Absolute nail on the head Noel. I would add that the DfTs incompetence as a guiding mind is that it's the 'mind' can't speak without Treasury & Government approval. GBR success will be down to what its relationship is with those two, & if it isn't different to now then it'll likely not be a success.

The interior lighting seems to be a warmer hue than those on the 80Xs. Was that the case in reality?

I can second that. I remember that Chesterfield would sometimes be referred to as Chez Vegas.

Ahhhh... Köln Ehrenfeld. Where is spent nearly an hour on ICE 17 during the chaos caused from Köln Hbf and Köln Messe/Deutz being closed due to the discovery of 3 unexploded WW2 bombs back in due. Oh, fun times!

Not gonna lie, I 100% agree with you Noel, & while I wasn't so keen on the original proposal, the new one looks great to me. It's sympathetic to the actually original parts of the station that remain, & in my opinion look more impressive of a gateway to London than the current station does.

Not gonna lie, I 100% agree with you Noel, & while I wasn't so keen on the original proposal, the new one looks great to me. It's sympathetic to the actually original parts of the station that remain, & in my opinion look more impressive of a gateway to London than the current station does.

The new Metro stations in Sydney, as well as the improvement to Sydney Central, are certainly on my bucket list of places to visit whenever I get the opportunity to next go there.

That makes three!

Happy Birthday @nickbadley.com !!! 🥳

Yes! I’ve been absolutely loving it.

It characters are brilliantly written & acted, & shows the humanity of them behind the politics in the show.

Indeed, but as I’m sure you know only a few TOCs have quiet carriages even if there’s a guarantee of them being ‘quiet’.

For similar reasons it why when travelling on my own on long journeys I'll try & book 1st to try & aim for a quieter environment.

True, but my concern, & I imagine Mark Wilds, is better to get it right first time to win the confidence of politicians. Without that it’s highly unlikely anyone in power will approve any future rail projects. Too much political confidence has been lost.

I think this paragraph is key. That simply running HS2 services onto the WCML at Handsacre as is, is just too sub optimal an option to continue with, which I won't lie I sort of agree with.

The only positive is that this may help the case for the Crewe link (phase 2A), but it's grasping a straws for a silver lining.