The Railway Cutting

In several places at once

2010-02-21T10:37:00.004+01:00

So called because this post is going to be a collection of 'bits' that have happened over the last few weeks.

Let's start of with my old favourite, the Settle - Carlisle line.

In April we are going to start what should be the last bit of major track renewal needed on the line to replace most of the old jointed track with continuously welded rail (CWR). We are replacing 23 miles of track at 22 different locations. Much of the work will be on the northbound line, north of Appleby but there are also seven sites south of the town and all that work will be on the southbound line.

All the work is being done overnight during the week, so minimising disruption to passenger trains and doing away with the need for a complete line closure as has been the case in the last two or three years - so no more Ribblehead Viaduct public walks!

The work will finish in September.

We are using the New Track Construction train, which virtually lays the track in front of itself as it goes along. Take a look at the photos below. Not sure that I would want to be the 'operative' that you can just make out in his hi-vis gear inside the machinery in the photo on the right.

On a much smaller scale we move to Earlestown, a station on the fringes of what is called Merseyside. It's an unusual station in that it has a triangular island platform. Platforms 1 and 2 are on the Manchester - Liverpool line, platforms 4 and 5 are electrified as they privide a link to the west coast main line. They are also used by the Arriva Trains Wales diesel service between Wales, Chester and Manchester. Platform 3 is largely unused (I think, but I am open to correction).

We are part way through a project to completely rebuild platforms 4 and 5. Our contractor J Murphy & Sons is working on one end of each platform while the trains use the opposite end. Fortunately the platforms are long enough to be able to do that otherwise it would have meant closing the platforms completely. Platforms are being surfaced in tarmac and the photo on the left shows the steam rising while Murphy's people work on it. The photo on the right is the 'southbound' platform under construction.

From Earlestown, we stay on Merseyside but move north to Southport where we are strengthening one of the main road-over-rail bridges to the east of the town.

The road is the A5267 which carries St Lukes Road over the Southport to Wigan line. Nearly 19,000 vehicles use it each day, of which just over 450 are HGVs - and that is the problem. The bridge has failed its structural assessment based on modern criteria. That doesn't mean it is about to fall down, it just doesn't meet the latest standards required to allow 40 tonnes lorries to use it. If the work isn't done, the highway authority (Sefton Council) would have to impose weight restrictions which would mean HGVs would be banned as would larger emergency vehicles sich as ambulances and fire appliances.

The bridge has three spans. The deck of one span is to be replaced, an additional supporting pier will be built in between the train tracks effectively dividing the main span in two and the footpaths over the third span are to be strengthened to withstand an HGV mounting the pavement.

The photo on the left shows the road with bollards to keep vehicles off the pavements. The other photo show us doing our bit for butterfly conservation by providing buddleia for them to feed on.

The final bit of this post brings us right up to date with the publication last Tuesday of the Northern Hub study by Network Rail. This is our part of what started out as the Manchester Hub study by The Northern Way, which is an amalgamation of three separate regional development agencies covering most of the north of England. They put together their thoughts on what transport developments would be needed to sustain and build the economy and we have turned their aspirations into reality.

In simple language, we can do it all for £530m, primarily by building two additional platforms at Manchester Piccadilly station; building an additional curve line in Ordsall, Salford which will provide a direct link between Victoria and Piccadilly stations; building some additional passing loops at various places; reopening two of the closed bores of Standedge Tunnel.

If you want to find out more, take a look at my news release where you will find the 8-page summary brochure that you can download. There is also some fancy CGI that you might want to look at. The full 85-page brochure is also on the Network Rail website.

Cheadle Hulme in for an upgrade

2010-01-29T13:17:00.001+01:00

Network Rail has put plans before Stockport council for a major upgrade at Cheadle Hulme station under the DfT's Access for All programme.

The station straddles the railway line south of Stockport where it splits to go towards Macclesfield and Stoke in one direction and towards Wilmslow and Crewe in the other. As such, it has four platforms - platform one serves trains from Crewe/Wilmslow northbound to Stockport/Manchester; platform 2/3 is a triangular island platform (2 southbound towards Wilmslow and Crewe, 3 northbound from Stoke/Macc); platfrom 4 takes people south towards Stoke/Macc.

The ticket office is at road level, some eight metres below the platforms which are constructed on an embankment, and the only way to reach the trains is via stairs. This is makes the station a no-go area for anyone in a wheechair and difficult for the elderley and people with buggies or lots of luggage.

The idea therefore, assuming the plans are passed by the council, is to build lift towers on all platforms leading to an overbridge. There will also be direct access to the station car park which is adjacent to platform 4.

If all goes according to plan, the work contract will be let around Easter, we will start on site in the autumn and complete early in 2011.

BBC Countryfile

2010-01-28T13:49:00.002+01:00

I found myself back on the Settle - Carlisle line again on Tuesday. The BBC Countryfile team found out that the line had been named as number 2 in the 10 greatest railway journeys of the world by ABC News in New York so they arranged to do some filming on the line.

They spoke to Mark Rand, the Chairman of the Friends of the Settle - Carlisle Line, then travelled from Settle to Ribblehead on a Northern train. I met them at Ribblehead, together with Network Rail's mobile operations manager Steve Marney, and we drove part way to Blea Moor signal box, before completing the last 400 metres on foot - something the signaller has to do every day.

They wanted to go into the signal box because some claim it is the most remote on our network, and interview the signaller about his work in such a location.

The signaller on duty was Jay Hartley, one of the relief team that works the line and he gave a very good account of the job etc. to presenter Julia Bradbury.

The programme is due to be broadcast on Sunday 7 Feb on BBC TV.

More snow pics ....

2010-01-20T17:27:00.001+01:00

.... although strictly speaking these are icicles rather than snow.

Supplied by Gorden Allen, Network Rail's track maintenance engineer based in Appleby (Cumbria) they were taken on 9 Jan inside Blea Moor and Rise Hill tunnels on the Settle - Carlisle line. They form round the ventilation shafts from natural water seepage rather than from snow and ice melting out in the open air and dripping down.

As well as icicles there is also a build up of ice at track level.

The first three are Blea Moor, the last is Rise Hill.

Workington viaduct scour protection

2010-01-12T15:58:00.000+01:00

My third post of the day (a picture paints a thousand words, they say, so from now on the emphasis is on photos).

Just completed dumping nearly 2,500 tonnes of stone at the foot of the piers holding up Workington railway viaduct. The stone will act as a breakwater and reduce the effects of floodwater and debris should the worst happen again.

Alderley Edge bypass

2010-01-12T14:54:00.000+01:00

One of the major jobs that Network Rail carried out over the Christmas holiday was to complete the building of a bridge that will carry the Crewe - Manchester railway line over what will soon become the A34 Alderley Edge bypass. We carried out all the prep work in Christmas 2008 and the job last Christmas was to slide the bridge deck into position.

All went according to plan and the railway was handed back for train running four hours ahead of schedule.

Thought you might like to see a few photos to give you an idea of the scale of the project.

The first couple show the bridge deck being inched into position on multi-wheeled 'jacks' working in tandem.

The third shows a Virgin Pendolino train passing over the new bridge, but my favourite is the last one.

This is a view looking down into one of the support pillars that hold the bridge up. It is so huge and so deep that the last bit of excavation had to be done by lowering a mini digger - and operative - into the pillar.

Rather him than me!

Snow pics

2010-01-12T13:55:00.002+01:00

No, not the sort you use to climb Everest, just a few shots taken by Network Rail people over the last week to give an idea of what it was like in the North West.

The first couple show Guide Bridge signal box and a train passing though Guide Bridge.

Next is Earlestown (left) and a group of our staff working in the Thatto Heath area.

Then we have Ais Gill on the Settle - Carlisle line, and one of frost crystals on a railway sleeper.

Finally, one of a set of point heaters, doing exactly what they are supposed to do - keep the moving parts of a set of points free from freezing up.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2010-01-06T13:46:00.002+01:00

Well, the north west got 'dumped on' yesterday and my colleagues who live in the Greater Manchester area didn't make in to work. I, on the other hand, who travel up the west coast main line from Stafford to Manchester each day, did. And that says a lot for how the railway coped with the snow.

Generaly speaking, yesterday we ran a damned good service considering that the northern half of the M6 ground to a halt and many local roads were impassable. Even the Settle to Carlisle line, which runs through some pretty (in all senses of the word) inhospitable country in bad weather, held up well. So much so, that the Friends of the Settle - Carlisle Line were moved to issue a news release saying everything is running fine.

Our chief executive sent an email to our Members, sumarising the situation, and it is worth copying the text here as it gives a useful overview of how the railways cope. It also starts with the Christmas work at Liverpool Street station which was slightly late in being completed and which the media reported in their usual style as 'mass chaos':-

Improvement Works

Over the Christmas and New Year period, we had a programme of improvement works which, although reduced to enable us to provide a greater number of trains throughout the period, included some complex and high risk engineering challenges.

We had 74 high and medium risk sites, including remodelling of Severn Tunnel junction, signalling commissions at Newport and South Erewash, works on the North London line, bridge slides at Blackfriars and works associated with the replacement of the overhead wires in East Anglia.

All works were successfully completed, but we did experience problems at Liverpool Street Station that has - understandably - been picked up by the press.

The work in this location is extraordinarily complex, having to fit modern overhead power equipment to gantries that have been there for many decades across a worksite that was 1.5 miles long. We monitored the work very carefully and we had to deploy all of the four pre-planned contingency items, including deferring work to the coming weekend. On Sunday, an overrun looked likely and Simon Kirby went to site and spent all day (and night) tracking progress. We already had a “gold command” structure in place, so the customer (NX East Anglia) was fully informed. At 00:48 Monday morning, we were predicting a 04:00 start-up (which would have meant one or two cancelled trains); however, during final commissioning, a couple of problems were uncovered, meaning that we couldn’t open Liverpool Street Station until 06:18 (for the “suburban” lines) and 07:30 (for the “electric” lines). So, inevitably, there was some delay for some passengers. By 09:30, most trains were running with less than 10 minutes delay and a normal service was established by later morning.

The overrun was hugely disappointing, at it puts a shadow over the rest of the 100s of jobs we successfully delivered. However, I think it is important to contrast this with 2007. When we experienced similar problems, no intercity services ran until late on the Monday afternoon and the electric lines remained closed until Wednesday. There were also many other differences – all as a result of changes we made to processes, following the overruns in 2007:

we had pre-planned contingencies that we would exercise, if we experienced problems;
we had Network Rail site managers on-site, at all times, giving accurate information about progress and issues;
we had corporate visibility with Robin Gisby, Simon Kirby, Victoria Pender and myself in regular dialogue about options;
we were able to give real-time, accurate information to our customer, who helped put in place operational service recovery plans; and
at all times, despite the problems, we always knew what the problems were and what was required to restore the railway.

It does, however, raise questions about the way in which these jobs are planned, contracted for and executed. These will be considered over the coming weeks. It is important that we do this, especially with a wider programme of electrification coming. To put your mind at rest, this wider programme is all “green-field” – the electrification of a diesel railway, and not the replacement of a system installed in the 1930s that is required for daily use by hundreds of thousands of people!

Finally, although the programme of electrification in East Anglia continues for a number of years, we have finished at Liverpool Street Station, itself! The next big job is the piece up towards Shenfield. It will, of course, still be complex, challenging and require a degree of service disruption. We will reflect on the lessons learned from this year – both in this location and elsewhere – and make appropriate changes.
Current Train Operations
Despite the extremely cold weather, coupled with significant snowfall, we continue to work with our customers to keep trains running. In many instances, we have pre-agreed contingency plans, including revised train timetables and “key route strategies”, designed to provide an operational service going. In some instances, we do make reductions in the numbers of trains, but we will do so in a way that enables passengers to know this in advance of travelling.

The cold spell has been across the country for about three weeks now and through this period, we have managed to deliver 83% punctuality. So, over eight out of ten trains arriving on time is, given the circumstances, pretty good. We have adopted a policy that it is better to get people to their destination – albeit a few minutes late, than to simply cancel trains. As a result, punctuality will be affected, but I believe that this is the right decision for the passenger and freight user. It will, however, have a huge impact on the delay minutes attributed to Network Rail, for 2009/10. So far, we have incurred 250,000 extra delay minutes – which, bearing in mind, the improvement target for this year was around 600,000 minutes, makes delivery a little challenging! Also, the impact of this cold period on the “moving annual average” for PPM will be around 0.5 percentage points.

Whilst we are reasonably good at dealing with icy conditions, snow presents us with additional challenges. It does affect trains and we do see an increase in train failures; from our perspective, the biggest challenge comes from keeping points free from snow. As points move from one side to another, snow becomes trapped and then compressed between the blades of the points, making it impossible for them to “close” (and thereby safe to use). Many of our points do have point heaters, but – when it is snowing heavily – points simply become overwhelmed… the solution? Our own “snow-men”. We situate teams of people at key locations to keep the points free from snow, between trains. This is very labour intensive and physically challenging for the teams out on site. In addition, we have revised timetables that reduce the number of point movements, thereby, minimising the impact.

The other big challenge is a function of the way in which railways were built in this country. Unlike no other European country, the railway in the south east – covering Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire – is electrified using “third rail”. Most electrified railways use overhead wires and pantographs; third rail provides electricity at ground level and trains connect using a “shoe mechanism”. However, this system is severely affected when the conductor rail is covered with snow, as the interface between the rail and the shoe is compromised. Furthermore, even if this is cleared of snow, the extremely low temperatures often means that it becomes iced over, quite quickly.

However, years of experience and continued investment means that we can – albeit with some changes to the timetables and some impact on punctuality – get a reasonably good service.

Finally, there are our people to consider. They are affected by road conditions, like everybody else. Maintenance teams, signallers and operational staff (and, of course, train crews) need to get to depots, signal boxes and to the railway to respond to operational issues. If the roads aren’t clear, it presents some extra challenges – particularly in remote locations. That said, the response of our people has been extraordinary – heroes, the length and breadth of the country!

We are expecting the cold weather to continue for a few more weeks – but we are well prepared!
Ends

Today the weather fronts have moved further south and, given the intensity of the L&SE commuter services, are holding up well. In the morning peak today, 61% of services ran on time, in spite of fallen trees blocking some lines.

We have around 5,000 people out on the tracks working in difficult conditions, and we will continue to run snow ploughs, de-icing trains and ghost trains as necessary. (We have 60 special snow ploughs and de-icing trains, and we run about 20 ghost trains each night.)

Anyone wanting to check on their services can call a new snowline set up by the National Rail Enquiries Service - 08453 017641.

Happy traveling!

So, what did we do in 2009?

2009-12-31T13:33:00.000+01:00

Well, quite a lot, actually - which is why I have gone for a smaller font and pictures in an effort not to make this post too long. Here are some of the things we got up to.

In Jan, the then Sec of State for Transport Geoff Hoon MP (have we had three or four this year - I have lost count) opened the new £15m third platform at Manchester Airport station. The work was vital to the success of the new west coast timetable and was delivered nearly two weeks ahead of schedule. Since then, performance of First TPE and Northern services has gone up in leaps and bounds.

In Feb, the buffet bar extension at Stalybridge station was demolished and replaced with a brand new structure. Lord Pendry of Stalybridge officiated as it is his 'local' and he dipped into his own pocket for some of the funds. The bar regularly features in the Good Beer Guide and has sold the best part of 7,000 guest ales since the current landlord took over 12 years ago. The old (left) had stood for around 123 years and was quite literally rotted through in places. The new extension is on the right.

We also started work on a new multi storey car park (MSCP) in Wigan. This was one of 17 new or extended car parks at stations on the west coast main line in a £90m project. Most are MSCPs, a few are at ground level. All the MSCPs have 'egg whisk' wind turnbines to contribute towards their electricity consumption. The Preston MSCP (below) was opened in June.

March saw the start of a £350,000 rail-over-road bridge strengthening project in Manchester city centre. Nothing spectacular in the work but difficult from a Community Relations point of view. The bridge straddles an extremely busy four lane road and is situated between the Palace Hotel and the BBC TV and radio studios. To cause as little disruption as possible, the city council agreed to let us have a series of half road closures over six consecutive weekends. Not sure the hotel guests appreciated it, but the work had to be done and we did keep the hotel advised

Good Friday brought the start of the latest phase of track renewal in the undergound system beneath Liverpool city centre. The track sits on a solid concrete slab rather than conventional ballast and sleepers. For a more detailed explanation go to my news release, where you will find a series of photos showing the various phases of work - but here are just a couple to whet your appetite.

April also saw the completion of a £250,000 project to refurbish Garsdale station on the Settle - Carlisle line, which coincided with the 20th anniversary of the decision by the government not to close the entire line as BR had wanted. The event brought some 300 people to the station in glorious sunshine on Easter Saturday to see the unveiling of a statue of a dog called Ruswarp (pronounced Russup). The dog was one of 22,000 official objectors to the line closure and was accepted because he had his own dog season ticket. The Ruswarp tale is rather tragic, so take a look at my news release or look at the Settle Carlisle Partnership website.

The summer brought a host of projects, too many to mention here but one of the more interesting included some stunning new passenger lounges in Liverpool's Lime Street station. I particularly like the look of the accessible loo and the first class lounge is rather tasty, too.

Another small project but with huge national potential is the Harrington Hump, so called because it was trialled in Harrington, Cumbria. It is simply a ramp that can be fitted to any station platform to reduce the height from the platform up into the train. It comes in sections, is height adjustable and can be fitted with little or no disruption to train services. It is primarily for use at stations where the footfall is too low to justify the cost of reconstructing the platform. A Hump can cost as little as £25,000 per platform whereas rebuilding can cost upwards of 10 times that much. Here are photos of the steps that passengers had to use at Harrington to get into the train and the new Hump in position.

What might be described as the biggest piece of 'engineering work' took place in Kirkby Thore on the Settle - Carlisle line and I covered this when I first started blogging in July. It also gave us the chance to allow walkers and ramblers official access to Ribblehead Viaduct - see blog post also in July.

Other work has been covered in earlier blog posts but there are a couple of things that didn't make it for one reason or another.

One was to renew the roof of the Birkenhead train maintenance depot (TMD) at a cost of £2.5m. A complicated scheme because it had to be done without disrupting the work of the TMD and thereby risking the extremely good performance achievements of train operator Merseyrail. The answer was an intricate scaffolding system supporting a crash deck underneath the TMD roof that used 14 miles of scaffold poles.

Finally, we held trials on the west coast main line north of Wigan of some new titling wagons used to deliver to site pre-constructed track panels for the renewal of a set of points. Normally the panels are too wide to be taken to site by rail. However, the new tilting wagons can carry them almost vertically on their sides to the worksite and then lower them horizontally to be lifted into place. The time taken to complete the job was just 21 hours rather than a complete weekend as would normally be the case. We have subsequently ordered 26 of the wagons.

Well, that's it for 2009. Have a happy and safe New Year, and I look forward to blogging in 2010.

Win an annual rail season ticket

2009-12-21T16:35:00.000+01:00

The New Year is traditionally the time to renew annual season tickets and anyone could be in with a chance of winning one simply for taking part in an on-line Network Rail survey - but you will have to hurry.

Network Rail has a pot of money (£3.25bn) to spend on improving passenger facilities at over 2,000 stations throughout the country. It's not all Network Rail money but it is there for the taking.

Rather than guess what passengers want, Network Rail wants to hear from people who use the stations just what is important to them, so in November it launched its on-line survey 'Action Stations'.

Already there has been a good response - but Network Rail wants more.

Anyone who takes part will be entered into a prize draw for an annual season ticket - but surveys have to be received by 31 December 2009.

Full details of the conditions are on the website, as is the link to the survey.

Going out with a bigger bang!

2009-12-15T14:32:00.002+01:00

What better Christmas present could the commuters of the North West be given than to be told that their line is to be electrified?

Chancellor Alistair Darling had already spoilt the DfT's thunder by announcing some of it in his pre-budget speech last week. We already knew that the Manchester to Liverpool line via Chat Moss was to be electrified. (That's the route that goes through Eccles and Newton-le-Willows.) Mr Darling announced that the Manchester - Liverpool - Preston lines would also be electrified. Interpretation of the language/geography/routes meant in reality that Manchester to Preston and Liverpool to Wigan were to be electrified as well as the Manchester - Liverpool line. (For the purists among you, it is actually Manchester to Euxton Junction and Huyton junction to Springs Branch Junction.)

That left Lord Adonis the Transport Secretary to announce yesterday, while on a whistle-stop tour of the North West, that the line from Preston to Blackpool North was also included.

Much jubilation from numerous quarters because it should mean an end to the serious overcrowding that there is on the main commuter routes from Preston, through Chorley and Bolton into Manchester. There will, of course, always be an element of overcrowding simply by virtue of the fact that most commuters want to go to work between 8 and 9am and come home again between 5 and 6pm - it's a fact of life.

Mind you, I have never understood what people complain about 'up north.' I spent several years commuting from Rainham in Kent into London on 12-carriage trains and often stood for the hour long journey. Now that was overcrowding!

Back to electrification. In spite of the good news, some are already starting to complain. Two reasons, it would seem.

The rolling stock for the new services could well be existing 20 year old trains currently running on Thameslink, although they will get a thorough overhall and refurbishment before they too, journey 'up north.'

The other complaint is about the disruption electrification work will cause. Inevitably, all the bridges and tunnels along the lines of route will have to be examined to see if there is sufficient headroom to take the 25,000 volt overhead power lines. If any are found to be wanting, then Network Rail has two choices - rebuild the structure or lower the track - both of which may well cause disruption.

It's a typical 'can't make an omlette without breaking eggs' syndrome.

And then there is the issue of putting up the gantries that support the overhead line equipment - the power lines.

I am no engineer but if my memory serves me correctly, each gantry is spaced approx 1 chain (22 yds) apart - yes, the rail industry still measures everything in feet/inches/yards/chains etc.

The Huyton-Wigan route is 15 miles, Manchester-Euxton is 25, Preston-Blackpool 17 and Manchester-Liverpool 32. That's 89 miles in total. Allowing two gantries per chain (one for the up line, one for the down) you are talking about 14,240 gantries. There are going to be an awful lot of people who live next to the railway line, who are going to get a big lump of metal 'at the bottom of their garden.' Not only that, but in a lot of cases vegetation that currently screens their houses from the railway is going to have to be cleared to put the gantries up, so not only do they lose their screening, they get a gantry in its place.

Deep joy!

Going out with a bang

2009-12-14T17:40:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since I last posted - my apologies. No particular reason, I simply don't seem to have had the time.

Well, 2009 is certainly going out with a bang.

The end of November saw torrential rail in the north west of England with devastating floods in the county of Cumbria. In Workington, roads were flooded, houses and businesses were flooded and bridges were washed away. Tragically, a police officer lost his life while standing on one of the bridges which collapsed under him while he was preventing others from crossing it. The only structure in the town that remained firm was the raiway bridge. That was all fine and dandy for people living on the south side of the River Derwent, where the town's station is located but it meant a major diversion for anyone living north of the river, along roads already suffering the effects of flooding and additional traffic.

Network Rail to the rescue!

Our route director Jo Kaye came up with the idea of building a temporary station and set things in motion to see if it was feasible. The Network Rail helicopter was in the area so it was sent up to scout for likely locations.

The chosen site is opposite a cinema and retail centre, making it the ideal location.

To cut a long-ish story short, we had great cooperation from Allerdale Borough Council and train operator Northern, and in less than a week, a temporary station was built and opened.

Work started on the evening of 24 November and the station opened for its first passengers the following Monday (30th). Jo Kaye our route director can be seen on the left of this photo (blonde hair), with the great and the good of Workington at the official opening event. Yours truly is out of shot, holding one end of the ribbon with my good friend Carolyn Watson from Northern Rail on the other end, desparatley trying to keep it under control in what seemed like 100mph winds.

The final chapter (at least for the time being) in this story is that the station, called Workington North, has been such a success that we have had to lengthen the two platforms so they can accommodate the longer trains that have had to be introduced to cope with the crowds, and we have also increased the size of the car park so it will take approx 200 cars - if people park sensibly.

A cheap ticket - but not at this price!

2009-10-29T14:49:00.000+01:00

Many people I talk to seem to be under the impression rail staff travel free all the time. If only that were so!

One of the biggest costs to Network Rail must be the travel budget for staff going off to various meetings, so we are rightly encouraged to buy advance purchase, train specific tickets.

I had to go to London for a meeting yesterday, and living near Stafford, I have the luxury of being able to choose to travel with Virgin or London Midland.

I have to say that I normally travel with Virgin on one of their nine-carriage, tilting Pendolino services, many of which are non-stop to London. They take about 90 mins, are air conditioned, have a buffet, have sockets to plug in your mobile or laptop, have a quiet coach if that's what you prefer, and even though most of the seats don't have tables they do at least have a drop down flap on the seat back in front of you to put your coffee on.

And, in spite of what the media might have you believe, rarely have I been delayed (except last night strangely enough - problem with the train in front of us).

The ticket for the train I normally catch works out at £56 for the single journey.

However, the ticket for the London Midland service costs £40 so I thought I would save the company £16 and give it a go. For me, it's a case of once bitten, twice shy.

The train is a four carriage, Class 350 electric 'Desiro' service, originally built with 2x2 seating at tables.

Now most of them, including mine yesterday, have been refurbished. They have 3x2 seats, the tables have been removed and there are no power sockets. There wasn't even a trolloy service of refreshments - presumably because there are no longer any tables to put your purchases on - and this is on a service that is scheduled to take two and a half hours to London, even longer if you start out from Crewe, its origin station. I had had the presence of mind to purchase a cuppa from the station buffet before boarding the train but had to contend with putting it on the floor.

The one benefit? I could admire the scenery much more as we meandered our way to London rather than bombing along at 125mph.

The ticket may have been £16 cheaper but as far as I am concerned, the disbenefits are not worth the saving so it's back to Virgin for me.

Don't you just hate it ....

2009-10-13T22:41:00.001+02:00

.... when people insist on showing you their holiday snaps? If you do, then click away now because here come mine!

My wife Nicola and I have just come back from another week in the beautiful hamlet of Thwaite in the Yorkshire Dales. It nestles at the foot of Kisdon Hill in Swaledale and the sunrises that cast shadows from the field barns and dry stone walls on the hill are magical.

We stay in a self catering cottage on a working sheep farm owned by Ken and Gillian Whitehead. They have two cottages converted from barns next to the farmhouse.

In Thwaite, just about 20 yds from the cottage, is a small hotel and tea room. Ideal for waking up on a Sunday morning and stolling to for a lazy coffee and toasted teacake for breakfast. And, of course, being that close you can have a drink without having to worry about driving the 20 yds back to the cottage.

As anyone who knows us well will realise, I do like my tea and cake - well, food in general really - so it wil be no surprise that nearly every excursion involves visiting a tea or coffee shop somewhere.

There are two 'must do' establishments if you are ever in the Dales.

Head for Reeth and make sure you visit The White House tea room. It's tucked away in a corner near the museum/info office and next to the ice cream parlour. Run by John (in the kitchen) and Richard (front of house) it is a step back in time to an age where service was King. All the food is home made and once you get to know the 'boys' it is served with a liberal sprinkling of verbal abuse. Try it and you wil see what I mean.

The other 'must' is at Aysgarth Falls.

There are two car parks serving the falls. One is at a pub, the other run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Both cost £2.20 for a couple of hours so my personal preference is to park in the YDNP car park. That way I know my money is going to a good cause rather than a pub landlord.

The only problem with parking there is that you may be tempted into the YDNP coffee shop attached to the visitor centre. Nothing wrong with that except that it does mean you will miss out on the other gem of the Dales, the Mill Race Teashop.

I have mentioned it before and have no hesitation in doing so again. It is superb. It is run by a young couple (everyone is young to me) Sue and Martin who have been there for the last four years. Take a look at their menu boards for a sample of what is in store:-

As this is primarily - but not exclusively - a railway blog, here is a picture of a train to nowhere.

Why is it a train to nowhere? There is no track other than the bit underneath the engine and three carriages. The carriages form an exhibition centre at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes, which I believe is housed in/on the site of the former Hawes station. I am no train buff but as far as I know, the line used to go to what is now called Garsdale station on the Settle - Carlisle line. Garsdale used to be called Hawes Junction until the Wensleydale branch was closed.

The engine itself (according to a Museum news release) was built on Tyneside in 1954 as an industrial shunt engine. It was bought by the Central Electricity Generating Board and used at Hams Hall Power Station until around 1970. It is now painted black with a BR crest and the number 67345, the last engine to run on the Wensleydale line.

And finally, as they say in all the best circles, how about this for a piece of nostalgia?

Wonderful! You don't see many of these on your travels nowadays.

And there it was - gone (part 2)

2009-09-30T13:32:00.002+02:00

What can't speak, can't lie - so just to prove it did actually happen here is a photo of the old station buffet on Platform 4 at Carlisle station - as a pile of rubble.

And here is one from Mark Rand of the Friends of the Settle - Carlisle Line. You wouldn't even know there had been anything there unless you look closely at the new tarmac.

What a difference it makes to the southern end of the platform. The whole area looks light and airy, and you can now see Platforms 5 and 6 where the Tyne Valley and Settle - Carlisle trains arrive/depart.

If you have looked at the drawings on my earlier post, you will be able to visualise just where the new glazed waiting area will be.

The other exciting news is that the Friends have produced two possible designs for the hoarding that is to go up on the rectangular steel frame which supports the overhead power lines at the end of Platforms 5 and 6.

Can't reveal them yet - but watch this space!

And there it was - gone!

2009-09-18T14:54:00.012+02:00

Haven't posted for a while because I took the opportunity to head south and visit my mum who lives on the Sussex coast near Brighton (home of my birth). Just before I left, I put out a news release about work that was due to start in Carlisle station. The work was to start with the demolition of a buffet on platform 4.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see a closing down date for the end of Feb. That must have been 2008 because 24 Feb this year was a Tuesday.

Well, Monday this week I had a meeting in Carlisle and the buffet is no more. It's just a heap of rubble and has opened up the southern end of Platform 4 and the two bay platforms, 5 and 6. The photo below shows to back of the old buffet and the bay platforms.

The bay platforms are used by the Tyne Valley services to Newcastle, and by the Settle - Carlisle services to Leeds. As you can see from the photo, there is a huge rectangular structure across the end of the platforms that supports the overhead power lines. In talking to the Friends of the Settle - Carlisle Line, they have offered to donate a quite substantial sum of money to have a 'board' to fill the gap in that rectangle with some sort of line guide or something else to show that is it the start/finish of a world famous line.

At the same time, part of our (Network Rail) £500,000 refurbishment of the station will see a new waiting area where the old buffet used to be. You can get an idea of our thinking from the sketch below.

We are doing something similar at the northern end of Platform 4 as well. We are going to take away the old red hoops and other ironwork - very 1980s BR - and the old information totem and put new glass screens around the waiting area to keep the wind off, and a new stainless steel oval shaped 'feature' that will have all the train departure stuff on it.

We are also going to do some work inside the main waiting room to make more of a feature of the rather magnificent ceiling in there. All the work should be finished by next summer.

Makeover for Nelson, and Carlisle gets in the festival mood - part 2

2009-09-06T16:33:00.010+02:00

My last post was somewhat longer than I anticipated, so I'll try and make this one a bit shorter. This is the missing Carlisle bit.

Carlisle is about to play host to the annual Community Rail Awards and festival organised by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (or ACoRP for short - and much easier to get you tongue round). What is ACoRP? Well, it is the umbrella group that oversees all the community rail partnerships that exist all around the country. As they say on their website:-

"The Association of Community Rail Partnerships – ACoRP – is a federation of over 60 community rail partnerships and rail promotion groups. We are an organisation of ‘do-ers’, focused on practical initiatives which add up to a better more sustainable local railway. Improved station facilities, better train services and improved integration with other forms of transport are central to the work of ACoRP and its members."

There is a link on the ACoRP website to a pdf leaflet explaining what the Festival is all about, so no need to repeat it here, save to say platform 4 at Carlisle station on Saturday 26 Sept will have a large number of community rail stands, model railways, music, children's entertainment, farmer's market etc, and yours truly will be there with some Network Rail stuff.

Two main reasons for mentioning the Festival.

Firstly, there is a special day ranger ticket covering Cumbria and the immediate area. The ticket normally costs £32 for adults but is being discounted to £24 for the weekend of the festival (25 - 27 Sept).

The second reason:- Those of you who know your railway will think that is a con, because the Cumbria coast line is not open on a Sunday. Very true, it normally only operates between Carlisle and Whitehaven on a Sunday. However, for the Sunday of the Festival, we are opening all the signal boxes and manned level crossings along the entire route just for the one day. As far as we know, this is the first time for over 30 years there will have been an all day Sunday service. For train times, follow this link to the special timetable.

And the photo at the top of this post?

It's Cumbria's equivalent of the Dawlish sea wall near Whitehaven - and personally I think it is far more dramatic.

Makeover for Nelson, and Carlisle gets in the festival mood

2009-09-05T10:54:00.008+02:00

I haven't had the opportunity to blog for a few days so two posts in one this time.

Firstly, Nelson. No, not Horatio, but the Lancashire town that bears his name - even though the great man was actually born in Norfolk.

Anyone who knows their railway geography will know that the station is the penultimate stop on the line served by Northern trains between Blackpool South and Colne. It is an unremarkable station that is little used - well, according to the ORR (Office of Rail Regulation) stats 64,533 passengers used it in 2007/8, which is not very many in the grand scheme of things. (If anyone is into their stats, the ORR publishes passenger usage details for every station in the country.)

Why then did various bodies, led by Lancashire County Council, invest in the region of £4.5m by building a completely new bus/rail interchange to replace the ageing station ticket office?

Two reasons:- you have to speculate to accumulate as they say, and the station was not a welcoming site. The other is a chap called Richard Watts. Richard is the rail officer at Lancashire County Council and has a passion for all things public transport, and it is largely due to him that passenger facilities at a great many stations in the county are considerably better now than they were in days gone by.

Having built the brand spanking shiny new interchange, the rest of the station looked dire. It was unloved and suffered at the hands of the local intelligentsia. The canopy that spans the island platform had panes of glass missing, the paint was peeling and the colour scheme went back to a 'heritage' livery of red and green favoured in the old BR days.

So we (Network Rail) set about putting it right by replacing 420 cracked/vandalised glazing panels and the tie bars that hold them in place. We cleaned it and gave it a new coat of paint, this time in blue and white and £200,000 later it looks brilliant.

The underside of the roof before and after the refurbishment

The railings protecting the subway ramp up to the platforms, before and after

We didn't stop there, though.

Although the station has an island platform, it only has one line running through it. Not sure when the line was singled but I don't remember it and I have been in the north west since the mid-1980s. The type of trains that serve the station are primarily two-car Class 142 Pacer diesels built in the 1980s when the country was less fussy about effluent. What I am trying to say in the politest possible way is that when you flush the toilet on these trains, it simply gets dumped on the railway tracks. Thankfully, it is now a requirement that all modern trains have to have CETs or Controlled Emission Toilets, where everything is collected in a tank and pumped out when the train gets to the depot.

Anyway, the toilet waste and other things such as oil that always seems to drip from older trains meant the track was badly contaminated and the track bed of ballast (the stones that the track sits on) and sleepers had to be changed. so, over two weekends we removed the track, dug down and got rid of all the old contaminated ballast, put down a waterproof membrane and 720 tonnes of new stone. The rails themselves were still in good nick so we were able to re-use them, simply by clipping them to new sleepers.

Total cost for the track job was £103,000, so all in all, this unremarkable station in East Lancashire has had the best part of £5m spent on it in the last year.

I have rambled enough - the Carlisle story will have to wait for a bit.

A day of two firsts

2009-08-30T10:58:00.008+02:00

Last week I was invited to an event at Blackpool North station. As with many official events I have attended in my 25 years working with the media, this one was presided over by the town crier. The difference this time - and it's the first time I have come across this - is that Blackpool's Town Crier Barry Mcqueen came dressed in a kilt and carrying bagpipes rather than the usual regalia, bell and loud voice. And here is the evidence to prove it.

The event was to honour a World War 2 mid-air collision between two Royal Air Force planes over Blackpool on 27 Aug 1941, and the heroics of one particular policeman and this is where the other 'first' comes in. It was the first time since the accident 68 years ago that the event had been officially recognised in this way.

It came about because an officer from the British Transport Police was searching the Internet for old railway photos of Blackpool. He couldn't understand why one of the search results was directing him to an air investigation page. When he followed the link he ended up on the website of the Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team and the story of the mid-air collision.

You can read the story for yourself but briefly, two aircraft - a Botha and a Defiant - collided over Blackpool and the Botha ended up crashing into Central Station.

The aircraft spilled aviation fuel all over the station and a number of people were killed. The station was so badly damaged that it never reopened.

The research by the BTP officer revealed that a PC Thomas Beeston, then an officer with the London Midland & Scottish Railway Police - a forerunner of the current BTP - was one of the heroes of the incident, but that there was no memorial on any railway establishment. So, working with Rev Richard Cook who is a Railway Chaplain for Lancashire and train operator Northern, he set about creating a permanent memorial and the event was the dedication of two plaques now on display in the station concourse.

Here is a selection of photos from the dedication service.

Plans for new high speed rail line unveiled

2009-08-26T11:55:00.007+02:00

Network Rail has announced plans for a new 200mph high speed rail line to connect London with Manchester, Preston and Glasgow/Edinburgh. It will also have 'spurs' to serve Birmingham, and Liverpool via Warrington.

For full details of the announcement, take a look at the news release. The release also includes a CGI 'journey' over the new route.

To get the best overview take a look at the summary glossy brochure. It's only 12 pages (whereas the full study is 1500 pages and the exec summary is 120) and contains everything you are likely to want to know. It even includes a sample timetable.

The line will cost £34bn and take 10 years to build.

Children - who'd have them?

2009-08-18T14:40:00.007+02:00

I like children - but I have got to the stage now where my son is 26 years old, lives and works in London and my wife and I see him as and when his and our busy lives allow. Fortunately, he works near Euston station so when I go to London for a meeting, I usually make time to catch up with him for a coffee. I think I have got the life/work balance just about right.

Even though he is 26, I can still recall the occasional heart-stopping moment when we have been out and about with him as a child, stopped to look at something, maybe in a shop or garden centre, let go of his hand for just a moment - and he was gone. It didn't happen often and he was never very far away, but it still caused that moment of panic.

Those few moments brought home to me a new scheme that Network Rail has got involved with at Lime Street station in Liverpool. It's one of those 'it's so simple, why hasn't anyone thought of this before' ideas for keeping kids safe in the city. Lots of other shops and businesses are involved, too.

Its nothing more than a wristband and kids love wearing wristbands, don't they?. It's part of a national scheme called Child Safe Zones which is being promoted in Liverpool by the City Central BID team.

All you do is when you arrive at the station, go to the reception office near Platform 1 and the staff will give the adult a wristband. They then write their mobile or other contact number on it and wrap it round the child's wrist and off they go. Simple, as a certain insurance ad says.

If you subsequently get separated from your little darling, don't worry. When you get the wristband, you are given the telephone number for the office that controls the CCTV cameras in the city and they can immediately start searching for your child.

If you are the child, then all you need to do is head for any of the shops etc displaying the Child Safe Zone logo and you will know that you will be looked after safely until mum or dad turns up. What the shop staff do is look at the contact number on the wristband, call it and parent and child are soon reunited.

Putting a lid on Walkden station

2009-08-18T14:15:00.004+02:00

Walkden station is on one of the main commuter routes between Manchester and Wigan, the one known as the Atherton line. (Coincidentally, Atherton is where I first moved to with my wife and son in the mid-1980s when my railway career found me moving house from Kent to Greater Manchester.)

It was originally built and opened in 1888 and the station buildings that still remain (some have long gone) are the originals.

We have just started a £120,000 project to renew the roof over the station buildings. I should really have said 'roofs' because there are several at different levels. Work should be completed in early November.

The reason for the post is really to draw your attention to the website of the Friends of Walkden Station or FOWS as they are known for short. There is a link to it on the right of my blog. Take a look - it is really worth it.

There are many Friends groups around the country and they can be a boon or a bane.

Those like FOWS, or the Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line, Ribble Valley Rail and a few others I could mention, do lots of voluntary work looking after station gardens, welcoming passengers, reporting vandalism and creating a genuine community spirit round their station or line.

Others, and I am too much of a gentleman to name them, do nothing but whinge and are the bane of the railway industry.

It's that time again.

2009-08-18T13:44:00.002+02:00

Another bank holiday on the horizon and time for the media pundits to trot out their usual 'chaos on the railway' stories. I suppose after over 20 years in the railway media business I should be used to it - but it still annoys me that many (but not all) journalists take the easy option.

Yes there is a lot of work going on - but 95% of the railway is operating normally.

That means if you look at it in hard terms of numbers of trains, this is what is running compared to last year:-

Aug BH 2008/2009

Sat 17900/19390

Sun 10134/10942

Mon 17090/18341

BH total 47132/50682

Change 8%+

That's over 3,500 more trains this bank hol compared to last year. I know that doesn't help if you are on one of the affected routes, and believe me, we don't want to put people on buses if there is an alternative route trains can be diverted over, but at the end of the day, when are we supposed to do the work?

There are more trains in the timetable, running at faster speeds than ever before. That means less time at night or in between trains to carry out maintenance work, more of which is needed because faster and more frequent trains wear the track out more quickly.

We need to get better at doing the work and find new and innovative ways to get it done in the time available to us, and we are doing this. We are currently conducting trial work on the Wigan - Kirkby line. So far as bank hols are concerned, for the immediate future we will continue to do the major pieces of work at this time because this is when far fewer people travel by train.

Another young life needlessly lost

2009-08-11T13:41:00.004+02:00

I have been away for a long weekend visiting relatives in the Bournemouth area and returned to work today to learn that a 13 year old lad had died on Sunday in the railway deport in Allerton, Merseyside.

All the details are contained in a lengthy report in the Liverpool Echo newspaper.

It seems he climbed on top of a covered car carrying wagon similar to this and came into close proximity with the overhead power lines. Unfortunately, many people do not understand the power of electricity. These power lines carry 25,000 volts of electricity. That's 100 times more powerful than the domestic supply, and you don't have to touch them to be electrocuted. The electricity can jump or arc in the same way that lightning strikes. The safe working distance for those of us in the industry is three metres. Any closer than that and you risk getting zapped. Given that kind of power, the chances are that you will be killed.

On Merseyside there is a further chance of electrocution for anyone taking a shortcut or misusing the railway because the Merseyrail trains run on what is known as the 'third rail' system. This is where the train takes its electric power from an additional rail laid at ground level alongside the running lines. This third rail carries 750 volts. Doesn't sound as powerful, does it? The difference is that this is dc electricity as opposed to ac electricity in the overhead power lines. DC electricity acts as a magnet, so if you happen to step on it, you can't get free. What happens is that you are 'stuck' there until somebody turns off the supply. In the meantime, you have got 750 volts of electricity surging through your body. You will be severely burned, may be killed by the effects on your body - or you may get hit by a train because you can't get out of the way.

I have never understood the attraction that playing on the railway holds for youngsters. When I was young I lived alongside the Brighton to Portsmouth line, which like Merseyrail, is a third rail line. It never occurred to me to play on it. I used to get up to other antics that don't bear repeating but playing on the railway was not one of them.

We do our best to educate young people as to the dangers of playing on the railway through our No Messin' campaign, but anyone who has a foolproof way of stopping it is urged to come forward.

A treat in store

2009-08-05T13:10:00.002+02:00

On my recent visit to Broadbottom I picked up a copy of the local Community Association newsletter. I like to do this when out and about because it can give an insight into village life and the issues are that concern the residents. This particular newsletter is a well written black and white A5 publication.

The spring edition which I took with me (next one due out in September) contains interesting articles on the Big Green Spring Clean, the preparations for their entry in the 2010 Britain in Bloom competition, the local photographic club etc.

The one that caught my eye, however, was all about the couple who took over the running of the post office in 2003. Along with the article was this photo and caption.

Perhaps more suitable wording could have been chosen – or is the young lady in question single and looking for a partner?

Oh, the irony of it all

2009-08-04T21:59:00.002+02:00

On Monday I and three colleagues went to Broadbottom, Derbyshire to set up a display stand in the local community centre for a public information drop-in session we were hosting. We are about to start refurbishing a railway viaduct in the village and wanted to let local residents know what was involved. After all, the work is taking 40 weeks to complete so it is only fair they know what we are doing and the impact it might have on their lives.

We duly set up the stand and the locals started to arrive

The main focus of attention for the first dozen or so was not so much the viaduct but the fact that we and train operator Northern had given the council notice to remove some recycling bins that had been put in the station car park without permission and were a fire hazard in the present location. It wasn’t helped by the presence of the local councillor (clad in motorbike leathers) standing outside the centre handing out protest leaflets.

Most of the resident had genuine concerns about things such as noise and night-time work, the effect on train services – that sort of thing - and in the most part we were able to satisfy them. But there is always one!

I was approached by one smartly dressed young lady and we were having a reasonable conversation when she asked what time the work would be carried out. Well, I knew it was Mon t0 Fri during daylight hours so told her that, and that usually meant between seven in the morning and seven in the evening. At that point the project manager arrived ad he had the latest info which was that working hours would be between 0800 and 1600 – even better news for my lady resident – but no.

At that point she said the evening was nothing but a PR stunt, we were simply suits showing off pretty pictures, we didn’t know what was going on and that I was a liar (because I had told her one thing then changed what I had said about the times).

At that point I told her that I was not prepared to have a conversation with someone who called me a liar and walked away. She then asked me my name upon which I said I can do better than that and gave her my business card. I await the outcome.

When the evening was over we packed up and headed back to the office in Manchester, where I left the office car and caught my train home to Stafford, arriving at about 2330.

Climbed into bed and eventually dropped off to sleep only to be woken up at 0230 by my employers doing some track maintenance on the west coast main line at the bottom of my cul de sac.

How ironic!

Civic bling for Ormskirk

2009-08-03T12:33:00.012+02:00

Ormskirk station is a terminal station with a difference, the difference being that it has a set of buffer stops in the middle of the track. It's a bit of an oddity in that diesel trains operated by Northern run from Preston to Ormskirk, where they terminate at the buffers (there will be a bit of a mess if they don't!). Passengers can then walk along the platform (if they wish) and catch a third-rail electric train operated by Merseyrail from Ormskirk into Liverpool.

With the British summer being somewhat contrary at the moment we didn't know what to expect last Friday for the official opening of the refurbished station. However, the Gods smiled on us and it was sunshine all the way, which is just as well because we had the Mayor and Mayoress of West Lancs, plus the Town Crier in all their finery.

This was the sight that greeted and slightly spooked my friend Scott who publishes the Round the Merseyrail We Go blog.

The event was a celebration of what lots of different organisations can do when they all pull together. Not everyone can throw vast sums of money at a project like this but when you get seven pooling their resources, you suddenly have £1.8m to spend.

It was originally intended that Lord Adonis the Sec of State for Transport would do the honours and he had it in his diary but pulled out with a couple of weeks to go. Sir William McAlpine, Chairman of the Railway Heritage Trust, was able to step up to the dais and fortunately there was still time to get the wording changed on the official plaque. Sir William is seen unveiling the plaque with Town Crier Don Evans.

What struck me was the quality of the workmanship that had gone into the project.

The canopy over the platform had been stripped down, repaired, and repainted and is now a gleaming white.
The ticket hall is combined with a waiting area and has toilets, and there is provision for a vending machine. The ticket window is modern, light, airy and is much more welcoming than previously. Even the Merseyrail yellow and grey corporate livery has been used sympathetically, and there is some quite stunning ceiling work.

Finally, when you visit the station, raise your eyeline. I know you have to look in front of you so you can see where you are going but when it is safe to do so (sounds like a public service announcement) stop and spend a moment or two looking at the roof of the station. The detail that has gone into the chimney stacks is simply wonderful.

Why can't all stations look this good?

Ribblehead Viaduct - a walk on the wild side!

2009-07-28T14:34:00.012+02:00

Well, the weekend of the viaduct walk finally arrived, after months of preparation so I took the opportunity to spend the Saturday in the Dales.

The weather was absolutely glorious and I spent the time visiting old haunts, as I am a regular in the area. Before I get on to the business at hand, if you are ever in the Dales, then there are two 'musts' as far as I am concerned.

First of all, make sure you get over to Reeth. When you do, you will find there are several tearooms to choose from dotted round the village green. Most are good but the 'must' is The White House, which you will find tucked away in a corner near the info office. It is run by John and Richard and is a wonderful example of what service is all about. Richard is 'front of house' where he looks after the two dozen or so guests (it is only tiny) and John is in the kitchen where he makes all the food himself. Whether it's coffee and toasted teacakes in the morning, a light lunch or afternoon tea, you will not be disappointed. To give you an idea how good it is, they serve Sunday lunch (in fact, that is all they serve on a Sunday) and they are fully booked a year in advance.

The second 'must' is Aysgarth. Once you have done the falls make sure you visit the Mill Race Tearoom. The food is superb. I had a piece of strawberry and coconut cake - to die for. They do a wonderful selection of home made breads, scones, cakes etc and is not to be missed.

(Can you tell I like my tea and cakes?)

And now to the point of this post.

The weather on Sunday was atrocious - a complete contrast to Saturday and shows just how contrary it can be. That didn't deter people, though. Just checked with the organisers and they pre-sold 2,800 tickets and a large number of people turned up on spec in spite of the weather, so we got to the 3,000 limit we set.

The day in prospect for the intrepid 3,000

Tom Lister, the actor who plays Carl King in Emmerdale, lives not too far away and kindly agreed to officially open the walks. He turned up right on schedule in spite of the weather, and must have wondered just what he had let himself in for. And I have to say, what a charming young man he is. I spent a fair bit of time with him and he seemed genuinely interested in the viaduct, the railway and the efforts of all concerned who make the Settle - Carlisle line the success it is. In spite of the conditions, when he had walked across the viaduct and was somewhat wet, he still had time to have his photograph taken with 'the girls in the kitchen.'

(In the photo below, yours truly is the Tango Man on the right.)

Actor Tom Lister, (Carl King in Emmerdale) cuts the tape to 'open' the walks

As well as the walks, there were a number of displays, which no doubt got more patronage than expected because they were under cover. More used to these sorts of conditions were the cave rescue team who brought an exhibition caravan and their rescue dogs. They were soon joined by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which landed at around midday in spite of worsening weather conditions.

And the next group, please!

Nearing the end of the line

Since the walk there have been numerous entries on photo-sharing sites, and wonderful expressions of thanks etc on people's blogs, which in turn have attracted comments from around the world.

It was a long, wet and tiring day but I am pleased to say that the railway line, which had been closed for the best part of three weeks while we carried out some strengthening work (see my Kirkby Thore post below), opened on schedule as planned this morning.

(All photos courtesy of Chris Dixon)

Piccadilly Pipers

2009-07-27T13:43:00.009+02:00

(photos courtesy of Chris James)

Passengers at Manchester's Piccadilly station were given a treat last Thursday when they were entertained by 20 members of the Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Pipe Band. Why does the fire service have a pipe band, I hear you ask? Honest answer - I have no idea, but they have been in existence since the 1950s. And they are pretty good.

How do I know this, apart from listening to them perform outside the station? They have made it through to the World Pipe Band championships being held in Glasgow next month.

They are so proud of the fact, that they wanted to perform at a venu where their music could be heard by a wide-ranging audience, and it certainly was. The pipers and drummers formed a semi-circle outside the main entrance to the station and soon attracted a small crowd, who tapped their feet and clapped appreciateively to the music.

Not knowing anything about pipe music, I was expecting all the usual numbers that you might get at say, a military tattoo, but there was only one such number. All the rest were contemporary pieces and I was amazed at their ability to change tempo within set pieces.

The other thing I hadn't realised it that bagpipes have to be tuned. Right at the start all the pipers lined up playing some basic notes while a rather tall man wallked from piper to piper with an electronic gizmo about the size of a packet of 20, which he placed at the top of each pipe. He then gave each individual pipe a twist until he got the correct reading on his bit of kit.

You learn something new every day.

Kirkby Thore

2009-07-20T15:01:00.006+02:00

Went to Kirkby Thore on the Settle - Carlisle line last week where we are carrying out some major refurbishment work and track renewal.

The work is valued at £6m and involves strengthening to the road-over-rail bridge that carries the Long Marton to Kirkby Thore road, reconstruction of a bridge over a farm track and the infilling of another farm track bridge. At the same time we are renewing the best part of a mile of railway track and when we have finished, we will be able to remove a 30mph speed restriction that has been in existance for nearly 40 years.

The speed restriction was necessary because the land round the railway line was subsiding. Large 'sink holes' or craters were appearing where the land was sinking into old gypsum mine workings.

While the work is going on, the line is closed from 9 to 28 July.

The mile-long worksite.

Pouring concrete for one of the slabs

A completed slab with bitumen waterproofing

The reconstructed bridge over the farm track

Reinforcing to road bridge on the Long Marton - Kirkby Thore road.

Anyone who wants to see what a sink hole looks like can take a look at the photo attached to my news release.