You may have heard that Network Rail has finally been reclassified as being fully part of the public sector. You might think this is a good thing – accepting the reality of its renationalisation and putting any possibility of selling it to bed – or a bad thing – taking away its ability to borrow…
Read More A little bit of omnishamblesOver the next 12 months, no fewer than four railway operating franchises are coming up for renewal (the list is here) and three more are subject to a review. The closest deadline is December, by which time the West Coast Main Line franchise must be either transferred to the new boss (First Group) or it…
Read More Procrastination means transportation for the nationThere’s a good story to be told (somewhat in the New New mode) about the old Eurostar terminal at Waterloo Station. It’s basically as follows: after the Eurostars moved to the new St. Pancras, the thrillingly modern structure Nicholas Grimshaw gave them was abandoned to rot by “Sir” Brian Souter’s privatised train empire and eventually…
Read More outrage turns out not so outrageous and actually quite sensibleThis LA Times story about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (so called because it’s still a dream – let’s get the last drop from that joke before it goes into service) and the role of outsourcing is fascinating. It is partly built on a paper by a senior Boeing engineer which makes among other things, this…
Read More 787: the plane Milton Friedman built, and about as well as you’d expectThis LA Times story about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (so called because it’s still a dream – let’s get the last drop from that joke before it goes into service) and the role of outsourcing is fascinating. It is partly built on a paper by a senior Boeing engineer which makes among other things, this…
Read More 787: the plane Milton Friedman built, and about as well as you’d expectDid you know that each successive generation of German high-speed trains has had air-conditioning plant built for higher temperatures? The trains from the early 90s handle a temperature range from -20 to +32 degrees Celsius. Those from the mid-90s, -20 to +32, but if necessary they can exceed that. The ICE Type 3 handles temperatures…
Read More evolvingThere is something pleasantly surreal about this story. London Reconnections reports on the appearance of the heads of Tube Lines, the Underground, and Mr. Chris Bolt before the London Assembly’s transport committee. It doesn’t sound obviously hilarious, but then, who is Chris Bolt? You may vaguely remember him as the Rail Regulator, the chap who…
Read More Magic and the decline of railway privatisationSo, after all the hype, I’ve now managed to visit the rebuilt St. Pancras Station no fewer than four times. And I think it’s not great. Why? Well, the structure itself is spectacular – but then we knew that already, ever since 1867. The civil engineering of it is pretty damn impressive too; huge tunnels…
Read More The New St PancrasClimate-change denier and quack weatherman Piers Corbyn writes to the paper: The problem for global warmers is that there is no evidence that changing CO2 is a net driver for world climate. Feedback processes negate its potential warming effects. Their theory has no power to predict. It is faith, not science. I challenge them to…
Read More Science!How could the principles in this post be put into effect? Here’s an opportunity. Legendary trade reporter Roger Ford discusses the situation at GNER, where the company’s franchise to operate the East Coast Main Line has been withdrawn because the parent company, Sea Containers, is in financial difficulty. The details of the difficulty can be…
Read More A practical example?