I cannot see a conservative council in Reading providing any new measures that might be perceived as anti-car. In fact I cannot see anything changing if the council changes sides save for the addition of the box ticking electric car charging points. I find the refusal to believe that cars are a poor way of moving around a town or city in the U.K. frustrating. Space for people rather than cars is beneficial for all, perhaps it’s that equality that people are upset by and frightened of. Our towns and cities have been held to ransom by cars for years with the remove cars and business will suffer rhetoric, when this has been proved wrong everywhere. Think about the serious amount of space we put aside for them in Bristol for example, more than twice the space available for people.

The capital appears to be the only place that people seem happy to be equalled with everyone else for movement, most car owners wouldn’t dream of taking a car there nor complaining about how far they might have to walk. It is what I believe has led to our overly London centric railway system in the south, where service to london is more important than a service to a local town, another rail junction or even the next station down the line (Bedwyn to Pewsey). Anyway I’m ranting off the topic.

I’m guessing that the current government a hoping that the U.K. will just swap to electric cars/lorries/buses and we will not have to change anything about how we move around at all, or at least that’s the vote winner hoped for in our nation of competition among neighbours. That’s an awful lot of batteries, charging, and the mining and waste products associated with batteries not to mention the simple logistics of how on Earth cars will be charged when they are littered over every piece of pavement and grass verge around somewhere like Calcot estate for example. The car is freedom and status thinking really has to change and that needs to come from above, but above need to provide the alternatives first, the climate crisis really is going to be a build it and they will come type venture. Individuals can’t be blamed, for many it’s just the world they have been brought into, the reliance on the internal combustion engine has been our short long term solution for decades. Electric cars are part of the solution for people with disabilities in certain circumstances and rural areas don’t have much chance of changing how mobility is around those areas but in towns and cities the options need to be there for us to choose the right way to move around and reduce our future over reliance on batteries. Save the batteries for the most necessary application (ranting off topic again). We need streets for people in urban centres and singe corridors for public transport. Bristol, Reading, Oxford, Bath even bits of Swindon (I’m thinking the old town as the centre is pretty car free although still dominated by infrastructure for it) could be transformed into real liveable places with the removal of cars and these tarmac, people hostile collars around the centres.

Cheers

This is pointing fingers at individuals similar to further up the thread and avoiding discussing changes in policy. We all contribute in some way to damaging the climate, it cannot be avoided because of circumstances. It’s not anyone’s fault, it’s a world we have been brought into. By suggesting somebody is not practicing what they preach is completely missing the point. It’s simply media diversion and point scoring to highlight the ‘you’re not changing so why should I’ debate that has rattled on for decades delaying what we know is happening, because people are under the impression it will take away privilege. This is something we are all in together, not a select few who can afford to be green if they choose to. The subject of climate change by now should not be political. We should be debating how to change, not deciding who’s doing the right or wrong thing. This is attempting to divide and pit the public against each other, which is what the media do best in this country.

Of course. That’s why Extinction Rebellion is an international organisation, but here we can only lobby our own government to change their policies. If they change, this will of course will have a knock on effect to other countries as like it or not we are still an influence on the world, although I’m not sure why. Much like it’s time to stop pointing the finger at individuals and their carbon footprint (an idea created by an oil company), it’s also time to stop blaming the rest of the world for the reason not to adapt your own country.

Traffic is just as disruptive to me if we are down to an individual level, it p***es me off  in it and passing it on foot or bicycle, but I realise there is a bigger picture that others are a factor of, including myself. Additionally, disruption comes in many positive and negative forms. The Reading festival is disruption for a few days and I avoid the town, it doesn’t mean I want to see an end to it being put on (although I personally feel this year isn’t necessary for obvious reasons). Football every other Saturday could be disruptive for those not at the game but would they want to see the end of it (possibly if they’re a Headington United, Aldersh*t or Swinedon fan). The point is not to change an individuals mind on climate change as it’s already a factor involved in our lives, the point is continued pressure on the government to change for the better. If some don’t like the disruption of Extinction Rebellion lobby your MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) to change the government’s outlook on climate change.

I think the point is that government action is required, the time for pointing fingers at individuals is over. Take domestic plastic use for example, if companies and retailers didn’t have the option of that packaging then we wouldn’t have to sort through it at home. Or travel, if we had money spent on other options of transport then we wouldn’t drive cars. Because of the policies of the past 40 years many of the other ways of doing things aren’t available anymore. This country as a whole just isn’t willing to admit it was a mistake….. yet!

This government’s current thinking is that the decision should be by the individual rather than changes in policies. It’s still treated like the debate of climate change happening or not is ongoing. By disruption, Extinction Rebellion keep this point in the government, industry’s and the public’s eye. If they didn’t then we would get complacent again and sit around waiting for electric cars to become affordable believing that’s all we have to do. People will not change if the option isn’t available. The disruption is negligible in comparison to the disruptive world that our children and grandchildren may experience when they grow old, and the disruption is well advertised so you can either join in or avoid it. I would personally encourage joining in, even if this is simply accepting what a group of people want to do to campaign make our lives better. You may not like their tactics but nobody joining extinction rebellion is obliged to join in with civil disobedience.

Can barriers at London Paddington not be set to only let particular tickets through? I guess shared platforms is a problem but with some planning for particular trains surely this would be possible.

Modern trolleybuses only tend to de-wire through driver error rather than equipment fault, not setting direction properly or moving too quickly through a junction. Upon dewirement, on some vehicles the poles on top of the vehicle can immediately drop to the roof to avoid damaging overhead. Indeed many dewirement photos I’ve seen on the Reading system appeared to be wrong route set at a junction, meaning the driver was on or off power at wrong moment when passing through the switch.

I would vote to stick with the arrows of indecision as it is a universally accepted British symbol however, this particular government probably can’t help themselves to do a massive marketing and rebranding exercise with something probably covered in union flags, bulldogs, lions, a red phone box, a black taxi, the Palace of Westminster, tower bridge and other London based things that the world thinks is British to get across their build better British back better tag line. They would want their own mark on it even if it doesn’t make sense. In an ideal world it needs to be uncomplicated, which the arrows already are.

Competition in every level of our lives. Pit passengers against each other with special treatment. Might work on the buses, it seems to come from the US business school of thinking, and modern management love that sort of thing.

Any change in service was/is probably still a problem for the real time information screens on Reading’s bus stops. Short turned late buses would show a midway terminal point yet the info would show full service. As far as I’m aware the control room had no control of this. Only buses timetabled to turn short would show that location, pre programmed I guess.

If I recall correctly, the station announcer office at General was in the original GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) station building above the Three Guineas. I had an interview for the job in the mid 90’s and announced a couple of trains, one of which was definitely a Swansea one. I seem to remember I couldn’t hear my own voice across the station in that room.

Reading (general) could do without the additional Transport for London travel updates which I cannot see that would be of any use to those heading there, particularly as most will be checking this en route or hear the same upon arrival in the capital.

I guess it’s a case of ticking all boxes so people cannot suggest that they weren’t informed about ‘see it, say it, sorted’ and safety messages (because we’re no longer responsible for ourselves?) etc. With our modern marketing led, catchphrase culture these things are soon blanked out by those listening and actual information is lost amongst stuff that registers in the brain the same way a car alarm or neighbours barking dog would.

I would personally much prefer a station announcer and a job for somebody. People are much more likely to be listened to as they vary their voice and message.

You could even trial that to find out the impact on the site.

Could double the track from Salisbury to Exeter and reopen a few more of the stations.  Run passenger trains along the branch to Ludgershall. I think we are passed this moving traffic is better for the environment than queuing traffic argument. We are at the point where zero is the aim not slightly less. What are the start and end point of most journeys along that stretch? How can that be replaced with something more sustainable? Are we likely to simply put more cars on the road by making the road faster? The bottleneck will appear somewhere else no doubt.

I’ve now seen a video on the YouTube with evidence of this happening. I think the video was 89 or 90

I do recall when I was young in the early 90’s, that there was a local and a semi-fast loco hauled between Reading and Newbury. Possibly one semi-fast an hour and the local every two hours but I do remember there being more than one option back to Theale or Reading at least during some hours of the day. I’m also perhaps thinking that there was a few more intercity stops during the day at Newbury then, before a solid two an hour was introduced but the early 90’s are a very hazy time for me.