Presumably there is a fire alarm that can be activated by passengers in case of fire or other emergencies? That would probably ensure that either staff would suddenly be able to attend the gateline, or that the fire brigade would come with cutting equipment to saw off the gates and release the passengers.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s dodgy fares that are higher for A-C than A-B + B-C.

It's really the wrong alignment for a relief road anyway. A Lavernock-Weston bridge/barrage would create many more new journey opportunities, removing the need to go past Newport entirely. And a rail element could be included, speeding up Cardiff-Taunton no end and (with a Cogload North curve) providing a sensible alternative to the Severn Tunnel.

Last night's episode in the continuing 1B46 (1648 Cardiff to Swansea) trolley debacle. Got on in coach J, to be in the same half of the lousy 5+5 formation as the guard, despite its being the wrong end for the exit at Neath. Asked the guard directly, "Is there a trolley on this train?" Was assured that there was and that it would be through shortly. Must have been one of those invisible trolleys. Either that or standards have now fallen so low that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) guards now lie to customers.

We need a second railtour with the start/finish ends in Carmarthen – the only flaw of the Flying Banana was it was very east-end oriented. Something like Carmarthen, Llanelli, Neath, Cardiff, Abergavenny, Hereford, Worcester, Oxford, Swindon, Melksham, Westbury, Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Kingswear, Paignton, Newton Abbot, Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Bath, Stapleton Road, Severn Tunnel Junction, Cardiff, etc, Carmarthen.

Wouldn't "Not Reading" be clearer?

Yes. Disappointing that it isn't going consistently half-hourly, rather than the current weird pattern of half-hourly in the morning peak, then hourly through the day and the evening peak to go back half-hourly after 1800. If they can do consistency for Cheltenham and Cornwall, they really should do it for the South Wales Main Line as well.

It's also disappointing that more trains aren't going to Carmarthen, as I'd much rather be in First Class for a journey of that length, especially when the competitor is TfW with its nastily short trains.


Perhaps they should have put Filton Abbey Wood on the map instead of Bristol Parkway, although that would make it look like South Wales was getting the same treatment as the West Country, with stations like Bristol Parkway moved to a new semi-fast service -- again, part of the disappointing disparity in treatment that South Wales is getting.

Looking at the detail of the CJ restriction code, it says:

Outward Travel   Return Travel
Not valid on trains timed to depart:

London St Pancras International after 04:29 and before 10:04 or after 15:35 until 18:46;
Bedford after 04:29 and before 10:30.

So the 1005 time doesn't mean at Melksham or Chippenham!

Anyone know what the problem is that's made them stick an additional Reading stop in this morning's Capitals United?

I suspect this one's highly location dependent. I love my £5.90 return (Neath to Cardiff) excess to First Class, especially on a Wednesday (wine on the way back). It covers all manner of my bad habits, from being too tired to have breakfast to skipping lunch by being too busy to just being a bit stressed.

Not exceptionally:

Reading to Oxford: SDS £15.10, 28m43c, 53ppm

Outrageously more expensive:
Reading to Heathrow T123 (route Not London): SDS £21.20, 27m7c, 78ppm

Slightly more expensive:
Reading to Southall: SDS £16.10, 27m48c, 58ppm

Slightly cheaper:
Reading to Shalford: SDS £14.30, 27m50c, 52ppm
Reading to Whitchurch (Hants): SDS £14.10, 27m70c, 51ppm

Much cheaper:
Reading to Feltham: SDS £13.80, 28m43c, 48ppm
Reading to Walton-on-Thames: SDS £12.00, 27m75c, 43ppm
Reading to West Byfleet: SDS £12.10, 27m39c, 44ppm
Reading to Farncombe: SDS £13.20, 28m70c, 46ppm
Reading to Bentley: SDS £13.00, 26m66c, 48ppm
Reading to Micheldever: SDS £11.80, 26m66c, 44ppm
Reading to Hungerford: SDS £11.90, 26m55c, 45ppm

Anomalously cheaper:
Reading to Winchfield: SDS £8.20, 24m38c, 34ppm

I'm aware of the following route that runs in five connecting sections thanks to this pettifogging regulation:

T4 Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil, connecting to:
T4 Merthyr Tydfil to Brecon, connecting to:
T4 Brecon to Builth Wells, connecting to:
T4 Builth Wells to Llandrindod, connecting to:
T4 Llandrindod to Newtown

Can anyone find anything that matches or betters this?

And then there'd be the hassle of Belarussian and Russian visas. Going via Turkey, Iran, and the Stans would not improve anything, and gets uncomfortably close to areas the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises against travelling to.


Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronyms

13/14. Got the first one wrong. All these Southern seasides look the same.