By David Johnson and Guest Editor, ‘James’

UPDATE Response from Network Rail at bottom.

We have received a rather disturbing Email relating to the alleged actions of two members of Network Rail staff based at London Paddington, ‘James’ as we will call the person, is partially sighted, and often relies on the assistance of railway staff when travelling about the network.

‘James’ has had problems trying to get any help from the Network Rail ‘Helpline’ and has also been brushed off by Network Rail’s corporate office. When contacting the Helpline by Email, ‘James’ received an automated response from the Community Relations Team.

Here is the Email we have been sent. We have removed any names or descriptions of staff to protect them from reprisals.

We cannot verify the claims in this Email, and there are always two sides to a story, and as such have asked the Network Rail press office to comment, we are currently waiting a response from them.

Dear Penalty Fare Appeal Support,

My name is ‘James’ and I am a partially sighted male who has Glaucoma. I regularly travel on the railway to get to see my family before my vision completely disappears. I have had many successful journeys where the train staff are brilliant, and then there are the journeys where I wish that I could have my full vision back because of the actions of some staff.

As I know you champion the rights of passengers who get issued Penalty Fares wrongly, and I have too been one of these people, I thought you would be able to help me get justice on the following incident.

I was travelling through Paddington after having had a successful and pleasant journey on Great Western last Saturday and was trying to reach the Underground station to get to Kings Cross. Now I did not know the layout had changed and as such I was finding it hard to reach the Underground station having gone the way I used to go.

A member of Great Western staff, I think they were Great Western, was very helpful and explained how to get to the station. However I had to ask another member of staff who was wearing a yellow vest, which I think said XXXXXXXX however I’m not sure as I found it hard to read, how to get to the Underground station. He said “Well you’ve got eyes haven’t you? Cant you read?” I found this to be extremely offensive and verbally abusive to me.

I found out the Mans name from another member of staff and also that he worked for Network Rail, this Mans name was XXXXXXXX. As I was very shocked over a member of rail staff saying this to me, a person with a disability, I had to find a place to calm down. As I returned to continue my journey I heard the same member of staff chatting with another member of staff saying “XXXXXXXX sometimes I wish people would just learn to read the signs” the other member of staff replied “Yeah I know I wish these black morons would indeed learn to read.”

This as you can understand is disgusting behaviour and I am trying to get justice. I have contacted the Network Rail helpline and was told to email in, I did and have received a bog standard brush off from the Community Relations team. I have Emailed David Higgins, and have had no response. It seems to me that Network Rail don’t give a damn about disabled passengers and instead would wish us to go away.

Hopefully you will be able to help me.

‘James’

Response from Network Rail:

A complaint has been received by our community relations team, who deal with enquiries from members of the public, and they are looking into it.

By John Williams.

First ScotRail is banning Alcohol from its trains ii the evenings and mornings, following concerns about drink-fuelled anti-social behaviour.

ScotRail has decided to ban the carrying and consumption of alcohol on its services between 21:00 and 10:00, starting on 20 July.

Drunk people would be banned from travelling on trains under the crackdown.

It was revealed that British Transport Police have dealt with at least 260 drink-related incidents in the last six months, while an increasing number of trains have also been delayed, because of anti-social behaviour.

The overnight Caledonian Sleeper train to and from London is exempt from the ban.

ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery, said:

Anti-social behaviour fuelled by alcohol has no place on our trains or at stations.

It’s time to call a halt on the irresponsible minority who spoil journeys for the majority.

These individuals disrupt services, abuse staff and fellow customers, and cause accidents.

Alcohol is already prohibited on certain services during football, rugby and other special events under existing bye-laws.

The wider ban came in the wake of responses to a consultation on the future of train services, which backers said showed clear concern from passengers about travelling with drunk people.

First ScotRail is launching a four-week campaign to make customers aware of the impending ban, followed by a fortnight-long ‘soft’ introduction of the policy.

The operator stressed passengers bags would not be searched before or during journeys, and it will be enforcing the ban under existing railway by-laws.

‘Last orders’ will apply on train catering trolleys, with drink not sold from 20:30 onwards, while customers will be asked to finish any alcoholic drinks by 21:00.

First ScotRail already has powers under existing bye-laws to enforce drinking bans and drunk passengers can already be refused travel again under current bye-laws.

By Ian Simpkins, Chief Editor

UPDATED WITH INTERNAL MEMO FROM FIRST CAPITAL CONNECT.

An incident in which a train lost power and became stuck for three hours, with 476 passengers experiencing ‘intolerable conditions’ has been described as an astonishing story of unpreparedness and confusion by London Travelwatch.

The report, which was issued by the Rail Accident Investigations Branch (RAIB) of the Department for Transport (DfT), criticised First Capital Connect (FCC) claiming it was unprepared and had poor communication.

The train lost power shortly before arriving at St Pancras International station when a piece of foliage fell on the pantograph. This is the part of the train which connects with the overhead power supply. The driver then was able to regain power to the front half of the train and it was decided to continue the train in service to Kentish Town where the passengers would have been detrained and the service cancelled.

After leaving St Pancras, power was once again lost and subsequently became stuck with no power supply for three hours.

When a train looses power non vital systems are turned off and only vital systems remain on battery power for a limited period of time. This is why the Air Conditioning and Toilets became inoperative. After 40 minutes the battery power for the public address system also ran out of juice and as such the driver was unable to communicate with them. Passengers then decided to open doors to get extra ventilation into the already unbearable conditions inside the train.

FCC was further criticised for the way staff considered that the only way of rectifying the problem was to send a rescue train to the scene.

The report also states that the train moved with at least two doors open and passengers on the track after the driver overrode safety alarms.

The summary of the 65 page report is as follows and statements from both FCC and Network Rail are towards the bottom of this article:

Immediate cause
The driver moved train 1W95 when it was not safe to do so, with passengers standing in the vicinity of one or more sets of open doors
Causal factors
The causal factors were:

• a. Despite the problems experienced on train 1W95 at St. Pancras, FCC allowed it to continue to Kentish Town with passengers on board, despite the risk that the train might fail.
• b. Foliage had become lodged around the rear pantograph of train 1W95 while the pantograph was not in use, which caused electrical tripping after the train left Farringdon with the pantograph raised and the subsequent immobilisation of the train at Dock Junction
• c. FCC gave only limited consideration to a range of possible strategies for rescuing train 1W95 and its passengers and at an early stage focused solely on the use of an assisting train for moving train 1W95 and its passengers to Kentish Town.
• d. The arrival of the train provided to assist train 1W95 into Kentish Town was affected by a series of delays.
• e. The conditions for passengers within train 1W95 became increasingly uncomfortable as time wore on. In an attempt to make conditions more tolerable, some passengers opened doors and, later, some alighted from the train.
• f. Only limited information was provided to the passengers on train 1W95 during the first 45 minutes of the incident and no information was provided after that time.
• g. The driver of train 1W95 moved the train with some doors open because he had been informed that train doors were closed and his in-cab display could not be relied upon to establish the exact status of doors because it had been affected by the loss of power.
• h. FCC’s policy for handling incidents involving stranded trains was not applied.

Summary of conclusions

Underlying factors
The underlying factors were:

• a. The driver of train 1W95 was not given adequate support during the incident, which affected his ability to manage the conditions on board the train.
• b. FCC had not briefed its policy on stranded trains to all key staff prior to the incident.
• c. FCC’s competence management regime did not equip staff involved in the incident with the skills to perform some of the necessary key tasks.
• d. Between 2009 and 2011, FCC had investigated a number of incidents involving trains becoming stranded for extended periods of time, but had not implemented measures to improve its handling of such incidents.
• e. Relevant safety lessons had been identified in performance-focused reviews on a number of occasions before the incident at Kentish Town on 26 May 2011, but no action had been taken.
• f. FCC’s management had not identified or addressed deficiencies in the processes for emergency preparedness prior to the incident.

Factors affecting the consequences of the incident

• A factor that possibly affected the consequences of this incident was the availability and use of information from social networking sites by passengers as an input to their decisions to self-evacuate from the train.

FCC’s managing director Neal Lawson publicly said:

This quick and decisive action means we have already made 10 separate changes to the way we operate to address the findings, The report recognises this and makes only one further recommendation specific to ourselves – and our work to close this out is now substantially complete. This incident was a difficult and testing time for everyone involved for which we would once again like to apologise. It is important that we have learned from it along with the rest of the rail industry.

FCC’s internal information, which we have been Emailed by a ‘concerned employee’ states:

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) today published a report into last year’s evacuation of train 1W95 that became stranded for almost three hours between St Pancras International and Kentish Town.

This incident was a difficult and testing time for all the customers and colleagues affected and it is right that we apologise for not handling it as well as we should have.  It is important that we have learned from it along with the rest of the rail industry and we must ensure that such an event does not happen again.

FCC welcomes the report which confirms many of the findings from our own internal investigation and that of an independent enquiry by an external consultant that we commissioned the day after the incident took place.

The quick and decisive action that we took in reaction to the incident means we have already made 10 separate changes to the way we operate to address the findings. The report recognises this and makes only one further recommendation specific to FCC – and our work to close this out is now substantially complete.

The actions we have already completed

The 10 actions we have already completed are (in summary):

1. Reviewed our competence assessment, training and briefing regime to prepare drivers for such incidents.
2. Put in new equipment on our class 377/5 trains, including emergency door screens that allow the doors to be opened for increased ventilation but prevent passengers from alighting. We have also briefed drivers on a technique to obtain additional power for the PA system.
3. Changed our on-call instructions.
4. Put in place an audit trail for briefing documents, traction notices and updated procedures.
5. Created with Network Rail a specific Thameslink ‘core’ route response and communication document.
6. Reviewed procedures for reviews of serious incidents and introduced a way of tracking what is done to ensure outcomes are identified, reviewed, monitored and completed.
7. Introduced enhancements and put in additional resources to give drivers of stranded trains more technical support.
8. Introduced enhancements and additional resources to provide customer service support to FCC controllers dealing with stranded trains.
9. Reviewed our disruption management policy and emergency response procedures – drivers are now not permitted to enter the centre of London with trains that are vulnerable to break down with passengers on board.
10. FCC has redrafted its policy on dealing with stranded trains and the controlled evacuation of passengers with five significant changes.

Further actions

The further recommendation made by the RAIB specific to FCC is that we should review our management processes to examine why we were unable to identify and address deficiencies in emergency preparedness prior to the incident. We are addressing this by mapping the way changing one standard can affect another. This is now being validated before being briefed out to the business.

The RAIB makes two further recommendations for the rail industry as a whole: one is that train operating companies, the Rail Safety Standards Board and Network Rail agree a process for dealing with such emergencies. The other is that the industry should better manage safety outputs raised during Network Rail’s Serious Performance Incident Reviews. We have already acted on both these recommendations.

Neal Lawson, Managing Director

A Network Rail spokesman said:

The recommendations set out by RAIB are entirely sensible and have already been acted upon as part of a wide-ranging review of our procedures for dealing with incidents such as this.

By David Johnson.

ATOC has released a new set of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (NRCoC), these will be valid from 20th May 2012.

We note that ATOC  has not yet updated the website to show these new conditions but we have been assured that they will be updating the page for next Sunday.

However we have got a copy of the new National Rail Conditions of Carriage - May 2012.

If you have anything new that has not been mentioned in here, please use the comments form below and add it.

ATOC have now changed the luggage section (condition 47) so that unless you have booked in advance you yourself must carry your bag or luggage yourself and not expect any help. It should also not occupy a seat and if it does so your luggage will (could) be charged for, at half the price of an Adult ticket.

You will be told about any restrictions that apply to your ticket when you purchase it, and if you ask, you will be told if your intended route is valid with the ticket you have purchased.

Another thing which we, along with some Eagle Eyed visitors, is the fact that you can now ask for a copy of the NRCoC and Byelaws from any Ticket Seller. This we believe would include ticket agencies and even on-board. Now we know full well that Revenue never carry a copy of an up to date NRCoC.

A ticket may only be used by the person who bought that ticket, or the person on whose behalf that ticket was bought. This is a new amendment which has been put into condition 6.

Condition 45 has been amended and the section which states that Industrial Action is not within the control of the Railway Industry has now been deleted from the new NRCoC and so is now officially within the control of the Railway Industry.

Condition 46 has been added to conform with the Equalities Act and states that with 24 hours notice, Train Companies must provide free assistance at staffed stations.

Condition 50 now changes a Train Companies liability in accordance with the EU Rail Passengers’ Rights & Obligations Regulation (EC No. 1371/2007). It also tells you to go to a webpage www.nationalrail.co.uk/limits which does not work.

Condition 60 has added “If the replacement is at short notice and you cannot complete your journey because the Train Company is unable to transport your luggage, articles, animals and/or cycles by road vehicle, you will be entitled to compensation in line with Condition 42 as if your train had been cancelled.” The way we read that is that if you are dumped onto a bus and the Train Company cant carry your luggage you will be compensated.

With thanks to Eliot Brown and Christian Wolmar for their comments and additions to this article.

Transport for London has succeeded in increasing the Penalty Fare to £80, despite having carried out a consultation. The consultation was carried out apparently, yet no one we have asked at various London stations today has even heard of a consultation.

This just stinks of TfL and Boris trying to screw even more money out of innocent travellers. There are already existing laws which are designed to deal with the habitual fare evader but these cost money to use. The main person who gets caught out with this increase is the tourist or irregular traveller.

The increase which happened on Jan 2nd 2012 will be enforced from 19th Feb 2012. So remember the new signs must be up everywhere and if you see an old sign or signs stating £50 or £20 this makes any Penalty Fare you are issued automatically wrong.

We have already heard of several people being charged the new amount, and these people have been advised to appeal showing a screenshot of http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14436.aspx.

PFAS continues to maintain that Penalty Fares are just another way for TfL and the train operators to increase their profits.

Train Enthusiasts need to be aware where they use their photographs after recent action from Eurostar International Limited.

Penalty Fare Appeal Support, last week received a Cease and Desist letter from Daphné Williams, Legal Counsel. This letter demanded that we remove a photograph that was taken by one of our reporters, as Eurostar claim to own the copyright over a class 373 nose cone.

Furthermore they claimed that our use of the photograph, might have confused customers and that they would assume that this site was connected in some way with Eurostar. This is extremely unlikley.

The full text of the Cease and Desist letter is published below for you to read. Our response remains confidential until we receive a response from Eurostar.

It is a shame that Eurostar have to resort to sprouting rubbish about owning copyright over photographs that they haven’t even taken, but then we guess that’s because they are a French company and threatening the small guy is the only language they understand.

We have removed the image which has caused Eurostar to throw their toys out of the pram and scream and shout until they are sick, only because it took us all of 2 Minutes to change it. The new image is much nicer anyway, and we have permission from the operator to use it.

In future Eurostar, and this goes for anyone, if you want something removed off the site, just send us a polite and brief Email and we will gladly comply. If you send us a snotty Cease and Desist letter without any grounds or merit, we are likely to laugh at your pathetic attempt to threaten us, and then proceed to create lots of bad PR for your company.

Eurostar Cease and Desist Notice:

7 September 2011

By Email to: [removed]

Without Prejudice Save as to Costs

Dear Sirs,

UNAUTHORISED USE OF EUROSTAR TRADEMARK MATERIAL

I write on behalf of Eurostar International Limited (“EIL”).

1. Our Activities

As you are no doubt aware, we provide a high-speed train service under the name EUROSTAR in Western Europe directly linking the United Kingdom to France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel. The service started operating in 1994 and has continuously provided city centre to city centre services.

The EUROSTAR mark has become famous on a global basis and we consider it to be among our most valuable assets. Intellectual property rights relating to the EUROSTAR word mark belong to EIL.

2. The Law

Section 10(3) of the Trademark Act 1994 as amended (in accordance with SI 2004 No. 946) provides that a mark which has acquired a reputation in the UK is infringed whereby someone uses a sign that is identical or similar to the mark in relation to identical, similar or dissimilar goods or services and the use of the sign is without due cause and takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to the distinctive character or the repute of the mark.

3. Your Activities

It has recently come to our attention that you have, without authorisation and in the course of trade, infringed our rights by using the Eurostar logo and a photograph of the nose cone of a Eurostar train on your website http://www.penaltyfareappeal.co.uk (the “Website”).

You have no legitimate reason for using our trademarks or for otherwise infringing our rights. The use of our trademarks on your website is particularly misleading as we do not in fact issue penalty fares of any form.

The fact that the EUROSTAR trademark is so well known leads us to believe that at least part of your purpose for using our marks on the Website is to exploit our valuable reputation and the goodwill in our trademarks.

Members of the public may assume that you are connected with or associated with us which will confuse customers and damage our valuable reputation and goodwill.

4. Further Action

Whilst we are entitled to issue court proceedings against you, we wish to resolve this matter quickly. We will not take further steps to enforce our intellectual property rights and to seek the remedies available to us on the condition that you provide us with the following written undertakings:

1. you agree to remove all EUROSTAR trademarks (including the Eurostar logo and the photograph of the nose cone of a Eurostar train) or any other confusingly similar marks from the Website; and

2. you agree not to use EUROSTAR trademarks or any other confusingly similar marks in any way in the future.

As we value our intellectual property assets and the corresponding reputation in the mark, we consider this matter to be of extreme importance. If we do not receive the written undertakings from you by 5:00pm on 21 September 2011 we will be forced to take further action without notice to you.

Yours faithfully

Daphné Williams

Legal Counsel
Eurostar International Limited
[Email and telephone number removed]

By Patrick Hardie, PFAS strike reporter.

The RMT Union today announced strike dates after members voted by almost two to one for strike action in a ballot of all train operator and instructor operator members in the on-going disputes over the victimisation of union activists including two driver members – Eamon Lynch and Arwyn Thomas – over their trade union activities.

All London Underground train driver members are instructed not to book on for any duty that commences:

between 21:01 on Monday 16 May and 11:59 on Tuesday 17 May,
between 12:00 on Wednesday 18 May and 11:59 on Thursday 19 May,
between 12:00 on Friday 20 May and 21:00 on Friday 20 May 2011.

All London Underground train driver members are further instructed not to book on for any duty that commences:

between 21:01 on Monday 13 June and 11:59 on Tuesday 14 June,
between 12:00 on Wednesday 15 June and 11:59 on Thursday 16 June,
between 12:00 on Friday 17 June and 21:00 on Friday 17 June.

Eamon Lynch, RMT Bakerloo Line drivers’ health and safety rep, has been sacked by LU and although he remains on full pay following the union’s victory on Eamon’s behalf at an “interim relief” Employment Tribunal hearing the company has shown total contempt for the Tribunal process and have upheld his sacking. Interim relief is only ever granted by the Employment Tribunal where there is the clearest possible evidence that an employee has been dismissed on the grounds of their trade union activities. RMT is currently awaiting the outcome of Eamon’s full tribunal hearing.

Arwyn Thomas, a long-standing RMT activist and driver at Morden has been sacked on trumped-up disciplinary charges following unproven allegations made against him by strike breakers. Arwyn has been an RMT/NUR member for over 29 years and has held various positions in the union. Arwyn has also won an interim relief hearing at the Employment Tribunal on the grounds of his victimisation as an RMT activist and has been put back on full pay as a result.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“It is the abject failure of LU to recognise that their policy of victimisation of union activists has been well and truly rumbled both in the Employment Tribunal and in their own depots that has left us with no choice but to name these dates for strike action.

“The solution is simple – LU should accept that they have been found out, get these drivers back to work doing the job that they are being paid to do and bring an end to the constant harassment of union activists whose only crime is fighting cuts to jobs and safety.

“The massive vote for action by tube drivers shows that they are well aware of the consequences of allowing our activists and safety reps to be picked off while we hear daily reports of breakdowns and failures on the network as a direct result of the very cuts that our members have been fighting.

“The attack on Eamon Lynch and Arwyn Thomas is the clearest cut case of victimisation on the grounds of trade union activities that you will ever see and it’s no wonder that the Employment Tribunal was swift to see through the management lies and grant both these members “Interim Relief” – an award which requires the strongest possible proof that their sackings were down to their union activities.”

Network Rail, the track and infrastructure owner in the UK, faces a fine of £3 million for a major timetabling failure, which left some train companies unable to take train bookings.

The penalty was proposed by the ORR (the Office of the Rail Regulator) over major problems arising from the introduction of a new integrated timetabling and planning system for the May 2010 timetable.

The ORR said Network Rail was right to introduce new systems but failed to consider properly, mitigate, and communicate the risks of initial problems affecting its key customers – (the rail) operators and passengers.

ORR chief executive Bill Emery said:

Network Rail has a duty to run an effective timetabling system. This is crucial to the operation of Britain’s rail network.
Network Rail was right to replace old and inefficient timetabling systems and processes, and in time its new integrated train planning system should bring longer-term benefits to the industry.
But its introduction earlier this year created significant disruption for operators and passengers. The company has since taken positive steps to resolve problems that should have been avoided, and is developing plans to compensate operators.
However, and not for the first time, Network Rail has breached its licence for failing to give sufficient emphasis to the needs of its customers. This substantial penalty sends a very clear message that the company must quickly take steps to ensure its processes prioritise its customers.
It is imperative that Network Rail is fully aware of, and guided by, the interests of its customers in everything it does. We expect Network Rail to take forward the lessons it has learnt from this project and build on its progress in putting customers and rail users at the heart of its business.

Network Rail’s operations and customer services director Robin Gisby said:

We recognise that the introduction of ITPS (Integrated Train Planning System) did not go as smoothly as we hoped and that this caused problems for our customers.
We have apologised to our customers, which we repeat today, and accept the ORR’s findings.
We moved quickly to fix the teething problems and as of today ITPS is working well. The new system represents a vital step forward for the industry as it represents a more advanced train planning system that will deliver many benefits and efficiencies in the future and replaces multiple, decades old British Rail systems.
We have learnt some important lessons including the need to work more closely with the train operators and the wider industry to deliver for the customer and for passengers and freight users in all that we do as a business.

Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said:

Passenger Focus was quick to report the problems with the integrated train planning system as correct and timely information is absolutely critical for passengers.
We are pleased that these have been investigated and Network Rail are being held to account for their earlier failings.
Since then we have been monitoring the situation closely and are pleased to report that in recent months Network Rail have significantly reduced the number of false or incorrect timetable results being given to passengers.
The earlier problems were not acceptable but passengers will be pleased the system is now improving.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said:

The problems experienced with the introduction of the integrated train planning system impacted on all train companies, leaving some operators unable to make trains available for passengers to book tickets in advance.
We are pleased that the ORR has taken the issue seriously and given a strong message with the penalty.
Train companies have been working hard with Network Rail to make sure the issues are resolved while minimising the effect on passengers.

The spokesperson then added:

Passengers can now take full advantage of booking good value Advance fares*.

[*Subject to availability, booking 6 months in advance, not travelling when you actually want to travel and not travelling on a day which ends in Y.]

A man dressed in womans clothes, who has not been named, fell under an eastbound Piccadilly Line train at Kings Cross St Pancras, during the evening rush hour, on Monday.

British Transport Police detectives arrested a 34-year-old woman from the Cricklewood area of London, at the underground station on suspicion of murder. She was being questioned at a north London police station.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a witness, who gave her name as Emma, said that she saw the pair “pushing and pulling as a joke on the platform. A whole carriage passed before it stopped and as the woman went down, the two bags I had with me were dragged away with her under the train,”

The incident, at 6.30pm on Monday 25th October 2010 caused travel chaos as the Piccadilly Line was closed.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said:

“Emergency services were called to Kings Cross underground station at just after 6.30pm this evening, Monday 25 October, following reports of a person under a Piccadilly line train. Detectives from British Transport Police have since launched a murder investigation following the death of a person, who is yet to be identified. Officers remain at the scene and are working to recover the body.

Detective superintendent, Ashley Croft, the senior investigating officer, added:

“This happened at a busy time during the evening commute and I appeal to anyone who saw what happened on the eastbound platform of the Piccadilly Line to get in contact with us. I would like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding and all London underground staff who assisted the emergency services in dealing with what happened in a professional and dignified manner.”

He further said that a 34-year-old woman, from Cricklewood, north London, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder. Next of kin are yet to be informed.

British Transport Police can be contacted on 0800 40 50 40 (free from most landlines) or 0121 634 5600 (mobiles).

Penalty Fare Appeal Support was issued with a Cease and Desist (C&D) letter from First Capital Connect yesterday (Thursday 30th September 2010) demanding various actions take place.

We cannot for reasons of confidentially and legal reasons, publish the C&D.

We however have decided that we will generalise the terms of the C&D.

The C&D has basically instructed PFAS, among other things, to remove and delete, all confidential and internal information (“be that pictures, text, or otherwise”) and “remove any links to said material.”

We have decided to go further then the C&D and remove a lot of questionable or unethical material.

Furthermore PFAS has decided to change it’s blog editorial team and insert a new level of editorial vetting of all new blog posts, this new team have already been looking at some of our previous posts and some have been edited to ensure this new editorial standard.