The Sleeper's Blog

Crossing the line?

13.10.09: Network Rail has begun a renewed attack on those who misuse level crossing in an effort to bring down the number of casualties which result from misuse. However there has been criticism of Network Rail in Scotland, where the Rail Accident I...

Politicians everywhere for the next seven and half months

12.10.09: Isn’t it funny how politicians suddenly care about us all again? Could it be anything to do with the fact there is an election next year perhaps? Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats has been visiting rail companies in an effort to s...

A rail good job

09.10.09: A new rail director has been appointed by Nexus, to control maintenance on the Tyne and Wear Metro. He said: “I’m excited and very proud to be joining Nexus. The Metro is a fantastic system and I’m delighted to have this o...

Cuts are coming

08.10.09: Today David Cameron gave one of the greatest performances of his life; he looked ready to become prime minister. He spoke with honesty about the need to rein in government spending to get the country back on track. However this honesty brin...

Charles Riley gets Invensys Rail job

07.10.09: Invensys Rail, which provides railway control and communications technology to the rail industry, has announced that it has appointed Charles Riley as business solutions director. Charles got the rail job after working for an Invensys subsi...

Could tax breaks lead to more rail jobs?

06.10.09: Perhaps. The shadow chancellor has said that new businesses could be allowed to save on their NI contributions for the first ten employees in an effort to encourage start-ups. Of course this probably won’t have much of an affect...

More rail jobs for a safer future

05.10.09: Today we remember the victims of the Paddington rail crash; a terrible tragedy which must never happen again. However, given the current state of investment in rail, it could. It does not take a genius to work out that the financial restric...

Spare rail the cutter

02.10.09: It would seem that unless Gordon Brown can pull something spectacular out of the bag, the Conservatives will probably win the next election. However, whichever party wins reductions in public spending will have to be made and therefore we r...

Money from nowhere

01.10.09: Why, when Network Rail is having to make sweeping efficiency savings, can the government suddenly afford to keep hold of the East Coast Mainline? Where is this money coming from? A cynic could also ask the same question about the gover...

Siemens fills rolling stock rail job

30.09.09: The company responsible for a large percentage of the rolling stock used on Britain’s railways has appointed a new member to its management team. Matthias Schlelein has been given the role of finance director of the company’...

Rail is rising

29.09.09: The high-speed rail debate has probably been one of the best things to happen to the rail industry in a very long time. This debate has sparked the media’s imagination over what the country could achieve if it had the infrastructure to pr...

Get on yer bike

28.09.09: There was great news for rail job seekers today with the This is today’s rather ironic message from our government, considering that this will probably be our instruction to them next spring. Sarcasm aside, a new initiative to get mor...

More choice equals more rail jobs

25.09.09: There was great news for rail job seekers today with the announcement that Great North Eastern Rail are set to make a comeback, along with a sister company, Great North Western Railway. The story broke alongside the announcement that many...

Future jobs in rail

24.09.09: There was good news for rail job seekers this week; Network Rail is planning to train up 1200 young people over the next five years. Those who make it on to Network Rail’s apprenticeship programme are lucky on two counts; one to get a...

No time to be playing politics

23.09.09: With a general election looming, I am sure that we will hear many statements of good intent being made towards the rail industry. But will anything actually come of them? Will any rail jobs be created by Lembit Opik’s attempt at...