Martin Griffiths, the incoming boss of Stagecoach, says:


Is this true? I think a lot of decision-makers miss the point that rail is vastly more acceptable to most people than bus. People who would rather be eviscerated with rusty implements than catch a bus (be it on a normal road or a guided busway) will happily leave their car behind and jump on a train if one is available .

Look at the modal split in London, where high-quality rail services cover much of the city: According to TfL^» (Transport for London - about)^s 2010 report ^Travel in London^, 20% of journeys were made by bus and tram, and 19% by Underground, rail and DLR^▸ (Docklands Light Railway) (see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Travel_in_London_Report_2.pdf p44). And that was before the recent hugely successful extensions to the London Overground.

I tend to be wary of people who cite ^class^ in their arguments, but so far as I am able to judge these things I^d say there was a pretty good cross-section of all socio-economic groups travelling by rail in London.

I can^t quite understand what point Mr Griffiths is trying to make^ bus is and always will be an inferior mode of transport. Class doesn^t come into it. If we are hoping to get people out of their cars, then rail is the way forward.

Oh well; maybe the Severn Beach - Bath and the Portishead - Temple Meads trains will kiss at SandTEngineer's big X on Platform 3! It would seem sensible to make these services connect if possible.

Well now here's a thought (apologies if someone's already thought of this): if they re-opened the line to Henbury, maybe you could get a TRAIN home! And maybe some of these taxi drivers could get jobs as train drivers?

Woss fink? Plan?

First Great Western's figures:


I think the subsidy is currently ^200,000 per annum (per annum, of course, is latin for 'via Stapleton Rd' but that's another story). That to me means works out at 50p per journey. How shall we account for the other seven quid?

Yes, my understanding is that Portishead trains will go on to Severn Beach. The alternate Severn Beach trains will go on to Bath - requiring a reversal presumably - though I suppose that doesn't necessitate a bay.

Some things improve, others don't:

Montpelier - Temple Meads: ^1.50
Temple Meads - Worcester (all stations): ^12.20

Montpelier - Worcester (all stations): ^21.20

That's a seven-and-a-half quid difference for the convenience of not carrying two tickets with you.

These are all single fares as quoted on the National Rail site; returns are similar.

Can anyone explain how these discrepancies happen

I can't believe the taxis drivers are making very much - if they have to wait an hour to get an ^8 fare, then allowing for the journey time and their expenses they must be making rather less than the minimum wage. It's almost like it's more of a social gathering for taxi drivers.

I went down on my bicycle the other week to collect some tickets, thinking I'd have no problems parking it. Hah! All the railings have signs warning you not to leave a bike there (lest they spirit it away to Lost Property and charge you a fat fee to release it); the bicycle park to the front of the station (once you've got to it through the whirling maelstrom of taxis) is full to overflowing, in large part with abandoned vandalised bicycles. And then there are signs advising you to park on Platform 3 - fat lot of good if you aren't actually travelling and don't have a ticket!

I think they're selling the same thing you buy when you pay the London Congestion Charge...

After the excitement of St Pancras and Kings Cross, it's been disappointing to see how provincial stations are lucky to pick up a few crumbs of investment. The plans for Worcester Foregate St seem parsimonious, and even Reading lacks the grand entrance it probably deserves.

Nonetheless (and maybe I'm being naive) I have high hopes for the future of Temple Meads; its Grade I listed status should hopefully allow additional sources of funding to be tapped into. I accept that it is not going to get a Reading-style track expansion (is it a bottleneck?), but I think it is reasonable to expect that they do a decent job on the building.

A casual visitor may not appreciate that nearly half of the 1870s extension to Brunel's station was demolished when the signal box was built in the 1960s. I have seen rather sketchy plans suggesting that this roof will be rebuilt in some form when the old platforms are brought back into use; surely this needs to be a high-quality restoration to more or less exactly how it was before?

If you will indulge this flight of fancy a little further, it strikes me that it would be fantastic to have a glass wall between the Brunel part of the Old Station (the bit where they hold the Beer Festival) and the extension. This would allow passengers could see the old hammerbeam roof from the new platforms, and conference-goers could see out into the station.

I find it hard to understand the economics of the Temple Meads taxi rank; it seems to me that a lot of drivers must spend hours waiting for a fare, and supply seems to far exceed demand. Maybe this scheme will make things a bit less frenetic?

From my own viewpoint, the requirement for taxis has greatly diminished as the Severn Beach service has improved; in the unlikely event that there's no suitable train then the extended No.70 bus will do at a push.

Who is HST?

You chaps is just so totally down wiv da kidz, innit.

Sorry to break step, but I have never managed to shake off my father's indoctrination with regard to the Beautiful Game. In his opinion, the spectacle of 22 grown men chasing a bladder of wind (whatever colour their shirts) was completely unedifying. So I'm afraid I saw the coming of Ikea as an improvement; indeed myself, Mrs Squirrel and our litter were there just last evening and were very happy to see that meatballs were back on the menu after a short mysterious absence.

On the plus side, Dad did pass on some of his enthusiasm for the One True Way - I won't bore you with the details, but it involved copper safety valve covers, adapted Stephenson Link valve gear, and chocolate and cream.

While on the subject of pedantry, I once referred to the smoke coming out of an engine. Dad replied: "That's not smoke, it's steam; Great western engines burn proper Welsh steam coal and they don't make smoke". A few weeks later I referred to the steam coming out of another engine; he replied "That's not steam, it's water vapour. You can't see steam - it's invisible." I don't think I ever won an argument with him. He's up there with Hitch and Russell now, having a cup of tea from the enormous orbiting teapot.

The one that really throws me is Ikea, where staff are 'coworkers'. Leaving aside the fact that they are not MY co-workers, I read this modishly unpunctuated word as 'cow orkers' and I find myself wondering just how one might go about orking a cow. Is it even legal?

I seem to have stumbled into a Heffalump trap: A-ha!


Sorry! I'm getting rather over-excited by all this; must take another red-and-white pill...


Greater Bristol? I think you mean 'Great West' (or should it be 'Froomshire'?).

All this reminds me of a good old Bristol word 'tempry' - first applied IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) to the wonderfully dreadful Meccano flyover that once linked Redcliff(e) Way with Temple Way; driving over it was like driving round the edge of a thruppenny bit. 'Tempry' essentially means 'it's not much cop, but it's the best we're going to get'. Could be applied to a poorly-located railway staion, or even more appositely to the BRT^▸ (Bus Rapid Transit).

By the way, thanks for you kind remarks FTN and chuffed - very much enjoying this forum.