Memories of an Old Railwayman

Well, that’s me. I’m nearly 50 you know! Random memories occasionally pop into my head. Does anyone remember these international rail freight operations:

Transfesa Onion Traffic From time to time when I was driving around my sales patch in the mid 1980s I would come across one of these wagons, usually sitting in complete isolation in the middle of an otherwise empty freight yard. I think they were two axle affairs, coloured Transfesa blue and with slatted sides. Unusually these included gaps to allow air to circulate. They contained sacks of onions from Spain. Over a matter of days a chap in a van, presumably working for a vegetable wholesaler,  would arrive and take out a few bags.  When empty the van would make its way back to Spain.

I often wondered how this business was managed. Presumably someone in Spain had a list of British Rail terminals and would despatch a wagon and inform his customer. In those days Speedlink could transport the wagon from the Trainferry to the terminal.

Dry Ice The UK railway industry has been very backwards in offering services to carry refrigerated goods – although now there are a few new services carrying fresh fruit and veg from the continent via the Channel Tunnel. In the 1980s I seem to remember that chilled goods were transported from the continent and sometimes back to the continent in specialised wagons. These had no chiller units or temperature control. Instead they included a compartment which was filled with dry ice at the start of the journey. Hopefully by the end the product was still cold.

Nowadays chilled or frozen goods have to be continuously monitored and if the temperature falls outside a tight margin the product is considered unsaleable. Again, its hard to imagine that such a service worked, but it did.

Lastly – a quick apology. Sorry I haven’t posted for such a long time. But there is plenty to come in the next few weeks.

Public Transport – Not Always Easy!

First a quick apology as I haven’t blogged since my holiday.

In common with most of my friends and family, I pride myself on using public transport whenever possible. But I sometimes wish it could be easier.

My journey: The Trafford Centre to Manchester Piccadilly. I did my research. I knew that Metrolink is closed in the city centre and so doesn’t serve Piccadilly station directly. I knew that there was a frequent bus 250 direct from the Trafford Centre to Manchester Piccadilly.

I found the bus station at the Trafford Centre. IT has 15 nicely designed stands. It has a roof but is otherwise open to the elements. It does NOT have a simple list of destinations, the routes that serve them, and the stand where you catch those buses. So all you can do is walk down each stand and read the timetables. I found the 250 stand and the Metrolink shuttle stand. That was how I found that the 250 doesn’t serve Piccadilly Station – it goes to Piccadilly Gardens. Silly me? Hard to decide whether to use the 250 and make my own way to the station, or the shuttle service then tram then replacement bus to the station.

This decision was not made easier by the complete lack of real time information at the bus station. The 250 arrived very late, and at the same timer as the ML1 shuttle. I opted for the shuttle.

Next annoyance: the shuttle whisks you out of the Trafford Centre then several minutes later it serves another stop somewhere else around the centre. Then several minutes after that it serves a third stop. This might be convenient but it effectively doubles the journey time.

Next annoyance: get to Stretford to change to the tram. Would you believe there is no real time information on the tram station? I hope this is being rectified during the current renewals and expansion.

Next annoyance: the replacement bus is a few minutes walk from the tram stop at St. Peters Square. Not a particular hassle, but it was raining. The bus is supposed to be every 12 minutes. I waited 20.

Then I arrived at Piccadilly having just missed the London train. That was when I remembered the good news: London trains now run 3 times an hour, so I effectively got straight on the next train.

I know I am sounding like a grumpy old man, and maybe I am spoilt because I work in London where the bus information is superb. But even in my home town of Crawley most stops have real time information – I can even see how my bus is running using the internet before I leave home.

GMPTE has a reputation of operating a world class public transport system. But information is certainly lacking, and that detracts from the whole experience.

Where In The World?

. . . and there is no clue in the file name if you happen to find it!

Future of Rail

I’m off to Mull for a week, so here’s something to think about.

The railway is approaching a financial crisis. Revenues will be down for a year or two, franchises will be supported by the government in most cases. Investment is up. Massively. Electrification and HS2 are being planned, while Crossrail and Thameslink are (kind of) under way.

What should the railway be doing from 2014 onwards? Continue to invest to meet  demand and improve quality? Or retrench to ensure that value for money is delivered from the schemes already underway?

Its not an easy question because the railway is, in my opinion, bloated and out of control on costs.

Welcome to Thailand!

Greenwich Thai Festival, last weekend, was excellent. Freshly barbecued prawns, mango and sticky rice, iced coffeee, smoothies, Thai music, lots of people smiling and having fun in the sun.

Mr Confident

Miss Confident. Could they be . . .? Surely not . . . This IS Thailand though.

More photos on my smugmug site.

Favourite Places

I love cities and I love the countryside. These are some of my favourite cities:

London – of course. The greatest city in the world. The nicest and safest place to simply wander around. Superb architecture. Excellent culture. Great food. Friendly people. I could never stay away for long.

Bangkok- of course. I confess I am addicted. Its like diving into a maelstrom of traffic, people, smells and heat. Bangkok is vibrant and exciting. The best part is obviously the people – incredibly friendly and usually smiling. Its quite a safe city. The food is superb. I love the oases of cool and calm such as the many 5* hotels, the river, and the temples. I will always go back. A year away from Bangkok is a bad year.

Norwich – “A Fine City”. Relaxed, good food, compact, great culture. Good university!

Lisbon –  I have had several business trips there and I love the place.  Very friendly. Compact. Decent food. Stunning views. The most fun tram system in Europe. Brilliant fado music.

Birmingham – but I could equally say Manchester, Nottingham, Glasgow, or Newcastle. The renaissance of the British city is an unnoticed success of the last 15 years, and one for which the government should take credit.

Also rans: Valencia, Prague, Singapore

Not placed:  Paris, Rome, Moscow

Southern – No Pride

Along with dozens of other people my son and his friends turned up at Three Bridges to travel to Brighton for Brighton Pride. With four sixteen year olds and a fourteen year old, Groupsave would be the ideal ticket. But guess what? Southern suspends Groupsave for Brighton Pride day (also for White Air and the Lewes Bonfire Day).  While we were waiting we heard three other groups of people find this out at the ticket sales point. They were all as annoyed as we were.

Now I understand that Groupsave is designed to fill empty of peak seats, and that there would be fewer empty seats on Pride day. But to the customer this looks like nothing less than a rip-off.  Southern advertise a product, and on the one day someone wants to use it they withdraw it. Sneaky.

It wasn’t made any better by the fact that the ticket office doors at Three Bridges were stuck closed – resulting in huge queues at the ticket machine.

Don’t get me wrong – I do like Southern. I like their nice trains, and the range of good fares. But they do need to get their act together in other ways.

Journey to Work

How should I travel from Three Bridges to my office near Oxford Circus each day? There are lots of options:

1: Three Bridges to Victoria then Victoria line to Oxford Circus then walk.

• Three Bridges – Victoria = 40 minutes
• Victoria – Wells Street = 16 minutes including 5 minute walk
• Two trains per hour from Three Bridges
• BUT Victoria line horribly crowded – you have to wait for several trains to pass before you can squeeze on. Coming home is just as bad – see my last post!
• Walking along Oxford Street in the morning is pleasant. Walking along Oxford Street in the afternoon is hell.

2: Three Bridges to City Thameslink then bus – Wardour Street then a short walk

• Three Bridges – City Thameslink = 52 minutes
• City Thameslink – Wells Street = 25 minutes including 5 minute walk
• BUT only one suitable train from Three Bridges
• Bus trip much nicer than tube
• Walking across Oxford Street much easier

3: Three Bridges to London Bridge then tube and walk

• Three Bridges – London Bridge = 39 minutes
• London Bridge – Wells Street = 25 minutes including 15 minute walk
• 2 trains per hour from Three Bridges
• Jubilee line pretty busy
• Walking along Oxford Street in the morning is OK

So, what to do? Pick and mix at the moment. Victoria is fine in the mornings, but really difficult in the evenings from Oxford Circus. I tend to go home via City Thameslink as I like the bus trip and the longer train journey gives me more time to read the new paper.

Welcome to Oxford Street

My journey home last night . . . .

Oxford Circus Station - 15th July 2009

I could not even get in to Oxford Street Station. After a wait in the crowd I took a slow bus to Charing Cross, a train to London Bridge and then crammed on to the most crowded Thameslink train I have ever seen. The guy in front of me started shouting really loud at passengers to move up. It was exceptionally hot, and took ages to crawl to Three Bridges.

Fortunately I have a huge variety of alternative routes to and from my new office. Victoria to Oxford Circus in the morning is survivable, but I think I will have to find a better way home!

Blogroll: Dave Hill

One of the handful of sites I visit every day. As it says on his Guardian profile:

Dave Hill is a novelist, blogger, occasional broadcaster and long-standing writer for the Guardian.

Dave keeps his ear to the ground and provides fair comment on a range of issues – particularly, of course, the day to day tribulations of mayor Boris Johnson and his diminishing team. But the blog is not just a political getto – it includes insights and comments on London life from a very warm and human perspective. I suspect the subject of chicken feed will feature a lot this week!