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1  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: Nice work if you can get it ?? on: March 25, 2024, 11:10:27
Many of us have (or had in our younger days) all that's needed to be a train driver, yet we don't apply to be one.  I think that says a lot about a decent rate of pay being needed to attract enough staff.
2  Sideshoots - associated subjects / Heritage railway lines, Railtours, other rail based attractions / Re: Return of regular train service to Swanage and Corfe Castle on: March 06, 2024, 11:33:13
Though could they put on a service during special events?

Sadly I suspect a Wareham service would be particularly problematic during special events. More trains running than on a normal operating day so more to go wrong, and the last thing you then need is to be worrying about getting the Wareham shuttle out and back on time so it doesn't delay SWR» (South Western Railway - about) services.  I do hope the occasional practice of running an incoming special guest loco on a passenger train will continue though; rather less fraught with reliability problems as they tend to arrive the day before an event, as well as then allowing an overnight B&B stay ready for the main event.
3  Journey by Journey / Transport for London / Re: Dudding Hill Loop on: February 06, 2024, 22:48:48
Time Out must be short of material. It's not a new idea, and it doesn't seem to be referencing any new announcement. Still had at least one semaphore signal last time I saw it from the Met line. If it does happen it won't be any time soon.
4  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: Are you overheard? Who hears your conversation on a train? on: January 22, 2024, 10:24:13
Back to the original comment that LU drivers can sometimes hear what we say (though I suspect that's only when the train is stationary and all is quiet as the doors are pretty thick), some drivers don't seem to realise that we passengers at the front end can tell when they're smoking in the cab!  We can also spot - and subsequently report - a cab door being opened to jettison food wrappings onto the trackside.
5  All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Fares for journeys routed via Worcester on: January 09, 2024, 18:50:04
Looking into this in more detail it really does show how poor the National Rail website (or the data that drives it) is for its main purpose of planning journeys and telling you which ticket you need. On top of saying no fares are available, I see that it refuses even to give details of how to make those journeys if say you had an All Line Rover, despite taunting you by showing an overall journey time quicker than the alternative options.  I'd guess it's what previous versions of NRE(resolve) would have shown with a warning that you needed to buy more than one ticket, which was irritating but at least sort of helpful.

Google Maps planning reveals that the times are indeed for the logical direct route via Cheltenham and Worcester, but that's not what the "via Worcester" fares are meant for.  Given that a ticket from Bath Spa all the way to Birmingham is valid via Kidderminster and would (for most ticket types) allow you to break your journey there then just not carry on, it's unhelpul in the extreme.  In the absence of a "Not via Birmingham" route it really needs to have some fuzzy logic to cater for this type of situation where you arrive at your final destination before the possible geographic validity of the ticket has run out.  I suspect it thinks the "no doubling back" rule is being broken in some way and so goes into a sulk.
6  All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Fares for journeys routed via Worcester on: January 07, 2024, 23:15:45
Perversely, a choice of two different "via" locations doesn't necessarily mean you have to avoid the other one (though it often does), depending on the complexity of the railway geography of the area.  I'm guessing (sorry, I'm not dedicated enough to do battle with the dreaded Routing Guide!) that for those journeys the "via Worcester" routes would allow you to go via Newport and Hereford so won't be priced less than the fare from Newport to the same destination.  "Via Cheltenham" clearly excludes that way so can be cheaper but you can still carry on via Worcester too as nothing says you can't.  None of this is clear to the average passenger of course, and this is an area of rail fare simplification that really needs dealing with, but with a clear commitment from the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) who will have to lead it, along with a willingness to accept the flak from the one person a year who really benefits by stopping off on the way at Newport, Cwmbran and Abergavenny and creates merry hell when the cost goes up as separate tickets are then needed.

That business of no fares when avoiding Birmingham New Street isn't perhaps that surprising given how convoluted and slow many journeys would need to be to avoid such an obvious point to pass through.  Hard to be sure without knowing the specific destination.  A Journey Planner also can't ask the obvious question "Why?" and perhaps apply a different rule to achieve the same thing such as perhaps "I'm  not worried if it takes far longer so long as I can change trains on the same platform" or even tell you it doesn't matter as the fare is the same whether you go via New Street or not!
7  All across the Great Western territory / Media about railways, and other means of transport / Re: Simon Calder at Paddington for BBC news on: December 28, 2023, 10:54:19
They do love sending reporters to stand inconveniently in a place that's vaguely pertinent to the subject but the pictures add no information, when the report could more easily and cheaply be done from a studio. There was one yesterday from a wet and windswept motorway bridge, with traffic underneath clearly heavy but flowing steadily.  It added nothing to the report but I ended up feeling sorry for the crew.
8  All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Call for rail fare simplification on: December 27, 2023, 19:25:03
As always, I find myself wondering if they realise that this will mean some fares increase, or do they expect the Government/tax payer/train companies (all, ultimately, funded by us when it comes down to it!) to plug the gap in fares income.  In addition, though I don't dispute that there are anomalies, a difference in the cost per kilometre of flexible day return tickets from Newquay to Plymouth and from Chelmsford to London isn't to my mind necessarily surprising or wrong.

I personally doubt a real "root-and-branch reform" will ever happen; it's just too much of a political hot potato with too many people likely to end up paying more without huge levels of extra subsidy.  Gradual harmonisation over several years to limit the effects would need a long term strategy and so fall foul of 5-yearly electoral terms as well as risking accusations of sneaking in high increases.
9  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: AQ23 - 7th December 2023 - eyes! on: December 07, 2023, 11:45:55
Classes 26/27 being Scottish-based were foreign to me.  Even once I'd seen a few it was only when I saw one peeping over a wall (it, not me!) with just the top of its cab windows showing that I saw the resemblance to a 33.

That class 24 brings back memories of being hauled by pairs of them on Merrymaker excursions in the 1970s. Happy family day trips to a remarkably wide range of places - Chester, York, Llandudno, Shrewsbury and many more including mystery tours where I sometimes suspected the mystery destination was chosen on the day by where a loco broke down or the relief crew hadn't turned up - then the journey home nodding off in a steam-heated compartment; no fractious days out cooped up in a car for us with non-driving parents.
10  All across the Great Western territory / Looking forward - after Coronavirus to 2045 / Re: Exploring the costs and benefits of considering adaptation - climate change on: December 07, 2023, 11:32:17
Sounds like over provision ! close the less used routes, and single track much of the rest.
A local authority in my area does sometimes try to deal with fly-tipping on problem country lanes by stopping-up stretches that have no properties needing access, using a road closure order on the basis that they are unnecessary, superfluous or some such description (can't remember the exact legal term they use).  The trouble is that although pedestrians and cyclists are still allowed to pass, there is then no maintenance of the already-poor surface, drains or vegetation so they gradually become unusable; a real pity because almost by definition these are the quietest lanes and most pleasant to use on foot or bike.  The two blocked-off ends often still get fly-tipped, but presumably clearing that is more cost-effective for the council - and lower priority - than their previous obligation to keep a highway clear.  This is the same LA that thinks plastering fly-tipping locations with "We are watching you!" warnings is enough to put off fly-tippers, when the accumulation of piles of debris by each sign and small number of prosecutions sends a very different message, almost confirming that the location is recommended by other successful users.
11  Journey by Journey / South Western services / Re: Major changes to SWR peak/off peak on: December 02, 2023, 14:22:59
IndustryInsider is correct that it only applies within the planned expanded contactless payg area but it still ends up with some pretty draconian peak times for longer journeys, eg the last off-peak train from Virginia Water if you're heading across London is around 1420, and the next off-peak train for such journeys is 5 hours later.  Within London the added convenience and flexibility of payg and automatic capping has broadly compensated for the removal of a few bargains, but as it spreads out I think the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) are going to need a bit of a rethink if they really want payg to take off.
12  Journey by Journey / South Western services / Re: Worn-out tracks cause railway line closure on: November 26, 2023, 21:39:45

Probably based on a Network Rail press release - where they always seem to be embarrassed to use the term “preventive maintenance”. 

Paul

TfL» (Transport for London - about) insist on calling it "improvement work".  You could I suppose say that maintenance work does leave infrastructure in a better condition than allowing it to wear out so it's technically a correct description, but it still feels like putting an unnecessary spin on it.
13  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: Ryanair style Luggage limits on LNER on: November 24, 2023, 16:38:05
A poster at the station is a bit late, and is I suspect mainly to allow staff to point at it when someone with an unfeasibly large amount of luggage (the solo traveller you occasionally see with a trolley piled high with large cases) causes a problem and demands to know where it says there's a limit. The 3 items reference does come from the NR» (Network Rail - home page) Conditions of Travel, but the maximum size is only associated with furniture(!) in those conditions so LNER» (London North Eastern Railway - about) are stretching a point. I was though pleasantly surprised to find that what I regard as a large rucsac I often use for a week away is anyway comfortably within the dimensions, and if I pushed NR/LNER's restrictions to the limit I'd probably struggle to carry it all myself.  The rules also aren't true airline style as there is no weight limit.

Leaving that aside, thanks mostly to the DfT» (Department for Transport - about)'s influence many modern trains really do lack sufficent, well-designed luggage space (not a guard's van though - they would take too long to load/unload and there are all sorts of security/theft issues).  One side-effect of the move to "airline" style seats is the loss of luggage space close to where you're sitting between the seat backs.

There's only a passing reference in the article to open access operator Lumo, which runs on the same route and really does have an unreasonably small luggage limit which means many people would struggle to take enough for more than a long weekend away.  They also don't have luggage racks at all in some carriages.  They're the ones the Mail should be having a dig at.
14  All across the Great Western territory / Active travel: Cyclists and walkers, including how the railways deal with them / Re: NCN 4 closure in Reading on: November 21, 2023, 11:01:51
Not sure how Reading BC's statement that "Timber in the wall had rotted across the decades, leaving holes and voids beneath the footway" helps understanding of the problem!  I suspect you need local knowledge of the path; possibly the "wall" is actually the canal bank?  A photo of the actual damage might have helped, rather than a Google Street View screenshot which for all I know could be the wrong stretch.  I really must explore the K&A some time (maybe not until this work gets sorted!), and the various nearby stations make it easy to get to.
15  All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Bath Spa - Winsford return on: November 13, 2023, 16:31:20
Odd. I get the £58 fare on nationalrail.co.uk and it's Any Permitted according to https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=BTH» (Bath Spa - next trains)&dest=WSF&rlc=SRN&period=20231001. VIA HEREFORD is a tad cheaper but would exclude useful routes via Birmingham. I can't get an £82 fare at all. I often have trouble with NRE(resolve) retaining old info so I'd suspect a cache issue.
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