I will continue to renew mine at my local Halt as it keeps the station staff employed

But then Portsmouth does have a new fangled Siemens signalling system

What in Maidenhead   

There are some major revamp works going as you will have noticed, my guess it is to manage the safety of people using the station while the builders are working

It is my guess that the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) systems in the Thames Valley will not be replaced or upgraded until the new Thames Signalling / Control Centre is open and the signalling system replaced, which means in the Maidenhead to London stretch a long wait until its re signalled for Crossrail.

Given the age of the technology about 12 years my guess is a vital bit has fallen over in the heat and a replacement part is hard to find

It would seem ok for MP's to have uncontrolled expenses system but they object to the employees of NR^» (Network Rail - home page) being entitled to a bonus many of who work very hard with the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) n FOCs^▸ (Freight Operating Company) and many others to keep the big Hornby set going each day, the cockups at xmas were well out of the control of 99% of NR's employees

The profit is from the access charges levied against the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s n FOC^▸ (Freight Operating Company)'s the lower the level of delays attributed to NR^» (Network Rail - home page) the less NR has to refund the TOC's n FOC's part of it is paid to staff in the form of a bonus this year it is a bout 50% of the max, the bonus is calculated on train performance and renewals and other project delivery efficiency, the rest of the profit is rolled back into the industry.

That's because the Southern franchise is under bid with the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) at the moment, it could be broken up 

Its just nice to know that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) aren't all that bad after all 

There has also been a ballot by signallers and electrical control rooms also maintenance have voted for strike.

NWR are going through the pain of unpicking the mess caused by privatisation it is uncomfortable time for both the staff and the managers all of whom are very dedicated to the industry

College of mine who still had his GC tickets had the misfortune to use GC for our return from York, he said there was a Strong smell of rotten eggs in most of the coaches, this used to be a problem with Mk3 coaches where the batteries boil dry from over charging or lack of topping up, the on board staff did not seem to know how to use the PA^▸ (Public Address) system at one stage holding a conversation between the buffet and guards van, all in all he was not impressed with the service, we have recommended to out team organiser not to book anyone on GC services

I attempted to use GC today to go to York on the 08:04 ex KX it was cancelled instead they swaped our tickets for the 08:00 NE the only problem was the GC ticket chap on the concorse at KX swapped my ticket for another GC ticket which as I was in a rush to catch a train 4 mins earlier than planned I did not notice until we were under way so had to pay the excess fair  so now I have the pain of claiming the excess back from GC

  Will NOT be using GC again       [/size]

All of BR^▸ (British Rail(ways))'s Mk1 to 3 coaches had / have a half light facility, was originally intended for carriage cleaners to use so that the batteries were not flatten when they were cleaning.  The dim / bright switch is located inside the carriage just inside the sliding door on the toilet bulkhead near the ceiling at one end of the coach

The thing I hate - they remind me of how old I am getting I started an apprenticeship in BR^▸ (British Rail(ways))(W) days when the 252 (the prototype) was doing the odd public duty.   Unlike me they have had a make over and look a lot younger than their 30 plus years

The HST^▸ (High Speed Train) is a great testimony to BRB^‡(resolve)'s DM&EE designers at the RTC Derby

The really simple answer to all this is if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) want to run longer trains than the platforms can take then either remove the buffet or lengthen the platforms now that would show comitment    .

I use the 07:04 from Maidenhead in the morning which is an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) which is a good service, now all that needs to happen in December's timetable when the extended platform 1 is complete is the stopping of the 17:06 at Maidenhead as the 3 car 17:18 is 3 coaches short