Old and new: The legacy of British Rail…
I know I should be pleased to see investment in rolling stock but I felt so deeply uninspired coming home on Monday. The Transpennine Express 802s were quite exciting, but uncomfortable. The Transport for Wales trains feel so lacking in character that I feel like my blend of melancholic nostalgia will only deepen in the months ahead…
It feels that today’s railway suffers from a lack of strategic direction and decision making - especially with rolling stock. Whilst the Intercity Express program did produce a reasonable result, the Hitachi units, however the rest of the country and network feels deeply lost. A mix of manufacturers and designs, varying in both build and design quality - and all distinctly lacking the quality of build (and traditional engineering style) of the Metro Cammell 156 and BREL 150 and 158s… the opportunity for a connected strategy with British owned and manufactured trains of a consistent design is tantalisingly close with Great British Railways but I fear we will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory… already our network is swamped with awful CAF units, unreliable Siemens and the deeply misguided Voyagers and Pendolino of the early days of privatisation. Even worse, why is everything run under different names and different colours - I don’t think this helps the public. Can’t we kill the shadow companies off as they come back under public control and go back to BR sectors? InterCity, Network SouthEast, Regional Railways and Scotrail?
I read about the railway and the politics. I fancy myself as an amateur strategist. This is evidence I suppose of my love of trains. Perhaps I should stick to making models! Until next time, more soon…
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Several years ago Ian Stock wrote a blog post about the differences in interior design https://sprezzatura.blog/2018/05/09/travelling-in-style/
ReplyDeleteI remember reading that years ago - whilst Ian talks about interior I'm talking both interior - for which I agree in part with some of what he says - but you know, I think, for societal reasons a return to tables around windows would be a step forwards - not backwards. No airline seating. Social - at least slightly.
DeleteAs for the exterior - the utilitarian appearance of the standard Derby style cab on a DMU or the 150/156 style cab on the Sprinters - they had a family resemblance. Yes the 101s and 158s stood out - but on the whole they all offered a sharp and coherent style that the public could navigate, wherever they were, through a degree of familiarity.
These days the buttons and safety notices are all in different places. A TfW 197 is insane for the safety and information notices inside - it's a right mess.
I know exactly what you mean - we spent a week in Newquay this summer. I thought I'd take a trip to Par and back down the branch. Journey out was a 150, but the return had come from Paddington so was an 802 Hitachi hybrid. Very different!
ReplyDeleteThe 150/2 - my absolute favourite units to travel on. Commuter spaced seating made things feel surprisingly spacious, the heating was good and with windows open they sounded great. A bit basic inside with the single unshielded fluorescent tube but they were built to a cost, to keep our railways alive. We're still in that boat - yet todays cheap feels tacky rather than utility focused.
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