Put like that, they're quite new.

I spent almost 9 hours on one, from New York Penn St to Niagara ON, probably the same service. Slow, but very pleasant, and first class wasn't much more than standard. We had a few extra rides in Canada, without encountering the same problems you had. It's all big there, if not necessarily better.

I would have enjoyed this but got only:

The "Yorkshire Border - Keep Out" sign was one thing. The Lancashire side's "No, You Keep Out" showed insider knowledge.

I agree entirely about the peril of stop-gaps, made far worse by the tendency of the price of the ideal solution going up and up in between procrastinations.

My own battery charger is a 7 kW job. That is a pretty normal option, being able to deliver the charge at household voltage with a 30A current. 14 kW would need a 60A current, doable with a 3-phase supply. I would assume the battery charger would take that. I didn't realise it was only a 14 kW supply, given that high speed DC^▸ (Direct Current) chargers for cars can run at 150 kW. Given the information in grahame's report of his trip, 14 kW would be enough to keep the West Ealing to Greenford service running, but without capacity for much more. But would much more be needed?

Your comments on the weight of batteries etc are interesting. Double the weight of a diesel engine and fuel, but how much does that matter? Each 3-car Class 166 set weighs about 115 tonnes empty (per Copilot, to be checked at a rail weigh station), plus another 25-27 tonnes of passenger when fully laden and being charitable. 5 extra tonnes on 140 tonnes isn't likely to affect range and performance unduly or pose any problems for the network - unless I have also missed something blindingly obvious.

As I recall, the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) were introduced as a quick stop-gap when it became obvious that the planned electrification wouldn't be done before the previous kit had to be replaced. So they were introduced, and electrification was forgotten about. The IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) intended to replace them years after they were supposed to have been retired were originally supposed to have been all electric between Bristol, South Wales and Oxford, but were fitted with diesel engines as a quick stop-gap when it became obvious that the planned electrification wouldn't be completed. My guess at what will happen to intercity services next will be some other hasty stop-gap once they get too close to reaching 40 of their planned 25 years in service.

But it isn't just intercity services. Someone, somewhere is going to have to make big decisions very soon about what happens to commuter trains too. The choice seems to be between implementing plans already made to electrify much more railway and buy new electric stock, or do practically nothing and enter a new period of managed decline in railways. Battery trains will do an excellent job filling in on track that isn't worth electrifying fully, as the trial at Greenford seems to be showing. But there aren't any more around, nor any more fast charging points, so they will need either their own infrastructure or at least some 25 kV OHLE to power and charge along the routes.

Broadgage is right, we can't go on with diesel forever. It's already an anachronism, given that there is no engineering reason why the whole rail network cannot be run on electricity alone.

This is getting serious. Anyone growing frustrated with Go-op's 12-years-and-counting campaign for new trains will be pleased to know that they are also getting frustrated with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s service. At least according to this in The i Paper


The story continues at source for subscribers, or at the MSN copy of the link for interested cheapskates (like me). The word "soon" is not defined in terms relating to our progress through the heavens.

I'll ignore that.


edited to fix quote box.

I still speak some Civil Service. "Keep a close watch" means the same as "ignore". Not that there are likely to be many in at the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to do the ignoring.


Exactly.  If it isn't sabotage, it's the government. The whole blame apportionment industry will have to be dismantled.

At long last! Trains will be driven, managed and cleaned by civil servants again, which should guarantee a reliable service around the clock on every day bar 25 December.

Being serious, though, this should simplify negotiations with unions at least slightly, as there will eventually be one employer to deal with, although it's going to be a few years before full implementation. There will presumably be cuts to back-office numbers as services such as HR^▸ (Human Resources), payroll, and uniform design are amalgamated. I don't suppose we'll notice much difference for quite a while.

My mistake - I did mean franchises, although my "not much more than a decade" estimate looks far too optimistic.

At least the crazy notion of the railways being privatised is coming to a rapid end, along with the façade of independence from government. It should be all back in public hands within not much more than a decade. There will be serious negotiations with the unions they get the best of each TOC's T&Cs for everyone across the board, after which the government of the day can start talking about weekend working.

I man I admired hugely, despite his dalliance with Parliament, until his reputation was posthumously wrecked. His association with the late Captain Sir Tom Moore may have saved him, until recent events, but I shall always remember his programme involving a dinner in a Viennese restaurant. He took out his wallet and said how lovely it was to visit a country where they put a picture of your grandfather on the banknotes for you.


Another day, another defenestration.

At least somebody has put their hands up.

All of this hoo-ha vindicates my view that being a politician is not a very good idea, and should be left to someone else to deal with. Yes, it all sounds very nice from the outside, with cheap beer, a decent salary, expenses-paid trips to exotic locations with your voluptuous diary secretary, and a pension at the top of the generosity scale, but you are detested not only by all the people who didn't vote for you, but by half of your own colleagues in parliament as well. You can forget all those laws your government made about protecting your privacy or rehabilitation of offenders, they don't apply to you. You're fair game with no closed season. It isn't just the big crimes that will get you splashed across the front pages - one small fart in a lift, and the CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) will be top of the 10 o'clock news.

No, my advice to anyone sane is to forget about being a MP^▸ (Member of Parliament). Stick to something where you are universally adored, like presenting TV cookery competitions.

Welcome, Minister. If I promise not to start searching for skellingtons in your closet, will you sign off the Portishead reopening and send the cheque?