My German word of the week: Eisenbahn‑Inbetriebnahmegenehmigungsverordnung. Which I think is the same as when the ORR authorises a new railway into service.

LinkedIn is bonkers - I fully appreciate this LinkedIn Ad is meant to be a funny parody story about someone stubbing their toe... but it is so close to the real cringe people post it just feels like a typical post.

I think Global Railways Mag has been microdosing on ketamine - claiming railways aren't electrifying as they're worried there isn't enough copper left in the world to run wires. www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/2343...

I really like Nexus - Tyne and Wear metro's explainer videos... all of them.... but obviously this is a favourite (1/2)

A break in the rain yesterday to tour the aquaponic farming in the neighbourhood.

Valentine's Day is getting close - if you need a rail electrification-themed card, I have you covered. (1/2)

I have seen so many architectual studios propse their own solution for Liverpool Street station as clickbait - I have proposed my own. I propose to put the Ministry of Truth from 1984 on top of the station & stick Great British Railways in it. Bosh job done.

Depressing reading. Gov has created a hellish circle: criticised costs & cancelling programmes that made progress reducing them. Whole industry pinning hopes on upcoming rolling stock & infrastructure strategy, but we may have expectations that can’t be met publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cm...

And tech bros wonder why no one is having kids. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As we move to discontinuous rail electrification in the UK, the number of power change-overs as trains swap traction power is rising rapidly. For freight which relies mainly on driver interventions, this is going to become a big issue. Number of change-overs a day in the graph below:

“In truth, one of the reasons that the MML further electrification went down the list is because the trains that were bought as bi-mode trains" - Minister for Rail Peter Hendy.

Where is my packet of googly eye stickers when I need one.

Same story in CA- Caltrain was record expensive because it was the first electrification project anywhere in the US in decades. We need a rolling electrification program, with multi-year funding agreements for the State Rail Plan, to bring down costs, #ElectrifyMetrolink #ElectrifyCapitolCorridor

My personal tip of the week - if you are going to go on the BBC to moan about Midland Mainline electrification - get permission from the bill payer first (1/2).

Getting up to speed, having been ill last week. Might take another week off having just read this quote in Rail: "30% of the £40 billion allocated for electrification & signalling in a Control Period is because of increased costs due to the boom-and-bust cycle” www.railmagazine.com/news/railway...

The biggest takeaway from this is not that the Gov rejected a mandatory rolling programme of electrification - we always knew they would do that. It is that the DfT's long-term rail strategy has moved from the summer to "later this year". www.railmagazine.com/news/railway...

Yesterday's Railways Bill debate, what are the benefits of electrification and will there be any in the future? Raised by @ollyglover.bsky.social : parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

In Glasgow today for Scotland's Railways & engineering & innovation conference. 100% agreement with Bill Reeves: discontinuous electrification is 'a start' & can infilled later, but doesn't support freight & doesn't allow fleet cascade.

Changing at Crewe this evening.... after a very, very slow train from Nottingham - a sad reminder of what could have been.

Today we had BBC East Midlands in the warehouse - discussing the impact of cancelling the remainder of Midland Mainline Electrification on local businesses. Gearing up for their Sunday politics show.

Visited Brands Hatch over the weekend for the 1st time. Felt slightly surreal, having seen it on TV so much as a child.

It is 2 years old, but finally read @gregmorsedphil.bsky.social & RSSB's track worker digest - really interesting parallels between historic and recent accidents. Really worth a read.

Death toll rises to 19 in Thailand with 80 injured after crane collapses on train, police say reut.rs/4jCqyol

I am "rolling up my sleeves" and starting work in the late 2030's. news.sky.com/story/new-bi...

At the Rail Industry's parliamentary reception. The world has turned on its head. Conservative Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden, says we need more conventional rail electrification. Hendy is saying that train OEMs should have contracts for trains and power, not GBR.

I really like this line of thinking... the next time someone moans at me about a leaning mast. "A leaning OLE stanchion can prove a very useful indicator of potential earthwork instability". www.railengineer.co.uk/geotechnic-m...

RSSB tendering a noise mitigation cost benefit analysis - will be interesting to read once finished. Gut feel..... Germany spent a fortune on noise prevention and forgot it needed to run trains on time. www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/00142...

To quote Oscar Wilde: We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. St. Pancras does make you look up, particularly at the sun comes up.

Last westbound Crossrail at 20:47... due to the on-going issues outside Paddington. A fun journey awaits. Bring on the completion of performance improvements.

Nice to see Auroras starting to fill up St Pancras.

We all have to commute to make a buck

Catching-up with Christmas rail reading - totally agree with these findings on West Coast and freight. a) we need freight infill electrification, in line with @ciltuk's list. b) West Coast needs power enhancements. c) we need a long-term plan. www.railengineer.co.uk/electric-fre...

traditional at Christmas to post (entirely genuine) June 2012 photo of Liz Truss campaigning for Ely North upgrade in breach of best safety messaging, but here it is ..

The sorry story of Theale station footbridge - definitely up there on the festive watch list. youtu.be/OrfLBTkTZdg?...

Feeling festive!

Always good to bring a themed laundry bag when away

Glad it isn't just rail that is impacted by short-term thinking and lack of rolling programmes. Sad that it pushes up costs for all of us and leaves the UK with shit infrastructure. www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/uk-ro...

I've been getting monthly French rail safety lessons learnt. Really interesting & useful. I think the UK should be collating these from all the major rail countries in Europe, so we can grasp some international best practice (& vice versa, they should be reading safety central)

Boshing out one last Swiss trip of the year. Looking at how product approvals in rail vary across Europe.... as you do

In a cab, by Slough and a New York bus has gone past..... very random.

3 months of my life.... I am glad it is the holidays soon.

Internal close out meeting today for Midland Mainline - all design submissions for last headspan renewals this Christmas done. The design side of the project is now officially mothballed.

Appreciate there is a safety issue with the lamp posts on Severn Bridge... but this is just click bait.

"Green Tunnel" - the word now grating. Putting things in tunnels solely to stop people moaning, a) doesn't stop them moaning, b) is objectively not green. news.railbusinessdaily.com/next-stage-o...

Looking forward to all the photos of trampolines stuck on railways tomorrow.

Government confirms - they are having a good old think about Ely Junction upgrade. Was only 1st proposed in 2002. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Possibly my most boring message ever - but I am so glad I found Zotero for citations/references..... wish it was before I was already on chapter 3.

For all the insanity that, in a digital world, this is a copy of an official master record of our rail infrastructure - you have to say, someone did have nice handwriting.

A Birmingham Uni's rail research centre this afternoon, simulating the impact of different forms of traction power on rail freight for key routes around the country. Hopefully, we can ensure the future DfT train/infrastructure strategy also factors in freight

I'm continuing my tour of places the DfT, HM Treasury & SoS for Transport decided to leave behind, by cancelling Midland Mainline Electrification. Today I'm in Leicester, home of modern rail leisure travel (Thomas Cook). Leicester Mercury article: www.pressreader.com/uk/leicester...