This from the Shadow Minister for Transport...
A bus pretending to be a train. & not one of @alextrentbarton's classy ones. But its warm ta @northernrailorg #pacer pic.twitter.com/r4Emt9FoIn
— Lilian Greenwood (@LilianGreenwood) November 15, 2013
This from Dr Syphon...
While
the Virgin West Coast supporting e-petition powers away at 163,000+ votes, have
you spotted the plucky underdog?
It's the one lauding the decision to award First the West Coast franchise?
It’s been going for 3 days and now has a mighty err... 60
signatures.
At
least that’s more than 3 times as many as one calling for a Pacer to be preserved by the NRM!
This from Sir Felix Pole...
I thought Eye readers might be interested in FGW's farewell tour for the Class 142 'Pacer' units as they depart the West Country? (shome mishtake shurely? Ed).
I'm glad to say that the traditions of the Great Western Railway are still being upheld!
You will note the rather sniffy reference to the 'LSWR route from Salisbury'.
UPDATE: This from Banker76...
Maybe Northern will organise a similar ‘Welcome to the Pacers’ tour around parts of the network where luckless commuters have already been enduring them for 25 years or more.
Then again, perhaps not…
UPDATE: This from a disgusted Major Disaster (FPL and Bar)...
There will be no such celebrations on Northern Rail when they arrive here.
Our memories go back to the days when the 305's ended up in the Manchester area after they were replaced by 310's on the LT&S.
Once again the flabby South demonstrates its contempt for those oop North!
UPDATE: This from the Oft Forgotten South West...
So Major Disaster remembers the 305s?
How lucky for him. Down in the South Wales and West region we have no wires at all, so have never seen such electrickery!
The demise of the FGW 142s will not bring the presence of Pacers in this area to an end; we still have all the 143s and in South Wales there is a not insubstantial fleet of 142s, sent here by a generous North West in exchange for some Sprinters. And FGW's 142s were payment for a large batch of 158s, which Northern seems to be keeping.
There are some newer trains on Manchester and Birmingham-bound services but for internal and London-bound workings we haven't got a single passenger vehicle less than 20 years old.
Might I suggest that the North, which has commuter trains with such 21st Century luxuries as air conditioning and disabled toilets, ensures that future complaints about rolling stock emphasise the disparity with the 'South East' rather than merely the flabby South?
And then we can all join in with the ritual complaints about the shortage of Electrostars north and west of Watford.
Telegrammed by 221b Baker Street
'I say, Holmes, what do you make of the disturbing case of the Pacer engine, found near Olive Mount junction?
'Watson, you will of course have noted the significance of RAIB's investigation and the detail of the event contained in the NIR.'
'But Holmes, RAIB is not investigating and there has been no NIR!'
'That, Watson, is the significance!'
UPDATE: The NIR has apparently now been published and RAIB are involved!
Found!
One Pacer engine from yesterday's 19.37 Blackpool to Liverpool service.
Discovered trackside between Broadgreen station and Wavertree Technology Park
Perhaps Northern or Angel could get in touch.
Our man in Marsham Street, top civil servant Sir Humphrey Beeching, tells Eye over an after work G&T that the on-going delay to the announcement of the preferred bidder for the 202 DMU vehicles is due to the dramatic improvement in the reliability of the Pacer fleets.
With three fleets over 6000 miles per casualty and only one under 4000, the operating and engineering chappies reckon they can now get by with fewer new, and expensive, DMUs which, in any event are generally used by provincial people for whom Pacers are more than sufficient.
Suggestions that DfT Rail can't raise the funding, or find an independent expert willing to undercut Porterbrook on lease rentals are officially deprecated.
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