Welsh Minister explains why Cambrian is not hourly

[Gareth Marston]

Love this, is it the head of ATW or the head of NR Engineering Wales,played by an actor thinking

"why do we let the office cat make decisions at 2.00p.m. on Fridays"reply on a postcard only. Answer we finish at noon on Fridays and it was only £100K

Reports that a cat having booked itself into The St Davids Cardiff Bay Hotel at £300 a night, are being looked into, further reports state the cat may have had access to ATW timetables for September.

Farce comes to mind

Cant be SARPA columnist "The Brigadier's" cat Dusty - Shes quite switched on.
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5J07 0950 Aberystwyth - Machynlleth CS (sx) is now booked to run through the loop at Dyfi and this arrangement started Monday 23 July and it ran as booked last Wednesday (25th)

a minor miracle given whats been going on and of course this should be attached to the 0930 ABR to INTL but that's another tale of woe! At least they cant pull the points haven't been used trick on Dyfi loop now.

 

[The Informer]

I've just read the Grip 3 and 4 reports that ertms may change sectional running times was never even considered even though the reports acknowledge it was coming. There also seems some imperative in 08 to get work done quickly judging by comments in text.
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I heard that one to. Will points at Dyfi Jnc be declared unsafe as nothing has used the new loop there I wonder?

How can they be unsafe if nothing has used them??? They would still have periodic inspections/maintenance on them, quite the opposite if anything!!
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A little bird told me that as it had been left out in the open and not installed for a certain amount of time, it had to be scrapped/dismantled/couldn't be used, and that it cost £100,000. P1ssed right down the drain.

What a load of B****cks!

 

[Swr28]

Have been informed by ATW guard that the Machynlleth drivers will soon be learning the route from Shrewsbury to Crewe.

Arriva have or should i say had ambitions to send some the hourly services to Crewe.

And in my opinion far better for the passenger, easier station station to change and more frequent to Euston/Birmingham/Manchester etc

 

[merlodlliw]

Have been informed by ATW guard that the Machynlleth drivers will soon be learning the route from Shrewsbury to Crewe.

Arriva have or should i say had ambitions to send some the hourly services to Crewe.

And in my opinion far better for the passenger, easier station station to change and more frequent to Euston/Birmingham/Manchester etc

According to a Statement from the then CEO of ATW(he who bought the mark 2 carriages) a few years back,all drivers were to learn the main routes,perhaps he meant depts other than Mach.

A Route from Aberyswyth to Crewe makes a lot of sense,although this occurred on many weekends during engineering.

Bob
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How can they be unsafe if nothing has used them??? They would still have periodic inspections/maintenance on them, quite the opposite if anything!!
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What a load of B****cks!

I appreciate the hidden word usually means what keeps his ears apart,you Informer as your handle implies are very well informed, so did Gog get it wrong?£100K

 

[the-gog]

According to a Statement from the then CEO of ATW(he who bought the mark 2 carriages) a few years back,all drivers were to learn the main routes,perhaps he meant depts other than Mach.

A Route from Aberyswyth to Crewe makes a lot of sense,although this occurred on many weekends during engineering.

Bob
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I appreciate the hidden word usually means what keeps his ears apart,you Informer as your handle implies are very well informed, so did Gog get it wrong?£100K

That figure came from our contacts on the ground, and we have many of them in this area.

 

[The Informer]

That figure came from our contacts on the ground, and we have many of them in this area.

Makes me laugh really because they're aint that many "on the ground" as they say these days! Especially ones that actually know the fine details of things.

 

[the-gog]

Makes me laugh really because they're aint that many "on the ground" as they say these days!

Did I say it was exclusively Network Rail? Er, no, I didn't. Why do you find it funny that railway staff give us this gen? Do you also find it so amusing that in all probability NR p1ssed £100k up the wall? We don't. We keep a close eye on Network Rail's waste in this area, and we're generally not amused. That includes a number of professional chartered engineers who are as unimpressed as me and my friends. Gareth Marston confirms what we've been told, so that's two seperate sources to this message board. He'll have his own contacts.

 

[The Informer]

Did I say it was exclusively Network Rail?

Did I?

Why do you find it funny that railway staff give us this gen?

The only thing that amused me was your "on the ground" quote.

Do you also find it so amusing that in all probability NR p1ssed £100k up the wall?

"Probability" being the WORD in that line!

We keep a close eye on Network Rail's waste in this area, and we're generally not amused.

WASTE? as in what? So maybe NR should pull the plug on the Cambrian Campaign Track Renewal programme that has recently finished for the time being but starts up again in the near future then?
IMO the Cambrian has had a huge chunk of investment and has more to come whilst other routes in Wales have seen hardly nothing at all. Maybe when the infrastructure has had many more millions wasted upon it whilst being improved to a much higher standard then maybe, just maybe, we may see that hourly service after all!

He'll have his own contacts.

And so do I.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Did I say it was exclusively Network Rail? Er, no, I didn't. Why do you find it funny that railway staff give us this gen? Do you also find it so amusing that in all probability NR p1ssed £100k up the wall? We don't. We keep a close eye on Network Rail's waste in this area, and we're generally not amused. That includes a number of professional chartered engineers who are as unimpressed as me and my friends. Gareth Marston confirms what we've been told, so that's two seperate sources to this message board. He'll have his own contacts.

Its not the first time a railway employee on this forum has expressed credulity about what other railway employees not on this forum say. The fact is theirs several ways railway staff express views about their industry this forum being but one. I don't imagine for one moment that any particular person holds the gospel of truth and I know some who come up with all sorts of story's however there are those out there with a track record of being right built up over many years. Experience tells us that we believe them.
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Did I?



The only thing that amused me was your "on the ground" quote.




"Probability" being the WORD in that line!



WASTE? as in what? So maybe NR should pull the plug on the Cambrian Campaign Track Renewal programme that has recently finished for the time being but starts up again in the near future then?
IMO the Cambrian has had a huge chunk of investment and has more to come whilst other routes in Wales have seen hardly nothing at all. Maybe when the infrastructure has had many more millions wasted upon it whilst being improved to a much higher standard then maybe, just maybe, we may see that hourly service after all!

It wasn't people on this forum that made those decisions so there's no point in directing you're ire at those of us from that neck of the woods. I've been on record on this forum several times saying I do not condone rob Peter to pay Paul but the reality is even with the huge sums knocking about someone else get first bite of the cherry.

ERTMS supporters in NR have a huge vested interest in the pilot trial succeeding. That there ancillary spend to help timekeeping of trains should be no surprise - a late runing problematic Cambrian would not be the best advert for ertms. Remember how many £ billions it will need to be rolled out across UK. Cambrian Campaign Track Renewal programme is chicken feed to the potential bonanza for the signalling industry.

 

[the-gog]

The only thing that amused me was your "on the ground" quote

Perhaps I was being too obtuse. By that I mean the various staff members who work on the railway locally and not in some plush office in Cardiff/Crewe/Brum/wherever. In other words, the people at the coal face.
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Its not the first time a railway employee on this forum has expressed credulity about what other railway employees not on this forum say. The fact is theirs several ways railway staff express views about their industry this forum being but one. I don't imagine for one moment that any particular person holds the gospel of truth and I know some who come up with all sorts of story's however there are those out there with a track record of being right built up over many years. Experience tells us that we believe them.
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It wasn't people on this forum that made those decisions so there's no point in directing you're ire at those of us from that neck of the woods. I've been on record on this forum several times saying I do not condone rob Peter to pay Paul but the reality is even with the huge sums knocking about someone else get first bite of the cherry.

ERTMS supporters in NR have a huge vested interest in the pilot trial succeeding. That there ancillary spend to help timekeeping of trains should be no surprise - a late runing problematic Cambrian would not be the best advert for ertms. Remember how many £ billions it will need to be rolled out across UK. Cambrian Campaign Track Renewal programme is chicken feed to the potential bonanza for the signalling industry.

Indeed Gareth. Like you, we trust our first-hand sources of info. There's an awful lot of gen about ERTMS that I and one or two others have been privy to but we keep quiet about it to save a lot of people an awful lot of bother, not to say furious politicians demanding answers, public accountability, etc. etc.

 

[tirphil]

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Indeed Gareth. Like you, we trust our first-hand sources of info. There's an awful lot of gen about ERTMS that I and one or two others have been privy to but we keep quiet about it to save a lot of people an awful lot of bother, not to say furious politicians demanding answers, public accountability, etc. etc.

Information and opinion about ERTMS depends on which driver/signaller you talk to. Some are more open minded about the system than others. Some are more enthusiastic than others. Some are more trusting than others.

In general, if I may say so, drivers at Machynlleth that have driven under signalling systems other than RETB are more open minded to ERTMS than those drivers that haven't. Enthusiasm for the system is more randomly spread. As for trust, most drivers are wary because it is a new system.

I am not a signaller so it is not my place to comment on their views.

 

[the sniper]

Perhaps I was being too obtuse. By that I mean the various staff members who work on the railway locally and not in some plush office in Cardiff/Crewe/Brum/wherever. In other words, the people at the coal face.

Though I don't like to just wade into a thread like this, staff 'on the coal face' of the railway are generally the last ones to find out most things...

 

[the-gog]

Information and opinion about ERTMS depends on which driver/signaller you talk to. Some are more open minded about the system than others. Some are more enthusiastic than others. Some are more trusting than others.

In general, if I may say so, drivers at Machynlleth that have driven under signalling systems other than RETB are more open minded to ERTMS than those drivers that haven't. Enthusiasm for the system is more randomly spread. As for trust, most drivers are wary because it is a new system.

I am not a signaller so it is not my place to comment on their views.

That's sort of the feedback we've been getting, but I'm referring to other issues that ERTMS has brought up, and how these things have been managed.

 

[tirphil]

That's sort of the feedback we've been getting, but I'm referring to other issues that ERTMS has brought up, and how these things have been managed.

I know what you mean but with the greatest respect it is best if I do not comment. I am sure you appreciate the reasons why.

 

[the-gog]

I know what you mean but with the greatest respect it is best if I do not comment. I am sure you appreciate the reasons why.

Absolutely. I know where you're coming from. As for the reliability of our sources at "the coalface," let's just say they've not been proven incorrect yet.