I read somewhere about a novel scheme to jack the existing bridge up.  Shorter closure period, cheaper, and the listed structure can be preserved, so would perhaps be acceptable to the local council and residents.  Apparently it's been done previously on a single-span brick bridge before, but never before on a double span.

The 1400 CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) - TAU^» (Taunton - next trains) and 1607 TAU - CDF as far as Bristol today are shown on RealtimeTrains as cancelled due to a planning error (TA) - whatever that means?  I think Journeycheck had them down as staff shortages. 

Still a lot of masts to go up between Severn Tunnel and Magor.  Will the wiring taking place over Christmas just complete the English side?

Always strikes me as perverse logic when Network Rail suspends services in the name of safety - and those people who still need to travel are forced to make a somewhat more hazardous journey by road.  Seems to me that in many cases it's because they don't want the inconvenience of trains potentially becoming stranded, if there is more than a slight chance of that happening.

And who exactly decides whether it is safe or not to operate a train service?  After the snow back in March you would have expected that all stations would have been inspected for safety before train services resumed, but my local station clearly wasn't - there was a sheet of ice up the steps to the platform.  Yet half an inch of snow covering the rails, and all trains must stop?

They've forgotten to mention that Cardiff - Portsmouth trains will be replaced by buses between Cardiff and Temple Meads (presumably).

M4 traffic jams more often

Interesting.  I think I'd expected that the 'cleaner' exhaust from an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) would mean there would be less smell than from older diesels.  However, given the treatment process you describe, perhaps the converse is true?  I'll pay attention to what it smells of - whether there's a hint of urea - next time I'm standing alongside one.

Received from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Feedback or whatever you want to call them in August this year:

"We’ll also be replacing older trains that have just 3 carriages on our Cardiff-Bristol-Portsmouth route in 2017. We’ll be using our turbo trains for a much faster trip – they go at 90mph."

and in July (in relation to Bristol Suburban Services):

"Whist I know the delays that have affected your particular journeys have been really frustrating; overall we have been meeting our delay and cancellation performance targets in these areas, and in some cases outperforming them." and "We are confident we are heading in the right direction."

How can they say these things?  What is the point of cutting and pasting stuff like this?  Several years back GWR customer services used to be quite good.  Didn't it then get transferred offshore, before being brought back in-house again?  It's never been the same since.

Has anybody else noticed this, or am I the only one?

Whenever I stand on a platform alongside an IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train), I feel I'm being smothered in diesel exhaust.  For some reason the fumes seem to come off the roof horizontally, whereas from all other DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) and locomotives the exhaust goes upwards.

Finally got around to posting something after lurking on this forum for the last couple of years