Train crashes again
This is a somewhat belated post on the Grayrigg train crash following on from my previous post on Ufton Nervet. I wonder whether this one will wind sil up as much as that one.
There were a couple of decent weblog posts soon after the crash that once again pointed out the over-reaction of the media to the crash which, although spectacular and tragically fatal in one instance, pales into insignificance compared to the situation on the roads. From Duck News:
In the three days since this crash, the arcane science of statistics tells us that somewhere between twenty and thirty people have died in road traffic accidents on British roads. A random flit around the local news pages on the BBC News website reveals a weekend of death and destruction on the roads that barely registers on the national radar.
From Where Railways Collide:
A few weeks ago, a National Express coach overturned on the slip road connecting the M4 to the M25. The casualties were worse than Grayrigg. Many people suffered horrific injuries; there was an entire family all of whom lost limbs. The story lasted one news cycle in the media. The coach was towed away and the road reopened within 24 hours; no suggestion that the whole area be sealed off as a crime scene for days before any work started clearing the wreckage.
Part of what was shocking with the Pendolino was the fact that it appears to have been the result of negligence with maintenance of the points, as at Potters Bar. The post just quoted also makes the point that "criminal recklessness" also has a far greater impact on the roads:
Potter's Bar was five years ago. In that time, Fifteen Thousand people have died on Britain's roads. And a good proportion of those were the result of criminal recklessness an order of magnitude worse than the maintenance failures that cause Friday's derailment.
My only comment on that is that most recklessness on the roads is the result of individual actions- speeding, drinking, carelessness- rather than a maintenance firm's failure to do its job. In the end though, really, it comes down to the responsibility of the individuals involved: no matter how good the procedures involved or the theoretical supervision employed, if someone doesn't check that point properly, then it becomes dangerous.
A.D. XIII KAL. APR. MMVII
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Willington rowing lake to go ahead
The BBC reports that the proposed Olympic rowing lake at Willington will go ahead despite the inadequate local transport and the fact it will most likely scupper the Bedford to Cambridge railway proposals. All for a crappy training lake- it won't actually see any competition- which will probably be largely useless come 2013. At least it will be part of a larger park, although I'm not sure what the effect will be on the existing cycle path between Sandy and Bedford via Willington (which would of course be banjo'd if the railway was to come in any case).
In other Bedfordshire train news, the police have introduced a passenger metal detector scanning pilot at Flitwick station of all places. I appreciate Luton has rather put Bedfordshire on the terror map, but really. I like that Inspector John Seamarks of British Transport Police said that Flitwick is not noted for high levels of violent disorder or anti-social behaviour and this operation is aimed at keeping it that way throughout the summer holidays when many young people use the trains to travel from town to town
. Obviously, it's best to concentrate resources on places that have no crime in order to make sure that there isn't any.
A.D. XIII KAL. AUG. MMVI
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Tory rail reorganisation
According to Conservative Home, the Conservatives, or David Cameron as they're now known, are thinking about reorganising the railways so that companies run both track and trains, which I believe is how the Japanese do these things. Apparently this would be more efficient and require less subsidy
. Hurray.
The article also seems to suggest that a Review of the rail network by the Conservative Party is in the offing. I'm not sure how this squares with the quite definite plans outlined above. Maybe the review will be like an undergraduate essay with all the formalities of research and reading done after the essay has been largely written.
A.D. XVI KAL. AUG. MMVI
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Unstoppable passengers meet immovable passengers
A wonderful occurence this morning on the train from Sandy to Finsbury Park. There is a special timetable today with fewer and shorter trains only running to Finsbury Park instead of Kings Cross because of yesterday's fire at Kings Cross. The crowded and delayed train eventually made it to Finsbury Park with only one woman nearly fainting through standing. However, the driver then said that they couldn't let us off said crowded train because of overcrowding on the platform. A dilemma that one, but they managed to solve it by getting people dressed in yellow to walk and down and look exasperated for a bit.
The resultant tube journey to cover the last leg to Kings Cross was actually not as unpleasant as many I did at rush hour when I lived in London. I'm tempted to take the Midland Mainline to Bedford again tonight and get the rail replacement bus to Sandy: the Meridian trains they use have declassified first class seating for plebs like me who know about it to fill up (because of a mistake when ordering the trains). This made yesterday's journey very pleasant if it wasn't for the woman next to me slamming her phone down all the time because she couldn't get a signal. Anyway.
A.D. V KAL. IUL. MMVI
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Tom