Can confirm, "fat controlla" is alive and well in UK. I personally hate the character and agree with Ms. Tolentino, the whole setup is very regressive. What angers me most is that it exploits British pride in their early railway industry (which is basically dead now, ok, but is still venerated, especially outside of London) to peddle a worldview completely based around hierarchies and the duty of subordinates.

More passengers are carried on the British railways now than ever before, so I wouldn’t call it dead.

(Posted from the comfort of an HST on the rural Cotswold Line, slated for part closure 40 years ago and now thriving.)

Indeed - reopening closed lines seems to be very popular here in Scotland - the Borders Line from Edinburgh being the most obvious example although there are others.

I enjoy my commute by train into Edinburgh from Fife - not least because it means I get to go over the Forth Bridge.

Dead in the manufacturing sense, sorry it wasn't clear. There is basically one manufacturer left in the country, Bombardier, which is actually Canadian.

The network is alright, although still shamefully behind most of Europe (very little electrification, still no high speed, etc etc).

Similar. I grew up on the Thomas books and don't remember hearing "Sir Topham Hatt" til today - only ever "The Fat Controller".

Yeah, the US Thomas & Friends books you kinda have to translate on the fly as you're reading them. There are various differences.

That explains it, I suppose :)

Lived in the US, seen Thomas shows + books (not originals) for decades, and only now hear anything but Sir Topham Hatt.

yep I can remember reading the book sin th e60's in the UK and its always the fat controller - who incidentally was always portrayed as a blimpish establishment figure