Robbie's Favourite Advert

My favourite advert is the one celebrating 25 years of Virgin Atlantic. Robbie loves it too but unfortunately it makes him get all nostalgic about Wimpy food and that gets a bit boring after a while. However that is not his favourite advert, his favourite is the CrossCountry advert when it comes on we all have to be quiet (except Robbie who makes little moans of extacy). It is quite good, but I can't work out why it seems to be snowing in the advert, after all when it snows trains usually grind to a halt!

Obsession

I am sure if you chopped Robbie up he would have the words Cross Country written right through him like a stick of rock. It is the routes rather than the company itself that he loves so much, he puts his heart and soul into his work, but being Robbie he never knows when to stop.
I got home yesterday evening to find him sitting in his corner tapping away on his computer and talking to himself - nothing new there! He had brought his work home (again). He did manage to say hello, he even made me a cup of tea, but in terms of conversations I had to be satisfied with a few grunts and assorted expletives aimed at the world in general because he was having difficulty getting a route to work.

I gave up on him, after millions of years of evolution it seems a bit of a betrayal to settle for a series of grunts so I retreated to the internet in search of friends who had mastered the art of speaking in complete sentences! Before long Robbie had dozed off with his head against the wall, I tried to wake him a few times but I couldn't get any sense out of him. I was just getting ready to go to bed when Robbie started rambling in his sleep about Tyseley, something to do with a route not working. I made one last attempt to wake him up but he announced that he had to stay and bid for a path, I realised that he wasn't really awake because he then started rambling about a train driving down Church Road. It was all nonsense, but I couldn't move him so I left him parked in the corner and went to bed.

I know he loves his work, but if Cross Country really want to own him body and soul, they can find a corner for him to roost in at night. He is no good to me in that state and he makes the lounge look untidy!!

Dangling Legs and Other Problems

Saturday dawned far too early for my liking, but after a lot of moaning and groaning on my part we were on the road and heading for the station. We travelled First Class to Birmingham on a 350; I wasn't impressed because it felt cramped and it looked shabby, but at least it was quiet and we had an uneventful journey arriving in Birmingham slightly late.

I hadn't travelled on a refurbished HST before so I was looking forward to it. I'd been underwhelmed by the livery but I'd heard good things about the refurbishment and was keen to see it for myself. The first problem we encountered was the platforming, it was rubbish, the signage was wrong, leaving us sprinting down the platform to find first class. The platform staff were neither use than ornament - certainly not ornament!

The train looked OK except for the horrible colour of the upholstery and the hideous curtains that looked as if they had been cut down from an old woman's crimpelene dress. The antimacassars looked good, very simple and tasteful, which is more than I can say for the carpet which was too 'busy' and not dark enough, it already looked dirty and shabby. The seats are fairly comfortable if you happen to be a giant, but it is impossible to use the table comfortably because the distance between the seat and the table is to great. I am a bit on the short side but not abnormally short for an adult, so I was annoyed to find that my feet didn't reach the floor when I sat down. The seats were adjustable but unfortunately it required more height than I possessed as your rear end had to be in the seat and your feet in contact with the floor to achieve the required thrusting motion. This was the first of many clues that it had been designed by a man!

Clue number two came when I visited the toilets. They are 'cosy' but I guess there is adequate space for the average contortionist to cope with the 'essentials'. It wasn't the space that bothered me as much as the poor design, the unpleasant smell and the dirty state of the facilities. The toilet tissue does not dispense correctly, it comes out in handfuls, but then it will not flush away. The sink is too low even for someone as short as me! It is not possible to see how the soap dispenser works, so you have to put your hand into the gap and feel around for the soap. This triggers the automatic tap and rewards you with wet cuffs. Then when you have wet hands you have to battle with a towel dispenser that dispenses small soggy strips of tissue, so you have to reach in and grab a few towels. For some reason the towel dispenser is above the sink so while you are doing battle with it the water from your wet hands runs down your arms and drips off your elbows! The final insult was the bin, the gap is too small to put the used paper towels in without pushing your clean fingers into the bin. I returned to my seat with wet cuffs, damp sleeves and soggy elbows, thankful that I had hand sanitizer in my handbag because I had no intention of using that sink again.

It was the bumpiest journey I have ever experienced and I didn't feel safe, even Robbie said it was a bad journey. I wanted to get off but Robbie reassured me that it would be OK.

We lost time at Cheltenham. I thought we had slipped into a parallel universe. The train stopped and the dispatcher came wandering down the stairs looking as if he had escaped from a home for the bewildered and was about ready to be dispatched himself. When he had plodded down the platform and remembered what he was there for we departed several minutes late. There was a really cute dispatcher at Bristol so that was some compensation.

Robbie had to sprint off the train at Bristol because nobody delivered the urns to the train so there had been no hot drinks available between Manchester and Bristol. Apparently the previous week there were no hot drinks available all the way from Manchester to Newquay! There had been a mix up with the reservations too, they had labelled up for the wrong train meaning that a whole first carriage was rendered unusable as the seats were labelled up for people on a different route!

As I was gazing out of the train window my eye fell on the paper notice Headed Manchester Picadilly - Newquay, I wondered why it was necessary to list the starting point, after all even the most 'challenged' traveller knows where they are when they start their journey!

We were delayed from Dawlish onward by an HST in front that was busy going nowhere. Robbie was getting seriously irritated about his timing being messed up, but it was nice to crawl along and enjoy the wonderful views. I couldn't believe that there were so many cranks scattered along the line just to take photos of an HST - what a waste of a Saturday!

We arrived at Plymouth a few minutes late and I begged Robbie to let us travel home on a Voyager, but he wouldn't hear of it. My verdict on the journey, a thumbs down to the refurbished HST and a huge thumbs down to the catering trolley. However there were highlights, the staff were all friendly and helpful and the views from the sea wall at Dawlish were as wonderful as ever.

We spent the day in Plymouth, then we set out on our return journey to Birmingham. My legs were OK just dangling for a while, but then they began to ache and by Taunton they were swollen and painful, so I had to rest them on a rucksack. We saw a kettle at Taunton, Oliver Cromwell, it looked amazing

The ride back was every bit as bumpy, I would much rather travel on a Voyager or a Pendolino, but it was a nice day out. Robbie says I am mad, apparently I don't know a good thing when I see it, he still thinks HST's are wonderful. He says we have to do the journey again soon to check that some of the problems have been put right (he is determined to make me like HST's), but he has promised to take me on a Pendolino next, so I am looking forward to that.

HST - Why All the Fuss?

Robbie decided that he absolutely had to work late on Thursday evening, I wasn't impressed because we have had so many disrupted meal times recently and the short notice meant I had to scrap my plans for an evening meal and start again. He promised that he would stay at home with me on Saturday to make up for his lateness and get some long overdue jobs done in the garden. When he got finally got home he was in a dreadful mood because I was forcing him to miss a momentous event – on Saturday the first properly owned CrossCountry HST would be in service. I wasn't impressed by this, after all it was only last Wednesday that Laura could have caught an HST from Leicester to Kettering, she chose to wait for the next train instead, she preferred the more modern Meridian to the old HST. I felt the need to tame the back garden was more pressing than the 'need' to travel there (wherever there may be) and back again on an HST.

Friday was equally disastrous Robbie was late home again and in a foul mood. He claimed he would be the laughingstock of the railway world if he didn't go on the HST the following day. Personally I didn't thing that would make much difference, but I had no intention of spending a wet Saturday with Robbie doing his Rumpelstilksin impression. I told him that I wasn't stopping him, but he needn't think I was going to get up in the middle of the night to drive him to the station. He stomped around the lounge claiming he couldn't go because he hadn't got any rolls or any meat for sandwiches. It was so ridiculous that Laura and Sam have been doing Robbie impressions all weekend! I had already been to Tesco's and Morrisons that day, but I had to go out again, to the small local Tesco's buy supplies for Robbie's day out! He spent the rest of the evening planning his route, believe it or not he was going all the way to York just to travel all the way from York to Plymouth on the HST. He was planning to leave at 4am to get to the town centre to catch a bus to Kettering station.

Saturday morning dawned and Robbie overslept, so once again I found myself driving to Kettering at the crack of dawn! I came home and went back to bed again, after all he wouldn't be home again until almost midnight so I would have a late night as well as an early morning! It was a lovely peaceful day and I got loads done, we are going on holiday next weekend so I have a lot of planning and packing to do.

Dave the cat has an infected eye so I have to take him back to the vet on Monday, he swore at me when I bathed it for him and when I put him down again he gave Oreo a clip around the ear on his way past him. I expect he will teach the vet a few new words too!

Waste Not Want Not 13.07.07

I glanced at the bedside clock, it was 02.24 and I still had not gone to sleep. I had been tired when I went to bed but my brain wouldn't switch off and as I had settled down to sleep a new thought had crossed my mind and now I was too angry to sleep. The thought was what happens to all the wasted uniform when a rail franchise is lost? I started to do the maths and even with fairly low estimates it was clear that we are talking about a huge waste of money. When you then factor in all the other costs associated with rebranding from new train livery to stationary the amount must be unthinkable. No wonder they want to massively increase rail fares. The more I thought about it the angrier I became, an obscene amount of money is wasted each time a franchise changes hands, how can we possibly justify that when there are other fare more important needs that cannot be met due to lack of resources. I must have fallen asleep at some point, but I awoke when the alarm clock burst in on my dreams an I felt as if I had hardly slept. I learned most about economics from my grandmother who like most of her generation had known true poverty as a child and had endured the hardships of two world wars as an adult. She understood cost and value far better than anyone who claims to be an economist, she thought it was wicked to waste resources (as I found to my cost when I didn't want to eat my dinner). In the present when we are so conscious of our global footprint waste on the scale described above is unforgivable.

Beyond Reason 12.07.07

I am rarely speechless and to be lost for words twice in the same week is something I have never experienced before. The news about the Cross Country franchise just won't sink in because it is so perverse. I have tried so hard to make sense of it, I have looked at the DFT website and various other sites and I have made some interesting observations but there is nothing to make sense of this decision. I looked hard at the photo of Rail Minister Tom Harris hoping that I could communicate my thoughts to him telepathically (because they are not printable!). Suddenly I realised that he bears a stunning resemblance to Jeffrey Archer - so that adds to his credibility big style!! Actually his own track record would lead you to much the same conclusion, I wonder if he has ever seen a train.

Thinking about credibility led my thoughts to Chris Gibb MD of Cross Country Trains, and what will happen to him. I don't suppose Arriva got him when they got the franchise and he will be a big loss. It is rare in the rail industry to find someone articulate enough to present rail information clearly in the media is rare, it is even more rare to find someone articulate who's looks do not make the viewing public flee for cover. He has quite an interesting face. Most important of all he has done a good job and he has the respect and loyalty of employees.

It seems to me that the government have got this whole rail franchise thing wrong. I know people say to re-nationalise the railways, but I remember travelling to and from London in the days of BR when I was a student, it was grim to say the least. I think more of a true privatisation is the answer. With the present set up there is so much uncertainty and franchises are relatively short in the region of 9-10 years. When you account for the time to put the bids together - many months, the uncertainty and waiting time - more months, the limbo time leading up to the transfer and the induction period for the new company. That represents huge costs and something close to two years of wasted unproductive time and it can't possibly represent good customer service or good value (not to mention good sense). If you compare that with the way the government manages PFI contracts for schools, hospitals etc. the inconsistencies are obvious. They award contracts for 20 or even 30 years, to allow the provider to recoup investment via charges, lettings and provision of ancillary services. Admittedly their track record with PFI is not great, but the principle is the same. Imagine what could be achieved if much longer franchises were awarded with clear targets and a defined minimum standard. Hitting targets would trigger a financial gain for the company, but the company would only loose the franchise the minimum standards were not met. It would make so much more sense.

Anyway I have been trawling the web for reactions to the franchise announcement and I have been amazed by the support for Virgin while nobody has a good word for Arriva. Here is a selection of the comments I found and also a couple of links to other sites

perfectly sensible decision. brilliant thinking to stop virgins contract - who have invested in new stock, new facilities and have made train travel enjoyable, to replace them with manky rolling stock from the late 70's - reduce the bogs on board, take the shops off the trains, cram more people in the trains and charge more. what a brilliant move to increase the number of people choosing public transport.
i've had the arriva experience out of manchester. the decor would instil a migraine in a dead donkey. the trolley service was awful and the train was packed solid after 2 stops.
looks like i'll keep driving my land rover - it might be old and a bit frayed, but it's more reliable and cheaper than the trains
If Arriva run trains like they run buses in Bristol and other close locations then, Virgin will be back next time.

Arriva should never have been let near another railway company after the mess they made of running services in the North of England a few years back.

Living in exeter i have used this route frequently for years and virgin have put on one of the best train services in the country, and one of the best i have lived under... This entire decision seems completely and utterly idiotic.. Virgin have had clean trains, great staff, tolerable buffet and pretty good ticket prices if you can find the deals..
Arriva on the other hand I had the joy of living in wales and suffering there intolerable service for a while and never again... Guess flybe have just picked up a new air traveller...

That Arriva probably the worst of existing rail franchise operators wins the Cross Country franchise is yet another farcicle decision from the most farcical of governmental organisation the D(a)fT who come out of the swamp every so often to destroy yet another aspect of a steadily deteriorating rail service. They took over from the SRA and make a declaration ask for comments, ignore the customer comments and sink back into the swamp. only to rise again and tell everyone that their original proposal is the one they will go forward with. They then ask for bids, but D(a)fT do not tell us what the rival bids were so how are we to know we are getting good (best) value, D(a)fT are judge and jury in their own case. They have defined the franchise and ignore public concerns about it. Then when it goes bottom up they hide back in the civil service anonymity swamp.

http://forums.atomic-systems.com/viewtopic.php?p=848254&CUTHERE=6c95174ecf3fd7ba881463c7cacabdd2

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1078142007

A Bad Decision 10.07.07

There are some days when it is very hard to face the day with a smile and today was just such a day. It was about 7.14am and we were embarking on another morning in the mad house, and with less than half an hour before Sam and I needed to leave the house the stress levels were already sky high. The phone rang and as soon as I heard Robbie's voice I knew he was going to tell me that Virgin had lost the Cross Country franchise. He was gutted and I was gutted for him. You could not find anybody who loves their job more than Robbie does and he takes a real pride in the service the company provides. To him it feels so unfair, and even now having had all day to make sense of it, I feel as if there will to be another announcement to say it was all a big mistake, but of course it's not going to happen.

I'm just an ordinary person, what do I know about trains - not a lot (but probably more than the DFT). However I am a woman and a wife so I know when the wool is being pulled over my eyes and I know a lie when I come across it. I also know that value and service is about far more than price. Another thing about being a wife, I can read between the lines, in fact looking at today's press release, I think my dog could read between the lines! To borrow a phrase from Jim Royal - customer service my ****!! Those chinless wonders at the DFT will have plenty of time to observe the consequences of their decision, but of course by then they will be meddling with something else that works to see if they can come up with another 'success' on the scale of Worst Late Western! If I could get my hands on those lame brains I would explain economics so simply that even they would understand. If you buy something from the pound shop you should expect to end up with tat!

An All Action Hero 14.02.07

I made Robbie suffer for his strop, on the journey back to Northampton I nicked his (unread) Rail magazine and read it from cover to cover. I liked the interview with Chris Gibb, I imagined that he would be much older, not sure why. The article described him as an all action hero, so perhaps it was him and not Superman on Sam's favourite train! I thought it was a very good article. He say's that the 'average' passenger thinks Voyagers are great, well I am not 'average' (being female gives me a head start towards perfection!) but I am a big fan of Voyagers, they have nice toilets. I think he is right about the staff too, the train crews on cross country are more friendly than the ones from the 'dark side'. Some of the train managers have added entertainment value, there is one who has a better gay walk than Robbie, a real John Inman wiggle. It is better than watching TV when he is on the train! If you want to improve cross country the best thing you could do is 'head hunt' the station announcer with the camp voice from Milton Keynes, he is amazing, we go via Milton Keynes just to listen to him, he's brilliant! Possibly the only good thing about Milton Keynes. To digress for a minute, I saw a chap (platform staff) at New Street today who looked so much like Alf Garnet. It was a bit scary, he looked as if he could have been a traffic warden in a previous life!

Anyway back to Robbie's Rail magazine, I loved the train photos with the Chris Gibb interview, but where is Cornwood Viaduct, is it in the Plympton/Ivybridge area? The first photo of Chris Gibb was fine, the second was perhaps a bit of a mistake. The way he was sitting made me think of Rainbow - you know, Zippy and George. George was cute, but perhaps that is not a franchise winning comparison!

I have been reading the Christian Wolmar articles quite regularly. I am used to hearing him speak on Radio 4, but to be honest he confuses me. Sometimes I think he makes a lot of sense, but every now and then he says or writes something that to be honest makes me think he is talking out of the wrong end - but then what do I know anyway. His article this week about freight was really interesting.

I have given Robbie his magazine back now, so peace reigns! He is feeling poorly this evening, I hope he hasn't picked up the bug that the children had because he has to go to Leeds tomorrow.