celebration 1:
it’s officially autumn, which I love. the leaves have done some major falling overnight, and the colours are fantastic. now we can look forward to crisp sunny mornings – definitely the best hangover cure in the world.
celebration 2:
today is exactly eight months since my first date with AW. we’re both happy smiley people. ahhh….bless.
celebration 3:
connex have lost the southcentral rail franchise to govia, operator of thames trains and thameslink. not sure if this is entirely good, and i think that connex get blamed for an awful lot that is not entirely their fault. i think the more important factor is the new strategic rail authority, which is a regulator with teeth at last. the new franchise imposes much stricter conditions than the old one, and i think that will have a greater impact on rail services than who actually operates them.
look out for a nice messy divorce as govia attempt to negotiate an early end to connex’s existing contract. govia say they want to get in within a year, but the connex franchise still has 30 months to run.
and don’t expect anything to change quickly. govia say that they will not replace the slam-door trains until 2005, whereas connex had said they would introduce new stock from next year.
TPL:
a measly 21 points this week. total now 231.