Snowdrift at Bleath Gill (1955)

This is a great little film from 1955 where railway workers rescue a goods train stuck in a snow drift at Bleath Gill.

It takes a lot of workers, a big snow plough, some burning rags and a lot of elbow grease. 

The railway was the Statinmore railway and the engine was 78018, the railway closed in 1962 but the engine survived into preservation via a trip to the infamous Woodham Brothers scrapyard.Read more at Bleath Gill: Whatever Happened to the Heroes?

What would happen today? The railway would be closed or the train left there until spring....

Railway Ghost Stories

I have been looking for railway stories (non fiction) from 1880 to the Beeching era as like most people I find the lost age of railways very interesting.

Whilst searching I have come across various ghost stories from around the uk.

Some links for others that might be interested:

Rail forum thread - Are our railways haunted? - Excellent thread on a railway forum with lots of short stories.

Train overcrowding: how to fight back.

Ever since this article on the BBC a couple of weeks ago thoughts have been running through my head about how the humble commuter, fed up with being treated worse than a sardine can fight back.

Of course we are only in this position because the companies themselves and the government refuse to do anything about it. Mind you, I am guessing if they were all faced with having to travel by train on a daily basis and not in first class they would quickly do something about it. Lord Young and others are probably at least privately thinking that commuters have never had it so good.

As far as I can work out there are only two ways we can attack the problem.

Breach of Contract (Small claims court)

This I envisage working similar to the banking charges saga. The BBC article linked gave me the signpost.

Under their franchise agreements train operators are required to use "reasonable endeavours" to give peak passengers "a reasonable expectation of a seat within 20 minutes of boarding"

Not exactly great legally crisp wording but there is something here we can work with. Essentially if the conditions are not met you could perhaps claim that the train operator has broken their contract with you which was made when you purchased the ticket based on all relevant legislation and contracts including the franchise agreement.

All we have to do is sort out the test of reasonableness to see if you can make a claim. First we need a reference period. The train operator would clearly be able to wriggle out of a claim if it was based on 1 or 2 journeys or the train was late, weather delays, other delays or delays outside of its control. So lets say 5 journeys on the same train or at around the same time would constitute a reasonable reference period. This is a week of commuting or five regular journeys over a different period.

Now the line states that you have a reasonable expectation of finding a seat within 20 minutes. So any journey under 30 minutes (must be scheduled journey time not actual journey time) is not going to be worth claiming for, again you would need to take into account any delays, which would not count towards the 30 minutes.

Next a reasonable expectation of finding a seat, in order to prove this you would have to walk up and down the carriages looking for a seat, so the best thing to do is only claim when you cannot walk up and down the carriages as clearly in this circumstance you do not have a reasonable chance of finding a seat.

Again if you wanted to be really clever and possibly evil you could find a railway employee and ask them if you have a reasonable expectation of finding a seat on the train (use that exact wording). This would be extra juicy evidence against the company as they are a representative of the company giving a professional opinion. You could also consider collecting witness statements from people on the same train. Don't worry too much about witness statements as the onus would be on the company to prove you wrong, plus as long as overcrowding is regular if they contested it you could take a video camera on the next journey. The company cant make the problem go away over night.

You would also need to submit evidence of tickets, at least the photocopies. If it is not a season ticket you may wish to consider submitting the originals or at the very least offering to surrender the ticket if your claim is subject to refund. Obviously with a season ticket you can submit a copy. Also note that any claim should only be for the contested journeys, you cant claim a refund of a season ticket based on five journeys. In this case you must work out the proportion of the ticket that relates to those journeys.

So in summary to make a claim you need to fulfil these pre-requisites:

• Scheduled journey time of over 30 minutes
• 5 journeys on the same train or 5 journeys at roughly the same time over a regular frequency
• a valid ticket
• details of the trains travelled on
• Unable to walk up and down to find a seat

If you have fulfilled all these requirements then you can start a similar two step process to the reclaim of bank charges.

Step 1 is write to the train company, perhaps something like this:

Dear Customer Services,

I am writing to complain about the state of overcrowding on your peak time trains. As a regular user it is clear to me that you are doing nothing to address overcrowding and are therefore in breach of the commitment in your franchise agreement:

"train operators are required to use reasonable endeavours to give peak passengers a reasonable expectation of a seat within 20 minutes of boarding

Here are the details of the trains I travelled on, the journey times and my comments on the availability of seats:

etc etc

I have also enclosed a copy of my ticket/s for your reference.

You have 28 days to reply to this letter detailing the steps you will take to solve the overcrowding issues on these trains. In addition, I am claiming a full refund for the price of the tickets attached as you have clearly and persistently failed to fulfil the terms of agreement under which they were bought.

If you do not provide satisfactory recompense within 28 days then you will leave me with no choice but to pursue the matter through the civil courts.

Yours sincerely etc.

Sit back and wait for a response, the options here are that you get ignored, fobbed off or offered some compensation.

If you get ignored, check their customer service agreement and write one more time quoting their customer service agreement and giving them a final 28 days to reply. You may wish to copy in the Managing Director, chances are the letter will just get forward on the customer services department and match up with your other letter, but you never know. If the ignore you a second time then you have now made every reasonable endeavour to resolve the matter with the company (this will be important in any legal claim) and you can now put in your claim with the courts for full compensation.

If they fob you off, reply re-iterating your position detailing the breach of agreement and detail any more subsequent experiences. Then as above head to the small claims court.

If you get offered some compensation my personal advice would be to take it, even if it is not the full amount. The fact that they have offered you compensation and you have refused to take it would count in the company's favour in any claim. So best to take what's offered and make a new claim in the future if they do not take "reasonable actions" to avoid overcrowding.

Of course the first few claims will be hard but if one ends up at court and the commuter wins then like the bank charges that is a legal precedent which will pave the way for everyone to claim and companies will start paying up at the letter stage. They will also quite quickly start addressing capacity issues as it now hurting their profits.

At the moment this is an idea, but you never know it just might work. If anyone does try the above approach can you keep us up-to-date with any responses etc. I am quite happy to post any rail company responses, good or bad.

Health and Safety

The other approach I have thought about is claiming a fundamental breach of your health and safety if you are required to stand. However, anecdotally there seems to be no research which shows you are at higher risk in an overcrowded train. So this seems to be a non starter unless anyone knows of any research or can commission some.

Finally, I should also mention that I am not a regular commuter on trains, but have on occasion had to commute into London where the train has been totally rammed with people. So despite a good idea I am unable to follow up on it myself.

Intertwined colour lines: a fascination

I find myself strangely fascinated by coloured lines intertwined together, especially if it is a pattern based on something man made or familiar to me.

This is a hand drawn colour line copy of a 1914 clearing house railway junction diagram of the area around clapham junction (the big confusing area over on the left). If you want to you can compare it to the original over here on wikipedia.

Maybe I have discovered a whole new art form with which you can experiment with on any map or satelitte photgraphy, just drawing designs. Today the web tommorrow Tate Britain.

Petrol, major rail projects and poor government policy

Gordon Brown is busy at the G20 summit trying to push a spending agenda to bring the world out of recession.

On the same day Gordon is saying that, there are two minor stories to suggest that he might need to get his own house in order before telling the world what to do. This is not to suggest I don't agree with Gordon's plan to use government spending to boost the economy but that doesn't stop me pointing out what are really some quick wins that have been missed.

After all the role of the voter is to hold the government to account.

Fuel Duty

Today there was a 2p rise in fuel duty which had been planned all the way back in November at the beginning of our darkest months / downturn / credit crunch whatever those media people want to call it today. I fundamentally agree that the price of fuel should reflect the true cost of car use in terms of the environment and emissions.

What I would argue is that the duty rise should have been postponed by six months. This is coming at a time when consumers and businesses are already suffering from a squeeze on their finances. This is just a kick in the teeth.

It is also money that will go straight into the treasury rather than be used on the high street. Think of it as a Vat rate cut in reverse, if you reverse the argument that the government used for the Vat cut then surely putting on the fuel duty raise will take money out of people's pockets and therefore stifle economic growth.

Taxation is often about smoke and mirrors but this is perhaps a step too far.

Major rail projects

A big aspect of the agenda is to invest in capital projects, several of which could be major transportation and railway projects. The good news is that the government nationalised the infrastructure of UK railways some time ago. So all it would have to do is loan money at very favourable rates which could be spent on major projects. There are lots of projects to spend the money on as well, several projects are in the planning stages and the government could bring several forward or just create new projects. The railways will happily make use of any money that the government cares to give it.

So are they doing it? The article would suggest probably not. Jarvis one of the main railway contractors who work on infrastructure projects has just cut 450 jobs citing network rail spending reductions as a trigger. Network rail have delayed projects and reduced spending causing a downturn in business for Jarvis and therefore Jarvis are having to trim there business to suit the new economic climate.

So if the government are not putting money into planned existing capital projects where exactly are they going spending this money they keep on talking about?

Local news...Fast Ticket Machines out of use due to a recent spate of thefts (Chiltern Railways, UK)

This is the kind of petty criminality that really, really annoys me.

I use these machines all the time and they are really useful, you generally don't have to queue at the ticket office window which generally saves about five minutes when you are running for the train.

Well it would seem that some gang of petty minded oiks have decided that the machines are soft targets for breaking into and stealing the cash. Sadly, Chiltern Railways have done the sensible thing and replaced them with machines that will only take cards. Although this does mean they may now become a target for card scammers.

Plus thanks to this gang the machines have been out of action for weeks inconveniencing thousands of people. Its at time like this I like to think that karma will soon catch up with the gang and they get exactly what they deserve.

When petty criminality affects the way we conduct are lives to such an extent somebody should really do something about it. The question as usual is exactly who?

Journeys into the West

It is the time of year when I take a journey from Oxfordshire to Devon via First Great Western.

It is always nice to see what has changed for the better or worse since the last time I let the train take the strain.

The Adelantes are still around although apparently not for much longer. They don't appear to be well liked by travellers but I have always found them to be very comfortable.

From Reading to Exeter St Davids was on a refreshed FGW HST. It is not a bad job the new seats are comfy and not too cramped and the décor has been modernized. The only minor criticism I have is the choice of door colour, it is a bright lurid pink. I personally the old double yellow line colour they used to have. I suspect that the pink doors will date very badly and in a year or so will look very dated.

Exeter St Davids and you would have thought you had stepped back into the 1980's. There were dozens of Class 142 Leyland bus type trains hanging around. These were used after the end of loco hauled services in the 80's but were soon moved out of the region due to excessive wheel wear and track damage.

Having done a bit of research it would appear FGW have bought them back mainly because they are dirt cheap and because they simple don't have anything better. It appears that although Network rail were not impressed with the move they allowed the stock move after certain assurance were put in place by FGW.

Anyway these Class 142 pacers were effectively made from British Leyland bus parts for the cheapest possible costs. To take the suspension as an example they are two large spring on each bogie set. The ride quality is not that great. The interior is also very bus like with large bus seats and bus doors.

All in all a 1980's train which should have been scrapped at the end of the 80's. The ride quality is terrible, there are no interior comforts and by all accounts the reliability is poor as well. Typical first great western go for cheap and ignore the customers. Why the government continues to allow them to treat customers like dirt is unbelievable.

I should also mention that they do not perform well in a crash, imagine crushing a tin can. The report after a crash in 1999 recommended they should be phased out because of this.

Whichever way you look at it these trains should not be running in 2007.

Rumour has it FGW does intend to refurbish the units but other than recover the seats and fill the worst of the holes there is probably not a lot they can do.

Virgin Cross Country franchise demise

On November 11th several operators disappeared from the UK railway network in the latest round of franchise quick shuffle.

One of them was Virgin Cross Country. I have travelled on them quite a few times and they operated some of the busiest routes. They were busy because of Virgin's investment in the franchise with new trains, new tickets / pricing and marketing.

At the start of the franchise commentators said you could not move a Virgin brand on to the railways because the railways are slow, boring and expensive. Things that have never been part of the Virgin brand.

Critics said putting the Virgin brand on track could only ever bring the rest of the Virgin group down.

However, the critics were wrong the Virgin Cross Country brand prospered. It was certainly a hard journey and things could have gone better but it was a success. So with a successful popular operator you would have thought they stood a good chance for keeping the franchise.

Sadly this was not to be and Virgin Cross Country left the scene on November 11, 2007.

I have always felt that brands like Virgin keep the competition honest. Virgin puts quality and value above profit, Virgin stands for customer commitment which cannot be said for a lot of other brands in the transport industry such as First and their terrible franchise First Great Western.

There is a great debate about how franchise holders like FGW are allowed to continue and expand whilst operators like Virgin are always beaten at the post. Like most things it is about politics and money. The government puts cheaper cost above quality of service, they may argue otherwise but in the end they prefer cheap over customer satisfaction.

Everyday Super Heroes: First Great Western Oxford Station Staff

These Super hero pants are awarded to the FGW Oxford station staff for looking after 400 schoolchildren after their train had broken down. Even ordinary people wear their pants on the outside some of the time. Well done to not just the station staff but Thames Valley Police, British Transport Police and not forgetting the teachers and chaperones in the party.

The Schoolchildren from eleven different schools were returning home from Bath to Birmingham when the train's breaks failed just outside Oxford station. The train was a charter run by Rivieria trains with rolling stock and locomotive power from EWS.

The engineers tried to repair the train but failed, while this was going on the kids were left on the train for 3 1/2 hours. I hate to think what it was like on board.

The children were eventually taken off the train and walked to Oxford Station to await onward transport home. At this point you would have thought that the nightmare was over, but it continued.

First Great Western even though it was not their train or their passengers and arguably not their responsibility offered to arrange buses for the entire party. Riviera trains said they would sort it out themselves. However the buses were then late and not enough turned up.

The children had to bed down in the station after it was closed and again FGW staff came through by staying on to ensure the station could remain open and that the children were safe. Four station staff stayed on and two others were called in to assist.

By 3:30 am 40 children were left be waved on their way and FGW staff again stepped in, took charge and ordered them all taxis.

So three times in one night FGW and their staff went out of their way to make sure the children were safe in Oxford and got home. The Staff on that night are a credit to the company and super heroes to the children.

PC Burrows of British Transport Police tells the Oxford Mail how it was:

"They were led Pied Piper style, a stream of 400 to 500 children, through the streets of Oxford late at night through the revellers. "

Obviously 'pied piper' style is the approved method of leading children taught at the police training college.

The other thing that strikes me about this quote is you can imagine all the children in single file being lead through the Saturday night drunks, must have been quite an unusual sight.

PC Burrows had the following to say about the FGW staff:

"Those working at Oxford worked incredibly professionally, many without pay."

An FGW spokesperson also told the mail:

"They did not want to see the kids stranded."

Which I think is a bit understated for the trouble the staff went to to look after the kids.

So congratulations to the FGW staff involved on winning the super hero pants and proving that ordinary people can be heroes too.

On one final note PC Burrows has this to say regarding the management and organisation of the private company involved in the charter train:

"In relation to the management and organisation from the private operator we do not have a comment to make at this stage but we will be taking it further with the company concerned."

I would think the police, the schools and the parents take a very dim view of any company that would strand 400 kids. The Managing Director of that company should be ashamed of himself and his company.

Google Earth - Trainspotting goes to Iraq

This week I zoomed over to Iraq to have a look what war, sabotage and neglect does to a nation's railway system. It is all a bit depressing you see empty stations, empty yards, overgrown areas all in the muted browns of the desert. Unlike Russian yards, Iraq yards are generally smaller and overgrown with fewer cars in them. In the whole of my research I only found one train running.

So here are some of the desolate sights of trains in Iraq.

This is a large Baghdad train station. The platforms are empty although they look like they are maintained. Note the bustle of the cars on the road around the station. The extensive yards to the north and west look overgrown and unused.



Iraq yards 8a, part of the Central station yards complex shows what is probably the passenger train yards. Although full of trains it does appear to be better maintained than other areas of the vast yards.




The one small train I found in Western Baghdad.






The missing link, a break in the track where a bridge has gone, was it war, sabotage or just a bridge being rebuilt?






Some kind of oil/chemical store with vast sidings, all empty but look at all the trucks at the plant. Road has taken over from rail.

Google Earth -Trainspotting goes to Russia

Well continuing visiting different countries I thought I would pop over to Moscow and see what I could find. What I found was absolutely marshalling yards, so here are some of the choice pictures (note the yard numbers are mine, not some Russian bureaucratic innovative naming system).

Moscow area yard 11. Not a goods yard but either an engine or passenger train shed. No trains visible but a nice track pattern into the large building. Interesting motorway junction pattern to the south-east too.





Moscow area yard 10. A huge Marshalling area and workshop area. Just look at all those wagons lined up.






Moscow area yard 7. A passenger train yard just outside one of the main railway stations.






Three of Moscow's main train stations.

Zephyrist's sunday night briefs - week 17, 2007

This week saw the start of the serious campaigning for the local elections. Not quite as exciting as the general election but it is everyone's democratic duty to vote or if there is no one you like, to spoil your ballot paper.

So what else has been occupying my mind in the last week?

Green electricity target in doubt (BBC)

Regen SW, a electricity industry pressure group is trying to put pressure on local councils in the South West to deal with planning applications for Wind Farms. As I have previously reported one of the major blocks to new wind farms is the long complicated planning approval process. Therefore the more pressure the industry can bring to bear the quicker schemes can get approved.

Of course are these companies really caring about the environment or merely about the profit that is being lost whilst the farms are stuck in the planning stage?

Gloom lifts for riding schools (BBC)

In today's blame culture there is no such thing as an accident, someone is to blame. Hence the minute anything happens people look round for someone to sue.

This story about the horse riding industry reports on recent cases where judges have ruled that some accidents are simply that, the instructors are not to blame and individuals must accept that horse riding has a risk attached.

A clear result in favour of common sense that will hopefully mean that people can still enjoy horse riding and other sports without having to worry about spiralling insurance costs.

Wave farm passes funding hurdle (BBC)

The wave power snakes have finally arrived in Cornwall. Funding has now been secured to build a wave farm complete with connection to the national grid off the coast of Cornwall. The wave farm will be able to supply power to 7,500 homes which is 3% of Cornwall's total power consumption.

Train leasing market investigated (BBC)

Another story that has been reported before on this blog. The Competition Commission is now going to investigate the train leasing industry. There is a belief that prices may be too high and train operating companies are not getting the service they deserve.

The Department of Transport suggests that the leasing companies may be making upwards of £175 million in excess profits every year.

Watch this space.

World rallies for Darfur action (BBC)

Today was a global day of action for Darfur demanding intervention to stop the fighting in Darfur.

I have said a lot about Darfur but I think this quote tells you what you need to know:

"In certain parts of Darfur, blood is running like water."

-Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International

Celebrity photo shoot in support of the global action day - Excellent photography well worth a look.

More Google Earth - trainspotting

I thought I would bore you to death with more google earth trains. I also have a theory that you cant see trains at high speed as they are most common around stations.


A long US Goods train.







First Great Western HST Outside Bristol Temple Meads.







Three engines South of Milton Keynes.







Possibly a Freightliner Class 66 engine with a train load of vans near Southampton docks.

Google Earth -Trainspotting

OK I admit I am fascinated by trains and tracks. Before you all starting rolling around on the floor laughing its not an obsession and it is only the same as being a petrol head car lover.

Anyway I have been spending some time with google earth and rail lines are quite easy to follow, so I thought I would post up some links for fellow arm chair train spotters.

The only snag is not all of the UK has hi-res imagery.


Virgin Voyager just outside Bletchley, UK





Long Coal train waiting outside Didcot, UK







Three Car Turbo set bound for Reading.
(Also some interesting circles in the field top left)




Reading Turbo Depot

Life as a tube station assitant - It's hell down there

What's it like to work on the tube?

Well Jesse Fuller has been a tube station assistant for the past three years and will tell you all about it.

First you have to meet the general public, who are quite often brain-dead, rude and obnoxious. In order to survive you have to be ruder and more obnoxious either that or loose your self esteem and go slowly mad. Either Way 'Mr Angry' from Wapping will still write in with his complaint.

Looking at the other side the money is good and nobody seems to work too hard. There are worse jobs in the world and every day is different even if it is only a different kind of boredom or a different kind of complaint.

Railways: French speed and British investment

Two railway stories for you today.

French set new rail speed record (BBC Article)

A French TGV broke the speed record for a train running on conventional rails at a speedy 356 mph. This was done on the new high speed line which has been built between Paris and Strasbourg.

There was the standard fantastic media comparison, apparently according to the BBC:

"The train travelled almost as fast as a World War II Spitfire fighter at top speed."

For info the maximum speed of a spitfire was approximately 378 mph (Source:Wikipedia)

The UK train speed record is 208 mph (BBC Article) set on the channel tunnel link in 2003. Now that the new line is opening who knows they may try to beat that.

Of course the UK probably holds the record for fastest steam run by the world class Mallard which ran at 127 mph in 1938. (Reference: The Mallard)

Rail network given cash injection (BBC Article)

Network rail have unveiled 900 projects totalling £2.4 bn of investment over the next two years. The are even creating a new post to oversee all this investment, Director of Infrastructure projects who will be Simon Kirby.

This is all good news even if this isn't a sudden announcement of massive investment, a lot of projects are already under way. Having said that, it is a record level of investment in infrastructure enhancements and Network Rail should be congratulated for investing inthe future.

Usually I finish with a few quotes but frankly John Armitt Network rail CEO is a bit dull, so only read on if you are suffering from insomnia, and imagine it being said in a dull mono tone voice:

"Three million people use the railways each day, more than at any time in the past 60 years, and we're not standing still waiting for the big infrastructure projects to be delivered."

- John Armitt, CEO Network Rail

First Great Western listens

I previously gave First Great Western a bashing over the poor service they had been giving to passengers since the December timetable. They have now made further improvements to ease over crowding.

They are to be congratulated over making these improvements and I look further to more service enhancements in the near future.

Zephyrist's sunday night briefs - week 11, 2007

Well another a busy week of things, although really some parts of the media seem obsessed about how David Cameron parts his hair and whether it is an indication of his politics Cameron hair - the barber did it (BBC Article).

Yawn, bored already, its all a bit like prime minister's question time at the moment where all everyone does is try to make jokes about when the prime minister will finally leave and his special relationship with Gordon Brown. Sometimes you have to wonder about sections of the media and politicians whether they have better things to be doing with their time.

Anyway onto my briefs which I think will now be a regular Sunday night feature:

Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai 'beaten up' (BBC Article)

Robert Mugabe does not believe in freedom of speech, to be an opposition party activist in Zimbabwe means you get persecuted. Following a recent rally where the opposition criticised Robert Mugabe and his government for continuing economic problems including inflation running at 1700% Morgan Tsvangirai the leader of the opposition was arrested and pretty much beaten to a pulp.

All they were doing was exercising their democratic rights, something we in the western world take for granted.

Biggest RNLI rescue is remembered (BBC Article)

I have the greatest respect for the men and women of the RNLI. There are are not many people who would head off into a force 9 gale to save lives. Even fewer would do it on a purely voluntary basis, but these crews continue to put the safety of people around our coast first.

These crews have realised that someone has to go out into the eye of the storm to protect life and it might as well be them. There is no question of them not going out, they are on call all year round. If someone needs their help they put to sea to make the difference and help those in peril on the sea.

The largest rescue in the RNLI's history was remembered on the 17th March 2007. This day marks the centenary of the rescue of 456 passengers from the stricken SS Suevic by the Lizard, Cadgwith, Coverack and Porthleven life boat crews. The rescue took 16 hours in thick fog and a strong gale.

"It must have been terrifying and yet they went back to the Suevic time and time again. I, and the present day RNLI volunteers at the Lizard have nothing but admiration for what they all achieved."

-Historian Peter Greenslade, RNLI Honorary Secretary

Wave energy set to turn the tide (BBC Article)

In last sunday's briefs I posted about wave power off Spain. This is an article about a similar wave farm being set up off the coast of Scotland.

'Cave entrances' spotted on Mars (BBC Article)

This sounds a bit like the start of a sci-fi horror movie, beware something dark this way comes.

NASA have spotted what looks like seven caves on the side of a volcano. Scientists have suggested that these natural structures may be capable of protecting primitive life from the harsh Mars environment. The caves have been named the seven sisters and been given names of Dena, Chloe, Wendy, Annie, Abbey, Nicki and Jeanne.

10 legit ways to get cheaper rail fares (BBC Article)

UK rail tickets are often really strange and it is always difficult to get the cheapest price unless your are in the know. So the BBC have kindly written an article on 10 ways to get cheaper fares.
It did not particularly help me with any of my usual train journeys but you never know, it is bound to be useful to someone.

The fight to copyright Mother's Day (BBC Article)

As it is mother's day you can find out about the history of the day and how the original creator became horrified at the gross over commercialisation of it all. It might make you think.

1000 new rail carriages for UK Railways

On the face of it this is a simple story. The Government has promised to build 1000 carriages and lease them to the train operating companies[1]. This is equivalent to a 10% capacity increase or roughly one years growth. All this to help reduce overcrowding.

However, Stock is already available from the leasing companies and several franchise holders have recently put modern units off lease which could be used else where. Plus in an emergency there is plenty of Mk3 carriages which could be used with diesel engines (Although potentially more costly). For a good analysis of some of the considerations on off lease stock and hire possibilities see this forum post

It would seem that franchise operators have already proved that they could increase capacity but they are just not interested. Indeed some operators have already suggested that the cost of leasing extra stock to ease overcrowding is the responsibility of the government (See wikipedia: FGW stock cuts).

Bearing all this in mind it is clear that the government has now had enough. Last year it ordered an investigation by the Office of the Rail Regulator into an alleged monopoly by the three train leasing companies[2]. The government estimated that the leasing companies were over charging by up to 50 million a year.

The ORR looks likely to refer the issue to the Competition Commission [3] having found that the leasing sector had:

"higher prices and lower quality of service than would be the case in a more competitive market"

As a response to this Angel Trains one of the leasing companies has pulled out of negotiations with Virgin Trains over new trains citing the ongoing uncertainty due to the investigation [3].

So in what appears to be the latest move in a high pressure game of rail chess the government has stated that it will build 1000 new carriages and lease them direct to the train operating companies.

Basically this is sending a clear message to the train leasing companies that if they are not prepared to act fairly then the government will cut them out or undercut their prices. In a sense the government is attempting to force competition onto the rigged market.

I agree with the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Alaister Carmicheal that the government should allow network rail to act as a leasing company to give the better integration between the operators and the infrastructure. This would create two partners in running a train rather than the complicated three partners at the moment.

So the real story is not the extra thousand carriages but the real commitment by the government to create structural economic change in the industry.

Oxford to Milton Keynes rail link

In the 1960's there was a rail link between Oxford and Cambridge which was informally known as the Varsity line. After the cost cutting of the sixties all that was left was a freight line from Oxford to Bletchley and a shrivelled passenger link between Bletchley and Bedford.

There has been talk for some years of resurrecting the full link or at the very least the western end Oxford to Bletchley and therefore to Milton Keynes. Suggestions have included a link from the line to the Chiltern Railways London line which would give a second main line between Oxford and London or a full main line between Cambridge and Oxford.

Nothing much has been done about such grand plans but the link between Oxford to Milton Keynes seems more likely. This latest study continues to add weight to the argument laying out a business plan that supports two trains an hour and reports that the initial cost would be minimal. This report forms part of the supporting information for the plan to be approved by the government.

There is funding around, several large building projects in Bicester such as the South-West housing development and the Bicester Village expansion have put aside money for the Oxford-Bicester rail link improvements. Indeed the idea from the business case is that such projects would help fund the project and that this would be a condition of planning consent.

It looks likely that Chiltern railways will be the eventual operator, as they look to connect up to Aylesbury which is an existing freight spur off the line. They seem the natural operator of the line and have a solid track record in large railway projects. Laing Rail, the parent company of Chiltern Railways is one of the partners of the report which lends further support to this idea.

Given the anticipated housing and traffic growth in the Oxford - Milton Keynes arc this public transport link is essential. Yet the government still seems to be hoping that someone else will build it and even disinterested in encouraging the project.

The government should make this a priority as soon as possible. There is only a few miles of track that need to be built between the freight line and Bletchley, so a passenger service could be started within six months. The passenger service could start with the one train an hour at relatively modest speeds, but at least it would be a start rather than this continuous discussion that we have had for the last six years.

According to this latest report the rail link will not open for another five years, finally opening in the first quarter of 2012. There has been talk of this before but hopefully this report means that the line is finally a reality and not just an expensive paper exercise.