It Happens Again Travelling To And From Ipswich
This afternoon, I went to football at Ipswich and like last week, when I encountered the troubles detailed in this post, I had more trouble.
I decided to get the 13:00 rather than the 13:30, in case the latter was a bit late. I was advised by staff at Liverpool Street station, not to take the 13:00, as it was only going to Colchester. Instead I was told to get the 13:02 slow train to Ipswich. After a few stops and hiccups, I eventually got to Ipswich, a few minutes later than the 13:30 normally would, which meant I missed about two minutes of the match.
Then at half-time, a couple of people turned up who had caught the 13:30, which had arrived forty-five minutes late.
Returning to London, I normally catch the 17:09 and I did today, but it had lost thirty minutes from its schedule by Manningtree.
By Colchester, we were going better and eventually got into Liverpool Street only losing a few more minutes.
The ticket collector told us all that it appeared that there had been an attempted cable theft, although that is not mentioned in this article in the Eastern Daily Press.
Is The Forth Bridge Scotland’s Best Loved Landmark?
Not my words, but those of Network Rail on a web site describing their plans for the Forth Rail Bridge, called The Forth Bridge Experience.
If the experience is as well thought out as the web site, they might be on to something.
After all if Tower Bridge in London can have an experience, why not the Forth Bridge!
Thinking about it though, recognisable landmarks in Scotland, that are recognisable to non-Scots, are thin on the ground.
I think if I go back to before I first visited Scotland in 1965, I would suspect that the Forth Rail Bridge would have been the only landmark I could recognise.
Suffolk Shows The Value Of Improving Train Services
The East Suffolk line from Ipswich to Lowestoft is one of those train lines, that British Rail would have liked to close in the 1960s and 1970s. Everything was simplified and a lot of the line was made single-track.
Then a year ago, they introduced a loop at Beccles and an hourly service between the two biggest towns in East Suffolk.
The result has been an 11.5% increase in passengers as is reported here. Here’s the first paragraph.
It was a record setting year as passenger numbers of the East Suffolk Line hit an all time high in 2013. A record 653,000 journeys were made on the line between Ipswich and Lowestoft last year, an 11.5% increase on 2012. Compared to 2009 / 2010 that number is up by 60%.
We’re not talking massive sums on improving the line, but it shows that if you provide a better train service, it’ll get used, as I found out earlier this week on the Settle and Carlisle.
Russia’s Biggest Problem
A few years ago, I read a book called PeopleQuake, which talked about how some countries like Russia have a birthrate that is not enough to sustain the population. Apparently, in Russia, the women didn’t want to have children, as the men might not be there to be a good father.
This article illustrates the problem with Russian men and their drinking and other bad habits. Here’s the first paragraph.
The high number of early deaths in Russia is mainly due to people drinking too much alcohol, particularly vodka, research suggests.
PeopleQuake reckoned that putting the drunk; Boris Yeltsin in charge, was the real problem, as he reversed all of the previous reforms, that were aimed at cutting down on cheap vodka.
The BBC article says this.
In 1985, the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev drastically cut vodka production and did not allow it to be sold before lunch-time.
Researchers say alcohol consumption fell by around a quarter when the restrictions came in, and so did overall death rates. Then, when communism collapsed, people started drinking more again and the death rates also rose.
So what is Putin doing about improving Russian society? Spending billions on the Sochi games and clamping down on those, who don’t fit the Russian stereotype!
You could also argue, that he doesn’t have a good grasp of foreign policy!
It’s Not April The First!
This story about exploding cows in Germany is straight out of the Guardian’s list of April Fool Jokes. There is a serious side though, as the article says!
Cows are believed to emit up to 500 litres of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – each per day.
Perhaps we should link all cows to the gas grid or have a cow in the kitchen connected to the cooker.
The Anonymous Widower 