Diamond Jubilee Tube train was faulty

A London Diamond Jubilee train (one of the two trains with a special mark of the Queen Diamond Jubilee celebrations on it) broke down around 17:35 on the 24th of May, forcing 733 passengers to be led down the track.

The train malfunctioned between Baker Street and St Johns Wood, and although the London Underground Operations Director stated that they had tried moving the train, they had no success.

Due to the high temperatures, some people required medical treatment. 

TfL (Transport for London) has apologized and will compensate the people who go inconvenienced because of the incident; the people who got suck will get £40 and all the people who suffered from the disruption on the Jubilee line will be able to receive their train fares back.

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It's very unfortunate when a train breaks down but even more so when it's a special one to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. I'm personally rather surprised to hear that they're compensating the people who got stuck. It's not something I could see our Dutch NS doing - they'd tell us we could just get our fares back while we should also be grateful that we could be on the move again ...


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Rabies case confirmed in London

A patient is being treated for rabies at the London's Hospital for tropical diseases, after he was bitten by a dog in South Asia. 

Dr Brian McCloskey, director of the HPA for London stated that there is no proof that rabies can be spread from human to human and the hospital spokes woman reassured  he patients, visitors and staff from the hospital that there is no risk for them.

More than 55,000 people die from rabies each year, of which the majority happens in South-East Asia. Only four cases of human rabies have been found in the UK since 2000.

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I understand that rabies can be a worrying thing for an island like England, simply because up until now they have managed to have animals without this disease. An outbreak like this always seems to go along with some wild flailing and sensational headlines (which make me sigh and shake my head). Unless the man has bitten other people - which he really hasn't - there is no need to  be worried.

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'Living carpet' at York Minster for Diamond Jubilee dinner

As part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee the York Minster has been fitted with a 1,500 sq m ‘living carpet’ of grass in order to protect the minster’s floor during a 900-guest dinner on Friday. The carpet is grown in felt made from recycled textiles and does not require soil.

The carpet should make the dinner a spectacular fundraising event which is needed to restore and conserve the historic fabric of the Minster.

Besides celebrating the Diamond Jubilee the charity was also held to celebrate the naming of a rose after the Minster. The Yotk Minster Rose was reveiled at the Chelsea Flower show in 2011.

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I think this is pretty darn cool. A grass carpet that doesn't require soil seems like something I would like in my house. Not quite certain how this thing fits in with the Diamond Jubilee but it's pretty cool, and I think that that might just be enough in this case. 

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London 2012: Olympic ticket sales slow as more released

Five out of six of the 300,000 Olympic tickets remain unsold. These tickets have been available for 12 days now, and the slowdown in sales is worrying, most of all considering these are tickets for what were expected to be the more popular sports like volleyball and boxing. At the same time this is rather surprising considering the tickets earlier this year were extremely high in demand.

In total there are another 550,000 tickets left to be put on sale, with an additional 1.23 million football tickets which area already available.

Locog stated that more than 8 million tickets have been sold for the Olympics and Paralympics, as well that about 3 million tickets remain to be sold for the Olympic football, the Paralympics and contingency tickets.

Ceremony tickets start at £995 while tickets for other sports can vary between £20 and £720.

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I'd be lying if I said if this news didn't make me giggle. The London Olympics has been a bit of a joke between me and my partner since England paid a small fortune for one of the worst logos ever designed. I see it as one big joke.

Of course the ticket sales not doing so well is troubling for the economy of the country, which isn't doing that great and the olympics going badly isn't going to do it any favours. So I still have my fingers crossed the (overpriced) tickets will sell.

I really don't care for the olympics - except for the bit where Doctor Who/Matt Smith carried the torch.

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Fat-eating bacteria put in Hull sewers to remove blockages

Yorkshire Water is deploying organically grown bacillus bacteria into Hull’s sewers to try and get rid of the fat blockages found there. This bacteria can normally be found in the human body and eats fat, oil and grease.  In the right environment the bacteria constantly multiplies, meaning it can continue to do its job all day and night.

The blockages are caused by people pouring cooking oils down plug holes. In the past 6 months maintenance crews attended 1700 jobs to remove blockages in local sewers.

Pollution manager at Yorkshire Water Patrick Killgallon says they will continue to look for new approaches to tackle this old fat build up problem. 

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I think this is a fantastic sollution already and it's a pity it won't be able to do the job on its own. It's nearly impossible to get people to stop rinsing their cooking fat into the sink so it's good to hear they keep on looking for other sollutions. 

Maybe it would be easier if we all switched to olive oil for most of our meals. It's healthier for us anyway.

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Tree roots and fat in sewers 'caused Cottingham floods'

Last year’s flash floods in Cottingham, Easter Yorkshire were caused by blocked sewers due to combination of a build-up of fat and tree roots and undersized sewers.

Yorkshire Water has been carrying out regular inspections every 3 months in the affected areas since the flood. By using computerised modelling  they will be able to tell if the sewers are undersized or not. The results of the research can be expected by the end of this month.

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Tree roots sound like a difficult object to prevent from going into the sewers and if all the stories I've heard about the English sewer system are true I can't see these floods stopping anytime soon. I honestly don't expect the councils being able to spare any money to improve the sewer systems considering those are often so old it'd be nearly impossible to replace.

A very sticky situation...

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The 80 limetrees which were planted on Bawtry Road in Tickhill to celebrate Queen Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee are to be felled over the next 4 years, an operation which will cost £20,000. According to the Doncaster council the trees show signs of ageing and would form a danger to the area.

Campaigners have launched an online petition, hoping to convince the council not to remove all of the trees Tickhill Town council reported that they would plant oak trees instead.

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Cutting such an old trees while not even all of them are diseases is something that I strongly disapprove of. These trees are more than 100 years old and are part of the history of this street. I could understand it if the council wanted to only remove the diseased trees but this just sounds like they wished to get rid of the trees because they were too expensive to maintain and were looking for an excuse to do so.

I sincerely hope the campaigners are able to save some trees!

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