They have the economy of scale and in house experts to cope with it whereas medium size and smaller companies are stuffed and often have to withdraw a cheap product that has been sold for years or decades because the sales won't justify the cost of the new regulatory test, leaving the field clear for multinationals to sell a much more expensive and sometimes inferior product.
It can't be hard to name a specific example of this happening then?
Herbal medicines.
They don't work more than placebo but consumers like them. The big pharma with their switch Cx businesses didn't...
Any gardener will be able to wax lyrical on the subject too. Most non agri industrial weedkillers and heritage seeds off the market and illegal to sell due to being uneconomic due to tests and registration fees needed thanks to new regulations.
For some veg it is virtually impossible to get non F1 varieties. With F1 the plants don't breed true and the crops all crop at once which is fine for business but a disaster on the veg patch.
Then you can move further afield in the world things like copyright lockout periods that are mysteriously legislatively extended everytime you reach the end of a lockout period after a certain producers death meaning the copyright holder is about to lose the exclusive rights over the product....
I seem to recall a train journey giving Osborne a spot of PR bother. Entertaining though this sort of thing is, the net political effect is probably zero.
I see Osborne has now moved his family into his parents' house in Notting Hill while he waits for tenants to vacate the property he let out as Chancellor
Does anyone know why those recommendations to stockpile food & water were issued? Surely anything like that affecting Germany would affect the rest of Europe as well, including the UK? What are they afraid of, so (seemingly) suddenly?
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
Does anyone know why those recommendations to stockpile food & water were issued? Surely anything like that affecting Germany would affect the rest of Europe as well, including the UK? What are they afraid of, so (seemingly) suddenly?
Merkels a prepper?
It is rather odd. Stockpiling 5 days water and 10 days food would be an expensive PITA and if you are in a flat where would you put it?
They have the economy of scale and in house experts to cope with it whereas medium size and smaller companies are stuffed and often have to withdraw a cheap product that has been sold for years or decades because the sales won't justify the cost of the new regulatory test, leaving the field clear for multinationals to sell a much more expensive and sometimes inferior product.
It can't be hard to name a specific example of this happening then?
Herbal medicines.
They don't work more than placebo but consumers like them. The big pharma with their switch Cx businesses didn't...
That's a Mickey Mouse argument. I don't believe you!
I seem to recall a train journey giving Osborne a spot of PR bother. Entertaining though this sort of thing is, the net political effect is probably zero.
The conversations on here about that were brilliant.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
Does anyone know why those recommendations to stockpile food & water were issued? Surely anything like that affecting Germany would affect the rest of Europe as well, including the UK? What are they afraid of, so (seemingly) suddenly?
They're just reviewing their CIvil Defence policy. It's Germany's equivalent of a silly season story, hence pictures of Hamsers all over the German press.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Does anyone know why those recommendations to stockpile food & water were issued? Surely anything like that affecting Germany would affect the rest of Europe as well, including the UK? What are they afraid of, so (seemingly) suddenly?
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Those 125s have the most comfortable seat-angles I've ever found on a train. It sometimes sounds as though the criticisms of those trains boils down to the fact of their age. I don't care how old the train is, I just want to make a journey reasonably comfortably.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
Given the fact he was attending an event that had been organised days earlier the fact Corbyn bought a turn up and go ticket on the day surely makes it worse rather than better...
Disingenuous, disorganized, incompetent would be words I would use to describe the journey even before the tricks he played...
At least there was video evidence to exonerate the train staff from the cause of the issue...
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Are those the ones which grind to a halt if they get doused in sea-spray? Something to do with salt water on the roof?
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
No idea what a Virgin voyager is, but the Pendolinos are excellent. I am not a PB train expert, but I have experience of BR, and they were dire.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Does anyone know why those recommendations to stockpile food & water were issued? Surely anything like that affecting Germany would affect the rest of Europe as well, including the UK? What are they afraid of, so (seemingly) suddenly?
Putin.
He has been making noises similar to those he made before invading two regions of sovereign European nations, he might be thinking about an all out war with Ukraine.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The WC was really mucked up by the APT not going into Squadron service, and BR's investment in the East Coast route - electrification and the Class 89/91 to take advantage. All the WC got was a few Class 90's.
The West Coast suffered from the APT's cancellation. It was only twenty years later when the disastrous WC modernisation scheme took place that it got the attention it badly needed.
Here's another of Jessop's useless facts: if you're ever in a MkIV carriage on the East Coast and feel a little cramped, it's because the sides are built sloping so that they could be made to tilt in the future.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Those 125s have the most comfortable seat-angles I've ever found on a train. It sometimes sounds as though the criticisms of those trains boils down to the fact of their age. I don't care how old the train is, I just want to make a journey reasonably comfortably.
Come 2020 they will cease to be compliant with disability legislation. Some will be made compliant for use in Scotland and perhaps in Southern England. Hopefully the Hitachi 800/801s are better than the dreadful Voyagers.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
No idea what a Virgin voyager is, but the Pendolinos are excellent. I am not a PB train expert, but I have experience of BR, and they were dire.
Sorry, but in comparison to German trains (which I've used a lot), British trains are cramped, slow and, in the case of Virgin Voyagers, frequently smelly. They feel like they were designed exclusively for 5-footers and there's often nowhere to put your luggage.
Here's another of Jessop's useless facts: if you're ever in a MkIV carriage on the East Coast and feel a little cramped, it's because the sides are built sloping so that they could be made to tilt in the future.
It's been ages since I've been in one (though will be going in one in October), but now that you mention it that makes sense. When I saw the pictures of Corbyn today I thought "wait, that's a Pendolino as the sides are sloping."
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Those 125s have the most comfortable seat-angles I've ever found on a train. It sometimes sounds as though the criticisms of those trains boils down to the fact of their age. I don't care how old the train is, I just want to make a journey reasonably comfortably.
Come 2020 they will cease to be compliant with disability legislation. Some will be made compliant for use in Scotland and perhaps in Southern England. Hopefully the Hitachi 800/801s are better than the dreadful Voyagers.
Never found a more comfortable seat than on the 125.
A few years ago the power failed for a short time on a 444 I was on. Suddenly we couldn't operate internal doors. What is this obsession with making *doors* electronic...
#Traingate looks like an outrageous stitch-up from the billionaire owner of a multinational corporation with an agenda (preventing renationalization of trains and ignoring Brexit) to me.
Stick to your guns Jezza!
I don't understand the logic. Buying Corbyn's explanation or not, and whatever the motivations of Branson and the rights or wrongs of releasing the footage, Corbyn's initial presentation of the situation was, at its most generous, misleading.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
That's not really a problem for them. Some people make the choice to stand because they don't feel like taking up the seats where reservations have not emerged, or are just plain too awkward to ask someone to move aside so they can get to the window seat that is spare, or maybe they just feel like standing (I've done all those myself), but that doesn't mean the train was unable to accommodate everyone sitting down if they had made the effort. If Jeremy had wanted a seat he could have had one, therefore his point that he had no choice but to sit because the railway wasn't nationalised, is untrue. There were seats, therefore the train was not jam packed, therefore he oversold his point.
Plenty of times the point would have been a valid, so his action was creating a simulation of a real issue, but he pretended it was happening right then.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Those 125s have the most comfortable seat-angles I've ever found on a train. It sometimes sounds as though the criticisms of those trains boils down to the fact of their age. I don't care how old the train is, I just want to make a journey reasonably comfortably.
Come 2020 they will cease to be compliant with disability legislation. Some will be made compliant for use in Scotland and perhaps in Southern England. Hopefully the Hitachi 800/801s are better than the dreadful Voyagers.
They are based on the HST Javelins class 395 down to Ashford...
I'm still trying to wangle a visit down to the Newton Aycliffe factory. Been promised it for ages just haven't been able to agree a suitable time yet..
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
No idea what a Virgin voyager is, but the Pendolinos are excellent. I am not a PB train expert, but I have experience of BR, and they were dire.
The Voyager are the class 220 and 221s that Virgin operate(d). They only have the 221s on their West Coast franchise and they do the London to Scotland routes. The seats are deeply uncomfortable and exceeding cramped. Frequent air-conditioning problems (pumping out hot air on a 30 degree day) as well as design faults (the air con circulating the smell from the toilets). The Pendolinos are fine machines but the Voyagers are garbage.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
No idea what a Virgin voyager is, but the Pendolinos are excellent. I am not a PB train expert, but I have experience of BR, and they were dire.
Sorry, but in comparison to German trains (which I've used a lot), British trains are cramped, slow and, in the case of Virgin Voyagers, frequently smelly. They feel like they were designed exclusively for 5-footers and there's often nowhere to put your luggage.
Oh god, I forgot about that. Sod all luggage space on trains that are crossing the length of the country as an intercity express! Madness.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Those 125s have the most comfortable seat-angles I've ever found on a train. It sometimes sounds as though the criticisms of those trains boils down to the fact of their age. I don't care how old the train is, I just want to make a journey reasonably comfortably.
Come 2020 they will cease to be compliant with disability legislation. Some will be made compliant for use in Scotland and perhaps in Southern England. Hopefully the Hitachi 800/801s are better than the dreadful Voyagers.
Never found a more comfortable seat than on the 125.
A few years ago the power failed for a short time on a 444 I was on. Suddenly we couldn't operate internal doors. What is this obsession with making *doors* electronic...
I'd like to know how many people have been suddenly exposed to view when using an on-train loo with electronic doors. Someone should do a survey ...
My main memory of the WCML was as a student from 98 - 01, Bath Uni parents lived back in Coventry.
Edit: I see they finished in 2008 ! Sweet Jesus..
The 'upgrades' seemed to go on forever... , like the M1 works round near J31 where I live now. The southbound ones are over, thankfully.
It is one of the biggest arguments for HS2: the WCML upgrade cost around £10 billion, which I think was five times the original cost. It took years longer than planned, and only took the speed from 110MPH to 125 MPH, not the 140 MPH requirement.
The APT-S was supposed to run at 155 MPH.
It's hard for any engineering project to meet the holy trinity of being on requirement, on time and on budget. Most miss one. That project missed all three.
The reason: it's devillishly disruptive, expensive and hard to upgrade an existing railway line between services. As people are finding on the GWML electrification scheme.
They should just have completely closed the line for six months rather than give passengers nearly a decade of disruption.
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
Noteworthy the BBC story on the sad passing of Sir Anthony Jay does not shy away from him, apparently, being an outspoken critic of the BBC in later years.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
Those 125s have the most comfortable seat-angles I've ever found on a train. It sometimes sounds as though the criticisms of those trains boils down to the fact of their age. I don't care how old the train is, I just want to make a journey reasonably comfortably.
Come 2020 they will cease to be compliant with disability legislation. Some will be made compliant for use in Scotland and perhaps in Southern England. Hopefully the Hitachi 800/801s are better than the dreadful Voyagers.
Never found a more comfortable seat than on the 125.
A few years ago the power failed for a short time on a 444 I was on. Suddenly we couldn't operate internal doors. What is this obsession with making *doors* electronic...
I'd like to know how many people have been suddenly exposed to view when using an on-train loo with electronic doors. Someone should do a survey ...
I once walked in on someone who had failed to lock the door. I didn't think this was my fault...
My main objection to Virgin Trains is that message about not flushing your dreams, unpaid bills etc down the toilet. I admit it was mildly amusing the first time I saw it, but it really grates with repetition.
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
The prototype 125 is operating at GCRN.
Attended a talk by the 125 restoration group last week.
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
The prototype 125 is operating at GCRN.
Attended a talk by the 125 restoration group last week.
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
The prototype 125 is operating at GCRN.
Attended a talk by the 125 restoration group last week.
It was fabulous.
Isn't that the group that wants to preserve an entire 125? They've shown they've got technical nous with that brilliant work on the prototype.
To bring this onto politics: it's interesting to see how much BR managed to do technically in the 1960s and 1970s despite low funding and little political will.
And I'm not just saying this because much of it was done at Derby
On topic. Corbyn can tell as many lies as he wants. Only if/when he offends against PC shibboleths will he shake the faith of the Corbynistas.
Having said that, I agree with Don Brind that the election is not a foregone conclusion (on the basis that the true believers all signed up last year, and I think many of the more recent joiners have joined to vote against him).
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
Underfloor engines don't have to be intrusive. I've travelled a few times on the ICE 3 between Cologne and Frankfurt, and that train is spookily smooth as it hurtles along at 190 mph. You can even wander up to the front and look (through a glass partition) over the driver's shoulder and out the windscreen if you fancy!
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
Underfloor engines don't have to be intrusive. I've travelled a few times on the ICE 3 between Cologne and Frankfurt, and that train is spookily smooth as it hurtles along at 190 mph. You can even wander up to the front and look (through a glass partition) over the driver's shoulder and out the windscreen if you fancy!
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
Underfloor engines don't have to be intrusive. I've travelled a few times on the ICE 3 between Cologne and Frankfurt, and that train is spookily smooth as it hurtles along at 190 mph. You can even wander up to the front and look (through a glass partition) over the driver's shoulder and out the windscreen if you fancy!
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Not all reserved seats are for someone with an advanced ticket (i.e. one that has to be used on that specific train). Often a seat will be reserved on a train but the ticket is transferable (particularly for business travel) which means many apparently reserved seats aren't used by the person with the reservation.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Not all reserved seats are for someone with an advanced ticket (i.e. one that has to be used on that specific train). Often a seat will be reserved on a train but the ticket is transferable (particularly for business travel) which means many apparently reserved seats aren't used by the person with the reservation.
It's not even worth arguing about. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Best to admit it, rather than to claim that all the clearly visible empty seats were occupied by bags and children (as his spokeswoman has been doing).
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Not all reserved seats are for someone with an advanced ticket (i.e. one that has to be used on that specific train). Often a seat will be reserved on a train but the ticket is transferable (particularly for business travel) which means many apparently reserved seats aren't used by the person with the reservation.
It's not even worth arguing about. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Best to admit it, rather than to claim that all the clearly visible empty seats were occupied by bags and children (as his spokeswoman has been doing).
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Not all reserved seats are for someone with an advanced ticket (i.e. one that has to be used on that specific train). Often a seat will be reserved on a train but the ticket is transferable (particularly for business travel) which means many apparently reserved seats aren't used by the person with the reservation.
It's not even worth arguing about. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Best to admit it, rather than to claim that all the clearly visible empty seats were occupied by bags and children (as his spokeswoman has been doing).
He will NEVER admit it.. EVER.
Absolutely right. This is a media conspiracy. They are doctored images. He was just making a point. Your questioning of his integrity demeans the important message he was making. You're just TORY SCUM aren't you?
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Not all reserved seats are for someone with an advanced ticket (i.e. one that has to be used on that specific train). Often a seat will be reserved on a train but the ticket is transferable (particularly for business travel) which means many apparently reserved seats aren't used by the person with the reservation.
It's not even worth arguing about. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Best to admit it, rather than to claim that all the clearly visible empty seats were occupied by bags and children (as his spokeswoman has been doing).
He will NEVER admit it.. EVER.
Politicians (and people who comment on political forums) NEVER admit they are wrong... EVER
I find "Ram packed" instead of "jam packed" the most annoying thing about this. No one says "Ram packed" do they?
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tr carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Non.
It's not even worth arguing about. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Best to admit it, rather than to claim that all the clearly visible empty seats were occupied by bags and children (as his spokeswoman has been doing).
He will NEVER admit it.. EVER.
Politicians (and people who comment on political forums) NEVER admit they are wrong... EVER
I find "Ram packed" instead of "jam packed" the most annoying thing about this. No one says "Ram packed" do they?
All the time. Only when I'm packing Rams, admittedly.
I counter your first point though - I was very wrong to state so unequivocally so many times that Lab would easily win most seats in 2015.
The reason Corbyn cannot admit he was wrong is because if he wasn't wholly correct, then what he was doing was being slightly misleading to make what he feels is a worthy point. That is, spinning.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Not all reserved seats are for someone with an advanced ticket (i.e. one that has to be used on that specific train). Often a seat will be reserved on a train but the ticket is transferable (particularly for business travel) which means many apparently reserved seats aren't used by the person with the reservation.
It's not even worth arguing about. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Best to admit it, rather than to claim that all the clearly visible empty seats were occupied by bags and children (as his spokeswoman has been doing).
He will NEVER admit it.. EVER.
Absolutely right. This is a media conspiracy. They are doctored images. He was just making a point. Your questioning of his integrity demeans the important message he was making. You're just TORY SCUM aren't you?
The saying 'a photo never lies' really needs updating:
'A photo never lies, unless it is disproved by phone-camera video.' and 'A Phone-camera video never lies, unless it is disproved by CCTV.'
The reason Corbyn cannot admit he was wrong is because if he wasn't wholly correct, then what he was doing was being slightly misleading to make what he feels is a worthy point. That is, spinning.
I wonder how Ed Miliband spends his days now. Shouting a swearing at the television?
One of the units failed on a Sheffield to London 125 just outside Bedford.
The conductor announces he has good news and bad news.
Bad news the last 50 miles are going to take over an hour ie at least 25 mins late.
Good news
Were not at 40,000 ft
On that note I was at Gatwick this afternoon to collect my boy and whilst waiting I studied the arrivals board. Almost no flight was due to arrive at their scheduled time. Some were with a few minutes either way but most were more than five minutes late, some several hours. If the railway companies were so bad at keeping to their time table there would be uproar and refunds all round. Yet because it is aeroplanes nobody seems to care.
I might also note the length of time to deliver the baggage to the reclaim area. With some flights it was there within ten minutes of landing with others it was thirty minutes plus. Gatwick is not that big for the distance from stand to baggage belt to make that much difference.
We rightly demand high standards from the railways but seem oblivious to the crap service by the airlines. I am not sure why.
The great thing about the Intercity 125 is that the power cars are at each end, rather than having the engines vibrating underneath the carriages. One of the more encouraging railway stories of recent times is the decision to build proper carriages to be pulled by proper locomotives for the Trans Pennine route.
The prototype 125 is operating at GCRN.
Attended a talk by the 125 restoration group last week.
It was fabulous.
Isn't that the group that wants to preserve an entire 125? They've shown they've got technical nous with that brilliant work on the prototype.
They do but waiting for one to be offloaded by a train operator.
Then they fit an original engine of which they have a few to get that famous whistling back
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
No idea what a Virgin voyager is, but the Pendolinos are excellent. I am not a PB train expert, but I have experience of BR, and they were dire.
Dire is an exaggeration and they cost the Exchequer £1 bn a year as againat £5 bn a year while charging half as much or less in fares.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
Quite. Not all reserved seats are for someone with an advanced ticket (i.e. one that has to be used on that specific train). Often a seat will be reserved on a train but the ticket is transferable (particularly for business travel) which means many apparently reserved seats aren't used by the person with the reservation.
It's not even worth arguing about. He's been caught hook, line and sinker. Best to admit it, rather than to claim that all the clearly visible empty seats were occupied by bags and children (as his spokeswoman has been doing).
He will NEVER admit it.. EVER.
Politicians (and people who comment on political forums) NEVER admit they are wrong... EVER
I find "Ram packed" instead of "jam packed" the most annoying thing about this. No one says "Ram packed" do they?
Yes, they can't even get the words right. It's either "rammed" or "jam-packed". Dolts.
One of the units failed on a Sheffield to London 125 just outside Bedford.
The conductor announces he has good news and bad news.
Bad news the last 50 miles are going to take over an hour ie at least 25 mins late.
Good news
Were not at 40,000 ft
On that note I was at Gatwick this afternoon to collect my boy and whilst waiting I studied the arrivals board. Almost no flight was due to arrive at their scheduled time. Some were with a few minutes either way but most were more than five minutes late, some several hours. If the railway companies were so bad at keeping to their time table there would be uproar and refunds all round. Yet because it is aeroplanes nobody seems to care.
I might also note the length of time to deliver the baggage to the reclaim area. With some flights it was there within ten minutes of landing with others it was thirty minutes plus. Gatwick is not that big for the distance from stand to baggage belt to make that much difference.
We rightly demand high standards from the railways but seem oblivious to the crap service by the airlines. I am not sure why.
Because we secretly know in the backs of our minds that any flight on a jet aircraft is a miracle of engineering that should really be impossible, and we cut them some slack for that reason?
Or:
Because we have little choice: it's either this poor airline or that poor airline, or a pedal-boat?
The reason Corbyn cannot admit he was wrong is because if he wasn't wholly correct, then what he was doing was being slightly misleading to make what he feels is a worthy point. That is, spinning.
I wonder how Ed Miliband spends his days now. Shouting a swearing at the television?
Partially on-topic, I have never heard the phrase 'ram-packed' before. 'Rammed', or 'Jam-packed', but not 'ram-packed'. Is this just a regional thing?
It just shows Corbyn's ignorance of the fine rural tradition of 'Ramming' and the dynamic small jam making businesses providing work for many Jam-packers, by trivializing them.
The reason Corbyn cannot admit he was wrong is because if he wasn't wholly correct, then what he was doing was being slightly misleading to make what he feels is a worthy point. That is, spinning.
I wonder how Ed Miliband spends his days now. Shouting a swearing at the television?
Making a twat of himself getting half the facts wrong about brighthouse.
Does anyone know why those recommendations to stockpile food & water were issued? Surely anything like that affecting Germany would affect the rest of Europe as well, including the UK? What are they afraid of, so (seemingly) suddenly?
Putin.
He has been making noises similar to those he made before invading two regions of sovereign European nations, he might be thinking about an all out war with Ukraine.
Presumably it's been discussed, but what is it exactly about nationalisation that makes it the answer to overcrowding on trains? Presumably it's some rubbish about Private companies deliberately not running enough trains in order to maximise income vs costs but this is generally clearly rubbish. So doesn't it basically come down to reducing quality of service in order to make trains less popular?
Of course the reality is nothing about improving the service for customers, but simply an affront that train companies should be run at a profit.
Brilliant media management Seamus, you have managed to knock Team GB story off the top of the news agenda. That takes real talent.
He fell behind during Brexit when that took prominence, but he's really been excellent at getting Jeremy in the news ever since he was leader. Silly season stories have abounded year round, which provides welcome relief.
Corbyn clearly was playing the story in my view. Everyone knows that if you jump on a train you may not get a seat. This will always be true. I suspect almost everyone knows that it's vital to book on many routes at certain times. Corbyn and team were clearly trying to invent a story.
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
I would not take Virgins account as fact either, but they are way more efficient at the PR game, and do not make stupid errors like the Corbyn team> Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
The tricky thing for Virgin is that people were standing, which was the key point Corbyn was trying to make. They are a little vague on that point. My guess is that the train was fully booked, but between the first come, first served seats that can't be booked and people who hadn't taken up their reservations, there were just enough seats to accommodate everyone if you moved them around the carriages.
Surely untaken reservations are fair game. Many people miss their train or get on and find a more convenient unreserved seat. Even more legitimate is to occupy a seat that is reserved from a station further down the line, and seek to move when another passenger gets off.
There's no problem at all with occupying reserved seats that aren't taken. But it explains how a train can be overcrowded with people standing and yet there are seats available. It means Virgin aren't entirely straightforward with their spin either. They could have said, yes, people were standing and we found them all seats. But that wasn't the story they wanted to put across.
The reason Corbyn cannot admit he was wrong is because if he wasn't wholly correct, then what he was doing was being slightly misleading to make what he feels is a worthy point. That is, spinning.
I wonder how Ed Miliband spends his days now. Shouting a swearing at the television?
Personally it's him I blame for the current mess rather than Corbyn. i.e. Who's more responsible for what happens when an imbecile gets power: the imbecile, or the man who made it possible for an imbecile to govern?
Presumably it's been discussed, but what is it exactly about nationalisation that makes it the answer to overcrowding on trains? Presumably it's some rubbish about Private companies deliberately not running enough trains in order to maximise income vs costs but this is generally clearly rubbish. So doesn't it basically come down to reducing quality of service in order to make trains less popular?
Of course the reality is nothing about improving the service for customers, but simply an affront that train companies should be run at a profit.
When the shadow minister was challengd on this on sky over this, He couldn't clearly answer any question on this topic over than to repeatedly state that train staff have world class expertise.
I've often been on trains where on the face of it there is no seat with people standing and sitting on floors. It is not unusual to discover that there are in fact half empty (non-first class) carriages at the extremity of the train but people can't be bothered to go looking for them, and ultimately are prepared to put up with the incovenience for an hour. That's hardly the fault of the train operator.
Brilliant media management Seamus, you have managed to knock Team GB story off the top of the news agenda. That takes real talent.
He fell behind during Brexit when that took prominence, but he's really been excellent at getting Jeremy in the news ever since he was leader. Silly season stories have abounded year round, which provides welcome relief.
The vice documentary was my particular highlight... you organise for a journo who openly states he is a big fan & end up managing to alienate him & ask him to leave.
The reason Corbyn cannot admit he was wrong is because if he wasn't wholly correct, then what he was doing was being slightly misleading to make what he feels is a worthy point. That is, spinning.
I wonder how Ed Miliband spends his days now. Shouting a swearing at the television?
Personally it's him I blame for the current mess rather than Corbyn. i.e. Who's more responsible for what happens when an imbecile gets power: the imbecile, or the man who made it possible for an imbecile to govern?
The people who were told he would be awful but voted for him anyway - the voters.
Partially on-topic, I have never heard the phrase 'ram-packed' before. 'Rammed', or 'Jam-packed', but not 'ram-packed'. Is this just a regional thing?
It just shows Corbyn's ignorance of the fine rural tradition of 'Ramming' and the dynamic small jam making businesses providing work for many Jam-packers, by trivializing them.
I look forward to him criticising Theresa May for promising 'ram tomorrow'.
Personally i quite like Virgin trains. Their "Tilting ale" is excellent and not particularly pricey. It's actually sometimes quite a shock how relatively cheap the products in their buffet service are.
Traingate, not surprised Richard Branson stepped in, when a senior politician trashes your brand for political ends. I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours. Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
The Virgin Voyagers at pieces of shit. Literally in the case of their curious positioning of air conditioning and effluence pipes. Give me an old clap and bang on a 125 an day of the week over them.
No idea what a Virgin voyager is, but the Pendolinos are excellent. I am not a PB train expert, but I have experience of BR, and they were dire.
Dire is an exaggeration and they cost the Exchequer £1 bn a year as againat £5 bn a year while charging half as much or less in fares.
You get what you pay for.
That's slightly disingenuous.
Firstly, the 1 billion is taking a very good year pre-privatisation. I can't find the document atm, but I've linked to it before on here. I think some years were two or more billion.
Secondly, the £5 billion includes new infrastructure spending such as Crossrail and GWML electrification;
Thirdly, passenger numbers have doubled.
Fourthly, as a whole the privatised companies are returning money to the treasury. The money sink is the nationalised Network Rail. The same could not be said under BR, where (I think) only Intercity was profitable.
One of the units failed on a Sheffield to London 125 just outside Bedford.
The conductor announces he has good news and bad news.
Bad news the last 50 miles are going to take over an hour ie at least 25 mins late.
Good news
Were not at 40,000 ft
On that note I was at Gatwick this afternoon to collect my boy and whilst waiting I studied the arrivals board. Almost no flight was due to arrive at their scheduled time. Some were with a few minutes either way but most were more than five minutes late, some several hours. If the railway companies were so bad at keeping to their time table there would be uproar and refunds all round. Yet because it is aeroplanes nobody seems to care.
I might also note the length of time to deliver the baggage to the reclaim area. With some flights it was there within ten minutes of landing with others it was thirty minutes plus. Gatwick is not that big for the distance from stand to baggage belt to make that much difference.
We rightly demand high standards from the railways but seem oblivious to the crap service by the airlines. I am not sure why.
Because we secretly know in the backs of our minds that any flight on a jet aircraft is a miracle of engineering that should really be impossible, and we cut them some slack for that reason?
Or:
Because we have little choice: it's either this poor airline or that poor airline, or a pedal-boat?
Evening, Mr. J.,
Your second option doesn't really work because we have even less choice with the railways and yet have an independent regulator who monitors performance, imposes fines, enforces refunds and all sorts of other stuff.
I suppose you first one might work, but after 60 years of commercial jet travel surely the miracle bit should have worn off by now.
I've often been on trains where on the face of it there is no seat with people standing and sitting on floors. It is not unusual to discover that there are in fact half empty (non-first class) carriages at the extremity of the train but people can't be bothered to go looking for them, and ultimately are prepared to put up with the incovenience for an hour. That's hardly the fault of the train operator.
It would be good if they had indicators like in modern carparks to tell you how many empty seats there are in each carriage. It would also provide very useful data for train operators.
Comments
For some veg it is virtually impossible to get non F1 varieties. With F1 the plants don't breed true and the crops all crop at once which is fine for business but a disaster on the veg patch.
Then you can move further afield in the world things like copyright lockout periods that are mysteriously legislatively extended everytime you reach the end of a lockout period after a certain producers death meaning the copyright holder is about to lose the exclusive rights over the product....
However it may well be true that they couldn't sit down. I certainly wouldn't take Virgin's assurances as fact.
So we have the following - either Corbyn was playing politics in a rather pathetic fashion, or, he and his team - the guys that think they can run the country, can't effectively book train tickets.
It is rather odd. Stockpiling 5 days water and 10 days food would be an expensive PITA and if you are in a flat where would you put it?
Come back Tim, all is forgiven!
I am old enough to remember BR on the West coast line, it was dire. I once came North from Euston(obviously), and we were like cattle class,standing all the way , like a very crowded lift,like being on the underground at rush hour, but for 3 hours.
Now the Pendolino's are fantastic,anyone wanting to go back to the old BR days has a problem.
Yes you are right ,if you cannot efficiently book a train ticket in advance,what chance to run the economy.
Clinton 52 .. Trump 38
http://polls.saintleo.edu/saint-leo-poll-shows-rubio-running-strong-in-senate-race-better-than-trump-is-running-on-top-of-the-gop-ticket-in-florida/
@MikeSmithson #Traingate isn't as entertaining as the time Osborne was seen travelling to London in a 1st class seat without 1st class ticket
Disingenuous, disorganized, incompetent would be words I would use to describe the journey even before the tricks he played...
At least there was video evidence to exonerate the train staff from the cause of the issue...
http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/bread-basket-europe.html
The West Coast suffered from the APT's cancellation. It was only twenty years later when the disastrous WC modernisation scheme took place that it got the attention it badly needed.
Here's another of Jessop's useless facts: if you're ever in a MkIV carriage on the East Coast and feel a little cramped, it's because the sides are built sloping so that they could be made to tilt in the future.
Edit: I see they finished in 2008 ! Sweet Jesus..
The 'upgrades' seemed to go on forever... , like the M1 works round near J31 where I live now. The southbound ones are over, thankfully.
A few years ago the power failed for a short time on a 444 I was on. Suddenly we couldn't operate internal doors. What is this obsession with making *doors* electronic...
Plenty of times the point would have been a valid, so his action was creating a simulation of a real issue, but he pretended it was happening right then.
See http://www.hitachirail-eu.com/hitachi-class-800-series-train-selected-by-dft-_108.html
I'm still trying to wangle a visit down to the Newton Aycliffe factory. Been promised it for ages just haven't been able to agree a suitable time yet..
The APT-S was supposed to run at 155 MPH.
It's hard for any engineering project to meet the holy trinity of being on requirement, on time and on budget. Most miss one. That project missed all three.
The reason: it's devillishly disruptive, expensive and hard to upgrade an existing railway line between services. As people are finding on the GWML electrification scheme.
They should just have completely closed the line for six months rather than give passengers nearly a decade of disruption.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37167744
Attended a talk by the 125 restoration group last week.
It was fabulous.
... one anorak please!
To bring this onto politics: it's interesting to see how much BR managed to do technically in the 1960s and 1970s despite low funding and little political will.
And I'm not just saying this because much of it was done at Derby
Having said that, I agree with Don Brind that the election is not a foregone conclusion (on the basis that the true believers all signed up last year, and I think many of the more recent joiners have joined to vote against him).
One of the units failed on a Sheffield to London 125 just outside Bedford.
The conductor announces he has good news and bad news.
Bad news the last 50 miles are going to take over an hour ie at least 25 mins late.
Good news
Were not at 40,000 ft
In my opinion Osborne's" offence"was the least awful by a loooooong way.
ICE3 is electric.
(I think!)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
Entirely impartial observer there by total coincidence of course...
Can we open a book on how many mentions this gets at PMQs?
"I have a question from Bill, who's a train conductor..."
I find "Ram packed" instead of "jam packed" the most annoying thing about this. No one says "Ram packed" do they?
I blame JohnO. Tories causing mayhem on the network.
While in general it has aged well, and some parts might even be considered topical, it contains a major howler in the plot.
The Leader of the opposition resigns when one of her backbenchers resigns, "having lost the support of the party"
Kids today would be bemused by such a notion
I counter your first point though - I was very wrong to state so unequivocally so many times that Lab would easily win most seats in 2015.
The reason Corbyn cannot admit he was wrong is because if he wasn't wholly correct, then what he was doing was being slightly misleading to make what he feels is a worthy point. That is, spinning.
'A photo never lies, unless it is disproved by phone-camera video.'
and
'A Phone-camera video never lies, unless it is disproved by CCTV.'
I might also note the length of time to deliver the baggage to the reclaim area. With some flights it was there within ten minutes of landing with others it was thirty minutes plus. Gatwick is not that big for the distance from stand to baggage belt to make that much difference.
We rightly demand high standards from the railways but seem oblivious to the crap service by the airlines. I am not sure why.
http://crossbreezefarm.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/ramswalking15482811_std.360122740.jpg
Then they fit an original engine of which they have a few to get that famous whistling back
You get what you pay for.
Or:
Because we have little choice: it's either this poor airline or that poor airline, or a pedal-boat?
Of course the reality is nothing about improving the service for customers, but simply an affront that train companies should be run at a profit.
Firstly, the 1 billion is taking a very good year pre-privatisation. I can't find the document atm, but I've linked to it before on here. I think some years were two or more billion.
Secondly, the £5 billion includes new infrastructure spending such as Crossrail and GWML electrification;
Thirdly, passenger numbers have doubled.
Fourthly, as a whole the privatised companies are returning money to the treasury. The money sink is the nationalised Network Rail. The same could not be said under BR, where (I think) only Intercity was profitable.
Your second option doesn't really work because we have even less choice with the railways and yet have an independent regulator who monitors performance, imposes fines, enforces refunds and all sorts of other stuff.
I suppose you first one might work, but after 60 years of commercial jet travel surely the miracle bit should have worn off by now.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jeremy-corbyn-claims-he-has-the-support-of-bernie-sanders_uk_57bc1e9ae4b042aee74d2236?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec3_lnk3&pLid=-68763774_uk-ttg