have to say this was a high point in my career - out done by Clarkson on grounds of taste...

UPDATE: Captain Deltic groans....

Oh no! not again!

With their own industry going down the Swanee MIRA think they can bring enlightenment to the backward railways.

Crashworthiness standards for train interiors have been around for years.

Time for RSSB to do something really useful.


Give then a copy of Ian Walmsley's article on train interiors and tell the petrolheads to go and peddle their wares elsewhere.

Traditional ceremony at Blackfriars

A nice touch from Network Rail as they started work at Blackfriars station earlier this week.


With a bowler tip to London Reconnections which has the full story.