iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Electoral reform, Brexit in the bin - I can’t quite believe what I heard this afternoon. Gobsmacked.

Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“Brexit has been a misadventure – a dead horse that can no longer be flogged or carried. It's time to bury it as a cautionary tale and get back to where we belong."

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Almost! I'm 90% of the way through adapting this to show all TOCs across the North - it may end up being used by GBR (or may not). Talks ongoing!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Never thought I'd see the day that Canada got closer to the EU before Britain did. 'Associate membership' may well be the right path back into Europe for Britain - if we can't rejoin (yet), we should follow the Canadian example, and quickly!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I got quite a surprise when this landed today, and after a brief flick through spotted my very own work, right there on page 120. The book itself is a pure work of art - a real ‘must have’ for fans of maps, design, railways, geography, history and beyond…!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Absolutely incredibly surreal to see the network map I designed for Northern immortalised in the excellent new book from @markonthemaps.bsky.social and @mrmappy.bsky.social!

Mapping Britain’s Railways by Mark Ovenden ans Andrew Smithers

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Whilst I'm not generally in favour of hitting people in the pockets, I don't fall out with this idea. Tourist taxes are commonplace all over Europe and the US, and are usually only a few extra euros/dollars. If they allow our regions to invest in services like transport, I'm in favour.

bbc.co.uk

England's mayors to get power to impose tourist tax

Hospitality leaders warn the uncapped levy would risk jobs and push prices up for families holidaying in England.

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Reposted by Matt Harrison

The Beauty of Transport @thebeautyoftransport.com · 08/09/2026

I think @markonthemaps.bsky.social and @mrmappy.bsky.social talking about their new book sounds splendid. Unfortunately it's rather difficult for me to pop down from Orkney, so how about you go, then post about it and make me jealous? 18 November, 7:00pm-8:30pm www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mapping-br...

eventbrite.co.uk

Mapping Britain's Railways with Mark Ovenden and Andrew Smithers

This is a Stanfords, London event

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Reposted by Matt Harrison

Daniel Moser @dmoser.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.

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Reposted by Matt Harrison

Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 01/09/2026

In his first speech at the despatch box, Andy Burnham says Brexit compounded the UK’s economic damage "and ushered in a decade of slow growth and stalled regeneration”. Now if he really wants growth in every postcode, the £92bn on the table from EU membership offers no better opportunity.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Absolutely hard agree with this. You know you're somewhere pretentious when you see prices without zeros

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Our planet is being warmed and we can't buy memory chips anymore, all for burger vans to be able to spew out this endless conveyor belt of rancid generic imagery to bestow upon our pavements. Let it all end, please.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

And when I say everywhere, I mean they are EVERYWHERE. Pubs. Restaurants which you might previously have described as 'classy'. Cafes. Hot dog stalls. Advertising boat trips. Funfairs. All terribly pixelated because it's a flat image which doesn't scale to A0.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Back from a week in Devon with the family. A relatively new phenomenon at seaside resorts are these AI slop posters on the doorsteps of EVERY pub and restaurant. It's so bad, we actively avoided eating anywhere that used AI slop boards, only eating at places which hadn't lowered themselves to this.

AI slop poster for a restaurant in Brixham

Another rancid AI slop poster for another restaurant in Brixham

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Reposted by Matt Harrison

Jezza @bonsvoeux1.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Full marks to the city of Lyon for not allowing a 17.6% gradient to get in the way of building a metro line up to Croix-Rousse. This is a downhill train arriving at Croix-Paquet station:

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Reposted by Matt Harrison

Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵 @threadinburgh.scot · 24/07/2026

I'm a firm believer that if your "straightforward", "simple" street layout requires a 1 minute instructional video to try and explain what the ambiguous signs and all that paint on the road wants you to do, it's not nearly as straightforward and simple as you imagine it is.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Agreed; it doesn't have the 'Bin Factor', but you'd have thought there'd be more media interest at this stage. What a crazy world we live in!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The fact that a man with a bin on his head vs Farage has garnered more media attention than a by-election for the second highest-profile political job in the land personifies exactly what Burnham has been saying for years.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Looovely long tube of toothpaste!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Now removed for rehoming - more about that soon!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

More news soon on where it's heading long-term.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

You've got hours, rather than days!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

To clarify - it’s being saved! Here’s a pic of it in all its glory. A remarkable survivor.

Network Northwest branded sign at Deansgate station

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Selfie with the recently-uncovered Network Northwest sign at Deansgate, in pristine condition! It won’t be here much longer, though…

Original 1989 Deansgate station sign with GMPTE ‘M-blem’ and Network Northwest branding

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Reposted by Matt Harrison

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Corrupt, embarrassing, an utter failure: Trump's catastrophic handling of America's 250th anniversary iandunt.substack.com/p/ice-ice-ba...

iandunt.substack.com

Ice, Ice Baby: America's national decline

The 250th anniversary is corrupt, embarrassing and an utter failure. It's the perfect encapsulation of Trump's US.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Interesting - never even heard of it!

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Issue 57 of @themodernist.bsky.social ‘Public’ arrived yesterday, and it is quite simply, sublime. Well worth a tenner of anybody’s hard earned cash: the-modernist.org

Cover of issue 57 of The Modernist, featuring an orange and brown patten and a hand drawn building

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Reposted by Matt Harrison

Jo Kibble (Political Animal) @politicanimal.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Should have got a retired signaller on to debate the pros and cons of letting the London Northwestern semi-fast from Crewe out in front of Burnham's train at Rugby, thus compounding the Pendolino's delay. (This is why I'm not a broadcast news producer.)

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

I met Andy briefly after the launch of Northern’s Bee Network train in December. What you see is what you get - he’s genuine, down to earth, takes the time to listen and is incredibly visible. He will be hugely missed as Mayor - but we need Andy now, in a much bigger role for the whole country.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

🌹 King of the North! Huge congratulations to @andyburnham.bsky.social! Makerfield chose hope over hate, and I have a feeling the whole country will soon be better off for their choice. 👏👏 PS - now is a great time to read ‘Head North’ by Andy and Steve Rotheram, if you haven’t already…

Andy Burnham has been elected Labour MP for Makerfield

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This guy is an utterly unserious candidate. This is the best that Reform could come up with in what is likely one of the most consequential by-elections of our times. Dreadful.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Lots of reaction to my earlier post. I was allowed to take pictures of buses and share them online as a teenager. I wasn't legally allowed to smoke a ciggie or drink a cheeky can of Boddingtons, but I still found ways to acquire them anyway. I'm sure I'd have found a way to post pictures too.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

And we all know that youngsters will find their way around the ban, anyway. The Pandoras Box of social media has been opened, and it will not be closed - they'll simply migrate to other channels which aren't banned. Discord, Roblox, and too many others to count...

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

We are entering a world where far-right gammons can openly post racist propaganda, but a teenager cannot post a picture of a train. Make it make sense.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

👆 Exactly this. Though I rather suspect they'll simply migrate to even more unmoderated channels (I read - astoundingly - that Discord and the like will not be banned!).

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

How many kids are on Threads? Even adults don't bother with that.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Today's children are infinitely more aware of the dangers of being online than we ever were at that age. My 7 year old child has already learned about using ChatGPT safely in school...

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Me too! My earliest interactions with the 'world wide web' were through my own self-coded HTML abomination, plus the likes of MySpace and MSN messenger. I totally get the world has changed since then, but we need conversation and education, not legislation.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Great suggestion! I saw Flixbus have recently reinstated the 666 bus to Hel...

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

We don't need a ban. We need education, and we need real consequences for greedy social media companies who do not do enough to protect our children online. We do not need another example of nanny-state Britain working to make life just that little bit more intolerable for the next generation.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I hid my interests as a teenager because I had nobody to share my ever-so-slight nerdy passion with, but I could share my photos on Flickr. I worry for my young child, who may find she now has no outlet for her creativity in the coming years.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Many young bus, train and tram enthusiasts use platforms such as YouTube to share their 'nerdy' passion with the outside world. We are about to take that ability away from them. I speak as both a transport enthusiast and a parent.

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Matt Harrison @mattpharrison.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Banning under-16s from social media will lead to a whole world of unintended consequences. Speaking from my own experience: taking pictures of buses is not a 'cool' activity, especially as a youngster. You're even less likely to find somebody in your immediate peer group who shares those interests.

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