#Govia Thameslink Railway

[railsistem]

First Passenger Trains Run to City of London with Digital Signalling

The first trains have carried passengers to the City of London using European Train Control System (ETCS) digital signalling. This marks a significant milestone for the 1.4 billion GBP East Coast Digital Programme, which aims to make rail services more reliable and more sustainable through the implementation of digital signalling. Project lead and qualified driver Oliver Turner joined the team…

[insidecroydon]

Gatwick's bigger, new rail station promises to cut delays

Southern and Thameslink rail operator says changes have made possible a one-hour service between London and Brighton and fewer disruptions New start: rail operators and the airport company claim that Gatwick’s bigger station will improve rail services generally A new-look Gatwick Airport rail station opened to passengers this morning, transforming the journey from train to plane and giving…

[fezwearingjellybananas]

No trains will run to or from Brighton on the main day of the city's Pride celebrations.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said the event required "significant extra capacity" and an overtime ban meant there were "far fewer services running than usual".

As a result, no trains will run to and from Brighton station on Saturday 5 August - the busiest day of one of the country's biggest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

...

GTR said it usually runs additional services on Pride, including extra late-night trains "to safely transport the huge number of people" that travel to and from Brighton and Hove.

The extra services are usually covered by drivers volunteering for overtime but the ban would mean "a clear risk of stranding tens of thousands of people overnight without accommodation," GTR said.

"GTR has very sadly concluded that it cannot safely run any services as it would be impossible to avoid severe overcrowding and present a considerable risk to passenger safety."

Trains will run as normal on Friday 4 August and Sunday 6 August.

"Hey let's cancel all the trains instead of agreeing we can't be constantly relying on our drivers working overtime"

[newstfionline]

Friday, July 19, 2024

Widespread technology outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world (AP) A widespread Microsoft outage was disrupting flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday. Escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services. The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, recorded growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and airlines including American Airlines and Delta. News outlets in Australia reported that airlines, telecommunications providers and banks, and media broadcasters were disrupted as they lost access to computer systems. Some New Zealand banks said they were also offline. In the U.S., the FAA said the airlines United, American, Delta and Allegiant had all been grounded. Airlines, railways and television stations in the United Kingdom were being disrupted by the computer issues. The budget airline Ryanair, train operators TransPennine Express and Govia Thameslink Railway, as well as broadcaster Sky News are among those affected. Shoppers were unable to pay at some supermarkets and stores due to payment system outages.

Biden tests positive for Covid (NYT) President Biden tested positive for Covid on Wednesday, forcing him to cancel a campaign event in Las Vegas and likely sidelining him for days following the conclusion of former President Donald J. Trump’s nominating convention on Thursday. The illness, which the president’s doctor said had produced only mild symptoms so far, was diagnosed even as the Democratic revolt over his candidacy got louder, with more of Mr. Biden’s allies and supporters calling on him to drop out of the race, citing concerns about his ability to defeat Mr. Trump. Having Covid is all but certain to complicate the president’s ability to answer his critics, many of whom have said they want him to show that he still has the vigor and energy to prosecute the case against Mr. Trump in campaign rallies, interviews and other events.

Heat and city streets (NYT) We usually talk about summertime heat in terms of how hot the air is, but there’s another metric that matters: the temperatures of roads, sidewalks, buildings, parking lots and other outdoor surfaces. Hot surfaces can make the places people live and work more dangerous, and can increase the risk of contact burns. Around noon on July 10, huge parts of Phoenix were 120 degrees Fahrenheit, about 49 Celsius, or hotter to the touch. Had you been unlucky or unwise enough to actually touch it with bare skin, it could have caused injury within minutes. On the city’s desert fringes, in territory governed by Native American nations, the land was even hotter, 150 degrees or more. So far this summer, the Arizona Burn Center, which serves Phoenix and the broader Southwest, has admitted 65 people for severe heat-related burns, according to Dr. Kevin Foster, the center’s director. Six of these people died from their injuries. Last summer, the center recorded 14 such deaths. Yet even that figure is small compared with the 645 heat-related deaths that were identified last year in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. That was the highest number on record for the county.

The uncertainty that plagues life in crisis-ridden Venezuela (AP) Victoria Estevez finally met someone who saw past her shyness, and after a few months, they were calling it a relationship. And then came heartbreak. “Remember I had told you that I have a brother in the Dominican Republic? Well, I am going to leave the country, too,” Estevez, 20, recalled reading in an early March WhatsApp message from her new boyfriend. He was the second guy in a row to blindside her with imminent plans to emigrate. Nothing, not even love, has been spared the uncertainty that plagues everyday life in crisis-ridden Venezuela, which has seen several million people leave in the last decade or so. As a presidential election looms later this month along with questions about Venezuela’s future, many more are considering emigrating, wreaking havoc on the country’s economy, its politics and its dating scene. Young people are debating online and among themselves whether it’s worth it to start a relationship—or whether to end one. Others are wondering when it is too soon or too late to ask the crucial question: Will you leave the country?

Flying Ants Emerge Across the U.K. (NYT) “Flying ant day” in Britain is all about sex. Picture it: millions of tiny little winged ants soaring into the sky in a ritualistic orgy under the hot sun. For about six weeks at the height of summer in Britain, typically between mid-July through the early days of September, winged ants emerge from their colonies and ascend to the air to find a mate. They are everywhere. And, despite the name, it’s not just one day, but many days. “There’s often a day where it seems when you look on social media and across the newspapers, that ants have flown and it becomes this ‘flying ant day,’” said Adam Hart, a professor of science communication at the University of Gloucestershire, more than 100 miles northwest of London. “We have lots of such days,” he noted. “But generally, you end up with one that it seems to attract a lot of attention.” The mating action has gained notoriety partly because the insects become nuisances to anyone outdoors at the wrong time. In 2017, they invaded Wimbledon, flying onto the court, bags and players.

France’s Approach to the Olympics: Food, With a Side of Games (NYT) A wing of the Eiffel Tower has been cleared out to make way for a brand-new restaurant called Gustave 24. A fully built commercial kitchen is set to be airlifted into the Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary art museum on the Right Bank. Open-air brasseries will soon be erected on two bridges across the Seine. Oh, and there’s also some kind of athletic event about to take place. As it prepares to host the Olympics, France—a nation already sitting on an elaborate culinary infrastructure—is creating a from-scratch collection of pop-up restaurants and dining experiences on a scale far beyond the offerings at any past Games. Some 80 temporary restaurants are being set up in Paris and other locales around the country where competitions will be staged. They will serve an average of 30,000 diners a day, each offering a different menu and format. And they’ll offer visitors a chance to experience the Olympics as dinner theater. At Versailles, they can feast on lobster ravioli in the gardens while watching equestrian events. In the Eiffel Tower, they’ll be able to enjoy moules frites and live music while observing beach volleyball down below. And when competitions aren’t taking place, these restaurants will host speeches from past Olympic winners, and virtual-reality experiences that simulate participating in a swimming race or standing on a podium to receive a medal.

Russia’s vast stocks of Soviet-era weapons are running out (Economist) For a long time, it seemed that a war of attrition between Ukraine and a Russia with five times its population could only end one way. But the much-vaunted Russian offensive against Kharkiv in the north that started in May is fizzling out. The key issue is not manpower. Russia seems able to go on finding another 25,000 or so soldiers each month to maintain numbers at the front of about 470,000, although it is paying more for them. Production of missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure is also surging. But for all the talk about Russia having become a war economy, with some 8 per cent of its GDP devoted to military spending, it is able to replace its staggering losses of tanks, armoured infantry vehicles and artillery only by drawing out of storage and refurbishing stocks built up in the Soviet era. At current rates of attrition, Russian tank and infantry vehicle refurbishment from storage will have reached a “critical point of exhaustion” by the second half of next year.

Ukraine’s Devastated Energy Grid Battles a New Foe: A Sizzling Heat Wave (NYT) For months, Ukraine’s electricity grid has faced repeated Russian missile and drone attacks that have knocked out power plants and gutted substations. Now, it is contending with another, more unexpected threat: a sizzling heat wave. Most of the country is experiencing unusually hot summer weather, with temperatures reaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius. It has strained an already hobbled grid, as residents turn on air-conditioners and food businesses use more electricity to cool products. Ukrenergo, the country’s national electricity operator, said Monday that current consumption largely exceeds Ukraine’s generating capacity. To prevent a collapse of the grid, the authorities have imposed widespread rolling blackouts across the country. In Kyiv, the capital, most buildings are now without power for at least 10 hours a day, including during long periods in the daytime. The roar of generators installed by cafes and restaurants has become a soundtrack of the Ukrainian capital since the heat wave began last week.

China suspends nuclear talks with the U.S. over Taiwan arms sales (Washington Post) China on Wednesday said it has suspended arms control and nuclear nonproliferation talks with Washington, blaming the diplomatic stall on ongoing U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The freeze comes just eight months after the two countries held their first formal dialogue on the matter in almost five years. The Chinese announcement comes as U.S. policy on Taiwan hangs in the balance ahead of the November election. Former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday called into question Washington’s long-standing policy of arming Taiwan, the democratic, autonomous island that China claims as its territory. In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Trump accused the “immensely wealthy” Taiwan of swindling America out of its role in computer chips manufacturing, and suggested that it ought to “pay us for defense.” Taiwan has “done nothing” for America, Trump said.

Pentagon ends troubled Gaza pier mission, shifts focus to Israeli port (Washington Post) The Pentagon on Wednesday declared an end to its sea-based humanitarian mission off Gaza, an effort that enabled delivery of millions of pounds of food to the war-ravaged territory even as the floating pier built by U.S. troops faced near-constant setbacks and ultimately fell short of expectations. The operation will shift to the Israeli port in Ashdod, north of Gaza, where U.S. personnel will continue to facilitate the movement of aid arriving on ships dispatched from Cyprus. It remains to be seen whether the new operation at Ashdod will be more effective than the floating pier, which was sidelined repeatedly, or quell concerns among U.S. officials and aid groups who have urged Israel to loosen its chokehold on what may enter Gaza by land.

War in Gaza takes a mental health toll (AP) Nabila Hamada gave birth to twin boys in Gaza early in the war, in a hospital reeking of decaying bodies and full of displaced people. When Israeli forces threatened the hospital, she and her husband fled with only one of the babies, as medical staff said the other was too weak to leave. Soon after, Israeli forces raided the hospital, Gaza’s largest, and she never saw the boy again. The trauma of losing one twin left the 40-year-old Hamada so scared of losing the other that she became frozen and ill-equipped to deal with the daily burden of survival. She is among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians struggling with mental health after nine months of war. The trauma has been relentless. They have endured the killing of family and friends in Israeli bombardments. They have been wounded or disfigured. They have huddled in homes or tents as fighting raged and fled again and again, with no safe place to recover. Anxiety, fear, depression, sleep deprivation, anger and aggression are prevalent, experts and practitioners told The Associated Press. Children are most vulnerable, especially because many parents can barely hold themselves together. “There are about 1.2 million children who are in need of mental health and psychosocial support. This basically means nearly all Gaza’s children,” said Ulrike Julia Wendt, emergency child protection coordinator with the International Rescue Committee.

[dalihdgaming]

Train Sim World 3: Class 700 | Introduction

Train Sim World 3: BR Class 700 on Steam Loco: BR Class 700 Route: Southeastern High Speed Scenario: Introduction

The British Rail Class 700 is an electric multiple unit passenger train from the Desiro City family built by Siemens Mobility. It is capable of operating on 25 kV 50 Hz AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from third rail. 115 trainsets were built between 2014 and 2018, for use on the Thameslink network, as part of the 'Thameslink Program' in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, they are operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.

*Disclaimer: This game was provided to me for free by Dovetail Games

#trainsimworld3 #tsw3 #jimmydali #dovetailgames

[globalrailfan]

Recycled Govia Thameslink Railway station staff tablets used by schoolchildren in Malawi

http://dlvr.it/SldhJN

[luxebeat]

Best Places to Get a Bird's Eye View of London

Best Places to Get a Bird’s Eye View of London

There is a constant buzz in London, it always feels like something is happening. During a visit to the capital, you may feel like it’s impossible to see everything the city has to offer. However, there are ways you can see lots of iconic London sights all at once. Getting a bird’s eye view of the city is an incredible way to go sightseeing, and here are a few of the places you can see London at…

[thousandtinywaves]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by B.I.B (@blackinbritain) on May 30, 2020 at 6:23am PDT

Belly Mujinga was working at Victoria station when a man spat on her and a female colleague after saying he had Coronavirus.

Within days, both women fell ill and Belly died just 3 days after being admitted to hospital. She leaves behind her husband and 11 year old daughter.⁣

Belly pleaded with her bosses not to work outside of the ticket office as she had respiratory problems that made her particularly vulnerable. Despite this, they put her on the concourse and asked her to go back after the assault even though she was still shaking from the trauma. Belly reported the assault straight away to her bosses but they failed to contact emergency services. The suspect has still not been found 7 weeks later. ⁣

52 transport workers have now died from Covid-19 and time and time again these workers have warned their bosses of how vulnerable they are in the work environment; from a lack of protection to staff abuse. This is no isolated incident. (www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-london-52650110)

Govia Thameslink Railway knew of her condition and yet still put her on the frontlines during a pandemic. This is criminal negligence on every single level and her death and the death of dozens of workers is not inevitable. They were killed. ⁣

Justice for Belly and for the hundreds of workers who have died and will die because of bosses and a government who think their lives aren’t worth protecting. ⁣

May she rest in eternal light and peace. 💛

You can donate to support her family here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/rip-belly-mujinga

[zarahillxo]

This is Belly Mujinga. She was a railway worker, a key worker, at London Victoria Station.

A communter approached her, questioned and harrassed her as to why she was working during the current pandemic. They then told her they had Covid-19, and proceeded to spit in her, and another female colleague’s, face.

Belly passed away 3 days after this.

Despite this information and an investigation, the British Transport Police have said they will take no further action.

This is a disgrace.

Belly and her family deserve justice.

Ways to help:

◾️Sign the below petition:

https://www.change.org/p/govia-thameslink-justice-for-belly-mujinga-justiceforbellymujinga?recruiter=230118371&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=0130b590-b2bd-11e4-9ee3-53f0c50e4c23

◾️Donate if you can:

https://t.co/e6by39kwux

[brandonimhotep]

London — Belly Mujinga, a 47-year old Black woman who was working as a railway ticket officer in London, has died from coronavirus after a man who claimed to be infected reportedly coughed and spit on her. On March 22, Mujinga and another worker at Govia Thameslink Railway in London were assaulted by the man who apparently infected her with the virus, according to Mujinga’s union, the Transport Salaried Staff Association. Both workers began feeling sick a few days after. Mujinga, who had an underlying respiratory illness, was hospitalized and put on ventilator 11 days after the alleged assault. Mujinga eventually died on April 5. She was survived by her husband and an 11-year old daughter. The incident wouldn’t have happened if Mujinga was transferred to work inside the building as she “begged to,” said the union. They added Mujinga wasn’t provided with personal protective equipment when she was working outside on the concourse. Meanwhile, the railway company is cooperating with the police with the investigation, passing on the surveillance footage of the incident. “We will always investigate any report of assault thoroughly when we receive it, and it’s vital for us to establish the full circumstances behind this incident,” British Transport Police Detective Chief Inspector Sam Blackburn said in a statement. “We are conducting extensive enquiries to help us do so, including exploring possible CCTV opportunities and speaking to key witnesses.” blacknews.com/news/belly-mujinga-black-woman-dies-covid-19-after-man-coughed-spit-on-her/ #BellyMujinga https://www.instagram.com/p/CAPuEBCgCbU/?igshid=v02qzppvg4qr

[railsistem]

UK: Class 700 Thameslink Fleet to Undergo ETCS Upgrade

As part of the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP), industry partners have signed a 32.7 million GBP contract to upgrade the Class 700 Thameslink fleet to the latest specification of European Train Control System (ETCS). This five-year contract was signed by Cross London Trains, the Department for Transport (DfT), Govia Thameslink Railway, Network Rail and Siemens Mobility. Representatives from…

[insidecroydon]

Ticket office decision was 'Halloween nightmare' for Tories

Hailing yesterday’s decision to reject Department for Transport plans to close railway station ticket offices, one local campaigner has described the outcome as a “Halloween nightmare for the Government”. Strong opposition: 600 passengers who use Sanderstead station signed a petition opposing ticket office closures In July, nine train companies announced plans to close 269 station ticket offices…

[chrissterry]

'Scandal' of new rail station set to be built without step-free access to trains | DisabledGo News and Blog

‘Scandal’ of new rail station set to be built without step-free access to trains | DisabledGo News and Blog

A new rail station being built as part of a multi-billion pound regeneration programme will not enable wheelchair-users to board trains without the help of staff and a ramp, disabled campaigners have warned.

Brent Cross West Thameslink is being built as part of the £4.5 billion Cricklewood Brent Cross development in north-west London, a partnership between Barnet council and the private sector.

B…

[ianchisnall]

I hope you have a good journey

I hope you have a good rail journey - according to Jo Johnson, things have never been better

For anyone on a train or about to head off to a station, travelling to work or to a place of entertainment, I hope that your journey is a good one. You may be interested to know that according to Jo Johnson who is the Minister of State for Transport with specific responsibility for the railways “It is worth noting that some parts of the GTR network, including all of Southern, are now experiencing…