Slow train wins on First Great Western!
24 September 2011
This weekend I attended the annual dinner in Sheffield of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships – the annual bash of the volunteers and rail professionals who keep Britain's secondary railways going. I got there on an excursion from Exeter, (which I joined travelling down from Paddington at Brunel's magnificent Bristol Temple Meads station). This slow rambling train, called the 'Cream and Cutler', was sponsored by First Great Western, who took one of their well cared-for Class 158 trains into the heart of rival operating company Northern Rail's territory and "parked it on their lawn". Nice to see a bit of friendly rivalry between two of the firms who give some of the best TLC to Britain's rural railways! It's what rail privatisation should be about. (First Great Western ended up winning the prize for best operating company, proving how the tortoise can often win!)
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