IET UPDATE

摘要

IT IS mid-afternoon on a sultry summer Saturday at Swindon. Heat haze shimmers from the rails and the information screens struggle to keep pace with events. The soporific atmosphere brings a lazy tune into my head - Gershwin's Summertime from Porgy and Bess. How does it go? Summertime and timekeeping ain't easy, Engines failing; coolant temp'rature's high. Hitachi's rich and the DfT ain't looking So hush diesel engines, no need to try No, that's not quite it. Assorted members of the Railway Performance Society (RPS) form ad hoc discussion groups as train recorders arrive on inward trains and others leave for their next 'working'. Each year, usually in long hours of daylight, the RPS blitzes one section of line and tries to cover as many trains as possible during the day to obtain a freeze-frame of overall performance.