I'm also wondering about supply. I presume it must be relatively easy to ensure a reliable, dedicated high-voltage, 'high level' (pun not intended) supply, and the blackouts and 'load shedding' which plague Indian electricity must be down to problems and overloading further downstream.

Talking of gates, I was under the impression that where footpaths or cycle paths cross tracks, gates should open outwards – that is, away from the tracks – and there should be a certain minimum distance (which I can't remember, might have been 2m – idea being there's space for an average bike between rails and gate) between gate and rails. However, I can think of some instances, for instance on the Westerleigh oil terminal line, where this isn't the case.

Tony K's photo is quite neat compared to some I saw when I was there. The process seems to be that 'legitimate' electricity and phone cables get used as support for a host of cable TV and broadband wiring, which is often simply draped from the existing stuff, wound round it or, for the neatest stuff, perhaps attached to the poles with zip ties, string and jubilee clips. Draped over trees and buildings at random too. Then (or actually before that) there are DIY wires pirating the electricity supply and quite possible the cables too. All at heights varying from head to tree top. Of course, quite a bit of it is no longer in use; the cable firm has gone bust, the broadband has switched to something else, the phone's been disconnected, and so on. But there are no records kept of which is which.

That is impressive.

Note the randoms standing on the track though, very Indian. I'm going for idli-sambar, you hungry?

Could just be down to the increased number of people out and about on foot since lockdown began, though we might also infer that people have been taking less care because they assume the trains are not running.

In other words it should apply to private hire as well as hackney. I'd support that, trouble is it's all locally regulated atm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOxnJQP2_0E

Apparently the driver's seat is far comfier than in the old diesel cabs.

I'm reminded of a famous line from towards the end of the film The Commitments.

Yes.

Obviously.

Or is it? I think 'Black lives matter' can be unpacked as 'All lives matter, including those routinely ignored, forgotten, dismissed and undervalued; here's a reminder that they're/we're here too.' Which doesn't make a good slogan. Not all those are black, of course; I'm pretty sure that in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) the majority are white, though it might not be the case in the USA.

Some have difficulty getting on trains, too.

...but only at that point, rather than earlier on, which seems to be what happens at present.

If the council aren't quick about hauling it out, the M Shed will have to make do with a statue of a statue, while some metal thieves get literally a big haul:
https://twitter.com/Frenchd0gblues/status/1270050171162894337

Thanks. Regarding the point I've bolded, I'm aware that speed limits were fairly laxly enforced back then and that the HST was in practice capable of exceeding 125mph* but surely a timetable wouldn't have taken this into account?

*Doesn't one still hold the world speed record for a diesel loco, something in excess of 140mph?
Edit: Just looked it up: 148mph.

Bringing us back to cabs, taxis take up as much room as a car when parked or indeed being driven (obviously, cos that's what they are), but a difference is that they don't tend to get parked. They're either driving or waiting at a taxi rank, which isn't available to other vehicles for parking. There was a suggestion in the Independent article that taxis should be only available on an app (I'm presuming old fashioned phone calls would do as well) to stop them cruising round for custom. AFAICS^▸ (As Far As I Can See) this is, again, a London problem. It's not something I notice taxis doing anywhere else. It does sound like a good idea (mostly), as the taxi ranks could then be any old where, with cabs waiting till they get a call. Although (the exception to the mostly) there will always be busy locations and times (airports, theatres, clubs, and of course busy stations) where large numbers of people will want a cab NOW!

Obviously those are best times, which might or might not be representative of typical times. But if we compare them with the "superfasts" today and see in effect no change (Cardiff 3 minutes slower now, Bristol 3 minutes faster, etc) despite advances in traction technology, why? Is it that the main limit on journey time is actually the track and its speed limits? Or are today's theoretically faster trains making more stops? Or being held up more by the more frequent other services? Or is there greater "buffer time" (I've forgotten the term, sorry) built into the timetables today to allow for making up time after delays? Or something else/

OTOH^▸ (On The Other Hand) if we call it 12 cyclists (to make the maths simpler!) and we transfer them to cars at the mean occupancy of 1.2 per car, that would be 10 extra cars. Allow 5m for an average car length plus at least 1m between cars, call it 6m per car, so the queue is already 60m longer. It is also 10 vehicles' worth of exhaust gases dirtier.