No sure it was tolls, but congestion charging.

Who'd have though that removing expensive bridge tolls and not investing in park and ride services (train or bus) would simple move the problem to an area that could not cope. (Bristol North Fridge)

As I live in South Gloucestershire I can honestly say the road transport system is hopeless. The continually drive to add more homes and communities without connected then to services (transport, schools, GPs, etc), is really annoying.

The upgrade of `Rabbit` rounadabout (Winterbourne) was started last week and is the current course of these issues; why this upgrade was not done when Metrobus lanes where added two years ago I have no idea.

At the same time, the council have shut Gypsey Patch lane, that connects to this round about, forcing more drives this way. They could not have planned this in worse way.

I believe that Boris did commit to re-opening old Beeching cut lines (£500M) commitment.

So, expanding this question ... which old line should be re-opened and should Wiltshire back?

Devizes Branch Line would be a good start.

Surely the Cross Country capacity issue does not cover the whole network, but certain corridors.

From me perspective, virtually every Cross Country I have ever got on the Bristol to Birmingham route has been overcrowded, whether

• turbostar
• voyager
• super voyager

with crowding compounded with excess

• luggage
• prams
• cycles
• scooters

The whole franchise needs looking at. The mix of commuter and long distance traveller is not well catered for.

As a fix for our area, I would like to see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) run regular Bristol - Birmingham and Bristol - Plymouth services to take pressure (compete) with Cross Country.

Well, the metrobus phase 1 network of

• m3/m3x
• m2
• m1

has been running for three months (some parts much longer) and I can safely say today will be my last regular day. I may still use it occasionally, but it has failed my regularity test.

Today two consecutive M1 buses failed to turn up (16:12+16:22 @centre). This may not sound serious, and probably isn't, but if I want to a commute of under one hour, consecutive missing buses do not help, when compared with much shorter train journeys and frequent services.

Over the past few weeks, Metrobus m1 has been late virtually everyday, and on several days they have gone round the centre in pairs.

This was supposed to be the dawn of a new type of Bus Service. Well apart from the upgraded buses, nothing has changed.

And adding a  new M4 junction by Emerson Greern will free up traffic from the M4|M32 junction, which will in turn free up traffic from M5/Aztech West. (planned)

Adding better local buses linking Bristol Parkway to Aztech West to Chalton Hayes and Cribbs Causeway would help (wish)

Then adding a combined bus|rail smart card for local traffic will encourage more people to use public transport (common sense)

Finally, you prior suggestion of moving Patchway Station about 400m along the line to provide a joint new Patchway Station and Aztech West would also help (wish)

Slightly off-topic, but now that Filton Bank four tracking is done, will the extra trains from Bristol TM^‡(resolve) - Bristol PW^▸ (Permanent Way) to Paddington be starting soon, in May?, or will we have to wait for other work to be done first?

Not sure, just crossing Rupert St as the first M1 went past heading for Cribbs Causeway.

About a minute later I had crossed Rupert St (Pedestrian crossing lights ...), and the next M1 appeared and I had to dash to get to the Broadmead stop on Lewins Mead.

Not sure if I care much about the time table, the frequency is the most important thing. Was so impressed, but feel sorry for whoever had the extended wait.

Yep, nearly spilt my coffee as we approached Queen's Square with her pronunciation - so Bristolian.

Really refreshing after all the antiseptic announcements on other buses and trains.

Today was the first time I have seen back to back M1 buses. Missed the first one by seconds (@Broadmead), got ready for a 10+ minute wait but then next bus appeared seconds later.

Trying to be optimistic, I do hope that all the work done over the past three years finally delivers more trains, on time and with better information when things go wrong.

With 2018 coming to an end, and the fabled M1 route about to start in a weeks time, is Metrobus ready?

With the lack of any pre 0730 trains today, I decided to use the T1 bus from Willow Brook Centre this morning. One of the bus stops is still lacking its Ticket and Information point.

The upgrade has not helped the reliability of journeys from Bristol Temple Meads to Bristol Parkway.

At Temple Meads, trains are routinely cancelled, re-platformed at short notice (10-> 1) and delayed.

On the journey into Bristol Temple Meads, still see routine delays leaving Parkway and arriving at Bristol Temple Meads.

On the journey into Bristol Parkway there are so many delays, virtually every day due to late express trains, and trains to|from Stoke Gifford Depot having priority.

I am not sure what can be done to address these issues, but the reliability of 2+ years ago on this service has been lost.

If Metrobus service M1 proves reliable, high unlikely, I'll have an alternative.

Is that total government investment in German Railways.

Last time I was in Germany I saw signs about German Rail Investment by Federal, State and City authorities (rail link from airport to city).

The recent announcement from the Boring Co ,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46616902

The article outlines the building of 1 mile of tunnel at $10M, with a width of 12ft. This intrigues me because I believe that the Glasgow subway is even narrower!

Surely, Bristol could build such a system? Would it be worth Mr Rees and Mr Bowles to visit  the Boring Co @ Los Angeles to investigate the possibilities?

With the current Temple Meads gyratory mess (many pavements|paths to Bristol are blocked), many commuters leaving the station will find the Bonapartes exit much better than walking through the crowded booking hall.