As I posted elsewhere on this forum SWTSMBO^▸ (She Who Thinks She Must Be Obeyed (affectionate term for wife or female partner)) and I recently travelled from DIG to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), via EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains), without having our tickets checked on either train. DIG is ungated and the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) terminated at one of the ungated PAD platforms.

Mr. Sutherland appears, as they say, to be having a giraffe!

Should it have been and the process was not completed for some reason? I would have thought the recording of such a potentially safety critical interaction should be mandatory.

Nothing for Devon & Cornwall - Quelle surprise!

How about this for an idea? Since our government has decided that it can spend £15Bn, of our money, on transport projects why not complete the section of GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) Electrification between Chippenham (ish) and Bristol. A better service for passengers, Ed Miliband would be very pleased with the reduction in diesel emissions, and the NIMBY's in Bath aren't going to vote for you anyway so you can just tell them, politely, to go away.

01/06/2025 - A Day Out In Paignton For The Riviera Airshow
Pretty good work from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) despite challenging circumstances

Tickets
2 x Senior Railcard Off-Peak Day Returns DIG>PGN» £15.40 (£7.70 each)

Outward - 01/06/25
DIG 1013 (1015)>PGN 1125 (1147): 2T11 EXM>PGN : 1 x 166/2 (3 Cars)

We arrived at DIG to the sight of some 40-50 pax^▸ (passengers) waiting to board the train. The shape of things to come - the service was essentially full departing EXC, lost time to some extent at each stop due to the expected boarding issues, and eventually arrived at PGN 22 mins down. I noted that GWR staff were present at the normally unmanned DWW.
On arrival at PGN all pax had to walk to the southern end of P2 and then back along the station car park - to avoid platform crowding - into the clutches of GWR Revenue Protection. All tickets & railcards / passes were checked by a 1st line team and passengers presenting with issues were directed to a separate team for a chat.

Although we didn’t use the option - being comfortably ensconced in our seats on the stopper - it would have been possible to change at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) onto 1C75 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)>PNZ and then swap at NTA^» (Newton Abbott - next trains) to 2Z31 - a 9-Car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) - for the run down to PGN.

The airshow was very busy, well organised, and the sun was (mainly) shining. Happy days! 

Return - 01/06/25
PGN 1631 (OT)>NTA 1645 (OT) : 2Z40 PGN>NTA : 1 x 802/0 (5 Cars)
NTA 1654 (1657)>EXD 1713 (1716) : 1A90 PNZ>PAD : 2 x 800/0 (10 Cars)
(We had planned to catch 2F20 back to DIG but decided instead to use the buses to get home - free with our ‘Crusties’ passes - just in case that service was full)

At PGN all the normal entrances to P2, save one fully staffed for the use of disabled passengers, were locked shut and all pax were directed to the queueing corral at the south end of the car park. We were counted onto the platform when the train was ready and, once again, all tickets & passes were checked.
On departure 2Z40 was full with a small number of standees.

I think you know full well that Jenrick is referring mainly to the individuals who think it OK to play 'music', or have loud conversations, on public transport without benefit of headphones.

Even if you don't appreciate piano music I fail to understand why anybody would object to the use of a public piano by a reasonably competent player.

I would assume that 'flash mob performances' at public transport sites are already deemed illegal by relevant byelaws; if not they should be made so forthwith.

'Chipping away at society'? Not really but perhaps a civil law 'charge' of being bloody annoying in a public place would be useful. 

Q. How many more carriages are going to be adorned with 'Great British Railways Coming Soon' vinyls only for them to require replacement when GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) actually arrives - is there a Delay Attribution Code for government incompetence? - and at what financial cost to the taxpayer?

I am interested in the reasons why trains are often delayed for, apparently, no obvious reason and in the explanations provided to passengers.

In this particular instance the journey check text should have read '17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 departed Gloucester 8 minutes having returned to Platform 1 from it's waiting point 10 minutes later than scheduled, because the platform was occupied by the late running 2T49 WOF>BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) service until 1748, and has been further delayed on the approach to Stonehouse.'

Too much information obviously but I think the majority of people understand what is meant by the term 'depot' and I doubt the Gloucester Loco Spur qualifies.

And I can't figure out why the service lost another c. 8 mins between Standish Junction and Stonehouse.

02/05/25-07/05/25 - Grandson’s 1st Birthday Celebration In Yorkshire
Largely good train punctuality, but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) seems to have given up on revenue protection.

Tickets
2 x Senior Railcard Advance Singles DIG>PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) £75.20 (£37.60 each)
2 x TfL^» (Transport for London - about) Underground Off Peak Singles PAD>KGX £5.60 (£2.80 each)
2 x Senior Railcard 1st Class Advance Singles KGX>WKF £78.00 (£39.00 each)
2 x Senior Railcard Anytime Day Singles WKF>PFM £5.40 (£2.70 each)
2 x Senior Railcard Advance Singles PFM>GRA £24.50 (£12.25 each)
2 x Senior Railcard Advance Singles GRA>DIG £48.60 (£24.30 each)

The GRA>DIG tickets obviously included the cross-London journeys.
PFM = Pontefract Monkhill, GRA = Grantham

Outward - 02/05/25
DIG 0943 (OT)>EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) 0955 (0958): 2T12 EXM>PGN : 1 x 166/2 (3 Cars)
EXD 1015 (1017)>PAD 1229 (1227) : 1A78 PNZ>PAD» : 2 x 802/0 (10 Cars)
TfL Circle Line PAD>KGX
KGX 1403 (OT)>WKF 1558 (OT) : 1D17 KGX>LDS : 1 x IC225 (9 Cars)
WKF 1642 (1648)>PFM 1705 (1710) : 2A23 LDS>KNO : 1 x 150/2 (2 Cars)

2T12 was delayed at EXC waiting for 2F11, which departed from EXD P3 rather than P1, to clear the line.
20 pax^▸ (passengers) boarded at DIG.
No ticket / railcard check.
Accessible toilet was OOS (according to the DIG PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System))
1A78 arrived at, and departed from, EXD 2 mins late.
It being the start of a Public Holiday weekend the train was well loaded.
It gradually lost time during the journey arriving at RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context) 6 down but, due to the 8 min dwell time there, left on time and, much to my amazement, reached PAD 2 mins early!
Catering facilities were as advertised but…
No ticket / railcard check - I don’t recall this having happened to me on a long distance GWR service before.
So given that the train terminated in PAD P9 any ne’er-do-well prepared to chance it could have made our journey gratis.
On 1D17 the LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) service was what we nearly always get - an on-time departure & arrival, full ticket / railcard check shortly after leaving KGX, and an excellent 1st class food / drink service.
2A23 left LDS 7 minutes late; as the incoming 2A18 was on time I guess this was most likely a crew change issue.
Surprisingly no ticket / railcard check on 2A23 - Northern are usually pretty hot on this.
The WKF>PFM trip feels very slow - the average speed is 25.1mph.
The connection at WKF to PFM isn’t great because Northern can only run LDS>KNO via Wakefield hourly as there is also an hourly LDS>KNO via Castleford service and the line through Pontefract carries freight & Grand Central trains.
PFM station needs some TLC^▸ (three letter code, or tender loving care, depending on context ); the footbridge is showing it's age and the main pedestrian access is a steep, narrow stairway. 

Return - 07/05/25
PFM 1245 (OT)>WKF 1309 (1310) : 2A12 KNO>LDS : 1 x 150/2 (2 Cars)
WKF 1328 (1331)>KGX 1530 (1526) : 1A31 LDS>KGX : 1 x IC225 (9 Cars)
TfL Hammersmith & City Line KGX>PAD
PAD 1635 (OT)>EXD 1902 (1900) : 1C89 PAD>PLY^» (Plymouth - next trains) 2 x 802/0 (10 Cars)
EXD 1913 (OT)>DIG 1925 (OT) : 2F30 PGN>EXM : 1 x 166/2 (3 Cars)

Tickets, but not railcards, checked on 2A12.
Full ticket / railcard check on 1A31 after leaving Doncaster. Simon the TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) spent quite a bit of time looking at our split tickets before deciding they were valid! He then moved on to the  two passengers behind us who he found were travelling on invalid Advances and told them politely but firmly that he was going to let it go this time - the tickets were for the train 30 minutes later - but under normal circumstances they would be required to purchase completely new tickets. LNER appear not to use formal Penalty Fares but give their TM’s the option of either charging the excess or making the passenger buy a brand new ticket.
No ticket / railcard checks on either GWR service.
I wasn’t aware that GWR did any train divides at EXD but 1C89 drops the rear unit in P6, this returning to PAD as 1A37, before continuing to PLY.

Happened to pop over to DIG at around 1300 yesterday, to collect some pre-booked tickets, and noticed that the station PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System) was still showing 2F10 (0929 DIG>EXM) as 'Delayed' but the 'real time' service was running OK. A perusal of RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) today showed that a points failure had caused a number of trains between EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) & EXM to be cancelled in the period 0830-1030.

Was it really not possible for somebody to reset the display screen manually?   

The entire built-up area of Wendover is separated from the HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) route, a chunk of which will be hidden in the Wendover Green Tunnel, by the A413. Planning application 25/00406/APP shows that the chamber was proposed to be located on farmland to the NW of Wendover and it appears that it was the Kings Farm track which could have been extended to provide access.

Personally, given the cost so far, I would have approved a new direct access from the A413 with a bridge over the railway.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/live-major-devon-train-disruption-10115423

Major problems on the Exmouth><Paignton route yesterday afternoon. Trespasser at Torre apparently. No trains between NTA^» (Newton Abbott - next trains) & PGN for several hours and a number of cancelled or late services to/from EXM.

You have to love the stock image use to illustrate the story though!

Has that first statement been confirmed as correct by an analysis of the relevant ticket data? Either way for our fairly frequent trips to visit family in Yorkshire - does that qualify as really long distance? -  the obvious rail solution would be the direct XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services between Exeter and Wakefield/Leeds but we always travel via London because:
the c.25 year old Voyagers are awful
tickets via London can usually be cheaper than XC's offering (DIG>WKF Railcard Standard Class 2 weeks in advance XC Direct £88.80, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) £72.75 using the National Rail planner)
LNER offer a very nice London><Yorkshire First Class trip at a reasonable price (don't mention GWR!)
the travel time via London is not that much more than the direct XC route but it provides a significantly more comfortable journey
XC service punctuality & reliability is seemingly not that great

'Only 4 left' on the LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) booking engine against a number of ticket categories, which actually seems to mean that loadings on the service in question are pretty low - as confirmed by a quick perusal of the seat map - and they would like us to buy more; I booked 3 seats from a ticket category labelled in this way yesterday but miraculously there are still (only) 4 seats left today. 

Yes, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorail_(British_Rail) seems to confirm my recollection that there was a service to Stirling.

I suspect this would have been Air UK^▸ (United Kingdom), or its charter subsidiary Air UK Leisure.