@marcus
Aye, but how long would you need to 'check in'?

@aureolin
Sorry, should have clarified I meant the intercity stuff. Obviously there was Madrid, there has been the tube etc.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nort...in-8131791
Any idea what could have caused it, could it have been speed?

(18 Nov 2014, 8:12 pm)mb134 wrote http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nort...in-8131791
Any idea what could have caused it, could it have been speed?

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nort...in-8139119

Line closed for a week

Been reported as a broken rail.

Found this. Rumours are circulating that Eurostar have won the East Coast franchise, leading to a fall in shares in First Group.

Does anyone know when an official announcement is to be made about who's gained the franchise?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsb...ostar.html

(24 Nov 2014, 11:17 pm)Adam wrote Found this. Rumours are circulating that Eurostar have won the East Coast franchise, leading to a fall in shares in First Group.

Does anyone know when an official announcement is to be made about who's gained the franchise?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsb...ostar.html

In all honesty, and because of the speculation, I want (or wanted) to see Virgin get it. Don't really know why.

Not quite sure what to make of this, but I suppose it's possible that Eurostar have indeed won the bid.

(24 Nov 2014, 11:19 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote In all honesty, and because of the speculation, I want (or wanted) to see Virgin get it. Don't really know why.

Not quite sure what to make of this, but I suppose it's possible that Eurostar have indeed won the bid.

Without wanting to spark up another debate about privatisation/nationalisation, I've always been against the idea of reprivatising the line. In my experience, East Coast have been better than National Express, and EC have continuously made a decent profit which of course goes straight to the Government rather than private stakeholders.

(25 Nov 2014, 10:41 am)Scott wrote But the line is starved of investment - you no longer get free wifi, and the trains are knackered. Virgin replaced all the trains on the West Coast mainline when they took on that franchise. Orders have been announced for new Hitachi trains, but that factory isn't finsihed yet and the trains are at least 3-5 years away.

The new fleet of trains are coming whoever the new toc is.
It just means whoever the toc is, will benefit from any knock on effect.

There is talk of the 'spark effect' on the Tyne Valley line. Pretty sure there is similar correlation with new train sets too. 

(25 Nov 2014, 12:30 pm)Scott wrote By spark effect do you mean that new trains on the ECML will encourage more passengers to use the train, and therefore use the Tyne Valley line to get to the ECML?

There may be a connection, but in terms of the 'spark effect' on the Tyne Valley line, it is to do with electrification on that line and numbers increasing as a result.
http://railway-history.walkingclub.org.u...ffect.html

(24 Nov 2014, 11:28 pm)Adam wrote Without wanting to spark up another debate about privatisation/nationalisation, I've always been against the idea of reprivatising the line. In my experience, East Coast have been better than National Express, and EC have continuously made a decent profit which of course goes straight to the Government rather than private stakeholders.

I agree, in my opinion East Coast are very professional, and as you say, the profit all goes towards the government, rather than stakeholders.

Didn't like National Express, but I did like GNER. However, one thing we can all agree on, all 3 combined have done 10 times better than CrossStinky's pathetic services!

(25 Nov 2014, 12:51 pm)Scott wrote There may be benifits in electrification on the Carlisle to Hexham section, as electric trains can acclerate quicker, achieve higher speeds, and therefore reduce jouney times.

However, between Newcastle and Hexham there is little point, as the stops are close together, so the train will have to stop as soon as it has started, therefore reducing the benifit of faster trains.

Better diesel trains such as class 170s instead of the 142s and 156s may help, and may be more cost effective. These have they adavantage in that newer diesels can borrowed on a trail basis, and things can revert back after if there is little or no improvement.

While I really don't like Pacers (depends what sort of Sprinter!), I wouldn't like to see a 170 in it's place. Don't get me wrong, Pacers are crap, but I feel like they have become somewhat synonymous with our region. One things for things for sure - they'll certainly leave their mark on the Tyne Valley Line for generations to come!

(27 Nov 2014, 9:16 am)Scott wrote I found East Coast rather sloppey with jerky uncomfortable trains, heaters on during the summer, and even a tarin stopping short at Edinburgh, with no info as to replacement bus services. Open ticket did allow the use of a ScotRail service to complete the journey.

Cross Country seemed to provide a better service, but I rarely used them. Northern Rail do very well with the older rolling stock. A return journey on Virgin West Coast wen't very well. Got into Carlilse 5 minutes early, with a very smooth ride. 

First TransPennine are my personal least-favourites, closely followed by CrossCountry! 

Had bad experiences with both operators that has resulted in travelling with each only the once, and likely that shall remain.

I do agree with your point about Northern Rail, considering they do use some ancient rolling stock, they seem to get by rather well.

(27 Nov 2014, 9:16 am)Scott wrote I found East Coast rather sloppey with jerky uncomfortable trains, heaters on during the summer, and even a tarin stopping short at Edinburgh, with no info as to replacement bus services. Open ticket did allow the use of a ScotRail service to complete the journey.

Cross Country seemed to provide a better service, but I rarely used them. Northern Rail do very well with the older rolling stock. A return journey on Virgin West Coast wen't very well. Got into Carlilse 5 minutes early, with a very smooth ride. 

I'm surprised about that mind Scott. It's usually people complaining that the air conditioning is on during the winter, not heating in the summer. I'm doing long distance on East Coast every other week, and it's very rare I've had a problem. It tends to be caused by trespassing or line faults when it is.

Cross Country on the other hand. I've absolutely no desire to use a train that smells worse than a public toilet. When I do Glasgow, I always do East Coast to Edinburgh, and then ScotRail to Glasgow. Never direct via Cross Country.

I've rarely used Virgin, but did have a spell last year where I had to for a few weeks running. Not a massive fan of the Pendolinos. They always feel a bit cramped, and I don't find the standard seating comfortable. The trains are always clean inside and out though, unlike Cross Country.

All Aboard: East Coast Trains is on Sky 1 HD until 5:00 if anyone is interested!

(06 Dec 2014, 3:08 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote All Aboard: East Coast Trains is on Sky 1 HD until 5:00 if anyone is interested!

Also I see there is a new series about First Great Western on Channel 5 on Thursdays 8pm

(06 Dec 2014, 4:03 pm)citaro5284 wrote Also I see there is a new series about First Great Western on Channel 5 on Thursdays 8pm

I watched a bit of this on Thursday night. It seemed pretty interesting.

(06 Dec 2014, 10:27 pm)AdamY wrote I watched a bit of this on Thursday night. It seemed pretty interesting.

Yeah, I thought that too.  Just goes to show when the weather turns what the train companies and Network Rail can be up against.

Also on demand if anyone wants to catch it - http://www.channel5.com/shows/the-railwa...sode-1-638

I think I may watch the entire episode tonight.

I only caught the last 20 minutes or so on Thursday night.

Didn't catch this, but the first series was quite good.

(06 Dec 2014, 11:14 pm)Andreos1 wrote Didn't catch this, but the first series was quite good.

I had not seen it advertised, so missed the first 20 mins, but caught it on demand this afternoon.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30504898

Dft criticised over Thameslink and IEP deals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-30625622

Close incident between a train and an HGV yesterday on the ECML.

(29 Dec 2014, 10:44 pm)Adam wrote http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-30625622

Close incident between a train and an HGV yesterday on the ECML.

Baffling. The article makes clear that the HGV driver was being cautious, and no one has thought to ask Network Rail or Durham County Council why they aren't gritting routes that pose a severe danger to human life. It should be common sense that a downward slope towards a level crossing is gritted, and as a matter of course, not upon an ad-hoc request.

I think it is a private road. Certainly a dead end just the other side of the crossing - if it is the one I am thinking of.

(29 Dec 2014, 10:53 pm)aureolin wrote Baffling. The article makes clear that the HGV driver was being cautious, and no one has thought to ask Network Rail or Durham County Council why they aren't gritting routes that pose a severe danger to human life. It should be common sense that a downward slope towards a level crossing is gritted, and as a matter of course, not upon an ad-hoc request.

The thing is that road salt works best once it's been 'ground in' by cars and the like. If there was no traffic between the gritting and the barriers closing, it would've had little effect.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30649551?ocid...ow_twitter

Toc's forced to promote cheaper tickets.

http://www.nrm.org.uk/PlanaVisit/Events/...-gala.aspx

Events organised for Feb half term at Shildon.

(05 Jan 2015, 12:18 pm)Andreos1 wrote http://www.nrm.org.uk/PlanaVisit/Events/...-gala.aspx

Events organised for Feb half term at Shildon.

Oh joy! I look forward to a week of late running 5/5A's because people are stood on the bridge by the railway station and diversions of the 1/5/5A through Shildon again because of badly parked cars nearby.

East Coast are doing a big seat sale at the moment. Newcastle to London £10 each way. I've managed to find plenty of tickets, and for decent train times too.