UK RAIL NEWS
For a few dollars more… Laura’s Christmas dinner
The Campaign for Better Transport has Laura Cox, head of media
slammed Government plans to spend £1 billion relations at Tube Lines, has
on transport schemes featuring roads as a mix been helping out at the Food
of ‘the good, the bad and the ugly.’ Chain charity which provides
CBT wants the Government to rethink its plans hot meals to HIV sufferers at
of building extra road capacity. Says Stephen seven different sites in
Joseph, the group’s executive director, ‘This is a London.
ragbag list of schemes rather than a considered Working at the site in Tooting,
package that is needed to take us towards 2014. Laura, who lives in Balham,
While the rail upgrades are encouraging, some of often gets up at the crack of
the road schemes will worsen rather than solve dawn to join the team of cooks
local traffic problems and are not in fact the at 0800 on Sundays. Every
region’s priority. Sunday teams cook a range of
For example, the £500m to be spent on the A46 dishes to meet the needs of peo-
Nottinghamshire upgrade could pay for ple with special dietary require-
upgrades of parallel rail lines and safe routes to ments and to tempt people with
school for much of the region. By avoiding different tastes in cuisine.
putting any money into local transport, the After volunteering at the
Government is avoiding tackling where most of Tooting kitchen for over a year
the problems – and the opportunities for solving Laura decided to put in an
them - really are.’ application to the Community
Support Fund. Funded by Tube
Lines’ recycling efforts, the
Community Support Fund pro-
vides staff with up to £300 per
year to help them with any
fundraising or volunteering
Carillion beams up
that they do to help the wider
community. Since the introduc-
tion of the Community Support
Fund nearly £40,000 has been
donated to various charities. Carillion and Network Rail The works were carried out Says David Diskin, Carillion
This £300 donation has beenhave successfully carried out a next to the operational rail- Project Manager, ‘This has
able to provide well over 150bridge lift on the River Tees. way. The cranes used were involved a lot of team work
The bridge which was erected 800t and 500t - all beams had and collaboration. Our Site meals, which is enough to keep
in 1880 is being demolished to be delivered to the west Agent John Billcliffe has con- the 50 plus people who rely on
and rebuilt. Lifting the bridge abutment where the 800t stantly been liaising with the Tooting kitchen fed for more
took just over a week to com- crane lowered the beams to British Waterways for clo- than three Sundays. Set up in
plete. Pontoons were used to the barges for sailing across sures of the River Tees with 1988 on Christmas Day the Food
carry beams from one side of the river. At this point the 500t minimum disruption to the Chain has steadily grown.
the River Tees to the other as crane would pick up the beam river users. We’re delighted
the constraints of the railway and land it onto the abut- with the result and are press-
only allowed delivery of the ment. In total 18 beams were ing on with the rest of the
beams from one bank. lifted in to place. project.’
Have you witnessed a safety critical incident?
Marriage à la Marylebone Do you have concerns about
the safety of your working
tion of his bride to be. David
environment or conditions?
Koya met his fiancée, Nikki
Badejo, outside Marylebone
station two years ago.
Says David, ‘She was lost and
CIRAS is the rail industry's confidential reporting
I helped her find her way. Our
system, and we welcome reports from all rail staff.
destinies crossed again when
we saw each other about a
We pass on your safety concerns to employing
week later on the train. We’ve
companies and make sure they are addressed.
shared so many special
moments at Marylebone sta-
All reports are treated in absolute confidence, and
tion that it really has been a
CIRAS is free to anyone working on or around the
part of our relationship.’ rail network.
David proposed to Nikki by
reading a poem that he wrote Report to us in complete confidence:
for her over the PA system.
After reading the poem he then
asked if she would marry him
FREEPHONE 0800 0850 449
and left the announcers’ office
to a concourse full of cheering
FREEPOST CIRAS
passengers. He then got down
TEXT 07507 285887
on one knee and Nikki said yes
as passengers clapped.
Says Paul Burnage, Station
Master at Marylebone, ‘On
behalf of everyone at Chiltern Concerns about safety should be raised
Railways I would like to wish
with your line manger. If you feel that
David and Nikki all the best for
these channels are inappropriate or
their future. This just proves
The Rail Industry’s Confidential Reporting System inadequate, contact CIRAS.
Romance continues to flourish as proposing over the station
that there is still romance in
www.ciras.org.uk
on the railways. PA system at Marylebone to
One suitor even went as far make sure he caught the atten- rail travel!’
December 2008 | RailStaff | 15
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