Jacobite 2023

That's pretty much what I was saying, if ORR identified the safety issue on say 01/01/2020 and a solution which would address this, then why did/do the dates for complying differ between WCR/LSL/VT/SRPS etc, completely setting aside the present JR position which will only consider legal application rather than detail anyway.

 

Very good questions, to which I haven't the foggiest.

 

I am not sure there are members on here who would like to see the back of WCRC, however if you read other forums there appear to be staff at (my words) DfT run TOC's who see the like of LSL, WCRC, G.C. and Lumo as some sort of less robust (to be polite) operations.

 

Maybe run its course Ralph?

 

It's an observation that fits with comments I've seen elsewhere, where comparisons are made between ex BR operations (so the main TOCs and DB/Freightliner) against OAOs and the newer generation of freight companies. Examples can be seen in discussions about the recent RAIB reports on incidents at Peterborough (Lumo) and Loversall Carr (GBRF), for example, while WCRC's reputation is still tarnished in those eyes by the Wootton Bassett overrun.

That is relevant to this thread in the context of WCRC having been subject to a prohibition notice, but is also a much wider discussion. I do however strongly agree with @acorb in his conclusions about the existential threat that incidents like this represent, and also that having a monopoly provider of steam tours represents to our hobby.

 

There are a fair few people who I have spoken to at all levels of the industry who say that WCRC come with a reputation that goes beyond the usual cowboy insults thrown at the newer entrants to the market...

 

Just an observation, it is being rumoured/speculated that either WCR or Riley's have just purchased another Black 5, so one would assume that whoever it is is pretty confident that there will be WCR operated trains needing motive power on the mainline going forward.

 

Why does it have to be one or the other?

Also, the cost of cutting back all lineaide vegetation at a frequency which prevents it ever getting near a train would be quite large. And yet the only people who would "benefit" would be the handful of window-hangers. How do you think someone might justify the expenditure within Network Rail or the Department of Transport?

 

It’s a sign of poor management. There’s supposed to be a swept space that is clear; the failure to maintain that should not be an excuse to transfer liability to the train operator.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The swept space should be a lot clearer than that. Just as when I was on a train out of Liverpool St last week, something was wrong when we were struck by buddleia when on a viaduct.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

So how do you suggest that they remove all buddleia from the lineside (every year) which may create another occurrence?

Or perhaps it would be easier to remove the potential harm to people by telling them to keep their heads inside the train?

 

I'm more worried about the potential harm to people from the failure to maintain infrastructure properly, given the damage that invasive plants like buddleia can do to structures - not to mention compounding the problems caused by leaf fall. I'm not advocating steam era lineside deserts, but the idea that allowing vegetation to grow close enough that it can strike trains is a luxury is one I frankly find worrying. Which is why a commuter train being struck by vegetation on a viaduct in inner London is worrying.

I suggest you read the RAIB report into the death near Bath, and consider the role of lineside management in that death. Or, perhaps, that at Balham a few years earlier where a structure was allowed to be too close to the rail. Both are cases of deaths caused by both the actions of individuals (for which they were culpable) AND the failure of NR to maintain their infrastructure (for which it is culpable).

As for the mechanics of how, there are age old gardening techniques which require a mix of hard labour and chemicals which need to have the right management priority.