Robbie was in the dog house this morning, I was so cross with him. I was too tired to finish reading Rail last night so I hid it so that I could finish reading it this morning. I thought he had forgotten about it, but when I went to get it this morning he had already taken it!!
It is no surprise that the Arriva take-over of CrossCountry made the front cover of Rail this week. The news article inside makes grim reading. How can Arriva possibly have won the franchise when they are unable to explain how they are going to do many of the thinks that they promise. They are unable to explain how they will provide hot food to all passengers from a trolley. They say they are going to remove one disabled toilet from each set, leaving two toilets. As far as I know all toilets on Voyagers are classed as disabled toilets and they are all used by everyone. This will provide more seating and luggage space, fine but do the maths! These are not huge spaces so it will not create a huge amount of extra seating or luggage space. I have travelled on voyagers enough to know that the toilets are well used and removing a third of them will create a number of problems. When considering this we need to accept that it is fairly common for one or more toilets on a train to be out of order and this will put further pressure on an already reduced number of toilets. Even if the disabled seating is within easy reach of the remaining toilets, many people with disabilities are not in wheelchairs and may have to walk further to reach the toilet. Many people who are non disabled need to use the toilet more often than average including some elderly people, pregnant women, young children and a number of other groups. If they have to walk further to reach the toilet there is more potential to trip over luggage or stumble due to train movement. They may have to queue and will therefore be at risk of stumbling if they have to stand while the train is moving, there is also a risk of a different type of accident if insufficient toilets are available.
There are so many other issues where their promises lack substance, it gives me a distinct feeling of Alice in Wonderland when Iread about it, or maybe it is more like the Emperor's New Clothes, because it is all about impossible promises. It is all smoke and mirrors. Rail Magazine included a picture of Andy Cooper of Arriva and confidently announced that he is to be the Managing Director of Cross Country, but it seems that they were incorrect about that, it appears he is dealing with the transition. If that picture of Andy Cooper was of an aspiring politician seeking election, he would have lost my vote instantly. There was something of Tony Blair about him, all artificial earnestness and spin, and why ever did he allow himself to be photographed in that hand wringing pose - it is the CrossCountry employees who have every right to ring their hands in despair. Andy Cooper was at a CrossCountry meeting today and the word is that he didn't make much of an impression, apparently he has all the Charisma of a wet fish!
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