The End - 2am 11.11.2007

If you chopped Robbie in half (and believe me there have been times when I've been tempted!) I think you would find the words Cross Country running through him like a stick of rock. He has loved working for Virgin and he was proud of all the achievements of Cross Country, so the end of the franchise is a big deal to him. He has spoken of little else for weeks - and if you know Robbie you will know that he can fit far more words into a minute than most people!

On Friday he went to a retirement event at Kidderminster where he met lots of old friends from the railways. He was late home - again, but when he got back he went on and on and on about the end of an era and all the people who were moving on. Finally he fell asleep, but as soon as he woke up he was droning on about it all over again. Distraction techniques worked for a while, but you can never stop Robbie talking for very long and in the end I gave up. He was still going full steam ahead on the demise of Virgin Cross Country and I was contemplating the bedroom ceiling thinking that a coat of paint was long overdue, not to mention a new lampshade and curtains. My silence must have lulled him into a false sense of security because I was dragged back to the subject of railways when he asked if I would drive to Coventry station to pick him up in the middle of the night. He must be mad, I wouldn't drive to Coventry station in broad daylight, it's the pits, and nothing on earth would induce me to drive there in the middle of the night! He wanted to travel on the very last Central train, but he couldn't get home from Coventry.

He got more twitchy as the day went on and in the end I had to let him out because he was driving me mad. I left him and his camera at Northampton Station where he intended to have a good look at two engines on a special charter. After that he headed to Birmingham to watch the last Virgin Cross Country services depart - sad crank! Of course he couldn't resist having one last ride so by the time he arrived home it was Sunday and I was struggling to stay awake! I stayed up because I knew he would be feeling sad when he got home. I listened to all his talk about the evening and I admired his photos, but in the end he made me sad - by announcing that he had to be at the station by 6am on Monday to see a special train. I will leave you to imagine my response, but I think I conveyed my feelings adequately!!

A Fond Farewell 10.11.07

I feel that today's page should have black borders, because today is the very last day in the life of the Virgin Cross Country franchise. I have made my feelings clear about the stupidity and pointless expense of the present franchise renewal system, so if you missed me 'having a rant' you will need to go back to the entry for 10th July 2007. All I will say today about the re franchise process is that the biggest losers in all this are the staff and the passengers. The staff because they are robbed of choice and they have a new employer imposed upon them. Massive amounts of time and money have to be squandered on renegotiating contractual issues, pensions and working arrangements that were perfectly satisfactory under the old regime. It is considered an achievement to end up with the status quo, and when disputes arise we end up with strikes - as in the case Silverlink. Some individuals are massively disadvantaged and others endure months of worry until there concerns are addressed. The passengers lose out because while all this is going on it is diverting time, attention and resources away from the service. Sure, they are promised 'jam tomorrow' but tomorrow never comes! Look at the 'Worst Great Western' debacle not so long ago. They took over perfectly adequate companies and in the name of efficiency, provided a service so inferior that passengers were treated worse than cattle, causing many to permanently abandon the railways. Slowly the headlines subsided and the service struggled back to something that passed for normality, possibly the service is still worse than before FGW got hold of it, but has 'improved' because it is not quite as bad as when they hit the headlines!

Since the franchise announcement it has been like Lemming Year at Cross Country. Virgin made sure that they found posts at WestCoast for their best managers and other railway companies have got in on the act and snapped up some capable employees. Even Network Rail has enticed away some capable and knowledgeable employees - I'm not sure what good that will do but you can't blame them for trying!!! Even Robbie toyed with the possibility of a move to WestCoast, but he has been pleasantly surprised by top team at Arriva - so far, and after all WestCoast didn't become known as 'The Dark Side' for nothing!! So Monday will see a much changed team at Cross Country to mark the start of the Arriva era. No doubt there will be many frustrations and challenges ahead and there are bound to be teething problems, but there are still people who are passionate about their jobs and about Cross Country. However just to be on the safe side I think I ought to send Robbie to work with some 'happy pills' on Monday!