Interesting. I didn't realise they still changed them at other times of the year apart from January.

Hi

The price of the Freedom Travelpass has just been increased.

Does anybody know why this has been changed in late May, instead of early January when other prices were increased?

Just curious: I'm happy to have had an extra five months at the old price. (-;

Why could they not put a fourth line to the east, between platform 1 and the footpath/cyclepath? I would have thought the space was there, even if it needed a lot of groundwork and would require a footbridge from platform 1 to the MOD exit.

You would want to move the station slightly to cut out all the time wasted on trains changing ends at Temple Meads as they come in from the north and go out towards the east (and vice versa).

Cabot Circus is virtually equi-distant from Temple Meads, Dr Day's Junction, and Lawrence Hill. The Colston Hall is only around 600 yards further from Dr Day's Junction than it is from Temple Meads. And those that didn't want to walk could look for a closer station on the Bristol Metro services.


Building a new station near Dr Day's Junction should be able to provide the extra through platforms.

All looks really positive, but why not abandon Temple Meads and build a modern station near Dr Day's Junction?

I was on the 1800 Paddington train from Temple Meads. Got almost to Oldfield Park, sat for about ten minutes, then took us back to Bristol. There was some talk from staff of replacement buses being on order but I just went outside and jumped on the X39 bus, like a lot of the regulars who get off at Bath and use the Freedom Travelpass.

Why can't all the local councils in the area covered by the franchise submit a combined bid, and effectively take the region's train services back into public ownership?

It would save all the expenditure and controversy on ticketing systems if all public transport were free at point of use,  paid for out of general taxation.

The increased number of exit gates means that once you actually get down the stairs there is less of a bottleneck at the bottom.

The new staircase being through a narrow doorway and not hugely wide itself, coupled with the old staircase now being labelled as no exit, means there is not much more staircase capacity for exiting.

Even if you are quick off the train and first onto the stairs, it is still not as quick to reach the pavement as it was down the ramp. This extra minute (or less) makes the difference between catching the bus about to leave the bus station or missing it.

In my experience, under 5% of those using the ramp at the times I arrived back in Bath were parked there.

Being dominated by Bristol is not a bad thing so long as the links to and through other centres such as Bath are guaranteed not to be sacrificed in order to improve services to/in Bristol.


According to my local BANES councillor last year, BANES are in favour and Bristol council is against.

It is certainly slower to get from platform 2 to the pavement, now that the ramp is blocked off and we have to troop down the new steps at the speed of the slowest.

Staff checking tickets at Filton again yesterday morning and this morning, though not as mob-handed as a couple of weeks ago.

Aside from the direct access to platform 2 being downgraded from a ramp to a lift, my understanding is that there will still be three entrances/exits after the revamp - the same number as now. The OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter)'s quotes from the BBC and the Chronicle both feature FGW^▸ (First Great Western) appearing to claim that the revamp would increase the number of entrances (from one to three), and neither the Beeb nor the Chronic challenge this.

Are we to surmise that the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page), the Bath Chronicle, and First Great Western have all never noticed that Bath Spa station already has three entrances/exits, including step-free access to both platforms?