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In the whole debate about the sorry saga of HS2 Phase 2, unless I've missed it, is the influence of Andrew Gilligan advising the PM on transport matters. As an article about him in a national paper's website states - "a person with no apparent [transport] qualifications for the role". It is obvious that it is from him that the 'anti-rail' policy comes. One wonders how this unelected bureaucrat is allowed to have so much influence. I thought one aim of Brexit was to reduce the influence of such unelected bureaucrats!

Richard was on devastating form re alternative HS2 solutions, he should be on Question Time! Regarding the question, annoyingly I can't remember but when I was researching my dissertation on railway stations I'm sure there was a station, now closed, that was about 20 miles from the location it was purporting to serve. An interesting side question is what station has the biggest elevation difference from the settlement it purports to serve? Dent must be in with a shout being some 670ft above the settlement of Dent! Keep up the good work. Paul

I believe Andy Burnham has confused matters arguing against the terminal and reverse concept for NPR in Manchester. I think his alternative of an underground through route is likely to be far more difficult and expensive than he imagines. The terminal and reverse arrangement can be fairly efficient with the right layout in the throat which consultants have designed to eliminate conflict for most routine movements. Drivers can be relieved by another waiting at the outer end of the trains whenthey arrive. It would be essential that changing ends should be a quick and reliable operation with no need to shut down and reboot the train.

Negotiations for strikes on London Underground are not separate. ASLEF and RMT sit in the same room with managers to negotiate. All grades, including drivers, get the same pay deal on London Underground

Although I was dead against the construction of HS2, certainly in the form that it was designed and constructed, to leave it in its truncated condition is sheer vandalism by a PM who is so out of touch with the people, particularly as the cost of building the remaining sections to Crewe (and beyond) are a fraction of what has already been spent. As crime investigators say "Follow the money" and see who stands to make financial gain from this decision- there are precedents in this matter. PS. I couldn't think of an answer to the question this week other than Blake Hall which was closed. Mildenhall Road was later named Shipea Hill and is still open but quite a distance from Mildenhall.

The use of ‘P’ (Planned cancellation by TOC) is designed to meet the requirements of the performance regime. The timetable for ‘Day B’ is that which has been notified to Network Rail by 22:00 hours on ‘Day A’. In reality it needs to be done by 18:00 to allow data to flow through the various systems. Each new ‘Day A’ timetable starts at 02;00 - this is because the on-line systems start one hour before. Planned departure, those system start running about 30 minutes before that. This avoids trains running with an identity from the previous day! By excluding them for the daily timetable, they do not show up as cancellations, this then reduces the potential financial liabilities that get created when you cancel a train on the day. Is it fair to customers? Most certainly not and is a potential breach of an operators licence wherein they are required to publish timetables at T-12 weeks.

Good to see Richard has been let out of what appeared to be a cupboard last time out! Using a helicopter is crazy, even The Queen travelled by service train. I suspect he does not care or is just avoiding the public. You are right about the LNER ad, they would be better improving the recent large number of daily cancellations which seem to be due to staff shortages. TPE used to be the worst for p coding, a poor way to avoid scrutiny for badly running a service. Any timetabled train which does not run should be counted. There is also a new reason for a cancellation sometimes shown as a "short notice change to the timetable" which ScotRail sometimes uses. Why not actually say the real reason why the timetable was changed! People being hit by a train is a sad thing and also has impact on the driver who normally needs to be replaced. But steps to reduce the impact to the system would be worthwhile. Speaking of minor things having big impacts on travellers I saw this week ScotRail not holding back an Inverness train at Perth for a few minutes to allow connection with a delayed service from Edinburgh. Passengers had to wait 2 hours for the next train north. Yet a similar situation earlier when a connection was held in Aberdeen was praised by travellers. Lack of consistency in approach is the issue here. For the quiz I'll go for New Galloway which I believe was 8 miles from its station.

Thanks for the shout out both, pleased to be the first correct answer ,Donkey because of the quality of the ride as in up and down like a donkey?..

Michigan Gov. Snyder lived in Ann Arbor. His child was in school and he declined to live in the governors residence in Lansing. Had his security detail drive him back and forth on the motorway each day (80 miles each way). Carbon and overtime for the staff. Madness.

Hear me out, I think the strategy the government is using to increase capacity on the main lines over the years, is converting 1st class carriages to second class. They've done it twice on the west coast mainline, from 5 to 4 to 3. To increase capacity on the line in the future, they'll just convert more carriages over the years. Its cheaper than building a new railway line. In their recent refurbishments of second class, they didn't refurbish first class. What does that tell you. I've never used first class anyway, so I cant say I'll miss them. But that's what I garner is their strategy.

Newsflash: Rishi Sunak spotted on a train It was in Ukraine and he did look remarkably uncomfortable - but its a start!

Pilning low level must be in with a chance ?...

Nigel, I was surprised to hear you say that carbon dioxide was damaging. In freely available figures carbon dioxide is only 0. 004% of the atmosphere and all plants would grow much better if in more carbon dioxide, indeed greenhouses introduce excess CO 2 to aid growth.