The Tyne and Wear Metro used to have 90 Metrocars formed into 45 trains. The fleet is now well beyond its intended lifespan, and some of the trains have been harvested for parts to keep it running. A while ago, the service frequency was reduced so that only 28 trains are required at peak times.

Yesterday morning, a quarter of the 28 running trains broke down in service. A few weeks ago, there was an afternoon when only twenty trains were available.

Somehow, none of this feels surprising—it feels like yet another example of a public service that no longer works properly, another asset which once evoked civic pride but now feels like a bit of an embarrassment.

There are plans in place to fix things—new trains are coming, for one thing—but reputations lost are hard to regain. Regardless of how quickly it might happen on paper, I wonder how long it will be until the system feels reliable again?

This is a bit of the 2.9km A19 Tees Viaduct. It was built to cross the Tees at an appropriate height for big ships to pass beneath, yet since the port at Stockton was virtually disused at the time the viaduct was built, that specification probably wasn’t necessary. Only 15 years after it opened, the nearby Tees Newport Bridge was fixed in its lowered position, blocking any river traffic anyway.

Most days, mine is one of the almost 90,000 cars that use this 37 year old structure. It’s the largest bridge of its type in the UK, but is prone to frequent congestion at peak times as it’s operating at a capacity way that for which it was designed.

Mini-steps like ramp metering and CCTV monitoring have been taken to try and deal with the congestion, but with more and more vehicles using the viaduct each year, it seems likely that something more drastic will have to be done before too long.

Newcastle Airport is brilliant, but – like any airport – it’s at its most pleasant and least stressful when it’s virtually empty!

Admittedly, this is a fairly rubbish photo, but it is supposed to show thousands of cars lined up near (I think!) the Port of Tyne. I had intended to take it with a ship in the background, but by the time I got to taking the picture, the boat had, quite literally, sailed.

It wasn’t until I spent time at the HPA that I became aware of quite how much shipping goes on in this country. I mean, it’s fairly obvious that a lot happens given that we’re an island nation, but I’d never really considered the scale or logistics before.

All of which reminds me of this fascinating article from Wired.

The quality isn’t great, but then I am travelling at about 125mph on a fairly bumpy East Coast train.

If I may be permitted a moment of grumpiness: the vogue for road signs drawn by children is irritating. This photo shows but one example from my neighbourhood.

When you consider the care and attention paid by Margaret Calvert et al in the design of clear, readable road signs, the idea of having difficult to read distracting scribbles pasted about the place seems absurd. Yet, I’m sure I’ve read in the past that such signs actually reduce traffic speed and accident rates: still, it doesn’t mean I have to like them.

This ship, one of the world’s two full-size replicas of James Cook’s famous vessel, is permanently moored in Stockton-on-Tees, just round the corner from my office. And yes, it really is that sunny today.

Not the best quality photo – iOS doesn’t like focussing on shiny things – but nice to see that there is still the odd reminder of the old GNER crest, and that National Express and East Coast haven’t plastered their logos over absolutely everything…

Two sets of train tickets, each of which are for specific booked East Coast trains between Newcastle and London this month. Both are sets of two singles, this being a far cheaper option than buying a return. Those on the left cost a total of £18.05, the ones on the right £172.25. The average cost per mile of rail travel might be the same as 1968, but the fare structure is many times more complex, and seems to be far less logical.

Just had my first experience of booking train tickets under the new, simplified system. It was just as ludicrously time consuming as before. «