If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Ever wondered why rail improvements never seem to run to time? Perhaps it’s Network Rail’s maths, or the lengths to which it expects its workers to go.
Network Rail oversees the UK’s network and stations, and its latest press release, [...]

I cycle to the station and back each day. It’s one of the best parts of the day, and it’s certainly faster than either walking or driving. It’s not a long journey, but until now I’ve never really known how far it is. I was guessing a mile or so, and I wasn’t far out.
The [...]

Well there’s a surprise. The meticulously-planned works that have kept Liverpool Street station closed since 23rd December have over-run. The bridge they were removing has gone, and the scheduled upgrades to a handful of stations have been completed, but now they have problems with the overhead lines, and the station is stranded, cut off from [...]

People do like a good whinge in this country. I think that’s why we put up with a second-rate train service: it gives us something to complain about.
So it’s not entirely surprising to see that the announcement of Crossrail’s final go-ahead hasn’t been universally acclaimed. The service, which will link Shenfield in the east with [...]

It’s too easy to whinge about the state of the British railways, particularly when you have to ride them each day, so it’s cheering to read The Observer’s list of amazing facts about High Speed 1, Britain’s first high speed line, which will carry the Eurostar from the capital to the coast.
Among the most mind-blowing [...]

It took me 2 hours 40 minutes to get from Paris to London last night. That’s about 311 miles.
It took me 2 hours 50 minutes to get from Chelmsford to London this morning. That’s about 35 miles.
Ipso facto, Paris sits well within the London commuter belt.

The total amount paid in fares by rail passengers has doubled since privatisation to more than £5 billion a year. But the total subsidy has risen even faster, reaching £6.3 billion last year, four times what British Rail received in a typical year. (Source: The Times)
If there were every any figures to damn the whole [...]