Yesterday was Rail Forum's TOCTalk conference heavily led by DfTO (DfT Operator). Here's my top take-aways: 1) All 3 DfTO speakers said focus was on reducing the net subsidy to rail in the short term. Lots of ways to improve decision-making & drive better value, but.... (1/8)

The UK needs to stop doing individual projects and just doing continuous rail upgrades, because we (as a matter of policy design!) shed expertise pointlessly every time!

Maybe I won't have a Gregg's breakfast

Nottingham is looking luminous this evening.

Biometric passport machines still closed at St Pancras...... will they remain closed by the summer? (fingers crossed they will, for my summer holiday).

If you work at night - it is really hard to see overhead powerlines. You need to go to site in the daytime! www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY5l...

Lambeth is getting dangerous

If you are struggling to sleep tonight - I presented to the Union of European Railway Engineers on what the UK can learn from Europe on getting new products into rail... everyone loves a presentation on corporate processes. youtu.be/GySP6rysS5s?...

DfT recognises ursines preferred defecatory locations.

Reading DfT's response to Transport Select Committee's report on rolling programmes. "The Government recognises that previous stop-start approaches to electrification may have contributed to higher unit costs and loss of capability" Previous = Current committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Quite niche - but the highlight of any visit to South-East London is the pan down sign.

"Be careful the water is hot". I am sorry, it just isn't and never has been. 🙁

Brecon's for lunch, Berkshire for tea

Brecon Beacons never looked so good - a sunny day in South Wales.

One answer to why we sometimes hear the announcement "sorry this train is delayed as we are stuck behind a slow-moving freight train" - from @hannahritchie.bsky.social's substack hannahritchie.substack.com/p/rail-elect...

I find it amazing that Ukraine are still ordering replacement trolleybuses in a war. Just amazing. 👏 ecepp.ebrd.com/delta/viewNo...

The original plan was for the Heathrow western rail link to be in service by 2020. In 2026, we are still discussing the business case. 🤦 www.railmagazine.com/news/western...

Anyone who says rail doesn't innovate, doesn't know what they are talking about.

I wonder how this will work when GBR runs the TOCs, and a devolved gov's operator is in conflict with GBR, and potentially ORR's role is weakened. www.railmagazine.com/news/gwr-rai...

A roller coaster of - oh my train is cancelled - oh I can get on the slightly earlier faster train as they have lifted restrictions.

Looking at Strava data to map how people cross the railway and what might need to be swapped to a footbridge - is my new favourite way to pretend I am working, whilst delving too deep into a topic.

UK rail product acceptance takes too long, costs too much & prevents innovation. An anecdote or a fact - it is actually quite hard to separate feelings from facts in this topic. For 6 months, I worked for the Office of Rail and Road, benchmarking the UK against European best practice (1/2)

Heading to Swindon - looking super today.

Hello - 10 days holiday and no social media. Still drying out from the last 4 in Wales.

For Network Rail infrastructure, to check whether a product has gone through the acceptance process, you need to check PADSnet (Parts & Drawing System), managed by Serco. I've long suspected that a few companies don't check before buying products, as it is behind a paywall (1/2)

Some people collect Pokémon cards. If you collected UK railway electrification section insulators - this would be equivalent of the rarest card. A DC section insulator for two contact wires. Like collecting rare Pokémon cards - this would be an expensive hobby

Whilst the UK fights over every new pylon that might eventually reduce our electricity bill. Saudi has converted this pylon into an art exhibition and it looks gorgeous.

Having done train borne surveying that goes rapidly awry in tunnels as soon as the GPS signal is lost - I think quantum positioning is a real use case for quantum tech. interestingengineering.com/innovation/u...

Tyne and Wear Metro (Nexus) has a climate resilience issue (or several) - it can have lots of delays every hot summer day due to electrification equipment designed in the 70's. My team has been Barcelona this week with Nexus testing the equipment that will stop this (1/2)

I spent yesterday evening trying to explain why increased tension in conductors results in less strucutres in rail electrification. I think this is the best I can do.

Short-circuit testing - in electrification, it is the 100% most exciting thing we ever see or do.

I think the Times are a year late to this story about reducing speed to save money. What really costs money, is constant meddling since the start of HS2. www.thetimes.com/business/com...

As the UK Government weighs up whether it can afford rail electrification, the Indian Government is celebrating how much it has saved by electrifying & how it has created a resilient, affordable system that has avoided oil shocks.

Stuck at Beeston... as train after train is cancelled - did get at least to see a new train whizzing in the other direction.

Darren (RIAs CEO) at Rail Industry's Innovation conference: Pause in Midland Mainline set a worrying message to the supply chain. Cancellation cost £400m in locoal economic benefits (1/3)

Catching the conference coach to Newport's conference centre... am the only passenger. Starting to wonder if I caught the right coach.

Heading to Newport for @railindustry's Innovation Conference. Last year everyone had robot dogs (mainly purely as eye candy), wondering what this year's trend will be.

I am just chucking this out there: NCP has not collapsed due to Covid as they claimed. They collapsed as they were bought out by Macquarie Group, who saddled them with huge debt, who then palmed them off on the next vulture hedge fund to pick what was left www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Something a little different yesterday motorsport marshall training.... I've not done fire training in 25 years since London Underground was a blast from the past.

After last night's Spotlight Rail Awards, I have something to add to the silverware cabinet & discuss in the RailEI presentation next month: www.railei.org/event/codes-...

In London today- prepping for a bit of a relaunch.

I will also be doing a clubbing version of my presentation....(video needs volume).

On the 16th April, I'll be presenting at the Railway Engineering Institution - online and in Swindon - on the most fun and possibly unusual project I've ever worked on - built at @GCREinnovation. Link below www.railei.org/event/codes-...

Someone - for unknown reasons has left a Louis Theroux cut out in the warehouse.

Queuing for a bus earlier - every time I see this, it annoys me.... we must be one of the few countries in the world, where towns have to bid to the central Gov for a bus. Must be a bid consultant's dream. The UK Gov logo is a collective sign of failure, not success.

The new ICE (the UK one) state-of-the-nation report is worth a read. Lots of good points, but its asset management themes are something we see every day, a lot of our infrastructure is slowly being ground down, as it is not as sexy as a new project to fund. knowledgehub.ice.org.uk/insight/stat...

25 years ago, when I started in rail, I couldn't have guessed I would be talking about using satellite data to help with engineering decisions on rail infrastructure at a space conference... today's Space-Comm Expo.

Stunning day - off to Excel centre and not sure if I can face going inside a conference centre.

Something to keep in mind over the coming weeks.

Good to see rail is doing its bit to smash the Uk's construction industry www.constructionenquirer.com/2026/02/27/o...