Shall we bring ourselves a little back on track ... we appear to have slid on from the unlikely (but then re-opening of the Waverley route was unlikely at the time it was ripped up) to the impractical.   Let's just keep one eye open to the thoughts that the promoters of these unlikely schemes may turn out to be (a) more farsighted than we are and (b) readers of the forum!

Minhead now generally every half hour Monday to Saturday, and every hour on Sunday. Last Sunday bus is 17:10 from Taunton and 18:35 from Minehead.  On Monday to Saturday, that 20:00 bus is one odd evening service - otherwise last bus is 18:10.

The highlighted X28 runs Monday to Friday only, 09:35, 12:35 and 15:35 from Taunton Station and gets back there at 09:30, 11:35 and 14:35.     So they connect with the 07:12, 10:20 and 13:20 from New Street, and will get you back to New Street at 11:58, 13:55 and 16:56

 

Cancellation / short running symetry ;-)  ... Two trains London to Penzance didn't make it this morning, so two trains back won't make it either. That's the 15:00 and 15:50 off Penzance.  One of them is running short and will connect into the train from Newquay - it may get a bit cosey, but looks like the delay will be no more than 85 minutes to anyone.  And there's a later through train at 17:25 from Penzance.   

Ends up with the stock in the right place for tomorrow. 

I had a somewhat different concern ... as of about a year ago, there were said to be some 500 signal boxes - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19435464 - of which some such as Dawlish were already listed.   WIth adding another 26 to the listings (making how many?), does that signal permission for hundreds of others to be demolished with the signal being given to the planning process that it's OK to sweep them away?    Is there a "tit for tat" deal here between English Heritage - "keep these 26 and we'll let you get rid of others".    I'm not saying that every box should be preserved for posterity

I don't think I've seen this one before.


Not a good morning for London passengers to the far west:

The following feeds should now be available from the forum:

@gwpassengers - which announces all new public threads (subjects now starting re:)
- short messages - just the title and a link to the post
- typically around 5 or 6 tweets per day

@passengerforum - all follow ups to public threads
- subject, and the start of the content (excluding quoted sections)
- typically this feed will tweet 3 or 4 times an hour at busy periods

Messages should not tweet on both feeds, so you will not get duplication if you take them both

Each post includes a short URL link to the thread

We have a few boards such as "frequent posters club" and "the rumour mill" which are available only to established members who have posted a certain number of times or more, these boards are not available via twitter.

And it would be orders of magnitude cheaper to redouble that existing line that was singled as late as the 1960s than to re-instate the other lines mentioned which (I think) were never double tracked throughout.  And a double track, shared with hourly / half hourly passenger trains, is going to have much more capacity than a single track.  Your issue with a "via Swindon" scenario on a double track TransWilts is going to be Royal Wootton Bassett to Didcot capacity. But then if the wires also go from Bristol to Birmingham and you have four tracks up Filton Bank

I've had long discussions with commercial bus operators on this "pairing up" subject in the past.   Perhaps now's a good time to explain the maths of it - and I'll put in some sample numbers.

Let's say we have two bus operators - let's call them Mr Trout and Mr Herring - and they are both intent on runninng a commercial service hourly from Fishguard to Sharkhead Bay.   The number of passengers carried on the original hourly service, run by Mr Trout, is 50, and the bus leaves on the hour.   Mr Herring comes along - when should he time his bus?

Option 1. Mr Herring goes at 30 minutes after the hour.  In the first year, he gets 15 passengers on this bus, in the second year 25, and in the third year 35.  Mr Trout's bus takes 45 in the first year of Mr Herring's operation, and that drops to 40  in the second and subsequent years.   Because the service is half hourly, the overall passenger count has risen to 75 per hour as the service is much better.  Inertia, and good timing (Mr Trout was a bright fish when he originally chose to go on the hour) mean that the original operator remains the main operator.

Option 2. Mr Herring goes at 5 minutes to the hour. In the first year he gets 40 passengers on his bus. People will simply get on the first bus that comes along, and it's usually his as people are in the habit of arriving at the bus stop in good time for Mr Trout's bus.   Poor Mr Trout finds he's dropped from 50 passengers to just 15.  Mr Herring actually charges a higher fare, but as most travellers are on bus passes, the passengers don't mind that, as it's the local ratepayers who are paying for them via the local authority.

Numbers, names, places made up. Any similarity to the names of actual bus operators would be a complete co-incidnece.

The clever and very difficult bit in getting the best possible service for the community - which on most traffic flows would be option number 1 - is to come up with some sort of commercial background to do so under which both Mt Herring and Mr Trout are happy, and in addition that Miss Cod, a new entrant to the bus market, doesn't get legal against because she considers that the arrangement that's good for the community has been set up by a Cartel.


Undoubtedly ... with major changes tomorrow (first day with no buses at all from Well House Manor to Bath since the new year and a full hotel of tourists), we have had to draw up that fresh timetable to have available for our guests.   I think the X72 changes in another month are relatively minor, but it will still be an update ...

Yes - the venue overlooks the station. Get off the southbound train, out the gate (not over the bridge) and turn sharp right. A footpath just off the platform along the edge of the car park goes up a flight of steps, and the venue is on your left.  Go in the side entrance that's beside that footpath - a member of the WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) will be on door duty as the front entrance will be shut.

Sad ... there's another thread on this at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12467.0

Further details of new listings at

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/englands-railway-signalling-heritage-recognised/

These are the boxes:

Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Hensall, North Yorkshire

Bournemouth West Junction, Dorset
Lostwithiel, Cornwall
Marsh Brook, Shropshire
Par, Cornwall
Totnes, Devon

Brundall, Norfolk
Bury St Edmunds Yard, Suffolk
Downham Market, Norfolk
Skegness, Lincolnshire
Thetford, Norfolk
Wainfleet, Lincolnshire
Wymondham South Junction, Norfolk

Aylesford, Kent
Canterbury East, Kent
Cuxton, Kent
Eastbourne, East Sussex
Grain Crossing, Kent
Littlehampton, West Sussex
Liverpool Street, City of London
Maidstone West, Kent
Rye, East Sussex
Shepherdswell, Kent
Snodland,  Kent
Wateringbury, Kent

I felt that locking the account and explaining by email why we can't act as a kangaroo court was sufficient two years ago; I certainly remember the incident and it helped us on the forum learn where we should and shouldn't go.

As a generallity, a train runs into a platform and collides with a train already there.   It could be due to an error by a signalman.  It could be a fault in the signalling system.  It could be the driver going faster than he should. It could be a greasy railhead that means the brakes don't function as they should.  It could be something else that I've not though of / suggested.

Until RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) have looked at all the possibilities, we (who were not there, I assume?, and have not spoken with people who were) should not judge the party/ies responsible for an accident, nor pass sentence on them.  If someone does so, incorrectly, they may be being libellous.  And if the admins are notified of a concern and take no action, they become party to that libel.  Sorry, Chris - I'm not going to share that risk with you.

OK.   And I do agree that some commuter services can be (and are) reduced in summer, such as the 08:16 arrival from Bristol into Paddington, which ceased to run on 5th July and resumes on 2nd September.

Surprising.

There are usually at least 3 x HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) running up and down all day between Paddington and Cheltenham, and in the peak too. And then there are 2 x 15x units running between Swindon and Cheltenham Spa too.  Does each of those 5 trains still have a diagram during the engineering period?   For the most part, I see an hourly Kemble to Gloucester shuttle which can take two trains, and London to Gloucester / Cheltenham offering which involves a change for the most part at Bristol Parkway onto CrossCountry services.  That will be using South Wales services from Paddington - so what will the HSTs be doing?  One or two may be reversing at Parkway in the peak for Cheltenham, but surely not all three?  If it was all three, then one would be on a 19:48 off Paddington

No Adelantes, I agree

You may suggest it, Chris ... and it may be a good idea.   However, can I refer you to the following thread which you were actively involved in.   And I think the instruction was very clear there.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9760.msg101592#msg101592

The RAIB report goes on to state


Which doesn't seem to me to come to any apportionment of responsibility, so I think you're jumping the gun and speculating, Chris.  Please don't publish your own judgement and don't (however jocularly) suggest actions to be taken against those you consider to be responsible.

P.S.   The RAIB statement in full is at http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/current_investigations_register/130721_norwich.cfm