Trains, and boats and… buses

I had a day out down the Severn Valley on Saturday, in search of bucolic pleasures. It involved a bus to beautiful Bridgnorth, a vintage diesel train on the Severn Valley Line to Hampton Loade, where I transferred to a current-powered miniature ferry, a stroll through the bluebell woods to Dudmaston Hall, then a trip back to Bridgnorth on board THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE! Finally, having tried every other mode of transport available, I took a trip up the rock on the Funicular Cliff Railway.

Rock, and indeed Roll.

Full set of photos here, or click these to enlarge.

And the award for irony goes to…

… The Hegemon, for its honorary degree policy. We've just given an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration to

Tony Collins – Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration in recognition of his significant and successful contribution to the railway management and rail passenger service of Virgin Trains

That's right. Not, you'll notice, for the top quality, efficiency and affordability of the railway system: the slowest and most expensive in Europe, not aided by yesterday's announcement of 8% price increases for the next three years.

But as a means of extracting cash from our pockets directly and through taxation, it's a winner. Did you know that Virgin Trains merely licenses the name from Richard Branson's Swiss company? That means that there's never enough profit to pay tax on, because the fee charged to license the brand is so huge. So cuddly Uncle Richard is essentially avoiding tax by salting the cash away in no-tax Switzerland. That's what we're giving degrees for. And we wonder why Britain's economy is screwed: we reward financial trickery, rather than, for instance, people who make trains.

So, hats off to The Hegemon for demonstrating that even major educational institutions are capable of parody and satire. It's a grand gesture, a sophisticated piece of grand comedy played out on an official stage. I'm actually really pleased: it shows that there's a living, beating heart here, one capable of witty commentary on contemporary society.

This is what humans will do to get by

Wow.

God, I feel sorry for the Germans and their terrible public transport.

Train travel throughout Germany was also thrown into chaos as operators ordered high-speed trains to slow down to 200 km/hour in order to avoid accidents due to ice clumps on the rails, leading to many delays and cancellations. 

Awful. Their inefficient state-run trains have to slow down to 200kph in extreme conditions.

In other news, 201 kph (125mph) is the top speed of all British InterCity trains - unchanged since the railways were privatised (cost to the state then: £2.5bn; cost to the state now: £4.9bn - and ticket prices have rocketed). The rest don't get anywhere near.