Almond Bank Communications

30/10/2024

To my hosts and the screen says it all. It's a sail-powered ship, Jim, but not as we know it.

02/10/2024

Grand, when it’s finished

20/09/2024

Huge thank you to Ian Dunn (training supervisor) and Richard Sears (corporate communications manager) DB Cargo UK for affording me the privilege of taking charge of a class 66 freight locomotive, and not mentioning that I stalled my train a few miles out of King’s Cross blocking the East Coast Main Line (our little secret, guys, OK. What happens in the simulator stats in the simulator)…

Yesterday we had the pleasure of welcoming Railfreight.com's UK correspondent Simon Walton to our new ETCS training centre of excellence at Lakeside…

10/07/2024

Scotland’s railways hit the buffers. Emergency (reduced) timetable from today:

After weeks of disruption, culminating in a virtual meltdown of services over the past weekend, passenger services in Scotland have entered an open-ended period of ‘emergency timetable operations’. The government-owned domestic passenger train operator – ScotRail has effectively reduced it...

10/07/2024

Mail return to sender. Royal Mail goes off the rails. Surely this is second class service on the mail, the rail, the environment, the government - and who’s going to drive all those extra HGVs, Postman Pat?

There is bitter disappointment within the UK rail freight industry on the news that Royal Mail, the flagship postal carrier in the nation, is to…

05/07/2024

Political train ride. The Labour Party is at Waverley, but guess who only made it to Finsbury Park and who conked out at Portobello (hint: at least one has a rail replacement campervan service).

The British General Election has seen a sweeping change of government in Westminster. The left-wing Labour Party has taken an overall majority. They have won more than 400 of the 650 seats in the British Parliament. Labour has routed the ruling right-wing Conservative Party. Now, their duty is to de...

07/05/2024

"Happy belated birthday" ... is something I've never said to a Tunnel before...

What happened on Friday 6 May 1994? Cult dance track “The Real Thing” by Tony di Bart topped the UK charts. In France, the charts were also topped by a one-hit wonder: Bruce Springsteen. Of somewhat greater importance, a man called Nelson Mandela officially became president of South Africa, and ...

29/01/2024

Gleneagles Townhouse Edinburgh sharing a night with friends from and hosted by their representatives FINN Partners. Looking forward to Edinburgh - Halifax NS direct with this summer

29/01/2024

If I say ‘Tractor’, my farming friends think of something ploughing the fields; my haulage homies couple it to a 52-ton trailer; and my railway fraternity think of only one thing….

UK freight operator Direct Rail Services has announced it is retiring its fleet of class 37 diesel locomotives. The elderly units, approaching 60 years in service, are being replaced by brand-new diesels and bi-modes. The company says it marks the end of an era for the rail industry. The decision co...

26/10/2023

Wondrous Woods opening night Gosford House near Edinburgh. Wet, windy and eh wondrous! Thanks to Four Communications

24/10/2023

Business Sheffield. On the job for jobs! Promoting high street careers in High Green Sheffield Careers Fair today.