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- 09/11/2009: Cheeky villains
- 02/11/2009: The woes of a freelance journalist
- 27/10/2009: Roadworks
- 26/10/2009: In mortal danger
- 23/10/2009: Losing my memory, honesty and dishonesty
- 18/10/2009: Oldham loop
- 12/10/2009: Heathrow’s third runway
- 08/10/2009: The Times
- 08/10/2009: Written during David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative Conference
- 07/10/2009: Theresa Villiers
And now, this really is the age of the train…
I am having to pass on the chance of an interview with the great Yosser Hughes himself on Wednesday to go to a conference. Bernard Hill has voiced over a stunning tv and cinema ad for the West Coast Main Line.
Below is Network Rail’s press release and I have put the ad onto youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgLkYLbYpGs
Manchester-born Bernard Hill, who is one of Britain’s best loved actors, (Théoden in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff) provides the voiceover for a television commercial which airs for the first time today (Monday 8 June 2009), as Network Rail marks the completion of one of its biggest re-building projects and ramps up the work on its £35bn five year plan to improve Britain’s railway. The campaign showcases the major upgrade on the West Coast main line which has slashed journey times and resulted in more trains with more seats for passengers. It celebrates British engineering at its best and underlines the fact that Network Rail has a massive array of projects ongoing across the country and is looking for high calibre people to help deliver them. Network Rail’s chief executive, Iain Coucher said: “We are justifiably proud of what we have achieved on the West Coast main line – Europe’s busiest mixed use railway. Built in the 19th century, we have rebuilt it for the 21st. The campaign highlights the huge benefits for passengers and we hope this will persuade more people to get out of their car, shun internal flights and get on the train – the most environmentally-friendly option. “Passengers are voting with their feet already – in 2004 rail only took a one third share of London to Manchester journeys. Today it takes two-thirds and is still growing.” Mr Coucher added: “The West Coast programme shows that Network Rail can deliver on major projects. It was difficult at times and we have built on these experiences to improve our delivery ever since. In the next few years we will transform Britain’s railways with schemes such as Thameslink, Airdrie-Bathgate, Reading and the Great Western line, Crossrail, Birmingham New Street, King’s Cross and the Glasgow airport link. This is an exciting time to work on the railway and we are looking for world class people to join our team to make this a reality.”