
A train driver who ignored the fact his neck was broken and bleeding in the name of passenger safety, is getting married. Hailed as a hero by the Lennox Herald (which I hadn’t heard of until today), Ian Black is marrying a woman he met while working for Virgin Trains. The woman he called from the scene of the 2007 Dumbarton rail accident to ask for help warning other trains. The paper excitedly reported the couple will be honeymooning in France and Spain by train (which they put in capitals ‘TRAIN’).

Manchester Evening News reported a transport minister had promised to tackle overcrowding on Manchester trains. I wrote some very witty commentary on the report which I’ve managed to delete and wonder if it’s in the quantum universe I alluded to as part of the original response. As it’s disappeared, I’ll leave you to read the article and see what you make of it. Sometimes that’s the best thing to do anyway.
Finally, a little expansion on last week’s news about high-speed rail in the US. The New York Times had an excellent article at the very beginning of the week about the location of the first northern terminus of what is intended to be a network which links San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento and other major cities in California. I thought it painted a lovely picture and the actual picture that went with it was suitably American-dream-esque.