Indeed.   Bryony called me a little later and I understand that David was conscious and in Musgrove Park.  I will keep members posted as I hear and can post.

This is in answer to a request from a fellow campaigner for pointers to data on loadings and journeys of trains to and from Torbay (TLCs^▸ (three letter code, or tender loving care, depending on context ) PGN TQY and TRR, to help provide data and inform him and his colleagues of when and where people are going. 

Source 1: https://www.railwaydata.co.uk/loadings/gbr/?TLC=PGN - covering an "average weekday during the summer of 2024" and show numbers of arrivals, departures and through passengers on each timetabled service. Change PGN to TQY and TRR to see the figures for Torquay and Torre to cover the the intermediate stations between Newton Abbott and Paignton. These come from a "no longer maintained" site, so I have member's mirror at
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/PGN_2024.pdf https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/TQY_2024.pdf and  https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/TRR_2024.pdf . Note that were "no source" is shown on the trains, I suspect it's Exeter St David's - a station in which the apostrophy often causes problems.

Source 2: Our own forum using https://raildata.org.uk - Rail Data Marketplace data.  This shows destinations - using URLs such as https://www.passenger.chat/PGN.html (and change to TQY and TRR, and thre is a link on each page to give you the top 50.

Neither source answers the complete question of "where are people going on which train?" but it sounded to me like these two sources together are a little more information that the Torbay team had looked at so far. Split tickets, ticketless travel, ranger and rover tickets, etc, will clearly skew the figures.

Source 1:







Sample from source 2 (full links above)

I have provided a new (graphic) data / news feed for TravelWatch SouthWest to display as a "what's going on" feed on their web site - here's what it gives me just as I write this:



The image includes the title of the most recent public posts, and is further limited to exclude boards that do not cover the TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website) area - such as the North Downs Line, Thames Valley Branches, and The wider picture overseas.  It does not include "lighter side" either to help ensure that the feed is serious transport stuff.

At the moment, clicking onto the image on the TWSW site will take you to the Coffee Shop's most recent public posts, including those public but excluded from the graphic topics.

From yesterday - at Westbury at 19:00



and I'm a bit shocked by this:



Of an evening, why are the "popular" top level tickets the anytime ones for London (and yet off peak for Weymouth?)

Other walk up return adult no-railcard no-split fares to Paddington from Westbury - are available at £53.20, £71.20, £71.70, £77.40, £78.00, £84.00, £94.00, £94.90, £104.70, £110.40, and £226.80.  As from April 1st, if someone accidentally click on the "Popular" front fare (popular with whom?) and buys that ticket, there's no "oops - bought the wrong one" option as I read it, even if they walk across to the (open?) ticket office and admit their error.

You are correct - "topic drift" and perhaps answering a different question to the one I was asked.

I, and Lisa and I, have travelled to the USA for holiday reasons in the past, and also on trips which are primarily holiday but have included meeting up with family and friends.  Most recent (and purely a holiday) in April 2023. As with any trips / holidays, consideration given to the personal circumstances of the travellers and that include personal safety, visas, passports, etc..  And my vote which is "not in the foreseeable future" - and that perhaps means "never again" - holds valid.   I would like to do Amtrak across the continent, I would like to visit Cass again, I would like to see Silvertown and Durango and have another ride on the White Pass, but none of these is sufficiently high up my list top actually do it, especially with all the rigmarole involved.

Time has - resolved and healed - the family situation, thank you. We still have the scars from 30 years ago, but they are carried with a knowledge of how things can go wrong, the protagonist passed away a few years ago, and we are now proud and unencumbered - if physically distant - grandparents.

20:06 off Westbury this evening ... left a minute late to maintain a connection with the 18:36 from Paddington; sensible decision.   At Melksham, 10 off and 12 on which is very much more than I might have guessed; I did not walk through the train and have no idea of what the through count was.   Our trains seem to be getting busier.

From Social media, public post ...
reply from one of the crew

All the first coach, all the second coach, and front door only on third carriage?

Not a perfect evening - but good to see better measures coming into place when things go wrong.

All happening tonight!

From the London Chronicle

A long article worth reading


It goes on to remind us that the approach to fares in London is a choice, and that other models such as the one in Berlin could be used if we wished.

From the North Wales Pioneer


I find myself wondering if it's really about customer information improvement, or more about generating advertising revenue.

Llandudno is a mixture of ancient and modern at present - and I can appreciate the wish to replace the whiteboard with something that can be dynamically updated.

The whole commercial / competition setup is about survival of the fittest, and the failure to survive of the weakest, and the whole thing is modelled around weaker companies or parts of companies failing. Which does not in the short term fit well with social need - it leads to a scramble to get alternatives in place - sometimes perhaps better, sometimes not, but very much a shock change brought upon at a time and in a way that's triggered by the failing company and not in a planned sensible way.  [Personal view ...]