Wales Gets Details Of Vivarail’s D-Train
This article on the Walesonline web site is entitled First glimpse at London Underground carriages which could be used on Welsh train lines to ease overcrowding.
It talks about how Arriva Trains Wales have been sent details of Vivarail’s D-Train. This is said.
Vivarail spokesman Alice Gillman says the firm’s engineers believe the refurbished rolling stock would be suitable for lines in Wales including the Heart of Wales Line.
But she said at the moment there had been “no follow up” from the Welsh Government or Arriva Trains Wales.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Ministers have made it clear that any rolling stock used on the next Wales and Borders Franchise and Metro should be of a higher standard. It is up to ATW to manage capacity requirements for the current franchise.”
But perhaps the most interesting part of the article is this vote.
Vivarail Vote In Wales
Now the Welsh are not stupid and so I would suspect this vote is sensible, unless it’s only had a few votes.
So could it be, that those voting have got rather fed up with the trains that are used on the Welsh rail network? Some are not the best trains on the UK’s rail network!
One of the great things about the D-Train, is that once the train is certified and Vivarail have built a few examples, they can be trialled on lines all over the country.
I’ve now read about four or five articles about the D-Train and places where they might be used. None have been hostile, so either Vivarail are doing a good PR job or the concept appeals to serious engineers, train companies, politicians and passengers. At least enough to give the concept a trial with an open mind!
Somebody, asked me when the last truly dreadful train was delivered to the railways of the UK?
I don’t think it’s happened very often since the Pacer trains were delivered in the 1980s. The body shells of the D-Trains may be of a similar vintage, but they are a much better train in the opinions of most commentators.
How To Work Outdoors
We all love working outside in the dark and wet, repairing things and perhaps digging holes.
Wouldn’t it be much nicer to do the work indoors in a workshop.
The problem is much worse on the railways, where when say you want to check rails, points or sleepers, you need to make sure the workers are protected from passing trains.
So I was intrigued to see this report on Rail Engineer entitled Video: Mobile Maintenance Train.
Talk about taking your shed with you and parking it over the problem!
It’s such a brilliant concept, I find it amazing that this hasn’t been standard practice for at least fifty years!
Do they have trucks like this, so they can repair potholes or accident damage on motorways?
The Curse Of The Coeliac Traveller
On Tuesday with my jaunt round the East Midlands, the weather played its part in that my intended pit-stop in Carluccio’s at Lincoln had to be cancelled because of the rain. This wasn’t too serious as I’d had a double-egg pot at Leon in Kings Cross before I left.
I could have got something in Nottingham before I went up the Robin Hood Line, but I decided to do the trip to Worksop first.
Unlike many other main stations like Birmingham, Cambridge, Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield, there is no Marks and Spencer Simply Food, so there was nothing gluten-free to eat in Nottingham station. Except possibly salads and a banana, which I’ve eaten so much of on my travels, that aversion therapy has worked its evil magic.
After returning from Worksop, I had about forty minutes to get something to eat before catching the hourly train to Peterborough to get home. This was not enough time to have a meal in any number of places in Nottingham, so I decided to go to the city centre to get some sandwiches in Marks and Spencer. But they didn’t have any!
I was quite hungry by now, but luckily I found a Holland and Barrett, where I bought a couple of EatNakd bars to replace the two I’d brought from London and eaten en route.
After all I only needed to keep going for another couple of hours until London, where I could either eat at Kings Cross/St. Pancras or after a short bus ride to Islington.
I got to Peterborough with ease and then I sat for an hour in a train waiting for clearance to leave.
But it never did, as there had been someone killed by a train at Sandy.
So in the end hunger got the better of me and I left the train and walked in to Peterborough to get some supper in Carluccio’s.
I finally got home at eleven, which was about three hours later than planned.
I do wish that people wouldn’t practice assisted dying using trains!
It must be so much easier for non-coeliacs to travel, as they can pop-in to so many places to buy a sandwich or a burger.
Megabrew
The merger of the world’s two largest brewers; Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller, that is reported here on the BBC, will not affect me one jot, unless the new company decides to use its power to make it more difficult for everybody to buy real beer and cider.
What to me is frightening about the merger, is that they don’t have one gluten-free product, that I would drink. So single-mindedly they will force people down the route of their chemically produced crap.
I have a feeling that if this merger goes ahead, there will be repercussions that they don’t like!
The Anonymous Widower 