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32
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All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: Death of another bus station?
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on: April 23, 2024, 15:07:52
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I do wonder if planners ever use the facilities that they want to remove or create.
Planners are typically highly educated, intelligent, fit and well paid people for whom travel time is of the essence and who have the use of a private car for most of their activities. Where there is a frequent public transport system that carries most people and a disincentive to use the car, - for example inner London - they may use that public transport but otherwise their experience of bus station facilities may be largely theoretical. There are some notable exceptions but perhaps they are notable by their very rarity. Same thing could be said about hotel room designers who don't actually stay in the rooms ... don't get me going! |
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33
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / Railway History and related topics / Lack of rolling stock due to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea
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on: April 23, 2024, 07:58:24
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1vwew2wx00oModel train manufacturer Hornby has blamed falling sales on delivery delays linked to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Kent-based company, which specialises in toys and collectibles, said its sales declined 8% in the last quarter.
It said the decline was partly driven by delays to deliveries via the Red Sea, with the movement of some container ships being pushed back from March to April.
Container shipping firms have been forced to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope in response, adding weeks to voyage times.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels are behind the attacks in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
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34
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / Railway History and related topics / Re: Somerset and Dorset Devonshire Tunnel flood
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on: April 23, 2024, 07:53:53
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I think we have another thread on this topic. I must admit I have trouble finding previous threads when I am posting something.
http://www.passenger.chat/27359 perhaps? Agreed it often ain't easy to find old threads - I found that by putting "Devonshire" into the Deep Search box, and my usual way to go back and locate stuff is that search box, sometimes (though not needed in this case) then tuning the search by using the various options at the bottom of the results. I would normally be tempted to merge the topics - HOWEVER I won't do so here for a few days to give you a chance to look and see what I am describing. If anyone has a magic /better system for improving our looking back for things, please tell me. So much of what we talk about is a linked network of topics that it's hard to know what to post, and the huge amount of time some members (thanks CfN especially) have put into merging and moving and spliting topics is really appreciated. It does give us a resource that's useful though sometimes hard as an archive / to carry on building. Contrast that to the great difficulty of saving Facebook posts as a resource - there are a couple of groups I'm a member of where - well - you have to cry at all the good material that fades to become unfindable. |
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35
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Rail unions strike action 2022/2023/2024
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on: April 22, 2024, 21:30:28
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Staff at 16 train companies will take part in rolling one-day walkouts between 7 and 9 May over pay and working conditions.
An overtime ban will also take place between 6 and 11 May.
Passengers are advised to check before they travel, with the action likely to lead to delays and cancellations.
The Bank Holiday falls on 6 May this year.
Aslef, the train drivers' union, said it is seeking better pay for its members and claimed drivers are being asked to sacrifice working conditions in exchange for a wage increase.
Drivers from several train companies will strike on different days.
Tuesday 7 May: c2c, Greater Anglia, Great Northern, Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express, South Western Railway main line and Island Line
Wednesday 8 May: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains
Thursday 9 May: LNER» , Northern Trains and TransPennine Express Also ... Little progress has been made in solving the row between Aslef and the rail companies since the union first started striking in July 2022. It has been going on do long it has almost ceased to be news. Lisa and I arrive on a ferry into Portsmouth in the afternoon of 8th May. We're just shrugging our shoulders and booking in to somewhere to stay overnight until the following morning. |
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37
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Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Re: 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury
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on: April 22, 2024, 13:57:07
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12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 12:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to a road vehicle colliding with a bridge
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57
13:15 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be cancelled.
This is due to a road vehicle colliding with a bridge.
Err ... Cancellations to services between Bath Spa and Westbury
Following a road vehicle colliding with a bridge earlier today between Bath Spa and Freshford all lines have now reopened. Disruption is expected until 14:00 22/04.
Train services between Bath Spa and Westbury are returning to normal but some services may still be cancelled or delayed.
.... trains between Swindon and Westbury don't even go to Bath Spa or Freshford nor share any on the line between !! |
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38
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Where have I been?
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on: April 22, 2024, 13:51:43
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9 is Rouen, I believe. It is - your belief is correct! I have never been in the station itself, but when I was in the city last November, having parked the car by the river, I was surprised to see a class 66 locomotive in the "old" EWS▸ livery running along the shore of the Seine on the line that's between the Quai de Paris and the river. It's the second such occurrence - happened near Beziers Cap D'Agde airport many years ago too.
The line alongside the river looked hardly used last week - I wonder what it's used for. Interestingly, during my travels in Poland I saw a couple of class 66 locos, "Freighliner" and still bearing numbers starting "66" - fleeting glimpses, no photos and on the ends of long lines of bogie open high sided wagons, also "Freightliner". In the extremes of the country - one near the German borders and the other days later near the Lithuanian border. |
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39
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Where have I been?
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on: April 22, 2024, 10:22:54
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Of course - I thought when I saw that picture that the decorative wood framing down the sides looked familiar. I must have seen news coverage of the station's restoration in 2015-2019, which kept that framing while turning the offices behind into retail units. I was in fact in the city in 2017, but didn't get to the station (which was in any case en travaux) as top priority while passing through was the reference library.
That's a station that which we haven't named yet, but I'm sure you are very familiar with  - you identified the rather more obscure and modern Danish station of Ørestad. An interesting story about that one, where I caught a train ... Almost all of the trains that call at the platform I photographed from go (and it's a couple of stations up the line) to Copenhagen Central, but the one I caught was one of the exceptions - starting from the airport ("behind me" am taking the avoiding curve to(wards) Esbjerg. Serious concern from our train manager when I showed him my InterRail pass that I wasn't on the train into Copenhagen ... and then when re-assured that I knew this and was avoiding the city that I would need to change to get to Esbjerg - the train I was on only going as far as Odense. Further re-assurance given that I was actually headed for Odense an not beyond. It reminded me rather of those occasions at Trowbridge where people on the northbound platform get on a train, assuming that all trains from there go to Bath and Bristol. |
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40
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Where have I been?
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on: April 22, 2024, 07:53:42
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9. Helsinki, as a guess, from a faint recollection of Tim Dunn's excellent series on the impressive architecture of railway stations in Europe.
It does look rather similar, but - sorry - it isn't. There are so many grand station buildings all across Europe! Here is my picture of Helsinki  And here is the picture in the quiz, taken very roughly a week later  |
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41
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Where have I been?
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on: April 22, 2024, 06:13:18
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For most “no”, but I am certain of 3, which is taken at Bitton, on the Avon Valley Railway.
Yes, correct 5. Ørestad, 2300 København.
Yes, correct. Where I see a picture showing two pieces of public transport calling at the same time on a bridge I think "very nice but what a sad failure to connect either way". In this case it does not matter as the metro over the top runs every few minutes. 10. Kennet & Avon canal (I think)  Geographically close by, but, sorry, no. Note lack of tow path. |
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42
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Where have I been?
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on: April 21, 2024, 20:09:09
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Our public boards have been very quiet ... and perhaps that's because things are working rather better at the moment. But I do note oodles of likes so members are still reading. Here's something to comment on - can you place these 10 pictures, all of which I have taken in the last 10 days 1. Tornio, Finland - Froome  2.  3. Bitton, England - brooklea  4.  5. Orestad, Denmark - stuving  6.  7.  8.  9. Rouen, France - eightonedee 10. Near the Kennet and Avon Canal, Chris from Nailsea  |
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43
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Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Re: 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury
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on: April 21, 2024, 13:10:51
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Now this is a curious one ... 11:42 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:01
11:42 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:01 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham but will call additionally at Bath Spa.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 12 minutes late.
This is due to overcrowding. ... overcrowding where?? Diverted trains normally reverse at Bathampton - the fact this is going on into Bath Spa suggests to me that the diversion might be to relieve crowding to / from Bath - I hope I am wrong in that because it seems (err) rather naughty to pull a Melksham service for the purpose of providing an extra (relief) train on another line. I note that JourneyCheck doesn't / didn't at the time I read it offer any advice for customers about alternative provision to and from Melksham. Not overcrowding - but I notice that trains from London via Swindon and Chippenham to Bath and Bristol have been seriously delayed by some sort of blockage near London. So I suspect that running the train that should have served Melksham via Bath allowed passenger who had accumulated at Swindon and Chippenham to get there, and with a change of trains to Bristol. If that is what happened - silly question - why could passengers at Swindon and Chippenham headed for Bath and Bristol simply not have been asked to change at Trowbridge? |
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44
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Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Re: 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury
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on: April 21, 2024, 12:46:18
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Now this is a curious one ... 11:42 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:01
11:42 Swindon to Weymouth due 14:01 will be diverted between Chippenham and Trowbridge.
It will no longer call at Melksham but will call additionally at Bath Spa.
It will be delayed due to the diversion and is expected to be 12 minutes late.
This is due to overcrowding. ... overcrowding where?? Diverted trains normally reverse at Bathampton - the fact this is going on into Bath Spa suggests to me that the diversion might be to relieve crowding to / from Bath - I hope I am wrong in that because it seems (err) rather naughty to pull a Melksham service for the purpose of providing an extra (relief) train on another line. I note that JourneyCheck doesn't / didn't at the time I read it offer any advice for customers about alternative provision to and from Melksham. |
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