I agree with most of this. Currently the law does not reflect the technology/transport opportunities eScooters/eBikes provide. The UK^▸ (United Kingdom) government should license more types of these, and demand insurance and MOTs (for eScooters/eBikes).

On a daily basis I see dangerously fast eScooters/eBikes (Bristol !!!) ridden by people without helmets and protective clothes.

Is it?

The failure of the government to legislate the type of personal e-vehicles

• e-Scooters - low speed, no helmet needed (15kmH
• e-Scooters - higher speed, helmet needed ( 25kmH)
• e-bikes - Cycle assist, helmet needed (25kmH)
• e-bikes - Cycle assist, helmet needed (35kmH)
• e-Bikes - Throttle control, helmet needed (35kmH)
• etc

and the quality of batteries for Scooters/Bikes, with certified Battery Management Systems is probably a big cause of this.

The number of times I see high speed eScooters in Bristol is alarming, and the lack of wearing helmets!

My main uses of Cross Country is travelling to Worcestorshire Parkway ( I have to change at Cheltenham) and Liverpool Lime St (change at Birmingham or Stafford).

Cross country from Bristol to Birmingham needs 8 carriages for many journeys (morning and evening), and adding more 4-car or 5-car trains will stop all the regular, spurious cancellations, but not really address capacity.

A direct stopping service from Bristol to Birmingham Moor St would certainly help (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)?)!

Direct trains from Bristol to Liverpool stopped about 20 years ago when the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) was upgraded, but it would be nice if Cross Country added Liverpool back in the mix every 2-3 hours.

I have nether been an HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) fan, but I am fully on board to add extra capacity

• to allow frequent express trains
• to allow more local stopping services
• to allow more freight services

The idea from the two City Region mayors is good and should be fast-tracked, along links to Leeds from Birmingham.

I could have gone via Newport, to was still quicker to go via Birmingham/Crewe/Chester

No, I booked two trains one at 08:08 and the other at 18:22 from. and selected Off Peak return ticket as it was the best option. Seats were also reserved on all trains I was supposed to get. 

Shortly before Christmas I booked a Friday morning 08:08 train from Bristol Parkway to Chester.

As I arrived at the station, I found out the train was cancelled, and that I had to get the 08:44 and three connections, or wait several hours for my single connection journey.  Not a great hardship, but I complained by to Cross Country and asked why could they not have messaged me and advised of the cancelled train, after all, the train was booked through their Customer website, and they cancelled the train at least two hours earlier.

Not getting a response, after a month I contacted my local MP^▸ (Member of Parliament), and he has written twice and also failed to get a response. Why?

In Bristol the vast majority of bus journeys are paid by e-Ticket or contact payment.

Whilst e-Tickets are easy to check, but vulnerable to an approaching bus driving past (bus packed?) and the next bus arrives after 10 minutes to your e-Ticket is expired.

Also, how does an RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) officer valid a contactless payment?

I have never thought that Cross Country was doing a good job, too many cancellations and too many short trains. This surely is a reflection on the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) rather than the franchise.

So why has he just left? The service has always been the poor Cinderela of rail networks (better trains, more trains, better signalling to reduce delays, etc ar needed)!

Surely rail fares should be transparent and clear to understand

For example

• Peak Time surcharge for Origin, Through or Destination stations
• Distance, say £0.75 per mile, £0.50 per km
• Per ticket charge for local, regional or national journeys
• Per ticket charge for speed of journey

There are obviously other ways to determine price of rails, the current anomaly of split tickets shows that the current price model is crazy. Why is Bath Spa to Bristol TN twice the cost of Yate to Bristol TM^‡(resolve)? They are the same distance.

How can someone based in Aberdeen, be responsible for West & Wales track?

Are there plans to expand the services using Worcestershire Parkway?

There was speculation before the pandemic of a regular service (every hour) from Bristol-Birmingham stoping at Worcestershire Parkway, but I cannot find an update on this.

And today, the Liverpool Region has announced that it plans to copy the Manchester Region in franchising bus services.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/06/liverpool-announces-it-will-bring-buses-back-under-public-control

Hopefully WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) will pick up the challenge and follow!

The fact the Bristol has a mayor (soon to be replaced by committee) that wants an underground, and the West of England has a mayor that wants buses is interesting.

Too much ambition by one and zero by the other.

Whilst not a transport guru, I'd like to see the FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) (Bristol Rail Campaign) plan for the West of England come to fruition, with frequent services, local bus hubs and finally an integrated local rail and bus tickets that facilities local travel and not make it impossible by public transport.

The economics of the railways are an interesting subject.

I think the cost of HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) (political and financial) has sapped political support and caused retrenchment in other parts of the rail system.

If the government wants to reduce the cost of Network Rail, create long term programmes and forget about them politically. Short term programmes are expensive and take as much political effort.

For example

• 25 year programme to electrify all rail lines
• 25 year programme to improve track gauge and remove road crossings