GREAT WESTERN Railway

Paddington Station, London

Inspectors report

Inspecting Officer : Mister Tom Nicholls, H.M. Insp

Station Visited : Andoversford

Date : 27th October 2001

Purpose of the Report : To ascertain the proper running of the station for internal auditting and abasement of current running practices.

Findings of the Report : While the station itself suffers from a poor location, one might even say foreign, it does display features worthy of the note of the company.

Permanent Way : This is in supreme condition with attention being particularly paid to detail considerations. The behaviour of moving parts was also particularly well observed with an impressive level of automation.

Signalling : These leave the way clear for exceptional understanding of the road ahead. Paying particular attention to the signals is a rewarding observation.

Locomotives : These are undoubtedly the jewels in the company’s crown and the locomotive crews are to be congratulated with the superb finish achieved.

Rolling stock : Condition of the rolling stock is as well as can be expected. Elderly wagons in the fleet reflect their years in attention to weathering and stock that is in daily use also reflects the realistic effects of the weather. A number of squeaks also bore evidence of the real maintenance issues faced by the permanent way staff.

Staff : Concerns have been raised over the staff however. Both permanent members of staff were seen imbibing alcohol on the Saturday evening and indeed on one occasion while on duty. While this certainly leads to a very social station, concerns must be raised about the safety of the passengers when this man takes the controls.

Conclusions : The social concerns are so great that a return visit is deemed to be necessary. If only to appreciate and confirm the good points observed in this report. A possib le date has been confirmed as the 8th of December 2001.

I am Sirs, your most humble servant and at your service.

Tom Nicholls

Paddington GWR internal inspection, department.