The Next Station Stop Is...

XX to YY? I've always wanted to go there....

2011-12-06T23:21:00.000Z

A comeback is in order

2011-08-30T21:52:00.004+01:00

I've graduated (thank you) I'm engaged (thank you) and I've got a full time job (...). This has unfortunetly clamped down hard on my volunteering at the Mid-Hants Railway, and I do miss it so much.

However new posts railway and everything related will be appearing in the run up to Christmas (snow permitting...i.e. more snow more posts complaining about the snow!)

Excuses, excuses

2011-01-16T07:26:00.003Z

A severe lack of posts my friends, I shall soon be blogging about my Final Year Project and the wonderous world of railway advertising.

Anything else that tickles my fancy may soon be up...

BBC back in the 90's....

2010-10-26T11:53:00.000+01:00

The BBC are fairly good at missing out Transport type stories that might appeal to the general public.
They're also a bit, stuck in the past:

"Department OF Transport?" It hasn't been called that (and I checked) since 1997 and the last Tory lot...

Perhaps the BBC are regressing to former Tory ways?

(Just to be clear to those who don't know, since John Prescott was appoint Secretary of State for...Transport and some other stuff, it's been called the 'Department for Transport'

It's been a while. BUT...

2010-09-20T23:12:00.000+01:00

So 'The Railway Eye' rather accurately pointed out something that really irritated me.

http://railwayeye.blogspot.com/2010/09/mediaballs-taking-pi-but-not-on.html

I had to listen to mis-guided, Daily Mail reading, fools on BBC Radio Solent discussing the "atrocity" that is the lack of toilet facilities. "Children" were mentioned several thousand times (might be exagerating slightly).

As the Eye pointed out on his blog, the "new" trains being introduced a far from new. In fact they're very old, the Class 313s date back as far as 1976, and never had new toilets. These new units are replacing the much newer Class 377s on East and West Coastaway routes out of Brighton. Including the moderately lengthy journey to Brighton.

Southern have defended their (understandable) actions, the need to increase capacity has meant introducing these older trains, the stock is cascaded from London Overground where they have received new stock.

Perhaps if Mr Hammond (The SoS for Transport, not the other one) were to offer some newer rolling stock, we wouldn't have this problem...

Also, they're not "removing" the toilets from all their trains, and not even every single service on the Portsmouth to Brighton route. These trains are being introduced on stopper services where 90% of people don't spend a lot of time on them. Unless it's a student trying to get a cheap ticket.

On the plus side, the train won't smell quite as bad the Voyagers on CrossCountry services! (Unless a little kiddy uses the corner).

Network Rail....over doing it perhaps

2010-08-14T00:25:00.000+01:00

Perhaps Network Rail have over done it slightly...

Maybe, just MAYBE, that money could have been saved for something more important!

Ouch...

2010-07-18T21:53:00.000+01:00

With thanks to my good friend "The Railway Eye":

Suspected cause was the embankment in the Woodborough area moving during a very dry spell, stirking the 1C84 1306 from Paddington to Penzance. Driver was very lucky only suffering minor injuries. Not such good news for the Power Car.

That's an expensive bit of body repair required....

UPDATE: According to a helpful blogger, the incident took place a few miles WEST of Woodborough, the train was then hauled to Westbury (slowly) by a DB Schenker Class 59 after suffering many a flat wheel.

http://demupostings.fotopic.net/p65879150.html - Look here for more photos, this is my particular choice.

FOR SALE: HS1

2010-06-21T13:25:00.000+01:00

In an attempt to combat Britains massive deficit, the ConDem Government, following on from Labours earlier announcement, have placed the London to Folkestone route, High Speed One, up for sale.

The route, used by Eurostar and SouthEastern Javelin High Speed Services, has stops at Stratford, Ebbsfleet, and Ashford.

Eurotunnel earlier announced their interest in purchasing the line, as most tunnel services use the line to reach the tunnel. This comes after a review begins into Open Access for European rail operators that may allow them to work through services to London from as far afield as Germany.

The line cost £5bn to build, and has the optential to sell for £1.5bn.

Network Rail boss to leave

2010-06-17T11:29:00.000+01:00

A Rail Magazine Tweet put me hot on the scent of this one.

Network Rail Boss Iain Coucher is to resign after eight years with the firm.

Network Rail, which owns and operates the UK's rail network and most of the infrastructure, said he would remain in his post until a replacement could be found.

The Rail Maritime Transport Union (RMT) has welcomed his departure, saying it was time for a change at the top of Network Rail. General Secretary Bob Crow said the change was an opportunity for Network Rail to end "the cuts in maintenance, operations and renewals which has thrown hundreds of skilled workers on the dole".

This comes as NR is about to enter it's next 5 year period with a new government for the first time since 1997. Major financial reviews are underway and the Office of Rail Regulation are looking into future spending at Network Rail.

More as I get it!

£700 Million Slashed from Department for Transport

2010-05-30T11:32:00.000+01:00

The recent coalitions governments cut announcements have seen the Department for Transport (DfT) take a massive hit as part of the £6.2 billion reduction in spending in an attempt to reduce the UK's £156bn budget deficit.

Secretary of State (SoS) Philip Hammond has stated that: "The era of easy public money is over". The first notable things to be cut is the planned Thameslink project, which Network Rail (NR) admitted there was no money for anyway. Also cut is NR's £50m "Better Rail Station" programme, which had been championed by previous Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, to improve facilities for passengers.

Crossrail, electrification, and Britain's second high-speed line all have support from the new government. Additionally they plan to turn the Office of Rail Regulation into a "powerful passenger champion" and making Network Rail "more accountable to its customers."

However, Liberal Democrat proposed £3bn Rail Expansion Fund, with which to re-open closed rail lines, does not get a mention. There's also no mention of IEP, Thameslink, or the 1,300 extra vehicles. It doesn't even mention if current projects will carry on with the current timescales.

The 1,300 vehicles needed break down as follows (Source: The Comprehensive Guide to Britain's Railways 2010 & Rail Magazine)

Table goes: TOC (Parent Company) - Number of EMU vehicles needed - Number of DMU vehicles needed

c2c (National Express Group) - 40 - 0
Chiltern Railways (Deutsche Bahn AG)- 0 - 12
CrossCountry (Arriva/Deutsche Bahn) -0 - 6
East Coast (Directly Operated Railways) - 0- 0
East Midlans Trains (Stagecoach Group) - 0 - 3
First Capital Connect (First Group) - 256 - 0
First Great Western (First Group) - 0 - 52
London Midland (Govia) - 66 - 26
Northern (Serco Group/Abellio) - 24 - 158
NXEA (National Express Group) - 188 - 0
Southeastern (Govia) - 110 - 0
South Central (Govia) - 106 - 0
South West Trains (Stagecoach Group) - 105 - 0
TransPennine Express (First Group) - 0 - 42
Virgin Trains (Virgin Group) - 106 - 0

First Great Western have seen their 97 vehicle order cancelled, as well as Northern Rail and TransPennnine Express. South West Trains have had bidding commence on their vehicle order, many other TOC's are fortunate that their orders were placed so long ago. However First appear to have lost out.

With the cancelld InterCity Express Programme, and the new devlopment that new rolling stock is no longer coming. How long will itn be before Train Operating Companies begin to struggle with increasing capacity issues?

The new "team" - Department of Transport

2010-05-18T08:56:00.000+01:00

Here is the new gang down at the Department of Transport.

Secretary of State, Philip Hammond MP (Conservative)

Spending Review
Transport Security
High Speed Rail

Minister of State for Transport - Theresa Villiers MP (Conservative)

Rail
London – including Crossrail
Olympics
Europe Aviation – including Air Accidents Investigation Branch

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Norman Baker MP (Liberal Democrat)

Regional and Local Transport
Buses and Taxis – including concessionary fares
Walking and Cycling
Accessibility and Equalities
Alternatives to travel

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Mike Penning MP (Conservative)

Strategic Roads and Highways Agency
Motoring Agencies
Road Safety and Standards
Freight and Logistics
Maritime and Dangerous Goods - including Maritime and Coastguard Agency

You may have noticed that Spending Review is first on the list. A good sign that some spending reviews...are on the way!

It's a shame, however, that only one Liberal Democrat has made it into the office. A few more and I might have felt slightly more comfortable about the future of rail in the next 5 years. But with Hammond's announcement that Crossrail WILL go ahead.

The future for transport may not be so blue after all...

Reading Redevelopment Goes All Public

2010-05-18T00:53:00.000+01:00

Residents of Reading will be shown plans for the new look station at Reading Town Hall on May 20-22.

The new station will feature 5 new platorms, two new entrances, a new footbridge, and new lifts and escalators. A pedestrian tunnel under the railway will be repoened as well.

As well as these improvements major infrastructure improvments to the rail lines them selves will take place. The removal of the Reading Goods Avoid mean that the proposed new northern platforms (4 of them) will be placed along with the new northern platforms. Additionally the current 4a and 4b platforms housing the South West Trains services to Waterloo will be extended for 12 cars, and an additional platform added.

Many of these platforms are too make provisions for the new (proposed) Heathrow Airtrack link, and Crossrail but they are to be used by regular services.

Most of the bridges in the area surrounding the station will be widened to accomodate the extra lines. Major line adjustments will be introduced, as well as a new cord linking the Westbound Great Western with the Southbound Berks and Hants line. Mainline services into the station will be diverted over a new flyover so Cross Country, FGW, and Freight services from the south won't delay express services. The flyover itself will involve extensive bridge strengthning and track raising and point adjusting.

A bold 10 year plan by Network Rail, and it's all due to commence this Christmas when the station and line will be shut for several days to beging the first phase.

....who on earth is this? DofT

2010-05-13T13:00:00.000+01:00

It's only Philip Hammond, the new big cheese down at the Department of Transport.

MP for Runnymede and Weybridge Hammond was part of the Shadow Treasury as Chief Secretary, as well as serving on the shadow health team.

It's a slightly off hand move as neither shadow ministers got their roles, the question now is how many ministers from the Lib Dems will fill the vacant roles after Labours departure.

There's a good chance that planned major Labour improvements to the railways may not go ahead. However a man of money maybe be better at taming Network Rail and maybe even passenger fares.

Come back for a rundown of the minor ministers!

Germany moves into Wales!

2010-04-22T11:48:00.000+01:00

Or, if you prefer, Deutsche Bahn are set to take over train and bus operator, Arriva, in a deal worth £1.59bn.
This deal will create one of Europe's biggest rail and bus groups.

Arriva currently run almost all of the rail services in Wales under the trading name of "Arriva Trains Wales". Arriva also operates Cross Country services, as well as several bus companies, including Arriva London. As well as this they run bus and rail services in; Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Deutsche Bahn are keen to expand into the European Rail market as they face increasing competition in Germany. DB currently run the Chiltern Railways franchise, and are joint owners of London Overground (see next post) and joint owners of the open access operator, Wrexham & Shropshire. They also control one of the largest freight industries in Europe, and the world. In Britain they bought out former Canadian Owned English Welsh & Scottish Railways, or EWS, which also operate the Royal Train.

All this now means the Deutch Bahn, the government owned company, now controls large swathes of the British transport network, from Wales to London, Scotland to Cornwall. And of course, wherever Her Majesty decides to travel on her train. DB also provide crews for steam hauled specials.

"DB Schenker" liveries are beginning to appear on former EWS locomotives, how long before "DB Regio" begins to appear in Wales?

DB British Rail Class 37

Just for entertainment

2010-04-05T20:06:00.000+01:00

This is purely for the amusement of my many (or not so many) readers!

SOMERSET & DORSET
RAILWAY.

COMPANY RULE

Enginemen are Forbidden to blow their Whistles or Drain Cocks whilst standing in the station, as this may frighten horses and alarm passengers. Furthermore, Leaking Cocks must be attended to. A fine of Sixpence for each Leaking Cock will be strictly enforced.

1863 ----- BY ORDER

Rail Strike is OFF!

2010-04-01T16:13:00.000+01:00

The planned Easter rail strike, organised by RMT Union, has been called off after Network Rail went to the High Court seeking an injunction.

The company was granted the injunction after it alleged discrepancies in the ballot held by rail union RMT.

This means the four day strike planned to take place from next Tuesday will not go ahead.

Network Rail alleged RMT had balloted 11 signal boxes that don't exist, and at 67 locations the number of union members balloted exceeded the number of people working there. It also claimed that 26 locations were missing as well, meaning that not all staff had the opportunity to vote.

The injunction brings relief to the rail industry, and passengers, who were faced with serious delays and many cancellations.

RMT was planning to strike after NR announced plans to cut 1,500 jobs and increase evening and weekend working.

RMT said that this would affect rail safety.

National Rail Stike will cripple industry

2010-03-25T22:03:00.000Z

The Union of Rail Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) and the TSSA have announced the first national strike since 1994.

This could be catastrophic for an industry currently undergoing massive public relation improvements and the largest amount of money being placed in the railway since they began.

Just after the announcement of High Speed 2 and the relevation by Rail Magazine that Network Rail are in some serious debt. Jarvis announced at the same time that they were also bankrupt.

RMT have stated that it's not just over job cuts but passenger safety is at risk. Network Rail (naturally) denies this. But NR do have a point, with machinery advancing so rapidly (refer to my much earlier blog on about Southampton Civic Tunnel). RMT are of course not going to let their members made redundant without some form of strike.

The strikes, which will occur after Easter, have been slandered by PM Gordon Brown who stated there was "no reason" for the strikes.

The strikes will be conducted by maintenance staff and signal staff at certain times.

Check back in a while to see a blog about the legendary Pullman and where they are now! As well as a piece on the Model Railway Exhibition in London

Mid-Hants loses a lot of power!

2010-03-15T10:57:00.000Z

A1 Peppercorn Class 'Tornado' will be making a quiet, road based, departure from the Mid-Hants Railway later this week.

Despite the locomotive being built with the intention of always moving around on track it will depart the Mid-Hants via low loader and moving northwards to the Great Central Railway for their Spring Gala.

With 'Tornado' departing this week, 9F 92212 is also departing for a tour of duty at the West Somerset Railway for their Spring Gala along with 9F 92203 'Black Prince' (Currently residing somewhere in the north).

Another motive power blow for the Mid-Hants is the departure of A4 'Bittern' which is moving to Southall Shed as its contract reaches an end with the Mid-Hants. This leaves the heritage line with 'Lord Nelson', which is currently awaiting an inspection of its valve gear and steam pipes after it lost power during the final day of the lines spring gala.

Also in the shed are class 3F, or the 'Yankee Tank' and the Great Western Tank 5224 which is prone to failures. 'Wadebridge' is currently in the middle of having its pistons repaired after a failure earlier in the year.

This poses problems for the upcoming weekend, with Bittern potentially unavailable either at Southall or still suffering from vacuum brake issues. This only saw it providing heat to the mother’s day dining train on the 14th instead of hauling it.

92212 is currently the lines most reliable locomotive having not suffered a failure since its overhaul at Ropley shed. This isn't of course including the class 33 and 37 which often find themselves providing emergency thunderbird duties when the steamers fail.

No discredit to the steam locomotives though, they are over 50 years old, with Lord Nelson coming up to 80 years. Especially on a line as challenging as the Mid-Hants which has some serious gradients on it. (Trust me, I've walked up them).

The summer season looks set to be without Bittern as its place at Southall at the end of June is confirmed. But with the potential for many locomotives to be stacked up on the "repair shunt"

1843 London! Looks a little different!!

2010-02-23T23:24:00.000Z

I recently aquired myself a genuine first edition 1853 Bradshaws Continental Guide. This guide, which has now gone for re-binding, contained some loose pages. I will discuss the other guide when it returns to me, but for now, gentle folk, the loose pages.

They appear to be from an 1843 guide, the reason I've been able to date it is due largely to the timetable for the Great Western Railway. It terminates at Beambridge, near Wellington, Somerset. Beambridge is a tiny insignificant little village that happens to be the point before the Whiteball Tunnel. Whilst the tunnel was being constructed, Beambridge served as the terminus of the Great Western Railway from Paddington, for almost exactly one year, from 1843 to 1844.

It makes truly facsination reading!

Rail Freight Weekend at Mid-Hants

2010-02-11T00:04:00.000Z

A successful weekend for Watercress Line over the 6th/7th of February. Postponed from January due to the snow preventing vital works being carried out.

It featured 92212 BR Standard Class 9F hauling the freight train which consisted off some amazing looking wagons from the BR era. Southern Railway Lord Nelson Class No. 850 "Lord Nelson" and ex-GWR tank 5224 hauling passenger services.

The Sunday was slightly overcast with the ever-present English drizzle was blowing about. Arriving at Alresford station I was fortunate enough to witness the 9F coming in light-engined to collect the freight wagons. They consisted of a cement hopper painted in brilliant yellow, and a refurbished gunpowder wagon. There were also 3 brake vans, however only half the set was fitted for vacumn braking which caused some shunting issues.

Trains started off well, however, it wasn't long before the shunting at Alton and Alresford began to cause some timing issues. First of all, 850 'Lord Nelson' had to leave behind 2 coaches and collect 3 dining coaches to prepare them for the upcoming dining trains. This resulted in some complicated shunting and using the Class 33 to help.

At both ends the 9F had to conduct a complicated maneuver to get the vacumn brake fitted half behind the loco. (Or in front when running tender first). This also involved a complicated shunting maneuver that caused significant delays to the single track operation.

Examining the timetable showed the problem, there wasn't enough time for the shunting to be completed and the single track meant that time couldn't be made up. Only 11 minutes was given at Alton for the train to uncouple, move the fitted to the front of the train, then recouple.

Aside from that issue there were a great number of enthusiasts and families in force, the extra events at Medstead made it a rare worthwhile stop. The N Gauge model railway was most entertaining and I've included an image.

I look forward to the Spring Steam Gala!

Check back for homage to High Speed Rail in Britain and my preview for the Mid-Hants Spring Steam Gala.

FOR SALE: The East

2010-02-10T22:11:00.000Z

A race has begun as train operating companies prepare to make their interests known in 3 East Coast Franchises.

After the East Cost franchise was taken away from bus and coach operator National Express, who failed to find the funds to meet the necessary franchise costs, Lord Adonis suggested that the Department of Transport may strip NE of their two other franchies. East Anglia, and c2c.

Currently Directly Operated Railways, i.e. Department of Transport, are operating the East Coast franchise until the end approaches in 2011. The three franchises will stretch potential bidders as they try and find the necessary funds to meet the requirements. The withdrawing of these franchies will effectively end NX involvment in passenger rail services in Britain.

The other two franchies are National Express East Anglia, and c2c (Franchise name is Essex Thameside).

Southampton Tunnel Finished!

2010-02-03T13:42:00.000Z

The major works that took place in the Southampton Civic Tunnel have been finished. A whole year early!

The original plans were that during the closure period one line would be lowered and the other completed during another closure during the next Christmas season.
However, thanks to the availability of new technology and techniques, both tracks were lowered in the Christmas closure period.

This part of the £71 Million project to upgrade the line between Southampton and Nuneaton to carry W10 Gauge freight trains. (The gauge in question is the loading gauge for the railway, as in the height. This is most noticable on the London Underground where they have many different sized trains and loading gauges. The W10 Gauge enables 9ft 6in high containers to be transported on normal container wagons).

This project will allow the containers to travel, on rail, from Southampton Docks to the West Coast Mainline near Nuneaton. It will go via Winchester, Basingstoke, Didcot, Oxford, Banbury, Leamington Spa, and Warwick.

Work has also been carried out in the Winchester and Didctor areas. In Winchester one of the maine through roads for the city has been shut from January until March (St Cross Road) and other closures are predicted to take place at Andover Road, basically, wherever a railway bridge is.

This is the age, of the train

2010-01-30T12:47:00.000Z

I've recently been studying British Rail advertising of old.

They were with the same level as the car companies (and Nescafé) in giving us unusual, memorable advertising.

This advert here is ridiculously extravagant and is a direct nod to the Renault Clio adverts around at the same time. It shows, amusingly, a confused (lookalike) of Papa brushing away a girl (Nicole) he doesn't know.

Another one I found, that I really liked has a rather amusing tagline:

"Intercity: We're getting there"...are we? well that's good! It made me laugh when it first came up, that and the advert is another direct dig at the car industry in an attempt to get people back onto the trains. I especially like the Police liveried Class 37, with the blue light on top! I'd like to see a Class 37 catch up with a IC 125!!!

And now, ladies and gentle folk, before the service was called Intercity, as in the previous adverts, when the train was first about it was called the 'Intercity 125' the numbers deonting the maximum speed.
These adverts featured a one Sir Jimmy Savile. Famous for "Jim'll fix it" and hosting Top of the Pops and a succesful radio career.
The adverts I have found introduce the slogan "This is the age of the train" where the new and exciting Intercity's (correct term for them) were blasting around the country.

I think we need to ignore the rather odd grin he gives the camera at the end.
Another one introduces the equivelant to our "Super Off-Peak" a fares. It also introduces the (annoyingly) catchy tune. (Which I'd like to add, has been stuck in my head now for a few days)

Here's another advert I found that made me laugh, it features LNER A3 4472 'Flying Scotsman' and a HST set...

And one advert that was shown only ONCE during the programme celebrating Prince Charles 40th Birthday just shows off what British Raiway, could, did, and would have done:

It features a re-written version of the poem "Night Mail" used on an infamous LMS advertising campaign.

That's all for now, but look out for my homage to High Speed Rail in Britain, in particular, the InterCity 125.

This is the age of train!

Orwellian Language

2010-01-25T22:48:00.001Z

Unfortunately, due to time constraints with work and all, I'll be doing a wonderful written blog on Orwellian Language. This will be my LAST JOURNALISM blog on this site; my NEW journalism site is http://chaninjourno.blogspot.com/ Please feel free to follow the new one!

George Orwell was a linguistically genius, I agree with his views on language and how it is used almost 100%.

This is most evident in the book/movie 1984 where the ministries hide the true meaning of their work. For example: the Ministry of Peace, which is the ministry behind the war.
The Ministry of Truth...which is all about lies...you see my point.

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

This use of language to mislead the population is apparent in real and modern society. The Ministry of Defence was formerly the Ministry of War. Some of the best examples of this language being used are in Nazi Germany, and the USSR, which were possibly inspirations for the books.

In the German Reich the "Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda" features two very contradicting terms.
Now the definition of
Enlightenment
• Noun 1 the action of enlightening or the state of being enlightened. 2 (the Enlightenment) a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.
And
Propaganda
• Noun information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view

are very different and contradicting things. In fact, as the Ministry had such a long name, the "and Propaganda" bit was often left off. Thus the "Ministry of Public Enlightenment" was that at all, and was the base for all Nazi propaganda. This, as you can see, isn’t enlightening and is actually quite misleading.

(Just a quick side note, the above Ministry had a "Minister of Tourism" between 1936 and 1945...I dare say he had a rather small workload")

Within the Soviet Union (or, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics...which sounds cooler) was the Ministry of the Interior. Well, I say was, wrong tense, it still exists.
For two years, there was an office called "Preservation of Public Order". Preservation? I think shooting everyone that disagrees with the state is more accurate, as apposed to disturbing Public Order!

Newspeak was a concept that showed how the government was removing words and simplifying them to mean something different. Now I think there is one vague example like this that is used in real life. But instead of taking meanings and words away they’re trying to insert words into the language by coming meanings and words. I’m talking about the Nissan Micra adverts. The concept of “Do you speak Micra?” began to spread, and although it may not have quite taken off as they wanted; everyone has some recollection of those adverts:

I’ve shown it here:

That’s all for now, and remember, all JOURNALISM material will now be on http://chaninjourno.blogspot.com/ please follow it!

Exeter City 2 - 0 Leeds United

2010-01-16T23:00:00.001Z

...not a long blog

Just to say

Result...

That is all

(I support the Grecians!)

What makes a good station?

2009-12-30T20:00:00.000Z

We all want the same thing when we are a station; somewhere comfortable, convenient, easy to use, and covered.

So why is this missing from so many of the countries mainline station? The London Terminus’ are good examples of what we want from a station. Plenty of seating, every single one has easy to read information boards, plenty of places to buy food, magazines, and newspapers. London Waterloo is one of my favourite terminus stations because of the high number of shops in the concourse. Paddington is a firm second as the development of the stations concourse has seen some fantastic improvements. Brighton station is another good example of a terminus station with a well stocked and well staffed Marks & Spencers.

However, there are some stations, as I mentioned in my previous post, that don’t have such amazing commodities. All stations in the country are owned and maintained by Network Rail (NR). Most stations are managed and operated by the principal train operating company serving the station; apart from 18 which are directly operated by Network Rail.

Most stations that are managed principally by the main operating company only the station with the franchise conditions. Meaning they’re only going to be there for 5-10 years at a time. For most of these companies it isn’t financially viable to improve the stations. The operating companies focus on the condition of their trains (which they don’t own) and keeping to the timetable (which they don’t set), and improving frequency and service. So this leaves Network Rail to maintain the stations that they own, however for the last few years they have been focusing entirely on improving the track conditions (to increase speed and capacity). Now that many of the lines have been improved to such a standard, for example the East Coast line, Network Rail can begin to shift some focus onto stations. The Department of Transport (DoT) has told NR to find £58 Million to put towards improving the nations stations after a recent station champion report highlighted how bad some stations are.

As I said in my previous post, Southampton Central and Clapham Junction are two of the worst. But what exactly can we do to improve them?

Southampton Central is a busy interchange stations with routes to London Waterloo and Victoria, Brighton, Bristol, and Cardiff. However Southampton is not a nice place to wait for a train. The station, considering the amount of traffic through it, isn’t that large. It boasts 4 platforms which are split into two other platforms (Signed ‘a’ and ‘b’, for example ‘2a’ and ‘2b’). With so many connections and trains running so often the station is predictably busy, especially during the rush hour period. However there is a distinct lack of station facilities, there’s only small shops and not much else.

This is a common theme in mainline stations; take a look at Winchester for example, a station many of us know. It has one small shop located on the Southampton side of the station; on the up platform side it only has a very small kiosk that is only open during peak periods. The number of commuters leaving and entering that station is well into the thousands and they can vary from University and College students to your average business director. (Not sure what I mean by “average business director”, but oh well).

The Up platform is an important part of any station, and at Winchester it is also home to a small ticket office. One that I have yet to see open. (Up referring to any station platform where the direction of travel is towards the capital i.e. London, for example at York the Up platforms are the ones facing to the South, or in the West Country Exeter St Davids, the Up Platforms would be the ones heading East.)
Heading home for me now, Taunton station has the opposite to Winchester where it’s primary Up Platform (5) has quite a large shop-cum-cafe with a good selection, adjacent to a substantial waiting room with a large information desk, which is sometimes manned and I haven’t worked out the shift patterns for it yet. Taunton is a bit different from Winchester, primarily because it is a larger station. On Platform 2 (Down) there are two vending machines and a slightly odd smelling waiting room. The former buffet on Platform 2 closed down a long time ago.

There aren’t a lot of people travelling south and most of the people who walk through the platform are getting off the trains from London. This makes sense; however the Island in the middle of the station is home to terminating trains from Cardiff and Bristol Temple Meads. There’s nothing on the island platforms apart from a standard shelter.

First Great Western have correctly seen that most people will be waiting on the London bound Platform 5 and therefore have more time to buy things such as newspapers and coffee. Why hasn’t South West Trains seen the potential and installed a full-time kiosk on the Up Platform side at Winchester? The Down-side shop is fairly good and serves good quality coffee and a moderate range of snacks but isn’t somewhere comfortable and warm to sit whilst waiting for the train.
However, there are two very key differences between these stations, and that is the frequency of trains. A train to London comes virtually every 10 minutes, and trains to Southampton go a very similar if not more rapid amount. The trains from Taunton are very definitely not as frequent and you might be lucky to have a wait of about 20-30 minutes if you miss you’re train.

So maybe Southampton Central and Clapham Junction are such poor quality because South West Trains felt that passengers aren’t at the stations for any length of time that warrants investment into a better environment.

If Southampton Central was greatly improved the benefit to SWT would be to run trains slightly late to encourage people to buy products from the station facilities instead of waiting patiently for 10 minutes and then enjoying the on-board trolley.

What do you think? Does your local station need improving, or are you content with the way it is at the moment?

Stations, Train Fares (the full story), all happening near here

2009-11-29T23:45:00.000Z

The government is set to pump £3.25 Billion in to railway improvements which include Southampton Central and Clapham Junction.

Along with these stations others with very low passenger satisfaction ratings will also receive massive refurbishment projects, led by Network Rail with funding from third-parties, Passenger Transport Executive, Local and National Governments, as well as Network Rail themselves.

All stations are maintained and owned by Network Rail who have spent many years focusing on tracks, and are leased to the Train Operating Company, who have concentrated on providing a better on train service.

This has meant stations suffer from chronic under investment and as a result; fall apart.

Two of the stations listed are on the South Western Mainline, operated by South West Trains. Clapham Junction, the busiest station in Europe, has long needed major improvements, restricted by the large volume of traffic the potential revenue from the station per year is £900,000 and is not being harnessed. NR and the local authority have already announced plans to re-open a new entrance at the station to help with the congestion at rush hour, however, chronically short platforms limit the length of the trains that stop there, and the heavy traffic heading to London Waterloo, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Exeter, and beyond means that the sheer complexity of the track work makes platform extensions almost impossible with major re-tracking work.

Southampton Central is another key station set to receive refurbishment, whilst passenger satisfaction is at 59% (compared with Clapham’s 39%) there are little "creature comforts. The retail potential at Southampton is £50,000 and it doesn't boast any major retailers. A major interchange for trains to Brighton and the East of England, as well as trains to Westbury, Bristol, and Cardiff operating direct from the station it serves as a major focal point for local trains running around the Southampton, Bournemouth, and Portsmouth area. The station itself can suffer from overcrowding, especially if the M3 is knocked out of action on a rush hour morning, the ticket office isn't adequate for the passenger numbers and the numbers of barriers to get in and out of the station are less compared to the quieter Winchester further down the line.

(Facts: 47 % of stations are Small unstaffed, 27% are small staffed, 12% are medium staffed, 10% are important feeder stations, 3% make up national interchanges, only 1% are national hub stations)

Rail Fares

The passenger focus group...Passenger Focus, are seeking clarity after the Association of Train Operating Companies is vague about fare increases.
The following list taken from Rail edition 632 should make matters clearer for you:

Chiltern Railways: "We have completely frozen our London fares."
East Midland Trains: "First Class off-peak fares frozen or reduced by up to 20%. Some First Class Anytime Fares also frozen."
First Capital Connect: "0% - so it's effectively a fares freeze."

First Great Western: “Average unregulated rise is 2.47%”
London Midland: “Unregulated fares rise by an average of 3%”
Merseyrail: “0%”
National Express East Anglia and c2c: “[Unregulated] fares are being frozen, with prices being held at 2009 levels”
Northern: “Unregulated fare rise is 0.35%
Scotrail: “Unregulated fares will rise by 3.0%. Exceptions include Anytime Singles, and Anytime Returns on Highland routes, which are reduced by 0.4%”
Southern: “Walk-up unregulated fares go up by a flat 4%, but rounding down to the nearest 10p means we have no fares above the 4% increase.”
SouthEastern: “Some unregulated off-peak tickets will increase by 7.3% and others by 2.8%” (This is due to heavy investment in the new Javelin Super Express Trains, CL)
South West Trains: “Most first class fares frozen or reduced, and many off-peak fares frozen.”
Transpennine Express: “There will be no January fares rise”.
Virgin: “The average increase in unregulated fares will be 2.8%”

The companies highlighted in bold text are ones that operate out of Southampton Central CL.

Cross Country (Arriva Trains) have been fairly unspecific on details as well as some of the above, although they predict a minimal unregulated fares rise (Nov 09).

Any questions or comments on the Train Fares rise? Let me know.

Next post: Why have Micheldever and Brockenhurst, won small and medium size station of the year, and what makes a good station?

See it now: The week so far

2009-11-27T01:24:00.000Z

WINOL was a romping success! (That's a good word...)
It was so much calmer, the script was finished sooner, the packages were ready sooner, and in the studio, a new presenter performed brilliantly, and a new director shone. Enabling the bulletine to be one of the best.

www.winol.co.uk

I felt much happier this week, sort of, with the way the piece was put together. Next week will begin a new WINOL, new problems, new stories, and new stresses.

We'll see

Good Night and Good Luck

A night at The Royal Festival Hall

2009-11-24T12:30:00.000Z

After several months of waiting for the day to come, it finally did! Lisa Hannigan at the Royal Festival Hall (Southbank Centre, London).

First of all, the Hall itself is a very grand structure. The exterior is large and unashamedly modernist, with giant concrete walls. You walk into the foyer areas and you can't be prepared for what lies behind the auditorium walls.

Once inside the auditorium itsellf 2900 seats are structered in a lower tiered seating arrangement, a balcony, along with several boxes. (I still can't see the point of boxes at music events, you can't see that much, and you don't get the best sound, maybe someone could enlighten me?)

There was a polite smattering of applause as the support act, Irish singer song writer, Mundy, came onto the stage.

Mundy was terrible, his music is good and he can play the guiter, he can also sing quite well. However his lyrics leave one with a slight empty feeling in the stomach. Although some of them were good, it did seem that he had struggled to find words that rhymed to finish th song, rather than songs that made sense.

Then, a thirty minute interval. Ice cream time! And the most expensive Apple Juice I've purchased in a while, (£2.20!). It wasn't even that good! (The ice-cream on the other hand was brilliant).

The venue filled up now, what were originally a few hundred empty seats became just a few.

They were amazing! Hannigan's voice with an Irish touch to the singing was powerful and strong. Especially the 3 vocal solos she did with one, or less, instruments. (Including a inspirational Irish folk song that I didn't recognise).

A good night.

Tunnel Work at Southampton

2009-11-23T13:08:00.001Z

If you haven't already noticed but from the 5th of December if you plan on travelling beyond Southampton Airport Parkway then you may find your journey disrupted. If you plan on travelling on weekends or very late at night, or very early in the morning, then you won't be able to get...well very far.

After funding support was granted by the government and Associated British Ports contributed £12 Million towards the £45 Million project, work was planned and will commence within the next few weeks, if it hasn't already.

The aim of the engineering work is to enlarge the Southampton Civic Centre Tunnel, by deepening it in order to get the taller container trains through the tunnel. This should enable container trains to travel to the North of the country with the new route enabling larger containers to pass through, currently the tunnel is a foot too low for the new 9ft 6inch containers.

They will be deepening the tunnel and using the opputunity to repair a bridge at St Denys and replace track along the route.

For more information visit http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/southamptontunnel.aspx and www.nationalrail.co.uk

A Journey on East Coast

2009-11-22T19:05:00.000Z

I spent my weekend in York, travelling to Reading with a Cross Country service, then First Great Western to London Paddington, the infamous London Underground to London Kings Cross, and East Coast to York.

East Coast are one of the newest companies operating on British Rails, owned, managed, and operated by HM Government, Department of Transport, Directly Operated Companies, East Coast (yes that is how it goes) it's the first government run trains since privatisation.

I enjoyed it, although I think that's largely down to either the former GNER (Great North Eastern Railway) and the former NXEC (National Express East Coast) have made signficant improvements to the rolling stock. It was odd that both GNER and NXEC uniforms were being worn by staff, not on the trains but on platforms. Also NXEC never bothered to repaint the livery of the Electric Class 91's that make the majority of their route.

The journey there and back was fantastically smooth, and as the train raced along at 120mph the country side sped past with hardly a bump or a clang, apart from when the train went over some points. Several points.

If I was to get an option of train or plane to the North I'd get the train, because you can get there cheaply (£60, via London), it can be comfortable, and you don't need to be there an hour before it leaves.

Get a train

Train fare set to go up...and down

2009-11-16T17:47:00.000Z

Something we all have to buy at some point, train tickets. Today ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies) have announced that there is to be an average of 1.1% rise in January.

Regulated fares, including season tickets, will fall by 0.4% due to their link with inflation.

However there are concerns voiced from Passenger groups and rail unions, that unregulated fares, such as cheap day returns, could go up by 10%

Regulated fares however make up about 40% of all fares, however those looking for a cheap day out on the weekend, or trying to commute off peak, face having to pay another 10%.

ATOC usually release the figures for Regulated and Unregulated increases (or decreases) seperatley, but release both as a 1.1% rise (the lowest since privatisation).

First Great Western have said that some unregualted fares will be increased by an average of 2.47%, First ScotRail on the other hand said many would be frozen or reduced, but many unregulated fares would rise by 3%.

Southern have said most fares would rise by an average of 0.8%. South West Trains have stated there would be no increase on average. (Source BBC News)

This fare rise is not the way to relieve congestion on the roads, get people onto trains, and reduce carbon emissions. It may have the opposite effect. Those that use rails to commute do so, because it is convenient and easy. However, those that only use the rail for long trips may find flying and driving is cheaper. But necessarily easier.

Does the fare rise put you off rail?

National Express take a hike as Goverment Take Over

2009-11-15T03:19:00.000Z

It has come, the Government is once again running train operations in the United Kingdom, a mear 16 years after privatisation was declared. National Express East Coast have ceased to be and the powers of the Department of Transport have taken over.

Headed by Elaine Holt (below right) (former First Capital Connect Managing Director) the new company has vowed an improved service, increasing the First Class comforts and upgrading the Restaurant servicce on the long route.

Ticket Barriers are also to be introduced at London Kings Cross and several other stations on the line. In 18 months time companies will bid for the franchise on the East Coast. There are some calls for the Government to retain control of the franchise, the RMT Union has reiterated its call for the railways to be nationalised again.

There are yet to surface any rumours over who will run the East Coast once the Government put the franchise up for bidding again. First already run six franchises including First Capital Connect, First Great Western, and First ScotRail. Stagecoach operate 3 rail franchises including the Southern Franchise (South West Trains) and a 49% stake in Virgin Trains (West Coast).

These companies could afford to do it and may be very competant at it. However with National Express potentially losing there two other franchises (East Anglia and c2c) it may be time for other companies to move in. The open access operator Grand Central, for example, already operate several trains on the East Coast main line. However they would need financial backing from the government to cope with the extra monetary expenses. Deutch Bahn already operate in this country Regio (Passenger) and Shenker (Freight). They could potentially make a bid to run the East Coast Line. Although the British may not like a rail operator owned and runned by the German Government running here...

Personally, I think the latest idea for dividing the country back into it's old BR Regions and letting one company handle it...is a much simpler idea.

Good Night and Good Luck

Good Night and Good Luck, The Week, and the end

2009-11-13T23:02:00.000Z

http://bbc.co.uk/i/h9xq2/

I highly recomend that everyone watches the film! It's about a struggle in a Communist paranoid America by a CBS Journalist. It's brilliantly cast (George Clooney, Robery Downey Jr) and well directed (Clooney). It's won many awards, and yes, it's supposed to be in Black and White (it's based on the early days of broadcasting)

Watch it!!!!!!!

Anyway, it's been a good week, WINOL seemed to work much smoother and although there is still some room for improvement, everyone did their jobs. No one...well almost no one, slacked a great deal and for once. We worked together as a team!
Bring on the next week!

Radio was a good laugh as well, and I'm very much interested in starting a web based Radio Station for the University (and beyond). I take my inspiration for this from University Radio Falmer http://www.urfonline.com/ which is very good, but I think we can do better!

Watch this space, and we'll see how it goes...

Good Night, and, Good Luck (watch the movie, I think it's a fantastic sign off)

Welles, Kane, and the week (University)

2009-11-08T01:40:00.000Z

What a week!
The first dummy edition of WINOL ended on a spectacular downer, although, in defence, it was our first edition! I think it went well and the second years (some of them) really pulled their weight. I enjoyed it, there were a few points that I didn't like. But then, I don't want to discuss them on such an open platform!

Thursday saw me viewing Citizen Kane for the first time. I throughly enjoyed the film and could almost see the genius of Orson Welles. He was, and still is, a very intelligent human being who understood the world of journalism and the world of film.

The immediate thing I liked about the film was the way it was constructed. It made the viewer feel that they were the journalist. The eyes behind the investigation. An interesting prospect for a viewer, who became a part of the film and even tried to work out the maning behidn "Rosebud".

But then it all boils down to Rosebud, the sleigh, before he was taken away to live his life of great welath. Symbolising the point in his life when he lost the innocence of childhood and entered the realms of adulthood. Something that happens to all of us, either through our first car, first love, or indeed, being taken away from your parents to live a life of unbelivable riches...

Or not,

Unfortunetly I'm not feeling very inspired at the moment to write, it's been a long weekend of work (with the money and what not).
However the second edition of WINOL is up and coming, another week of History and Context, and I'll be volunteering again.
And of course, work!

Goodbye for now

How safe do you feel on the railways?

2009-10-09T11:56:00.000+01:00

It's 10 years now since the Ladbroke Grove (Paddington) Rail crash. If you can't remember it's when a First Great Western (FGW) High Speed Train collided head on, into a Thames Trains Turbo leaving the station. Both full of commuters.

A decade on, Paddington Station still boasts platforms filled with High Speed Trains (HST), albeit in FGW Blue, and it still hosts hundreds of Thames Turbos, albeit in FGW Blue as well. The interiors of the HST's have been changed but the Turbos remain largely the same.

Ladbroke Grove is still the privatised railways worst incident, with 31 deaths, and several hundred injuries. It was so bad it provoked a public inquiry, this lead to several weighty reports. It speeded up safety improvement projects.

Hatfield (which occured after, with less deaths) was the inevetible downfall of Railtrack (remember that in the news?).

Every train has had TWPS installed (Trains Protection and Warning System). Signal SN 109 which was the one that had the highest number of SPADs (Signal Passed at Danger) in the area. Has been replaced, it has LED's in it, and has been moved to make it more visible.

Passenger's can't see any of this. I have, from first hand experience, seen the improvemtns railways (even heritage lines who have to conform to modern standards).

Since Ladbroke Grove "there hasn't been a single fatality or serious injury" says Len Porter, Chief Executive of the Rail Safety and Standards Board (in an interview with Rail Magazine Issue: 628).

Accidents on railways have been, almost entirely, caused by road drivers. Level Crossing accidents and people driving onto the railways.

"Since Ladbroke Grove, road users have caused more deaths on the railway then the railways have." Anson Jack, Rail Safety and Standards Board, Deputy Chief Executive (Rail Magazine: Issue 628)

In 2008 the number of deaths didn't exceed 4 in railway accidents caused by trains. There was the usual high number of people jumping, falling, running, standing, or trespassing onto railways.

So it begs the question. Railways are indeed one of the safest forms of transport in the world. Much safer than cycling, walking, or driving in a car. But still, the question:

How safe do YOU feel on the railways?

I want your feedback! Do you often think about the possible dangers? Do you think about terrorism? How safe, are you?

The future for High Speed Rail

2009-04-23T08:51:00.000+01:00

We are in a Recession, I know, it's shocking. SHOCKING.
Our government is fantastically poor, and the banks are about as willing to share with each other as a selfish 3 year old with the worlds most amazing toy.

Still, Network Rail manages to drum up £35 Billion to develop or railways. That's not a typo, I really do mean Billion.

The progression of Britain's Railways in the last 2 years has been dynamite. If all you looked at was Britain's railways you would be asking what recession?

One of the largest transport companies in the country, the Scotland based First, has declared that it is axing 600 jobs across its Rail Franchises (part of 3,500 job cuts world wide). First operate the Great Western route, Capital Connect, ScotRail, and TransPennine. First also run the popular Greyhound buses in the US and Canada and Rail Services in Sweden and Denmark, all of which are going to fall under job cuts.

Britains second largest operator, the Scottish firm Stagecoach, which operate 4 rail franchises (including Virgin Trains) have declare, ontop of the 660 jobs axed at South West Trains, a further 162 are to go at East Midland Trains.

Both companies reported like for like growth with one or two exceptions on the rail franchises. With rail companies axeing jobs and profits starting to slow down the government funded Network Rail declares that it is to create 1,000 new jobs.

Network Rail have recently embarked on a massive infrastructure shake up which include the rebuilding of Reading and Birmingham New Street stations. With 4 major projects underway and the proposal for High Speed 2 this number could increase!

High Speed 2...some of you may now be confused. Where was 1?

HS1 was the "company" formed to manage the development of the new high speed link between central London (St Pancras) and the Channel Tunnel and, naturally, onto France.

HS2 is the new company/committee formed by the Department of Transport to look at extending a 150mph line from London to the West Midlands and into Scotland. (This would roughly follow the path of the West Coast or Western Mainline).

Now Britain already operates a high speed network where trains can go as fast as 125 mph. But the reality is that the aging InterCity 125's can't do these speeds as it would intrude into passenger comfort and cause excessive wear on the rails. The new 140mph routes would be run by the new Javelin Class train sets (see previous post).

Network Rail are right on the ball by planning on a structure that would improve Britain as a whole and put massive investment into companies that may not be doing to well at the moment.

Envision it, by 2030 Britain won't have any more room for expanding motorways, and may not even need to. The advancement of the railways has meant the M4, M1, M5, M6, and the M3 are all roads that are practically deserted as the hordes go in their masses to rail. Much like Japan and France, trains could run no more than half an hour behind the one in front with signaling being done direct to the cab.

Of course. That won't happen. But who knows? The advancement of Rail, may well be the next step to combat climate change, reduce road pollution, and prevent oil from running out by relying on renewable energy.

Until next time

The new, high speed train

2009-03-04T20:16:00.000Z

I feel ever so unwell. So I have decided to finish this blog!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7886766.stm

This is brilliant. The Department of Transport is finally putting money back into a rail system that hasn't had a whole lot of improvements made to it over the years.

I'm going to ignore the anger some have felt that the contract for the production of this new train was awarded to a Japanese contrctor (Hitachi). Even though most of the train will be constructed in the UK.

Now, many of you may be confused, Hitachi may be the brand on your TV or Fridge, and it may also be cooling you down with a Hitachi Air Conditioning unit. But these companies do so much more, they design transport. Siemens build and supply the Electrical Multiple Unit trains that operate on lines that pass through...Winchester for example.

The train itself is a breakthrough, the current Inter City 125's have been running on our rails since 1970. I was on a First Great Western 125 (or Class 43) running between Taunton and Reading, and the age of the carriages, although recently refurbished, is shown with the doors. Which are, for starters, slam doors, and also have BR (British Rail, for those not in the know) markings on the window.

I am a huge fan of the great metallic beasts that thunder up and down small iron rails.

The new high speed train is a pioneer for things to come. You may have noticed the word "hybrid" in the video (if you watched it).

It's not hybrid like a Lexis hybrid with it's 6 litre V8 and a D Size battery classing it as a hybrid. It has one, very large, diesel engine at one end. and several (smaller) Electric motors.

They've put a lot of thought into this. Hitachi REALLY want to sell it to everyone. It would be too costly to just make two different version. So they have decided to combine the two.

Basically. I will try to explain this now, no matter how un-interested you may be.

For those of you that have never seen a HST/Inter City 125/Class 43 train. It features two power cars located at either end. Both contain a VERY large diesel engine and they work in tandem to operate a push pull type system.

The new SET has one power car which is the diesel end. At the other end is the electric driving car, however due to the size of electric engines, this means it can be located underneath.

Basically, it all means that this train can operate on lines that aren't electrified yet (such as the Great Western Line running between Penzance and London Paddington) and lines that are (East Coast Main Line).

So what do you think? We are a generation used to the car, the bus, the convenience of having our form of transport literally yards away from were we type our stories and drink our starbucks.

With the environment the way it is it seems a good idea to turn to trains. Take the cars of the roads. The New SET (Super Express Train) uses 0.05kWh LESS per seat than the HST. Not a HUGE saving, but it contains 649 seats. Over 100 more than the HST.

This is all well and good, but the current biggest users of HST train sets are First Great Western (operating the Great Western Mainline and many small branch lines). How, in 2016, will their swap from HST to SET go?

And what on EARTH will happen to over 200 HST Rakes? (A rake is a "set" with two power cars, one buffet cars, 2 First Class, and 7 to 9 Standard Class). The coaches can be preserved for future use...on special uses. But the locomotive sets will be scrapped. That's a shame! Especially considering First spent MILLIONS replacing the engines in them.

Look out in a week or so. I'm plotting a special feature Blog on rail travel. But let me know what you think?

Do you travel on trains?
What do you think needs to be changed?

Sources:

BBC News
Hitachi - www.hitachi.co.uk
Rail Magazine - Issue 612 Feb 25 - Mar 10 2009

Today's Blog, bought to you by - Winchester

2009-02-18T02:01:00.000Z

Empiricism, it's a big word.
It's something I don't understand.

But you could, if you felt like it, simplify it. Ghosts? For example. I won't believe it until I see it.
I watched a documentary (thank you YouTube/Google Video) about "Ghosts on the Underground". This was definetly, believe it to see it.

It's a 46 minute documentary that aired on the Channel Five. But it will start to make you question the "Do I believe in..." question.

I'll write a fuller blog another time, I think I need to read up on it more (it was hot in that lecture room, I couldn't concentrate)

It's apparently not quite on the money...but watch it anyway, as it's awfully interesting!

Chan