:00:05. > :00:08.from Oxford. In tonight's programme: Reducing delays and creating jobs -
:00:08. > :00:15.how �33 million is being spent improving the rail network through
:00:15. > :00:19.Swindon and the Thames Valley. Also tonight: East meets West - why
:00:19. > :00:23.a delegation from China has been in the Cotswolds.
:00:23. > :00:33.And later on: River safety - another warning to stay out of waterways in
:00:33. > :00:43.
:00:43. > :00:45.A Wiltshire company has won the contract to make all the brakes on
:00:45. > :00:52.the next generation of inter-city trains, securing hundreds of jobs
:00:52. > :00:58.for years to come. Meanwhile, Network Rail is spending millions of
:00:58. > :01:03.pounds on every structure, which is creating hundreds of jobs and should
:01:03. > :01:06.reduce delays. This factory makes brakes. Soon it
:01:06. > :01:09.will start making them for the new intercity express trains built by
:01:09. > :01:18.Hitachi. For technicians like Mark Bullock, that means long-term job
:01:18. > :01:23.security. It is basically a valve that communicates with the train,
:01:23. > :01:29.tells the train what braking pressure to apply. This is not just
:01:29. > :01:33.an order to hit the brakes on 600 carriages, more importantly, it is
:01:33. > :01:36.about a contract to maintain those systems for the next three decades.
:01:36. > :01:42.The trains will make their first appearance on the Great Western in
:01:42. > :01:47.three years' time. This is a mainline train replacement, which is
:01:47. > :01:51.very rare in the UK. This has been quite a long time coming, it is a
:01:51. > :02:01.very large contract. Refurbishment of a bridge over the
:02:01. > :02:01.
:02:01. > :02:04.Thames is getting under way at Bourne End. Effectively, we are
:02:04. > :02:07.carrying out structural steel repairs. Network Rail says �1.3
:02:07. > :02:10.billion are being spent this year in the Southeast to improve
:02:10. > :02:13.infrastructure. There are 39 schemes in the Thames
:02:13. > :02:19.Valley alone. Network Rail has 34,000 staff and reckons this keeps
:02:19. > :02:22.another 90,000 people in work. But only last week it was told off by
:02:22. > :02:27.the Rail Regulator for not doing enough maintenance and, in
:02:27. > :02:31.particular, making the tracks more resilient to extreme weather.
:02:31. > :02:36.bridge you can see behind me is one of several projects that has been
:02:36. > :02:39.brought forward, it is a �33 million investment in the South and in the
:02:39. > :02:42.Thames Valley. It is stimulus money, which means that it goes to the
:02:42. > :02:45.local economy and to help local businesses.
:02:45. > :02:53.Network Rail's point is this - spending on infrastructure does more
:02:53. > :02:57.than make journeys better, it also puts money into the wider economy.
:02:57. > :03:00.A driver who knocked down and killed a cyclist while he was eating at the
:03:00. > :03:04.wheel has been cleared of causing death by dangerous driving. Joseph
:03:04. > :03:07.Wilkins was cycling on a country road near Abingdon last May when he
:03:07. > :03:10.was struck. Paul Brown, seen here arriving at court this morning,
:03:11. > :03:15.admitted he'd been eating a sandwich between five to ten seconds before
:03:15. > :03:18.he hit him. He says his eyes were on the road but Mr Wilkins had no
:03:18. > :03:27.lights or reflectors. Paul Brown had already admitted causing death by
:03:27. > :03:32.careless driving. He'll be sentenced in September. The jury in this case
:03:32. > :03:35.decided that the facts amounted to a count of careless driving as opposed
:03:35. > :03:38.to dangerous driving. I would urge all drivers to think about their
:03:38. > :03:44.driving and the actions behind the wheel so that this kind of thing
:03:44. > :03:47.does not happen. Fatal collisions are very often avoidable and this
:03:47. > :03:50.case was no different at all. A motorcyclist has been injured in
:03:50. > :03:52.the centre of Oxford after an accident involving a taxi. Ambulance
:03:52. > :03:56.crews were called to St Giles shortly after 3pm. Paramedics
:03:56. > :04:00.treated the man at the roadside before he was taken to hospital with
:04:00. > :04:04.minor injuries. A delegation from China have been in
:04:04. > :04:07.the Cotswolds to find out how the the UK tackles poverty in rural
:04:07. > :04:11.areas. China has a growing gap between the rich and the poor and
:04:11. > :04:14.the Government wants to address the problem urgently. The delegation met
:04:14. > :04:23.with Action With Communities In Rural England, who are based in
:04:23. > :04:26.Cirencester. Steve Knibbs reports. Chinese visitors to the Cotswolds
:04:26. > :04:32.are not unusual but this group was more interested in aspects of rural
:04:32. > :04:40.life, not on the tourist map. is a national voluntary network...
:04:40. > :04:43.It would be interesting to know what those are in rural China. -- what
:04:43. > :04:48.those issues are in rural China. But we have been told there are no
:04:48. > :04:52.interviews. To give you some idea, this is southern China, the poorest
:04:52. > :04:58.province. While in the major cities the economy is booming, like he
:04:58. > :05:03.could not be more different. Lu Da Yi is a farmer, Yaz not earned any
:05:03. > :05:07.money for a year. He is living below the poverty line along with millions
:05:07. > :05:14.of other Chinese will stop transmission macro it is not fair,
:05:14. > :05:16.-- TRANSLATION: It is not fair, I have been to the city, they live
:05:16. > :05:23.better there. The Chinese governorate have made it
:05:23. > :05:27.a priority to tackle rural poverty. While many difficulties we may face
:05:27. > :05:34.in the UK do not apply to China, there are similarities. There are
:05:35. > :05:41.issues around poor housing and poor sanitation. There are different
:05:41. > :05:48.issues but they can look at where we are now to look at the voluntary
:05:48. > :05:54.network to see how they can make changes. He was a coincidence. Qing
:05:54. > :06:00.Lin looks after me was of the Chinese committee in the area. She
:06:00. > :06:04.hopes that this will help back home. It is a time bomb waiting to
:06:04. > :06:08.explode. I hope they learn from us to see how they can tackle the Asian
:06:08. > :06:17.society problem, they are the same as everyone else. It will not be the
:06:17. > :06:20.last visit from Chinese officials. The start of maybe a longer term
:06:20. > :06:23.relationship between East and West countries.
:06:23. > :06:27.Campaigners fighting plans for student flats next to Port Meadow in
:06:27. > :06:30.Oxford have won the right for their case to be heard in front of a
:06:30. > :06:33.judge. The Campaign to Protect Rural England has raised more than �20,000
:06:33. > :06:36.to fight the case. If they're successful, a judge will review the
:06:36. > :06:39.decision by City Council to grant planning permission for the Castle
:06:39. > :06:43.Mill development. Oxford University intends to finish the buildings by
:06:43. > :06:46.October. A hydroelectric power scheme is to
:06:46. > :06:49.be built at Blenheim Palace. The project involves installing an
:06:49. > :06:55.Archimedean screw, similar to this one on the River Thames in
:06:55. > :06:58.Berkshire, on the River Glyme at Bladon Dam. It should reduce the
:06:58. > :07:07.Palace's electricity bill and is part of plans to make Blenheim one
:07:07. > :07:11.of Britain's greenest stately homes. The generator will produce around
:07:11. > :07:16.60,000 kWh of energy every year. That is equivalent to about 18 homes
:07:17. > :07:22.worth of energy. Piping that or conducting that into the estate and
:07:22. > :07:25.being able to run all of their operation from this renewable
:07:25. > :07:28.energy, it makes absolute sense. 50 years ago today, a gang of
:07:28. > :07:31.robbers stopped an overnight train in Buckinghamshire and stole more
:07:31. > :07:34.than �2.5 million pounds. The heist became known as The Great Train
:07:34. > :07:41.Robbery. South Today viewer Jenny Mackie's husband, Ken, worked for
:07:41. > :07:44.the police at the time. She sent us these pictures. Here's Ken holding
:07:44. > :07:49.the loud-hailer as police carryied out investigations the day after the
:07:49. > :07:52.robbery. And he's on the right in this photo with a member of the gang
:07:52. > :07:56.as they left the magistrates' court. What amazing pictures to have. Thank
:07:56. > :07:58.you, Jenny, for sending them in. Sadly, Ken has died but, 50 years
:07:58. > :08:02.on, officers who investigated the Great Train Robbery have been
:08:02. > :08:12.commended for their role in solving the case. Victoria Cook has been to
:08:12. > :08:13.
:08:13. > :08:15.meet them. In Durham prison, there were three of the Great Train
:08:15. > :08:19.Robbery 's. The news from 1963 - as keen to
:08:19. > :08:26.discuss this infamous crime then as it is today. It was a raid like
:08:26. > :08:30.no-one had seen before - amounts of money stolen that were unheard of.
:08:30. > :08:33.And this is where it all happened. It was this bridge here in the quiet
:08:33. > :08:36.village of Cheddington where the gang stopped the Royal Mail train.
:08:36. > :08:39.They then attacked the driver and made off with over �2 million in
:08:39. > :08:43.cash. The police officers involved 50 years ago faced a long
:08:43. > :08:52.investigation without the aid of computers or modern forensics. Now
:08:52. > :08:56.they've been awarded for their work. I could not have believed that
:08:56. > :09:01.whilst I was listening to this and reading about it in my little police
:09:01. > :09:07.station at Rhyl, the perpetrators were celebrating and counting the
:09:07. > :09:10.money, no more than a mile, as the crow flies, from my little office.
:09:10. > :09:13.Keith Milner was a detective constable at the time. He remembers
:09:13. > :09:21.being told that a train had been stolen before the real truth
:09:21. > :09:31.emerged. A reporter shouted up the embankment to me, is it true �1
:09:31. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:38.million has gone? And I had no idea. �1 million was a huge amount. My
:09:39. > :09:42.whole salary was �974, one shilling and 4p. Over the last five decades,
:09:42. > :09:46.the gang have become famous - Ronnie Biggs' escape from prison and his 36
:09:46. > :09:49.years on the run kept the story in the headlines. The Chief Constable
:09:49. > :09:59.of Thames Valley believes it's time the attention turned to the police
:09:59. > :09:59.
:09:59. > :10:03.who were involved. What has always struck me is the fact it the focus
:10:03. > :10:08.is was on the offender is. I want to balance that by recognising the work
:10:09. > :10:15.of the police staff 50 years ago who helped to solve the Great Train
:10:15. > :10:19.Robbery. Many of these officers have now retired but they do so knowing