Most plans for a Bristol and Bath area 'metro' have been based on the heavy rail network (including disused parts). The 'Future4West' plan is unusual in that it seems to be based on different corridors, starting as it does with the premise that it is not possible to expand capacity along existing rail corridors. This premise rules out tram-trains, which is in my view a huge mistake.

Most other plans, such as the enroute post, ATA's plans from the 1980's and Bristol Rail Campaign's 'Plan for Rail' use the heavy rail network as a basis - though things that might have seemed possible in the 80's (like using the old Midland Main Line) clearly aren't possible now!

It's good to keep the debate going.

Essentially as far as rail goes he's not a million miles from Bristol Rail Campaign's tram-train thoughts.

However using the Midland line through Fishponds is far from low-hanging fruit - it's a very well-established park as well as being a walking and cycling route. And a northern curve at Narroways, through the nature reserve and allotments, seems challenging too.

One of my schoolmates went to see them at the Colston Hall as was. Apparently they never got as far as performing ‘Do anything you wanna do’ because the bouncers ejected the lead singer!

I have a copy of the Penguin version. Not cheap, even as a second hand rather foxed copy, but well worth a read.

The main thing I took away from it was Buchanan’s view that if you took the whole roads budget, doubled it, and spent all of it on Leeds, you’d still only be able to accommodate about half the journeys people want to make by car. For the rest, you’d need public transport…

Nigel Harris (late editor of Rail magazine) and Richard Bowker (formerly head of SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about)) explain it fairly well, I think. You'll need half an hour to spare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLTxYZPEo3U

I have updated my entry (see top of thread), as it was getting a bit stale!

It is, as you say, astonishingly deceptive

Lawrence Hill is a penalty fare station (see https://bristolrailcampaign.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GWR-Penalty-Fares-Map-From-23-January-2023-v2.pdf). I don't remember seeing a ticket machine there, but it is most likely to be on Platform 1 - so for passengers heading towards Temple Meads, it is only accessible if you can negotiate two flights of steps.

That link is a local file path, which means it points to a file on a specific computer. In this case, the file is on a computer named JOHN and it's located in the Downloads folder under the user profile C:\Users\JOHN\Downloads\Fjord Engineering Conference Invitation 2024.pdf.

Without access to that specific computer, you won't be able to open the file.

Ah, that's interesting... one of the other threads is not relevant, but I note that kempis was aware of the change - though a recent conversation with Mrs kempis suggested that she wasn't!

Ah yes - I see it here:


There are indeed posters - for example, at Clifton Down there is a poster near one of the three entrances, and at Montpelier there is one at one of the two entrances. In both examples these are unlikely to be noticed by anyone using the alternative entrances, and are not visible from the platform(s).

I wonder for how long they made these announcements on the PA^▸ (Public Address)? I certainly never heard one.

I was alerted recently via x/twitter of a passenger receiving a penalty fare for boarding at Clifton Down station without a ticket.

Upon investigating, it became apparent that the Severn Beach line (with the exception of Severn Beach, St Andrews Road, Avonmouth, Shirehampton, Sea Mills and Stapleton Rd - i.e. just over half the stations on the line) is now a Penalty Fares line - and has been since January 2023.

I'd be very interested to know how aware other people were of this change:

• Did you know about this?
• How did you find out?
• When?

To be clear, I absolutely support better revenue protection on this line - ticketless travel has undoubtedly suppressed recorded passenger numbers over the years. I'm just trying to find out how well this change was communicated.

According to statista[part-paywalled] 96% of 16-24 year olds have a smartphone, falling to 69% of over-65's. Needless to say this is increasing year on year.

By way of a comparison, 74% of over-17s in England have a driving licence and 86.5% of people in England and Wales have a passport.

I only just spotted this, Chris - been a busy couple of days. It would have been good to meet up; sorry to have missed you!

I'm just back; it was a good day with enthusiastic talks from Natalie Edwards of SWR^» (South Western Railway - about), who seems pretty passionate about improving services on the WoE line, and Dan Okey on placemaking and stations. James White, who is now seconded to Western Gateway STB, also did a good piece on what they're up to in terms of the strategic view. Nothing all that new, but good to see how everyone keeps up their enthusiasm despite challenges around funding and direction.

I went over to have a look at the ceiling at Bonaparte's today. Here's my photo:



So... what johnneyw saw was an optical illusion caused by reflections in the mirrored glass! It is really deceptive; you have to look through the right window to see it properly and even then there are some odd reflections. Very odd!