BBC TV - The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track

[whole diary]

[anthony215]

Just seen this posted online:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/search/?medium=tv&channel=&yearweek=&day=

Due to be broadcast on BBC2 with the 1st episode expected to be broadcast sometime between 9th & 15th February. No time has been annouced yet however.

2013 is looking to be a good year for railway documentaries with Sky and Channel 5 both broadcasting documentaries later this year and we have the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) due to broadcast series 2 of the tube later in the summer

[the void]

on a related note, twofour productions are currently at temple meads filming a documentary series about fwg. don't have any further details, but you'll no doubt see the camera crew if passing through the station...

[anthony215]

on a related note, twofour productions are currently at temple meads filming a documentary series about fwg. don't have any further details, but you'll no doubt see the camera crew if passing through the station...

That I believe is the same crew who were filing at Reading a few weeks back.

The FGW^▸ (First Great Western) documentary is expected to be broadcast on channel 5

[anthony215]

The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) have annouced episode 1 of ''"The Railway'' wil be broadcast on 12th February at 21:00 and is 60 minutes long.

Some tv Listings are showing it as called Network Rail

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Model Railway Express Mag:

The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) have confirmed transmission dates for a new series - The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track

King's Cross - BBC2 9pm Tues 12th Feb 2013
Summer Madness (Leeds) - BBC2 9pm Tues 19th Feb 2013
Standing Room Only (Reading) - BBC2 9pm Tues 26th Feb 2013
West Coast Main Line - BBC2 9pm Tues 5th March 2013
Railway on My Doorstep (Communities) - BBC2 9pm Tues 12th March 2013
Scotland - BBC2 9pm Tues 19th March 2013

A six-part series of one-hour programmes titled: The Railways: Keeping Britain on Track. on BBC2. Network Rail, TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company), BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) and suppliers and contractors have all been involved in making this observational documentary, which will shine a light on the people who help keep the railway running, and the challenges they face.

This series has been almost two years in the making following an initial meeting with Network Rail^s media team. They had been approached by a number of documentary makers and decided that the time was right to take a calculated risk and let the BBC in to give the general public, stakeholders and funders, an insiders^ view on the size and complexity of the railway and the challenges faced.

Whilst initial introductions were made to a number of people across the business, the TV production team were free to contact and film with anyone that was happy to be involved. Dozens of people across the industry from signallers and station teams to route managing directors and programme managers contributed to more than 90 hours of filming in stations, depots, on track, in offices, construction sites, route controls and signal boxes across the nation. The series is narrated by Kevin Whately of Lewis and Inspector Morse fame.

Given the safety restrictions of filming on the railway, it was arranged for the TV people to attend a Personal Track Safety course to acquire the necessary permits to film trackside and they were supplied with the safety clothing such as hard hats and hi vis jackets etc. They had contacts with national and route control teams and access to key people in Network Operations who manage access to the railways. Whilst safety restrictions meant they could not have free reign on the railways or construction sites, every effort was made to give them access to film where they wanted to.

The six episodes are:

King^s Cross
How does one of Britain^s busiest stations operate? This episode follows the East Coast and Network Rail staff running the station, the challenges they face in train dispatch, how they interact with passengers during times of disruption, dealing with recruitment, and the issue of fares and the cost of running the railway. It was filmed over the last three months of the recent redevelopment, so viewers also get to see a very positive example of where some of the money they pay in fares is spent.

Summer madness (Leeds station)
Filmed over the summer months in and around Leeds station and the Yorkshire area, this episode covers a real mix of issues and people from the industry including station staff, train drivers, BTP officers, our maintenance teams and York route control. It covers the Real Ale Trail (Northern); how route control deals with, and the impact of trespass; NR^» (Network Rail - home page)^s trespass campaign, how NR reacted to the flooding, compensation, cable theft; and the tragic death of a young lad at Rossington.

Standing room only (Reading)
A chance to showcase the work at Reading and the people that are delivering the project, including behind the scenes planning meeting about closures (T-6), the Cow Lane Bridge slide and the building of a new platform 10. The episode also features how our mobile operations managers work, handling a dead dog on the line and a suicide at footpath crossing. The cost of delays is highlighted again and we see the impact of delays caused by a freight train cutting through a cable ^ both passengers^ experience and NR teams fixing it. Excess Baggage at Paddington also features along with customer service for elderly and disabled passengers at the station.

West Coast Main Line
On the trains at Euston with Virgin staff dealing with passengers, including with Liverpool and Everton fans heading for the FA Cup semi final and final; Customer service at Manchester Piccadilly with NR^s station team; out with Asset management and Babcock doing track renewals where we get to understand the pressures to get work done in a tight timeframe so not to impact on service next day. The capacity issues and the case for HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) is also made subtley by the narrator.

Railway on my doorstep (how the railway impacts on communities)
Another real mix of people and issues are covered including the economic impact of reopening of the Ebbw valley railway, both for passengers and jobs. It looks at how station staff in Liverpool and Cardiff cope with crowds when sporting events and parades are on; fare dodging; training new staff; trespass; rubbish clearances trackside and off-track; the impact of high winds on services on the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) at King^s Cross station; and how NR have dealth with the concerns of people in Steventon in Oxfordshire as we upgraded the level crossing.

Scotland
The final episode looks at the railway north of the border. It follows a track worker in the West Highlands, one of the remotest parts of the network; maintenance teams known locally as ^ice men^ who work at night to keep the tracks clear of snow and ice during winter; and see how NR replace track outside Edinburgh Waverly as well as operations at Glasgow Central.

[TonyK]

Sounds fascinating. I shall set the recorder to "Series Record" soon as I'm home. It looks a little more in depth than Michael Portillo's series. I hope the reality lives up to my expectation.

[bobm]

Just a reminder in case you have forgotten (I had!), this starts tonight at 21:00 on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Two.

[TonyK]

Just a reminder in case you have forgotten (I had!), this starts tonight at 21:00 on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Two.

Got the recorder set. I'm currently watching a re-run of the Scotland - Italy rugby match, with changed strip and a round ball. Celtic are a goal behind.

Edit: I'm switching over. Juventus' scrum half is ruining this game.

[Thatcham Crossing]

Watched it and quite enjoyed it.

It was more about the people (staff and Customers) than the trains, especially the MD who seemed very keen to give the impression that he was on first name terms with absolutely every employee of East Coast.

[Super Guard]

...especially the MD who seemed very keen to give the impression that he was on first name terms with absolutely every employee of East Coast.

 

Also the clip of the lady at Reading saying "surely it's illegal to be packed in like this".. i'm confused, was she trying to get off to avoid the illegality of the situation 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Independent:

Last night's viewing - The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track, BBC2

In a quiet way, The Railway: Keeping Britain on Track was about the grinding nature of management. And I don't mean the grind for managers of trying to manage things, but the grind for those beneath them of being managed. So on one hand, you had Steve, with his "vision" of providing the "seamless journey experiences" and his urgent talk of the work everyone needed to do "going forward".

And on the other hand, you had his employee Steve, one of the beleaguered information team who have to bear the brunt of passengers' rage when the seams come unstitched. And I don't suppose Steve Number One is really a villain ^ even if his can-do ebullience might make you want to push him under a train on a stressful day ^ but you couldn't help but feel that Steve Number Two would happily settle for a bit less jargon and a bit more action.

Steve Number Two is a mournful chap, explaining the necessity of wearing a clip-on tie with a melancholy air that suggests he has seen human beings at their worst and may never smile again. But the interesting thing about Laura Fairrie's film was that not everybody's spirit had been similarly eroded by the daily friction with the travelling public. Bruce, for example, was still remarkably cheerful: "I haven't met anyone who was really bad," he said, when asked about commuter rage, "but I've met some very nice people in very bad moods."

This more philosophical approach seemed wise. There was more than one instance here of people's capacity to take personal affront when the world doesn't rearrange itself to suit their convenience ^ late passengers incredulous that trains hadn't waited for them, others disgusted that the system somehow hadn't foreseen that someone would choose to go under a train rather than on it.

If you were waiting for a coherent account of why Britain's rail network seems to struggle you would have waited a long time. Like a lot of these kind of observational documentaries The Railway at times seemed to suffer from ADHD. You'd think you were on the brink of some kind of systemic explanation, but then it would get distracted. "Hey! Look. It's a man with a red balloon!" There's an avidity for characterful oddity that can get it in the way of any larger understanding. But people and characters do come through strongly, most touchingly here the character of Laxman Keshwara, a veteran station manager who reached his retirement during the filming and was very nearly unmanned by the process of leaving the job he loved. Rather sweetly they saw him out with an announcement on the station announcer and a ruck of station employees giving him a goodbye hug. I don't think it's the management he's going to be missing.

[Fourbee]

So what is the difference between good customer service and excellent customer service? I wonder if it is the same size gap as that between poor customer service and adequate customer service.

I feel sorry for staff there having to put up with a real life David Brent. Their faces in that presentation said it all.

[devon_metro]

Anybody else notice the poster in the East Coast office referring to 'Grand Central taking over' 

[anthony215]

Anybody else notice the poster in the East Coast office referring to 'Grand Central taking over' 

Thought I saw something like that, I thought I was seeing things

[vacmanfan]

Anyone else think "Steve Number Two" was incredibly rude when being interviewed?

Didn't even look up from his paper in between moaning.