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Journey by Journey / North Downs Line / GWR apologises for North Downs punctuality
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on: January 20, 2019, 13:11:46
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From Get SurreyGreat Western Railway has apologised after statistics showed its weekday services to Gatwick are late by nearly five minutes on average.
Figures obtained via recenttraintimes.co.uk from the 100 weekdays from September 24, 2018 to January 2, 2019 show that GWR▸ services originating from Reading were, on average, 4.87 minutes late by the time they reached Dorking Deepdene.
A GWR spokesman said the delays were due to Network Rail speed restrictions on the line, which have recently been lifted.
Services also stop at Guildford and Reigate.
Every single timetabled weekday services into Dorking Deepdene from Reading (eastbound) was late by at least one minute on average over those 100 days.
Rush hour trains were among those most heavily delayed.
continues... On my way to Barcelona on Wednesday I caught the train from Deepdene to Gatwick. In my experience it is normally at least 5 minutes late but surprisingly arrived at Deepdene 1 minute early.  Although out of that survey period, have I caught the only service to have arrived on time in recent memory? It still arrived at Gatwick 2 minutes late though.
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542
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All across the Great Western territory / Media about railways, and other means of transport / Re: Chris Tarrant series 4 extreme railways
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on: January 15, 2019, 19:23:42
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Yes I enjoyed the Spanish program too. Maybe the disused station at Canfranc should be disassembled and rebuilt alongside the long platform at Gloucester to improve the facilities there. I think it's so long there would still be some of it left over for another deserving station somewhere.
It's also recently been shown on the Abandoned Engineering programme on Yesterday. It has been shown several times already and will be shown again on Monday at 11am and 5pm. DOCUMENTARY: Abandoned Engineering On: Yesterday (19) Date: Monday 21st January 2019 (starting in 5 days) Time: 11:00 to 12:00 (1 hour long) The Abandoned Nazi Railway. The Canfranc Railway Station is a large and elaborate abandoned Nazi railway station in the Spanish Pyrenees. Why was it built? (Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, Series 2, Episode 5) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Marked By: 'Category: Documentary' marker ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=51610Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited. |
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545
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Smartcards - can't transfer paper ticket
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on: January 11, 2019, 22:51:16
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There are still complaints on twitter regarding SWR» (and SWT▸ as was) travelcard smartcards not operating on TfL» buses. This has been a long standing gripe. Are GWR▸ 's smartcards just for point to point journeys?
The old SWT smartcards could have train seasons and Megariders ('Stagecoach bus season') loaded on them at the same time. Not sure about the SWR ones as obviously the parent company has changed, but maybe the underlying tech/back end is still the same.
I'd have more confidence getting a paper ticket replaced promptly than a malfunctioning smartcard at the moment.
...your mileage may vary of course!
Yes I've seen the posts on the SWR forums. SWR are saying that the old SWT smartcards and the underlying systems need replacing or upgrading. I moved to Bookham in summer 2010. There were smartcard validators already at the station but were not switched on. Last year they appear to have been energised and last month (December 2018) SWR announced that you can now use their smartcard at that station. I could have opted for a smartcard when I renewed my annual Bookham to London Z1-6 ticket at the end of December but I chose not to for the following reasons: - Reading the forums at https://forum.southwesternrailway.com * it seems that some users are having difficulty breaking their journey with a smart card. I often go to Epsom which is not (yet - coming soon) in the Tfl Oyster▸ area. My paper (actually flimsy plastic) ticket lets me through the barriers and at Ashtead and Leatherhead. All are managed by Southern. I want to be sure that these glitches have been resolved before I switch.
- For the last 30 years I have been keeping my season ticket / travelcard in my back pocket. Can I do the same with a contactless smartcard?
- Will I be able at some point to load my annual ticket to my phone and just tap in and out?
* Google Chrome does not like that website. I have been using Edge just for that site only. |
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548
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: 2019 Predictions
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on: January 01, 2019, 18:48:51
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Crossrail central tunnel doesn't open in 2019.
345s take over from 387s on TV stoppers. Everyone complains about lack of seats and no toilets.
I thought all trains now had to have toilets, I thought it was now the law. have pledged to have toilets on all trains. Can't remember when by though. Some of Southern's commuter stock don't have loos either. Must be very pleasant if you are stuck outside Victoria in the rush hour.
Same with SWR. If I have had a few drinks after work, I will take the first train to Raynes Park, using the toilets there then board the correct train home. Apparently there is a toilet at Bookham Station but I think you have to ask at the ticket office for a key. The ticket office closes at midday.  |
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550
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Some very light post prandial mental exercise
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on: December 26, 2018, 21:59:25
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Well it was lucky I looked at this thread, as I was intending to use the Sandbanks ferry this coming weekend. Does anyone know what is happening with the bus service that uses it to get to Swanage?
It's on a very lengthy diversion. From MoreBusSandbanks Ferry Out of Action AGAIN - from 22 December
Saturday, December 22 2018
UPDATE: The ferry is out of action AGAIN from start of service on Saturday 22 December. Our buses will continue to use the diversion route and timetable.
Boxing Day: The planned Boxing Day timetable will now be affected due to this emergency closure. Please download new timetable below.
During this time, the 50 will be diverted and will run to a revised timetable. The main service will divert from Westbourne to Swanage via Poole and Wareham (the land route) and then continue onto Studland where it will terminate, and the reverse will happen in the opposite direction. A shorter shuttle service will run between Bournemouth and Sandbanks with the first and last service of the day to and from Swanage also serving Sandbanks.
The following sections of the route will receive no service during the closure:
Between Bournemouth Interchange and Bournemouth Square in both directions (customers can connect with the m1, 13 or 17 to carry out this part of the route)
Between Shell Bay Ferry Offices and Studland Beach Cafe
As soon as the ferry refurbishment has finished and it is in full operation, we will revert our service back its normal timetable.
We apologise for any inconvenience or delay caused during this closure. Unfortunately our roadside timetables don't reflect this diversion as we took them down again after the refit was complete, so please use website information only. Diversion map below and zoomable PDF here: http://www.morebus.co.uk/article.shtml?articleid=8763 |
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551
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Some very light post prandial mental exercise
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on: December 26, 2018, 21:51:16
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Are the residents of Sandbanks complaining they can't afford the ferry!!! Mind they have not had a lot of luck in the Poole area recently, took them a long time to sort their bridge out.
Last I heard they still haven't. Yes it broke again today From Bournemouth EchoTHERE appears to be a problem with the Twin Sails Bridge... again.
As reported, the troublesome structure reopened in time for Christmas, although without any repairs having been carried out.
The bridge had previously been out of actions for several weeks.
Engineers decided it could run on one hydraulic ram and with a slower and reduced lifting schedule.
However, today it appears that there are problems at the bridge once again, with one of the leaves apparently stuck half-way up.
Specialist engineers are due to visit at the end of January to try to resolve the outstanding issue with the bridge's second hydraulic cylinder.
Poole Bridge is also currently operating on a reduced number of lifts. |
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553
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All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture Overseas / Re: Stagecoach
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on: December 20, 2018, 22:44:33
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Stagecoach's North American business was about 20% of the whole (based on revenue), so less important than First Group's. The sale price of $271.4 is about the same as the revenue of £246 in the latest accounts, where its operating profit was 6.6% - better than rail or London Buses but below the regional buses that make up nearly half of their income.
A few hundred pounds or a few hundred million pounds? |
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