Robbie and I had both had a busy week and by Friday evening we were worn out. Emily was working, and Mum's taxi was booked for 10pm, but she was out on time and we were home again by 10.30pm. After finishing a couple of jobs I headed off to bed. I was just settling down when Robbie announced that he had something that I would really enjoy. I wondered whatever he could mean - but life with Robbie is never predictable so I waited patiently while he rummaged through his bag and proudly produced the April edition of Railways Illustrated. I hadn't planned to spend an early night with my husband reading railway magazines and my quizzical expression elicited more information from Robbie. He said, "it has an article about Chris Gibb (Virgin Trains MD), you know how much you like him, but they haven't got his feet in the photo". I am used to translating 'Robbie speak' into English but that sentence took more effort than most.
It is not possible to like someone I have never met, but Chris Gibb does sound like a decent bloke. As someone who observes the railways from a distance, I like the fact that he speaks in plain English that everyone can understand and as far as I can tell he does what he says he will do. The straight answer seems as rare in the railways as it is in politics, so it is refreshing when you find someone capable of saying what they mean and when necessary calling a spade a spade. In the article he was eloquent about the farce at Rugby over the new year period "it was totally avoidable. It was a shortage of key people at the right time and Network Rail will be getting a bill from us for long term damage to growth".
OK, I did once say that he was easier on the eye than some of his counterparts from the other TOC's, etc. I wasn't commenting on his looks as much as his ability to smile and to look approachable. There are a number of faces in the railways that could have made convincing gargoyles! While on the subject of confession, Robbie is right that I did once say that Chris Gibb had very expressive legs. Back in the old days when he was MD of Cross Country I noticed that when he was photographed his feet seemed to be working to their own agenda. The photo with the Railways Illustrated didn't show his feet and was cropped oddly leaving people to wonder about his hands, but it had the trademark cheerful smile.
The article was a good read, clearly Virgin has some interesting plans for the future. I learned a little more about Chris Gibb too, apparently he has a passion for punk rock music, that didn't seem to fit with the photo of him in a fleece; but when I looked closely at his shirt and tie it was clear that there is a streak of anarchy within him. Not many people would be brave enough to combine a shirt with vertical stripes and a vivid red tie with crazy diagonal stripes. It seems that his role is to be known as Chief Operating Officer, a rather grim sounding title, I wonder who he will be operating on first - Network Rail Perhaps?
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