£5000 to commute between York and Newcastle

Phillip Hammond, our Transport Minister, and part of the ConDem farce of a government is slowly killing off our railways. In true Tory style they are strangling investment in the railways and forcing commuters to pay £5000 per annum to commute between Newcastle and York.

This car-loving Tory seems hell bent on spending billions on a high speed line between London and Bimingham rather than using the money to improve rail travel for those who need it. Given that cuts in journey times between London and Birmingham are not really sufficient to make any change in peoples business habits, the huge increase in fares necessary to fund High Speed Rail will also mean passenger numbers will not meet expectations, thus creating a huge white elephant.

Is it me or does this increase in prices in rail travel coincide with a spike in petrol prices; thus putting commuters in a real quandry about what mode of transport to use. Pay huge increases in rail fares or extortionate prices for petrol; thats the choice. Either way, the ConDems don't worry as they can afford it with their millions in the bank, and the savings from their offshore investments (hey Gideon, ;-))

Don't worry though nobody will have a job soon due to the ConDem policies, so maybe I shouldn't be so bothered.......

Its been a while, but NUFC restarts my blog....

Kevin Nolan strikes the first goal in the Toon's 3-1 victory over Liverpool, and starts Alan Pardew's managerial tenure at St. James' Park with a win.

Of course I have seen it all before, going back years........

Anyway, watch this space for more news and views....

Political Views have new Blog!

In order to prevent this blog completely being taken over by my increasingly agitated views on the ConDem coalition I have joined with by better half in starting a new blog....

http://condemnation2010.blogspot.com/

Some rail related views may still stray onto here from time to time, but mostly these will be written by the ConDem Nation 2010 Transport Correspondent.

Steam Engines are Good for the Soul

I have not really talked about my love of Steam Engines, but my love of trains and also photography has led me to start a small photo business on the Web (www.imagesoftransport.com).

My interest in trains started when my Mum and Dad bought me a train set, then to pass the time I started to write down train numbers when I was 11, and I caught the bug. Being only 3 when steam in the UK ended, my interest was mainly diesels (Deltics sound almost as good as a Spitfire!), but Steam was always there in the background.

Now I am older, steam is probably more interesting to me. Gone is the variation in trains, they are now all the same shape and bland.

Steam trains evoke all kind of emotions, in most people. I see it when we visit railways as a family, most are not enthusiasts, but everyone loves the sound and most like the smell... For me steam engines are living things; breathing, sighing, sometimes yelling, warm and full of movement. Ang puts up with this, and so do the kids; but our smallest (despite being a girl) loves trains, well Daddy thinks so anyway!

If you get a chance visit your local railway and support them. Today's railways are increasingly just a means of getting from A to B, but preserved lines allow a means of escapism, a look back at more relaxed times, when children entertained themselves (LOL!) and people were generally more sociable!

Take time to look at an engine, see the movement, breathe in the atmosphere and I can assure you that you will slow down a bit; trust me its Good for the Soul.....

£161.4m of our money wasted by Gove

Quick post tonight.... Michael Gove, our Education Secretary has with great zeal cancelled the £55billion school building programme. The cost to taxpayers has been revealed to be £161.4m (at least I suspect) of money spent on planning, etc.

And who foots the bill, you and me........

Food Standards Agency to be scrapped

My friends in the Coalition Government are at it again. They are to scrap the Food Standards Agency. Andrew Lansley (Health Secretary pictured above) has done a deal with Food business's that if they help pay for an advertising campaign for a healthier lifestyle he will scrap future legislation on stricter controls.

Oh, and he will save (apparently) £1billion in the process. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, not only do the Tories/Lib Dems not give a stuff about the poor, they are going to allow food manufacturers to help people become more unhealthy whilst paying for smiley adverts telling us all not to be fat.

I really hope Labour get their act together in opposition, this country needs them back.....

"It's not our style to play 'ugly' or commit horrible fouls"

According to the Dutch Manager, Van Marwijk, "It's not our style to play 'ugly' or commit horrible fouls". Well sorry mate, that's "pants". Howard Webb was put in an impossible position last night as the Dutch continued their cheating (in my view) style of dirty tactics.

Kicking, niggling and in the case of Robben whinging their way round the pitch. Not for the first time Van Bommel should have left the pitch long before the end of the match, and Wesley Sneijder did not look the fantastic club player I had seen in the Champions League.

So the best team won, but what a disappointment. I watched Top Gear in full...........

At last some good news for Rail users, but why not more?

First TransPennine Express have announced that they are to run direct trains from Blackpool to Glasgow from from July to September at weekends. I guess they are using spare capacity over the weekend. A direct rail link between the two cities has not existed for nearly 20 years.

So if you are going to Blackpool this summer expect to hear more Scottish voices than normal, especially in Stag and Hen weekends!

This makes me wonder why more of these Summer trains cannot be run, as there must be other routes where people could take weekend breaks or day returns to the seaside, or major cities. When I grew up "Holidaymaker" and "Merrymaker" trains were commonplace, and if the fare is right?

No doubt the bureaucracy of today's railway and the sorry state of the new Network Rail Train Planning system will prevent anything like this happening, but does it open the door to other operators to make use of stock otherwise laying in sidings until Monday morning?

The Germans have got it right

The German Government owned DB Rail in Germany has announced that it is to invest 41 Billion Euros in Germany's rail system between now and 2014, with heavy investment in infrastructure and 700 new trains.

Meanwhile the DfT have ordered 4 new trains and additional coaches for the Virgin Pendilinos for the West Coast Main Line at a cost of £255 Million; and they are going to store them until the start of the May 2012 timetable, by which time the Germans will have spent £20 Billion!

DB Rail are also using these vast subsidies to undercut competitors here in the UK whilst also buying up the competition.

When will we learn in this country that rail is vital to this country? Still I guess now we have the Tories in charge the decline in Rail will follow that in the Thatcher years hand-in-hand with the decline in Manufacturing. Hope all you Tory voters out there can now see that nothing is safe; should have stuck with Labour after all.

Shame on you Nick

Just before the General Election the Labour Government announced an £80M LOAN to Sheffield Forgemasters to enable them to fund a press that would allow castings for the Nuclear Generation industry.

Another area of Sheffield has Nick Clegg as its MP. Two weeks ago the new Coalition Government with Nick Clegg as its Deputy Prime Minister cancelled the LOAN (that's right, not a grant, a loan), thus delaying and maybe preventing the investment, and with 150 new jobs.

What strikes me is that both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives went on and on about how they were going to re-generate UK Manufacturing, and then they pull the plug on something that could be world-leading..... SHAME ON YOU NICK CLEGG, and your new buddy Dave.

And so to the biggest LIE of the pre-Election propaganda put about by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.

SHAME ON YOU NICK CLEGG....


Let's hope all those people who voted for the Conservatives and Liberals in the North East will realise (like me) that they made a huge mistake on May 6, 2010. I won't be doing it again. But then they don't care. I emailed my MP twice to say how disappointed I was, but the lure of Power means he cannot be bothered to reply

SHAME ON YOU NICK CLEGG.......

Deltics and the Toon!

Just thought I would put in a plug for the Royal Scots Grey website. My lovely wife has bought me a seat on the first railtour behind 55022 Royal Scots Grey for 3 years; all the way fro mstockport to Edinburgh (and back). I have to admit that the sound of 2 Napier engines are almost as good as a Rolls Royce Merlin in a Spitfire..... but obvioulsy neither are a patch on my good lady's sweet voice.....!

I understand that Gary Lineker has resigned from the Daily Mail; best thing he has done after scoring for Spurs against the Mackems at White Hart Lane after the Toon's game was postponed... What a goal and what a laugh. Must admit the Spurs fans were very bemused by 10 Toon fans in full regalia in the home end booing every move the mackems made. Lol, those were the days....

So Howay the Lads, and good luck for the 2010/11 Season.

Daily Mail reporters stir it again

I see that the Daily Mail are telling us all again about how bad somebody eles is. Is the "raison d'etre" to tell their readers how bad somebody else is and sod the consequences?

When will the Media realise that nobody wants to be the person who allowed a plane to fly, only for it to crash and people lose their lives. As countless people have said this situation  is new, so why the clamour to think its OK to fly when it might not be.

I can see the headlines now if somehting happened, they would blame the Met Office for not telling people about the ash.... How do their reporters get up in the morning with a clear consience?

Please don't buy this paper, it really is rubbish.

Who are you...Who are you....?

Well we certainly thumped the Aussies last night, fantastic performance from a very good 20/20 side; lets hope we can transfer this to 1-day and maybe even Test cricket as well. Is it me or did the Aussies look scared of losing. They looked nervous and had no belief; great stuff, and those catches.....!

Lets hope that FIFA look on that fact when they ignore the Mail on Sunday's attempt to undermine our World Cup bid for 2018. I hate that paper (not as much as the Daily Express); but what exactly did they hope to achieve by breaking this story. Its like Gordon's pre-election "private comment", everybody says things in private that they may not say in public. The Mail on Sunday should be ashamed by their actions; but given their track record I dont suppose anybody should be surprised. I wonder whether it was the Polo World Cup whether they would have run the story....

Finally, it seems that the Tories and their Lib-Dem puppets are blaming the Labour Party for all the impending cuts; well nobody saw that coming..... We can now look forward to 20% VAT, loss of Child Benefit, and a host of other cuts that will drag the Economy back into recession. Will have to do some background checks on the Millibands to see who to back for Leader.

42 degrees in Muscat, and humid.......

In Dubai at the moment, where it's hot (100 degrees) and sandy (bit of a storm blowing at the moment. Fortunately I can keep up to date with the UK news though Sky, so just learnt that Jensen's car blew up (bugger) and Chelsea were lucky to win the FA Cup (shame, I don't like Portsmouth due to the stupid woman who rang a bell when i went to see the Toon play in Portsmouth in the 90s; but the fans deserve better after the way the Board behaved!)

Public Transport is still pretty new here, but now they have air-conditioned bus stops, a fantastic Metro and one of the best Airports in the World. Trouble is the Taxi drivers are often deaf as they seem to go where they think you want to go; twice I had to drivers to go the right way, and refused to pay the whole fare on the first occasion.

Having said rail is new, there was a recent announcement that they will be investing 136Billion Riyals in Qatar in rail infrastructure....., no quibbling with the odd billion like at CrossRail.

Note also that I was right about the Car loving Tories; already they have announced road friendly policy. Just watch the investment in rail fall away, at a time when passengers are being stung for high fares and poor service (and quality of trains). Who is Philip Hammond by the way; doesn't seem to have any experience in rail.......

Off to Muscat tomorrow, nice place but humid. Doing business in a suit when you are sweaty is not fun.......

Hopefully the boys can beat the Aussies in the 20/20 final, I dislike most Australians; arrogant and full of themselves....

(Please note that I have censored my post today on the grounds that I want to go home.....!)

David Milliband needs your vote.....

Well it's time I thought about what I want from the future now, looked at the Labour Party Website....

If only Gordon had shown the humility he did last night in his resignation speech.....

With everything that has happened today I am at a low ebb. Dave and Nick walking hand-in-hand in the Downing Street garden like new lovers at least put a smile on my face; even the Press were mocking them.

They also want to stich this up by changing the Law so that they have at least 5 years in power......

The North East will suffer, manufacturing will suffer, and I note that the Transport Secretary is not deemed an important post as it still remaiins un-announced as I write this.

Back to minimal investment in the railways, and we can now look forward to 65-ton lorries on the roads.....

The last time I vote Liberal Democrat......

Well, we have a new PM elect in Dave, and his new chum Nick at his side. Well Nick, I am sure I wont be the only Lib Dem voter who is dismayed and disappointed by your actions... As I said before, Power corrupts.

I will be emailing Mark Hunter to tell him that he has lost my support, and in future I will not be voting tactically again. My grandmother was a Labour Party activist in the 1920s, she hated Thatcher ("that Bi*@h Thatcher" is how she referred to Maggie), and I have to say that when I drive through the old Coal Mining areas I look at the devastation she wrought and wonder how people can think that the Tories are the new way forward.

I wonder what the mothers who lose their Tax Credits, and the people in the North East who lose their jobs in the public sector will be thinking in 6 months time.

Best start to save the pennies, I have a feeling we will all need them soon.....

All over for Gordon

Having fallen on his sword, Gordon is packing his bags as we speak; off to write his memoirs and to make money..... Personally, despite being a dour Scot, I actually respect him. But, time to move over for younger Blood, the Millibands will be the one's to watch.

So Nick is joining forces with Dave. Its all a bit School boyish for me, I just cant beleieve that Osborne will be at No.11, he just doesnt look the part, and notice how the Yorkshireman led the negotiations.

So what will Tory Boy get, Home Secretary?

From a personal viewpoint, I think its going to be bad for manufacturing (they will kill off what they missed under Thatcher), and bad for Investment in the Railways. No third runway for Heathrow, but hey at least we can bomb somebody with the New Trident......

Come on Nick, do the right thing

Not posted for some time now, but after much persuasion I intend to use this blog to air my views and news more regularly....

So after the General Election of May 6, 2010 I had hoped that we could keep out the Tories who fortunately missed the magic 326 seats. I though Nick Clegg was a breath of fresh air, stimulating young voters and bringing a new way into politics.

The last 4 days have shown that Power corrupts. Nick and his Lib-Dems were (and could still be) on the virge of sticking 2 fingers up at the voters and cuddling up to Dave and his schoolboy chums! It took Gordon Brown's move to resign to open things up. Whatever you feel about the man, he has a great track record in the financial mangement of the UK, despite what the Tory rags might try and peddle.

What I cannot understand is why Gordon never said what many of us think, that he has tried to put right many of the mistakes made by Tony Blair, mostly due to his do-gooder wife. Our kids seem to know nothing other than that told them to pass their exams. The lack of general knowledge today is staggering.
Don't get me going on respect for elders either......

Nick, do the right thing and kick the Tories into touch.

Train vs Plane

Off to the US with work today and given the issues with security decided to go direct from Heathrow. Because of connection times I decided to get the train rather than the plane from Manchester. So at 6am this morning arrived at a cold and damp Stockport station (thanks to my wife for the lift and bacon buttie!) to find signalling problems at Styal, so diverted via Stoke.

Typically, they only tell passengers that the train won't call at Wilmslow and Crewe AFTER we leave Stockport! And Virgin are contemplating bidding for the ECML as well.....

Welcome

Welcome to my new Blog about trains and other happenings in my life! I hope to share my thoughts and views and also information about trains, real and models, and maybe things that happen to me.

I will offer opinions and hope others will comment, I hope to bring information, and lastly give people a good read.

Ian, January 2010