Claude_Dreyfus

Looks like the FA have seen it from Webb's point of view... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26039222 All sorts of shenanigans over the past week or so... Arsenal get in a player to cover for their injury 'crisis', only to find the replacement is crocked himself for 6 weeks! Leeds fire and then hastily unfire Brian McDermott Joe Kinnear finally accepts he was as effective as a fart in a windsock in player recruitment at Newcastle; proving that by getting precisely all during January Swansea get ruthless and fire Laudrup just in time for the South Wales derby ...and that's before we look at the continued tribulations of Man Utd, and the fact somehow Arsenal are still top of the league. Still some things are as per usual; Pompey lost to Torquay last weekend and are still languishing towards the bottom of League 2...

I loved the 19th century football comment from Mourinho...as 19th century it certainly wasn't. Matches back then often had cricket scores, not 0-0 draws! Edit: Just seen this...http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25958046 I wondered how long before an article would appear on this...

It met a rather sad end at the hands of an arsonist if memory serves me right...

I don't know whether this is just coincidence, however so far this week none of the trains I have been on have travelled over this section of track much above 40-odd mph. Is there a speed restriction in place (albeit temporary)? It has been noticably slower as I have been paying attention; trying to ascertain whether or not the renewal has lead to any improvement in the ride quality over that section of track...

I'm afraid I don't agree. Many of these issues you have picked up on reflect the Japanese corporate culture (which itself has proven to be a national scandal), as opposed to an across-the-board reduction in build quality. Granted, Toyota has had a very difficult period recently, but there have also been recalls Citroen, Renault, Ford...the list goes on. Perhaps because it is because they have such a good reputation for reliability it proved to be such as shock. Also, Japanese vehicles are consistently (even now) ranked towards the top of reliability and owner satisfaction. In general, the quality of Japanese train design is exceptionally high and I cannot think of any country, with the exception of Germany, which has such a consistent track-record; particularly high-speed trains. If anyone can produce a train that meets the no doubt endless list of requirements DaFT have, the Japanese can.

Thanks. It was touch and go whether or not we would go, as the weather was somewhat indifferent. Hopefully the new track work will be a far better ride than what it replaced. As an OT aside, my fellow traveller managed to get a photo of 73202 in Southern livery - green and off-white - at Gatwick on Boxing day. Sadly it was not there today...

A couple of us made the trip up to Coulsdon to see what was happening. As can be seen from the accompanying pictures (taken with a pretty strong lens), there is plenty of activity going on... The second picture shows that a second track machine has joined the action. In the background is a 377 operating on the Tattenham Corner line. There were additional services terminating at Coulsdon Town (Smitham in old money!). The 66 amongst the activity is 66174. A couple of views of the attending track machines. The second arrived from the south whilst we were there. Also arrived - and working wrong line - was 66131 on another ballast train. We missed the actual arrival, but both the 66 and track machine seemed to arrive at more or less the same time. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have seen something interesting in the background of the previous shot, stabled on the up Redhill line just outside of Coulsdon South station. These look to be at least some of the heavy duty stuff used for the actual track laying.

My comments are not just based on this season. I agree the lack of Carroll has had an effect, but the team should be more than one player. I'm afraid Allardyce is a very ordinary manager, whose teams play ordinary football...

This, of course, is someone who could manage Real or Barcelona...according to...erm...Sam Allardyce.

Nobody has a higher opinion of Sam Allardyce's management ability than Sam Allardyce. His reputation gained at Bolton got him jobs at Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham, but he did not set the world alight with any of them. Another example of a manager who does the merry-go-round of clubs whilst better managers are overlooked.

I see they are already storing the new track components at Stoats Nest, with the last remaining siding (formerly part of Coulsdon North?) being used to stable a rather impressive looking crane.

The 3+2 seating in the Southern 377s are a classic case of a layout approved by someone who never has to travel on them. The seating is cramped and access through the carriage is nigh on impossible when the seats are full as most people overhang into the gangeway. The fact the new 377/6s are 2+2 throughout (as these are allocated to suburban services) suggests at least someone recognises the 3+2 pattern is poor for passenger comfort, and contributes to station dwell-time.

Naah...London Brighton and South Coast. That has a nice ring to it!

Very sorry to hear Pompey have sacked their manager... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25093818 The team haven't been great lately, but in such a tight league a couple of wins shoots you up the table. Wittingham has been a great servant to the club, through some dark times. People tend to forget we are not a Premiership or Champioship team in league 2, we are - in terms of playing staff - a brand new team. Most fans are just grateful the club is still in existence. Best of luck to Guy Wittingham for the future.

OT a little bit, but I don't think that is a deficiency in Japanese engineering...that is more an example of Japanese corporate culture which has been the source of much public scandal in recent years; TEPCO, Olympus, JR Hokkaido...to name but a couple of recent more high profile examples.

Indeed... the Hitachi series 885 used on this service is from the same family as the class 395. http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/train/sonic.html Something for South Eastern to consider perhaps?

One of the biggest grips for Southern commuters when the 442s were introduced on the Brighton line were the doors. These are end-loading carriages (i.e. the doors are at the end of the carriages in normal mark 3 style), as opposed to the usual more central-loaders that we are more used to - 319s and 377s. On a busy train (especially when gangways are blocked with standing passengers) the loading and unloading at stations can be painfully slow. It also clumps passengers in close groups, as opposed to spreading them more evenly down the platform. So, I would say that the central loaders are considerably better for busy routes with large volumes of passengers and frequent stopping. They help channel passenger movement more evenly in the carriage and onto the platform. Your point about longer journeys may be valid, but the vast majority of the journeys on these trains are relatively short - less than 1 hour. Certainly in the context of have refurbished 319s running on the GWML, I don't think that would be a huge issue. The biggest issue with the 319s is the seeming lack of care about them. They are often scruffy, and have a poor ride quality - especially a higher speeds. They are also old - by the time the new Thameslink trains come on stream, the 319s will be pretty much 30 years old; and they have been 30 very hard years. I'm sure a full refurbishment would improve this, but I'm sure any Thames valley commuters who saw these and heard the suggestion thay may get this in five or six years time would not be too happy...irrespective of the total rebuild they would need to get them up to scratch. The lack of gangway through the driving cabs is also an issue, which does not help with evenly spreading passengers throughout the train - no co-incidence that the 377s do have this feature, but for me it was an odd move to block them off on the Southern 455s. You often see an 8-coach train (particularly on the South Eastern section, whose entire suburban fleet lacks gangways through the cab ends) where the front 4 coaches are absolutely rammed and the rear four have available seats. Edit: Lots of typos!