A couple of years ago I remember we had a week when they opened up the other gates and I assuming they counted people numbers going through. Have used both the new gates this week and its excellent if you have to go out  / in with the bike, has speeded up getting through the station much quicker for me. Especially when you have to get a train on return. Have heard that only open during peak hours though, which is understandable as they still need to man them as away from the main entrance barriers. Should stop people crowding along platform 3 which I felt was quite risky what with moving trains and slippery floors.

 A lot of extra cycle stands outside - I would have put them inside if they could fit them in, for bike security. No-one using the outside ones this morning, when I came through.

Hi I was on Constable Road Bridge earlier and there were about 60 people working on the tracks between the footbridge to the south and the next road bridge toward Bristol Parkway. There was a tamper unit working on one line directly under the bridge and a Class 66 with a trainload of something about half a mile up. One gang were installing a signal with a feather arm and other gangs appeared to be doing everything from signal coms, to points. Looked very well organised.

I must admit I found it funny when I was on the 16.49 out of Tm to Weymouth yesterday and there mutterings of 'is it always like this' I replied this isn't full. full is when you are squashed against the wall leaving a mark of your face on the window. Now there was the time a few months ago when GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) thought it might be funny to reduce 3 cars down to 1... Some of us sensibly decided to get the later train and we were all on platform 9 watching everyone trying to fit in the train on platform 7. Consequently they didn't all fit in

Trains in the Bath area all running late this morning. Kind of ironic with last nights programme!

Since this was posted on the board I have taken a look at temple meads station when tramping back and forth through there daily The design of the station looks like it can handle many more people than it appears. Those two gates left and right of the main central one aren't used and are gated? It seems obvious to open them up as thats what they are designed for? The left one is really wide and would be great as it bypasses the ticket hall. Great if you have tickets already. Be interested on Monday to see if this temporary entrance thing is done or not?

Also I think they need to alter the up and down on all of the platforms as it can be a bit crowded trying to get down some of the stairs using the correct side. Some people don't bother all the time when it is busy at peak hours and you can get to all the platforms anyway. Maybe make the south side stairs the up and the north side stairs the down, that way the south side are good if you are hurrying down to a platform such as number 8. The stairs are located nearer the odd numbers anyway.

Something that always seems to create a bottleneck is the entrance/ exit into the old passenger shed if they got rid of the sliding doors the old entrance would width would be fine

Is it something to do with the high number of footpath crossings and curves reduce visability. The trains do seem to run slowly along that valley

Despite the concerns raised regarding the new sets I have noticed that some of the 150s appear to have more cycle space than they used to with the whole front one side from the passenger door to the cab being fold down seats room for at least 4 to 6 bikes or about 20 fold up bikes. A noticeable improvement 

Cheers - 158s they are, mostly the hybrids I think with the power car in the middle but going back to my original post, these are a right pain when its busy, slow to board and very squashed in. I sometimes find space for standing (which I prefer with the foldup) on the end by the corridor connection, but it does depend.

I will see one or two later on probably!

No 3 carriages double door opening at the end, lots of them about that's why I thought they were 156's as I didn't think there were many 158's around.

Difficult as in well difficult but not impossible - when there is a will there is a way. There is a small vertical level difference between the Midland and the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) but a link could be done on the approach into bath where they are only about 400m apart, but it is a nice cycle path too for riding along and busy all the time.

Or reinstate a branch only going out of Bristol Temple Meads as far as Staple Hill and link it to the Avonmouth branch again too now that would be interesting...

Oh Im probably wrong its probably a 158 with a smudged '8' that looks like a 6! The type with slow doors that open outwards then sideways at the ends of the carriages.

The only section that would be difficult to reinstate would be between Warmley and the Pucklechurch roundabout where the A4174 has being built on the trackbed in places. All the rest of the formation as far as the edge of Bath is intact as far as Newbridge Station, after that its mostly succumbed to development.

Maybe a bigger / faster version of a Class 139 could be used here or a DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) shuttling back and fourth

From a practical point of view the trackbed in Cirencester is a little built on so if using the branch from Kemble they would need to realign slightly and terminate next to the industrial estate near the allotments or compulsory purchase property to get any closer to the old station site in the town centre.

Oh well hopefully the Roscos will order some more to meet demand? But I guess we will end up with 165's or 166's to go with the 156's and 158s.

On Westbury / Weymouth services they run 2x 150's or a 2 car 156 and 150 coupled up and detach them at Westbury with the 156 usually proceeding to Weymouth - which makes sense to me. Its when they run a 2 car in lieu of a usual 4 car that it gets interesting at temple meads.....

Something that I usually forget about is the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) service that runs into Temple Meads about 8.30am - I have to always remember that it has 1st class taking up half of one of the 3 carriages.

Just have to wait and see I guess.