Pinned Tweet
I get that rail is important to millions as a service, but it is also how I make a living. I post in a personal capacity, often in the context of it being my job, rather than as a general commentary of the service. I do like to have a little fun with it. I hope you understand.
The roads round here are treacherous today too, to be honest. It’s not just trains that are suffering the effects of storm Austen.
📢 Multiple incidents are impacting the Southern network:
- A tree blocking the railway between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges
- A tree blocking the railway between Lewes and Brighton
- A tree blocking the railway between Uckfield and Crowborough
- A fault with the station lighting at Normans Bay
- A tree blocking the railway between Fareham and Southampton Central.
🕛If you are travelling on the Southern network this morning, you will need to allow an additional 60 minutes to complete your journey.
ℹ️For more information on services, please check back here or check the service updates page 👇
southernrailway.com/travel-i…
I suppose what I’m really saying is:
Join the railway! Job security, good perks, pay and pension and no two days are the same. When you book off, you leave the job at the door. Also - far less corporate than anywhere else I’ve ever worked. 😊
Watched this just now while sitting in the car waiting to collect my own kids from school, but mine will come home with me, unlike so many that didn’t in Aberfan 60 years ago today. This is truly heartbreaking and tough to watch.
"I can still see him in my arms"
Viv Jones was fifteen when 144 people were killed in the Aberfan disaster, including his nine-year-old brother Paul
It's taken him 60 years to share publicly what happened to them both on that catastrophic morning of October 21st, 1966
Our #c4news report
[with team @c4marcus & @daibaker 🎥]
Yesterday, the criticism of the government was that it couldn’t handle the big stuff, so it was focusing on things like bringing rogue parking firms to heel instead. This is quite big stuff…
For the first time, it feels to me like the clock is running down on the TOC system, from an internal perspective. Comms about preparing the way for GBR are routine, visual identity more and more present - double arrow has reasserted itself. It is near, but it feels it too now.
Maybe it’s rose tinted specs, but as a kid, I remember the departure lounge being a more civilised experience. These days it feels like a noisy, overcrowded shopping mall with a Wetherspoons in. Gatwick North has made a particularly egregious transition.
If Manchester City are relegated, then some Euro ‘28 matches are going to be played at a Championship (or worse) ground.
Politics makes people tie themselves in knots. They forget that small things matter to ordinary people living normal lives because they can’t take their eyes of the macro-political picture. People have told the govt they want help with cost of living/anti social behaviour, so…
It’s ingrained in us to sneer at everything the government does without much critical thought and yes, there are some far bigger problems the government needs to address, but it can do small stuff too. This demonstrates govt is thinking about people’s lives at a very local level.
I would argue that private parking companies behaving needlessly punitively to maximise revenue is a problem. It causes a great deal of anxiety and local authorities don’t possess the necessary clout on their own to deal with it. It’s a national issue.
🚨 NEW: Andy Burnham has announced changes to car parking fines
- Drivers will have a 5-minute grace period to decide whether to park and 10 minutes to leave after a parking session ends
- A £20 maximum charge on appeal for minor mistakes, such as entering the wrong number plate or not displaying a permit
- Charges will also be cancelled on appeal for breakdowns, medical emergencies or broken ticket machines
- The £100 cap on charges will remain
- The rules will come into force as soon as possible and operators that break them will lose access to DVLA data