John Glover (1)

Rather than wait for Amazon or somebody else to get this book, I ordered it from Platform 5 Publishing, the publisher of Today's Railways UK. The writing by John Glover was straight forward and allowed me to understand the difference in terminology for equipment and functions in the UK and the US where I live. The first point that became very clear to me is that passenger service is the primary use of railway capacity in the UK. The latest figures shown in the book were from 1993/94 and 77% of generated revenue is derived from passenger fares. The book implies there is some growth in the freight side but the lack of more current information for a book published in 2012 is a bit disconcerting. I'm surprised at this omission for someone who has been writing about UK rail transportation for 30 years.

The first 9 chapters are rather straight forward although if someone tried to pick this book up with no knowledge of railway operation, they would be hard pressed to get by the first few chapters. A better than average understanding of operation is needed to understand what is included in this book, in my opinion. Does Mr. Glover assume one has read his other books? I haven't .

The area that I was hoping to gain some more knowledge of but was hardly covered, if at all, is the franchise arrangements for operating passenger trains in what is referred to as 'open access'. The entire process from request for bids, bid preparation, bid review and award, to operation measurement to subsidies is not discussed in any level of detail. What happens when various goals aren't met or if they are and the service is losing money, what are the next steps? Finally, when does the government based operations take over a service? In reading the periodicals, it appears to me that the government isn't clear on how it is to operate and there is an extreme level of complexity that makes one wonder if any profit that may be derived is consumed by a high level of management 'activity'.

Am I asking for too much in a book? Is it possible that the process is in such a state of flux it cannot be documented? Is the franchise process really making any money?

In general, the book explained what it attempted to cover but the open access was either missed or probably left out on purpose due to its volatile state in 2013.… (mere)

The emu, or 'electric multiple unit', is one of the unsung heroes of modern transportation. This is the commuter train, unregarded, unloved and unlovely (most of the time). Without it, major cities the world over would grind to a halt because of the role these workaday trains play in shifting workers in and out of the metropoli.

Too close an interest in such trains could be mere nerdism; they rarely have the same romance as the express train or the quaintness of the vintage branch-line train of former days. Yet they deserve recognition, celebration even. This book is a step in the right direction. It isn't comprised of stunning, artistic images that show the emu in a new light; but neither is it merely a spotter's visual check-list. Instead, it is an attempt to portray these trains in their context and to record scenes that can pass into history all too easily unseen. Along the way, some of the images presented have no little artistic merit in themselves. A valiant attempt to show the interest in the everyday.… (mere)