East Coast franchise - ongoing discussion, merged topic

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Ah merde. J'aurais d^ dire ferroviaire lourd. 

[TonyK]

D'accord, mon ami.

[bobm]

Welsh language posts yesterday. Now French. Where next?   

[TonyK]

Welsh language posts yesterday. Now French. Where next?   

Ich wei^ nicht, mein Freund.

[swrural]

Ik weet het ook niet, het spijt mij.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Du ^r allt mycket dumt. 

[JayMac]

Como Forrest Gump dir^a: "Est^pido es como est^pido hace".

[Chris from Nailsea]

On a slightly less frivolous note - from Modern Railways:

Elaine Holt joins RATP Dev

RATP Dev aims to pre-qualify for Crossrail operator concession
 
RATP Dev has confirmed that Elaine Holt has been appointed UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Rail Franchise Director and will lead its work to pre-qualify for London^s Crossrail operator concession.

Elaine Holt started her career at British Airways in 1987. She worked in a variety of senior commercial and operational roles at First Group for ten years, culminating as Managing Director of First Capital Connect.

In 2009 she was appointed CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) of Directly Operated Railways, and Chairman of East Coast, and most recently led National Express^s bid for the Great Western rail franchise.

RATP Dev is a subsidiary of RATP Group, established in 2002 to develop its operating and maintenance activities in France and internationally, outside the historic network operated by RATP in the greater Paris region.

[lordgoata]

I saw this listed today, thought some might be interested given the interest in the recent FGW^▸ (First Great Western) CH5 series.

All Aboard East Coast Trains, Season 1 - Sky1 12 November 2013 at 8:00pm
A documentary about the government-owned railway franchise running between London and Edinburgh with several branches

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the ChronicleLive (Newcastle):

Newcastle East Coast trains staff set to star in documentary

A new ten-part Sky TV documentary will explore life working for traing operator East Coast


East Coast staff, from left, Claire Manning, Mark Mclean, Karen Guthrie, Darren ^Daz^ Harrison and Louise Rutherford

Rail staff based at Newcastle Central Station are set to star in a new reality programme to show what life is like on the other side of the tracks.

Five workers from Tyneside are the faces of a ten-part documentary called All Aboard: East Coast Trains which starts on Tuesday.

The crew have been followed around by cameramen for the access-all-areas programme, which will show how staff keep the busy rail route from London to Edinburgh operational.

The show will also explore the home lives of some of the staff.

Chef Mark Mclean, from North Tyneside^s Forest Hall, introduces the crew to his wife Sam and daughter Jessica as part of the show.

Station information controller Darren Harrison, from Wallsend, known as Daz to his colleagues, and train guard Claire Manning, from North Shields talk about the challenges of their work.

Sky also follow Karen Guthrie (nee Kerrison) as the Hebburn customer service assistant celebrates her hen night in Leeds and station manager Louise Rutherford, also from Hebburn, also tells viewers how she keeps everyone in line.

Darren said: ^The first couple of times I was in front of the camera I found myself shaking but Sky really put us at ease. I ended up enjoying every moment.^

Karen added: ^We just got used to the cameras being there. They followed me on my hen night. I was trying to be on my best behaviour but my friends let my secrets out. We^ve all really enjoyed it and can^t wait for the show to be out.^

East Coast customer service director Peter Williams, said: ^The new TV series will take viewers on an exciting journey with East Coast, to meet some of the remarkable people who serve our customers and keep our trains moving each day. Many people perhaps don^t realise the scale of the operation which goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to make sure our trains and stations are ready for our customers. Over 19 million people travel with East Coast every year. Viewers watching this groundbreaking series will get to know some of our unsung heroes at East Coast ^ and we can look forward to heart-warming moments too. It really will be must-see viewing.^

Chris Wilson, commissioning editor for factual at Sky, said: ^It^s been a pleasure to work so closely with East Coast, and we^re delighted with the series ^ a fascinating, moving and heart-warming glimpse into the lives of the men and women who work both front of house and behind the scenes on one of Britain^s biggest transport networks.^

Interestingly, as with Jody Edwards of First Great Western in the recent Channel 5 series, the East Coast Trains programmes will also apparently feature a blonde female train manager.  Those television people clearly know what will appeal to their viewers. 

[trainer]

Those television people clearly know what will appeal to their viewers.

Not this one - I still refuse to subscribe.  This is one series I will miss.

[ChrisB]

Ditto. Won't give money to the Murdoch empire

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

sure it will be repeated endlessly on dave in a years time

[Network SouthEast]

...Sky own Pick TV so it will probably be repeated on there rather than Dave.

If you do have Sky, then you can download the first episode already on Sky Go and Sky On-Demand. I have, and have to say this is another light hearted documentary, much like the Channel 5 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) programme. Some continuity errors, but nothing as bad as footage of trains moving being reversed. A good watch.

[JayMac]

Not sure if it's an official upload, but Episode 1 of 'All Aboard: East Coast Trains' has made it to youtube. Handy for those of us without a Sky subscription.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f22ibyGifns