Peter Duguid

Engineer (Electrical, Electronic and Software), from the City of Bangor N.I., living in London for now.

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@supertanskiii Maybe Melanija is in charge, well the local manager

[Tim Dunn @MrTimDunn]

I’ve just been to Britain’s newest major city rail & bus terminal - Belfast Grand Central Station - and it’s very good indeed. The city has lacked a decent interchange - or even a decent station - for decades: this is just what was needed. It’s not flashy, it’s bright; it’s not OTT, it’s generous: just like public transport infrastructure should be. “Grand” isn’t the word I’d probably use, but that’s the branding and frankly, it’s grand compared to what Belfast folk had to contend with until now.

The concourse is huge: enough to deal with sports crowds that surge, and the integration of bus and rail - given how many of those buses replaced train services - is spot on. That great destination board - ace. Road and rail side by side. I also really like the accessible wayfinding - little mini QR codes as coloured blocks on each area, which I’ve never seen in England but it’s an innovation my @networkrail & @RailDeliveryGrp colleagues I hope are looking at implementing. The staff member I talked to about it was very proud of them, anyway.

This week I watched Translink staff welcoming bus passengers with mince pies; others happily giving info and one chap told me I was free to take as many photos of “our terrific new station!” as I wanted. He looked pleased as pie that I asked. He looked proud of it all, too.

And so they should. NI transport architecture has been dominated by the overbearing shadow of terrorism for decades: whilst this station mightn’t win all the awards for trendy aesthetics, from what I can see so far this is the practical, efficient transport portal to the rest of Ireland and NI that this city needed.

There’s a shedload of regeneration in this part of town coming as a result, I understand. Interestingly (and as you know I like a good bit of historical referencing in new buildings) there’s an open truss supposedly to reference that of the long-demolished Great Victoria Street terminus which once stood round about here, too. Whether that was planned or post-rationalised I dont know, but it’ll keep me happy for a bit. I haven’t even begun to tell you about the lack of station announcements - it’s a calm space - deliberately not punctuated by superfluous ads or tannoys. VERY GOOD.

So far the only real criticism I’ve seen of it is - laughably - that it’s too big; that it can’t all be needed. I say we need more transport authorities like @Translink_NI - transport operators who invest sensibly for their passengers’ benefit - and for society’s benefit too - and moreover, confidence and belief in their future and the part that transport plays. Cheers Translink, and nice one @JohnMcAslan et al on its construction.

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@LNER its the lounge, not a train, and yes i have. But would like the Twitter staff to raise a ticket to get this looked into please. Thank you

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@LNER can you please get the customer wifi working in the first class lounge in Edinburgh Waverley #edb Not exactly living up to a good first class service!

[Jonathan Pie @JonathanPieNews]

Election Special 4: The Conservatives.

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

🚨We just dropped in on Farage’s election rally with a beaming picture of Putin. Nigel was not pleased.

[Supertanskiii @supertanskiii]

John Oliver is my new hero.

No notes.

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@guywalters there is a (quite recent) plan to display her next to the London Eye, on the Thames

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@mdeuk @ianvisits The previous building on that site was Maersk House. A quick search gives the postcode E1 8EP; so yes! Sky had a few floors of offices in Maersk House. it was a tired on building with a mouse problem.

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@shoools_lais Honey has been found to be more effective than paracetamol. a tea spoon or 2 of manuka throughout the day helps for me. get well soon

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

shocking and worrying that the UK apparently has not established a forensic crash investigation org yet.
such a painfully sad incident a couple of days ago in Wimbledon

[European Transport Safety Council @ETSC_EU]

An eight-year-old girl died and fifteen children and adults were injured yesterday when a large SUV crashed into an end-of-term primary school picnic. Some thoughts on this terrible and avoidable tragedy. (Thread)
https://t.co/ukcGpTROIL

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

good riddance

[Led By Donkeys @ByDonkeys]

Bye bye

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@MrTimDunn @HistoricEngland @se1 @lb_southwark several around Deptford & Greenwich. key question is who owns / uses them (and the ducts) now? Surely some service provider runs a communications network through that network.

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@BTCC 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @krcircuit with @philip129 🏁

[BTCC @BTCC]

🎟️WIN a pair of tickets to a #BTCC event in 2023! 🎟️

📲Follow @BTCC
📲Retweet & comment tagging the circuit you'd pick & the friend you'd take

Competition closes at 1600 on Thursday 21 April. Ts&Cs apply. Winners will only be contacted by official BTCC accounts.

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@YesMissMurphy I read several chapters of that book whilst on a flight. Captain Sully is a hero

[Guy Verhofstadt @guyverhofstadt]

Britain is broken…says the man who is responsible for it…

[Peter Duguid @prduguid]

@RAIL That gag gets better a few episodes later. But as Trevor says please done tell

[Ed Conway @EdConwaySky]

🔌POWER GRIDS🔌
Arguably the most important & underdiscussed issue in the pursuit for net zero.
The grid is creaking.
It cld trigger blackouts & even prevent net zero.
It’s a v big deal!
But let’s begin our story with something else. A bit of history. The first power station…
🧵