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286  All across the Great Western territory / Active travel: Cyclists and walkers, including how the railways deal with them / Re: Bike spaces on IETs on: July 05, 2021, 07:40:54
Just to respond more properly to Richard's point. I agree that the current reservation system for IETs (Intercity Express Train) is mostly pointless, as it appears almost unworkable for TMs(resolve) trying to ensure trains run to time, who don't have the capacity to manage it.

Reservations have always been brought in to manage demand that far exceeds supply. Some bike journeys are planned ahead (holidays etc) but most demand for bikes on trains is ad hoc, dependent on the weather and other circumstances. The pandemic has probably increased demand, and hopefully our collective response to the climate emergency will increase it further. Without better on-train provision, there will always be an element of conflict between TMs and cyclists, to the detriment of both, and to other passengers.

Richard's initial post in this thread offered some sensible short-term solutions, but the only longer term solution is a positive working relationship between train operators and cyclists groups that worked to design trains to enable demand to be better met, and to create a working environment for train staff to manage it.
287  All across the Great Western territory / Active travel: Cyclists and walkers, including how the railways deal with them / Re: Bike spaces on IETs on: July 04, 2021, 22:38:16
I spent many years of the 1980s and 1990s campaigning on improving bike access to trains, including getting it aired on Radio 4 for half an hour, and despair at how we still manage to go backwards on this provision. Together, bikes and trains have always offered the best opportunity to reduce car use.

But on a recent journey I did see a train manager going out of their way to accommodate bikes, when 3 cyclists were trying to get their bikes onto a crowded train at Abergavenny. There really wasn't any space to get them in without completely blocking access, but between him and the riders, they spent a few minutes managing to fit them in. So some train managers do go out of their way to help.
288  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The West - but NOT trains in the West / Re: 3 best day trips from London: The seaside, historic towns, & stunning cities on: July 01, 2021, 17:08:45
From Bath:

Seaside - my choice would also be Weymouth. I still remember visiting for the first time on a sunny Saturday morning and just loving the walk along the promenade, just a stone's throw from the station.

Historic town - Gloucester. It has some absolutely wonderful old buildings dotted around the centre, such as the New Inn. A surprisingly large number, in fact, and good information about them both on boards and inscribed into paving slabs.

Stunning city - Bristol, it's harbourside on a sunny day is always a lovely wander with a view of such a variety of ships and boats.
289  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: On train announcements - number to be reduce?? on: June 29, 2021, 10:06:09
While we are having a good moan-

I cannot find a voting button for my views, which are-

1 - Yes - cut the "See it, say it, sorted" type of announcement.

2 - Yes - if they are automated, get them right! Nearly 20 years of commuting on Turbos with frequent problems including - announcements from the wrong line, announcements one or two stations out, in "reverse" order - often linked to the same problem on the "walking writing" internal signage.

3 - Get the volume right - often they are too quiet (useless - and often the case with announcements by train crew which are often given when things are going wrong and passengers really want to hear them) and just sometimes unbearably loud.

4 - Each station should be announced clearly shortly before arrival.

5 - We should not forget the needs of the visually impaired - so concentrate on telling people where they are and where they are going.




Yes, nos 2 and 3 are particular bugbears of mine.

I really don't understand why so many trains have announcements or even more often screen information that is both wrong and misleading. Often it is one or two stations out, and can easily lead to someone who does not know the area well (or isn't concentrating on looking outside) getting out at the wrong station. One train I recently travelled on had on screen information for a completely different journey displayed for the whole journey, and people would get on, look at the screen, assume they had got on the wrong train and get off again. We (the passengers) had to shout to them that they were on the right train.

I've raised these issues with on-board staff, and they usually haven't noticed themselves and say they can't control them.

Volume of announcements is rarely right. They seem to usually be just too muffled to be able to hear clearly what is being said.

And while it is slightly off-topic, why do large stations like Temple Meads have announcements on different platforms at differing volumes at the same time, so that one drowns out the one you are trying to hear on your platform?
290  Journey by Journey / Thames Valley Branches / Re: Walking between Marlow and Henley on: June 22, 2021, 16:05:58
Impressive "action" selfie in the 2nd picture Graham - you're looking fit and the beard's been trimmed? Did the woman or the dog pursuing you manage to catch you?  Wink

The dog definitely looks like it is going for the ankle.
291  All across the Great Western territory / Active travel: Cyclists and walkers, including how the railways deal with them / Re: E-scooter trials - but rental only. What do members think? on: June 15, 2021, 14:42:30
I rather liked a remark on another forum about encouraging green transport choices.

"So, to not drive, I will have to pay to learn to drive a car and obtain a car licence, before I am allowed to ride a scooter"

This was an issue I was going to raise, as it affects me amongst others. I don't have a driving licence as I have no wish to drive. I'm not actually that interested in hiring an e-scooter either, but the whole issue of driving licences being needed where some form of ID is required is a common problem for me, and I feel it is actually a form of discrimination.
292  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The West - but NOT trains in the West / Re: Boundary Commission - review of constituencies for 2023 on: June 09, 2021, 07:25:26
Of most interest to this forum, I would have thought, is that Melksham will now feature in a constituency name (for the first time ever I believe), and as the first named in a new Melksham and Devizes constituency. As Melksham is central to the constituency, and Devizes right on the edge, and that it also includes Bradford on Avon and Corsham, maybe just calling it Melksham would be more sensible.

On the wider issue, the Boundary Commission has a thankless task, as whatever constituencies they come up with will cause grief in many localities. They are having to work within strict guidelines regarding population size, so inevitably many compromises will have to be made.

And on the widest issue, personally I support having a proportional voting system which, whatever method was used (and there are many) would inevitably have to be based on much larger constituencies.
293  All across the Great Western territory / Active travel: Cyclists and walkers, including how the railways deal with them / Re: Death on Downs Link on: June 07, 2021, 14:10:57
The subject of cycling on towpaths can be divisive
https://twitter.com/RantyHighwayman/status/1401462025377693699
I have great respect for The Ranty Highwayman, but a highways engineer living in London has potentially far more options than those living in other parts of the country. Although I do agree with the following
Quote
yet it seems to be many councils policy to use them as commuting routes for cyclists because they can say job done without actually doing fuck all!
[Posted as found, if contrary to forum rules]

Indeed it can be very divisive, as incidentally is much other cycling infrastructure.

However, the Ranty Highwayman is, at least to an extent, missing the point. Towpaths aren't owned or managed by councils, and historically councils rarely wanted to go out of their way to negotiate cycling access to paths that are managed by other bodies who, at least in the past, were very reluctant to open up paths to another use which they considered could lead to confrontation between users. But councils did eventually have these negotiations mainly due to the lobbying power of cyclists groups, which did include, in certain specific locations, for their opening up as commuter routes.

Where of course the Ranty Highwayman is correct is that councils always like to be seen to be extending their cycling infrastructure, and that if this can be done for the least time and effort, without having to build and resource new infrastructure and without taking away road space from other vehicles, that is what they will do.
294  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: i-Spy - On a train journey on: June 01, 2021, 11:42:55
Yes, I was at a station yesterday and spent ages fruitlessly looking for a timetable to tell me when trains left there that day. Not one to be found anywhere.

I believe that the requirement to display a printed timetable / list of departures at each station may no longer be a requirement. It remains a useful thing to have available, however.  Some stick-in-the-muds also like to have a printed timetable sheet they can take with them / put in their pocket.

It seems bizarre to me that all staffed stations, AFAIK (as far as I know), still have printed timetables up, even though in theory you could ask a staff member about later trains, yet more and more unstaffed stations have no printed information. I was at Keynsham, a well used station serving a town which is probably larger than Melksham, which has a large notice board by the car park entrance which always used to have a printed timetable on it. But no more.

Sorry to have taken this away from the lighter side. Perhaps it can be moved.
295  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: i-Spy - On a train journey on: May 31, 2021, 22:08:49
Timetable for trains leaving the station 50 points

A timetable for buses leaving from the station 100 points

Or am I being too cynical?

Yes, I was at a station yesterday and spent ages fruitlessly looking for a timetable to tell me when trains left there that day. Not one to be found anywhere.
296  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Where was TonyN on the 27th May on: May 30, 2021, 08:43:02
A lot of the stations along that line will have views much like that. The one I usually travel to is Shoreham-by-Sea, and I'm sure the view down the line looking eastwards from there is just like that, so that would be my guess.
297  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Bonaparte's at Bristol Temple Meads on: May 21, 2021, 10:15:52
Have to agree with most of the comments above. It is a space with huge potential for an enjoyable bar/cafe/restaurant, but I've usually been disappointed whenever I've ventured into it. It was a good place to escape the cold winds that blow down Temple Meads' platforms, but sadly I found little else to entice me in.

Having just done a quick check on Google, it seems many others felt similarly.
298  All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: Swindon Bus to reduce onboard distancing on: May 18, 2021, 12:21:25
I used our local service here in Bath today, and all the seats that have been taped off to prevent use are now available to be sat on.

I suspect this will take some getting used to, and some people will be nervous of having anyone sat next to them, whether masked or not.

I do wonder what might happen if someone puts their bag onto an adjacent seat to prevent others from using it, as it wouldn't surprise me if that starts to happen as buses get busier.
299  All across the Great Western territory / Your rights and redress / Re: I've not had this happen before on: May 15, 2021, 06:16:24
A claim would almost certainly be rejected, but might be accepted on appeal.  Might be better to just write to customer services?

Thanks. I will do that, though the online form seems to require me to make a complaint against a staff member (that is the nearest box I can click on for what happened to us), which isn't what I want to do.
300  All across the Great Western territory / Your rights and redress / I've not had this happen before on: May 14, 2021, 22:05:06
I'm posting this a) as a warning for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation, and b) to see whether the collective wisdom here is that a delay and repay claim would be successful or not (I do intend to submit one).

We were travelling back today from Bangor to Bath via Newport, a journey we usually make at least 3 times a year, but due to the lockdowns, we haven't for a year. Often something goes wrong (usually a missed connection somewhere), and I was starting to think that this journey had been going surprisingly smoothly, until...

Having made our connection at Newport, we got on the rear carriage of the 3 carriage train, and found it was rather busy, so opted to stand to allow for social distancing rather than share seats besides strangers. The guard came to check our tickets, and said that the front carriage had plenty of spare seats. As we had folding bikes and luggage, we said moving down the train wasn't practical, but we asked if it would be ok to alight at Severn Tunnel Junction, walk down the platform, and get back on the first carriage. He said that would be  fine, and carried on down the carriage checking tickets.

We duly alighted at Severn Tunnel Junction and walked quickly down the side of the train to get back on. While doing so, the doors closed, and when we pressed the button to open the door, it wouldn't open, and the train then moved off, leaving us on the platform. Discussing it afterwards, we think the guard who checked our tickets may not have been the one who was controlling the doors.

Severn Tunnel Junction really isn't a station you want to be stuck on for an hour (the Portsmouth Harbour trains to Bath are hourly), as there is nothing there, and the noise from the motorway is constant, but fortunately there was a train in half an hour to Temple Meads, so we got on that, and found we had just missed a connection there, and the next train to Bath was indeed the next Portsmouth Harbour service in another half an hour, so we arrived into Bath an hour later than we should have.

So no trains were actually late, but we were delayed by an hour. Will my claim be successful?
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