Thanks for posting this - it has been bugging me!

I was about to guess Pecorama ( out of desperation ) and then I had a brain wave:

Devon Railway Centre at Bickleigh?

 

Thanks for the link

The degree of widening does seem rather unnecessary - but perhaps the extra width is needed to accommodate the cycle path next to double track (see link on Airdrie - Bathgate web page) ?

I got this through the post yesterday too.

In general its a very good PR^▸ (Public Relations) move by FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and I'm looking forward to my free food and beer next time I go on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train)!

......just a shame that there's no 1st class on the Exmouth branch for me to upgrade to.....

Suggestion to FGW: next time, allow the upgrade voucher to be used on any single FGW journey (rather than just the season ticket journey). I reckon they could even charge a nominal fee (fiver?) for upgrades on non-season-ticket routes and still have happy punters.

That would be great. I hope its true. Do you know when it might happen?

Would such a temporary platform extension ever become permanent I wonder.....

p.s. thanks everyone for your technical info in reply to my original post. Much appreciated!

Yes - there's actually a fair amount of wheelchair / cycle space on a 142 and I have seen it used (by a wheelchair!) on the Exmouth line. The train carries a portable ramp to get over what would otherwise be an impassable step to platform level.

Yeah - fair point about folding the pushchair - I guess no one thought of that!

But I still think it would be an improvement if more than a single leaf could be opened.

...and i was just about to make the wheelchair point too!

Just wanted to mention something I noticed on Friday on the 17h24 Saint James Park to Exmouth.

This train is usually 2 x class 142 these days (4 cars). This means it is too long for the platform and so only the very front door is opened and everybody gets on / off through this one door. Importantly, it seems that only one of the two leaves of this front door can be opened when it is the only door in use. There may be good historical reasons for this (safety if the driver has to go trackside perhaps?) but it is far from ideal for getting passengers on and off and no comfort to people who get left behind on platforms......

On Friday there was a woman with a pushchair on the platform but she couldn't get on because the pushchair would not fit through the narrow gap. She discussed things with the guard for a couple of minutes but the end result was that the train left without her and her child. My understanding of the guard's explanation was that there was absolutely nothing he could do to override the door mechanism and open the 2nd leaf! No, there was no fault, he said, that's just the way it is!!!!!

I shall resist the temptation for a Victor Meldrew style rant at how crazy this is and wonder instead what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) could do to improve this state of affairs:

1) lengthen the platform (OK its not going to happen - but in a sane world.....)

2) alter the door mechanism so that the doors on unit A could be opened independently of those on unit B (OK maybe this is more technically challenging than it sounds....)

3) alter the door mechanism so that either one or both leaves of a single door can be opened by the guard when he is present at that door. (this wouldn't be too hard - would it?)

Any thoughts?