This week the rail franchise "London Midland" finally ceased operations being replaced by West Midlands Trains on December 10th, a combination of part local authority group here in the Midlands and part private sector.
London Midland started operations in 2007 and was one the biggest operators here so not surprisingly I travelled on them quiet a bit not least to littles camp passing through Wolverhampton, Staffordshire where you can see a Class 170 parked on platform one.
One place you certainly would see many of their services is at the Virgin owned Crewe rail station one of the biggest and busiest stations in the UK and is my local main station as the stations in Greater Stoke-on-Trent have a much more limited set of connections.
Here therefore you'll see a Class 350/3 on one of the twelve operational platforms as I have numerous times.
London Midland had a rather so-so reputation from the start but I would have to say outside of one overcrowding incident on a early evening Ex Birmingham service to Liverpool, I always found them punctual and the conductors exemplary, being gendered correctly.
Farewell then London Midland, a part of my life, and welcome aboard West Midland Trains.
I've been away for a number of days in connection with that all encumbering part of my life that I don't really need to write a large account of here other than it's so very much the me I've been talking about for the last ten months or so about here.
There are some reflections I do feel the need to talk about about on here one is learning to be grateful for what people freely do for you such as seeing I was struggling at one railway station a couple kindly offered to help carry my luggage and even checked when I got to the end of the stairwell I was all right who I no idea of.
There's the people who kept an eye on me as I was feeling a little homesick where I stayed, spending time with and the friend who knowing the sort of fiction I like, gave me a cherished book from their collection.
Then there is a friend of mine who kindly put me up, offering a cooked meal and a lift to the train coming back completely out of the blue, seeing I was on the right platform for my train to come in.
These acts of kindness really moved me but whereas in the past I'd of blocked out my emotions I thanked them properly for all those things they did not have to do,that I have no right to expect nor demand expressing my gratitude, revealing my sense of being humbled openly.
Travelling on the train as I do from time to time the continuing controversy over the HS2 London-Manchester high speed service continues to intrigue me.
As I experienced this week the problems that can happen on a very busy stretch where I train has a breakdown or similar difficulty often has a knock on effect on other services such as delays or even cancellations.
On the other hand a report of MP's suggests the proposed new line and service should operate no faster than 185 MPH for environmental reasons (C02 emissions) rather than the original reducing considerably the 'improved' journey times for being say not more than twenty minutes and as some of these stations are not going to be the existing ones, passengers may need to pick up connecting services or taxis to traditional business destinations making any savings over the standard services pretty much academic being unlikely to encourage such users to switch.
One alternative might be to increase capacity on the existing networks by introducing and in some instances restoring twin track working in which was removed for cost reasons in the 70's and 80's and finishing of electrification allowing trains to operate to a maximum of 125 MPH which would still offer advantages over the road network.
This could benefit a wider geographic area and customer base.
