With a bit of luck, native RTC support means 2-way comms using reolink doorbells is close at hand.

Frank Zappa: I'm the slime

Network Rail (who own and maintain the track/infrastructure) are state run.
It was privatised for about 5 years, it was a disaster, and it was brought back in house.
Trains are run by TOCs, though these are being gradually coming back to the state too.

The honest answer is, we have a fuckton of track, much of which has been there since victorian times.
Couple that with diesel-electric trains that run at 125mph already, a lot of track that doesn't get that much use, and the electrification number is low.

We're slowly getting there.
New lines are electric from the start, and electrification projects are rolling out.
It can be a pain in the ass though (GWML, for example. We had to order bi-mode trains to continue down to the westcountry, and while the electric part was completed.)

Plus the issue that any track that's busy enough to prioritise electrification on is going to be more complex because of the impact any downtime causes on a busy route.

I'm just waiting for a third python to arrive with minor problematic differences.

I still remember when they cut their bitrates and lowered video quality.
They denied it entirely, people proved that CR was full of shit.
So CR responded by...Attacking the people who proved the streams were lower bitrate than before.

I had someone arrive at a BBQ, saw me frying some onions, and ask "Are you going to caramelise those onions?"

Yes mate. The onions I'm frying for a few minutes while the burgers cook, gonna be nice and caramelised in seconds, just you watch.

The way to tell so often seems to be if someone has called it AI or Machine Learning.

AI? "I put this through chatgpt" (or "The media department has us by the balls")

ML? "I crunched a huge amount of data in a huge amount of ways, and found something interesting"

This is from the Woolworth's sit-in, where people sat at the segregated lunch counter in protest.
Other people who did not like this verbally and physically abused them.

https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-anne-moody-20150211-story.html

I guess it simplifies the game plan. If there is only one outcome to prepare for, it's easier to organise what you're going to do.
Plus, it gives him a face save.
"NO, we did not lose that FRAUDULENT ELECTION. I told the GOOD people not to vote, and they did not. I will be holding my OWN, FREE ELECTION in florida on friday."

The workload that's starting now, is spotting bad code written by colleagues using AI, and persuading them to re-write it.

"But it works!"

'It pulls in 15 libraries, 2 of which you need to manually install beforehand, to achieve something you can do in 5 lines using this default library'

Channel 4 had ice sculptures standing in for the Conservative and ~~UKIP~~ ~~Brexit~~ Reform parties at a climate debate after both leaders declined an invitation to take part.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50596192

I can't see how anyone involved with allowing this isn't complicit.
What possible reason did the police of a foreign nation need to be physically there for, other than physically removing someone?