It is great that people are using this service but the tickets are really cheap i.e. an anytime single Newcastle to Ashington (about 13 miles) is £2.60; in comparison a Didcot to Oxford (10 miles) anytime single is £8.70. 20p a mile compared with 87p a mile.

Northern is the English TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) with the highest subsidy so not sure how this is affordable, of course ideally we would like all services to be as highly subsidised.

Lets hope that as the fares rise the service continues to be used.

And I do wonder with EWR^▸ (East West Railway (Oxford to Bedford), or possibly East Worthing station, depending on context) whether 2 car trains are going to be big enough.

They are listed on this website http://www.railtourinfo.co.uk/locohauled.html

But they don't appear to have been updated for the May 2025 timetable change, if there were any.

According to the Oxford Clarion https://bsky.app/profile/oxfordclarion.bsky.social/post/3lnuhiadpd22q Chiltern have signed a deal to run 10 locomotive hauled Mk5a sets to replace 4 locomotive hauled Mk3 sets.

They were previously used by Trans Pennine Express (TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express)). TPE had 13 5 cars sets made up of 4 standard class and 1 first class coach. It is unclear to me whether TPE actual used all the sets as the most number of sets they had running at the same time was 4 and they also suffered from cracks similar to IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)).

I assume that as well as replacing the Mk3's they will either replace some existing Class 165/168 services or even some additional services will be added.
Will we see a return of the Oxford Flyers?

I saw someone say it was planned to use class 180 units.

Due to signalling staff illness there are no trains between Cardiff and Swansea from (24/4/25) 23:00 to 07:00 (25/4/25).

I am quite surprised that  a mainline railway can just shut down completely at such short notice; where is the resilience? Is this why the railway is being used more for leisure these days as those travelling to/from school or work can't rely on it.

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are apparently trying to source road transport.

Of course those of a certain vintage will remember the role 'The Jolly Sailor' played in the 80's TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) Show 'Howards Way' as well as other locations in the Southampton-Hamble-Bursledon area.

You should try it, I booked a seat on the 07:23 Southampton Airport to Oxford Cross-Country service and I also booked a seat on the 08:41 Edinburgh (EDB) to Glasgow Queen Street, so it isn't just GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services and you don't have to buy a ticket at the same time.

The steps to reserve a seat are as follows:
1) Select 'Online Booking' option from https://www.gwr.com/your-tickets/seat-reservations
2) Login to your account.
3) Go to Bookings - View Bookings
4) Select Make a seat/bike reservation.
5) Enter the details of the service you wish to book seats on
6) When it asks you for ticket type you can select any type.
7) Confirm booking
You have reserved a seat.
And the service is free.

You can book seats on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website https://www.gwr.com/your-tickets/seat-reservations it will ask what ticket you have; but you can select any type and it will reserve a seat at no cost.

Looks like there is a shortage of stock this morning.

1A14 Bristol temple Meads to London which is normally a 9-car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) is today formed of a 3 car 165, at least according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website). https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:Y21906/2025-04-02/detailed

RTT does say the 165 is only operating as far as Swindon, it doesn't say what happens after that.

If batteries are added to trains so that electric trains can run between Didcot and Oxford instead of not completing the half-finished Didcot-Oxford electrification then I would suggest that we no longer live in a serious country.

Do we know whether GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) (or whoever is responsible for procuring these trains) have even signed a contract for the 175's yet?

If they haven't then I guess we can't be sure that these trains will ever arrive, especially as the Dft/Treasury/Government are looking to save money.

This doesn't seem to have been posted before but a website has been setup by Oxford residents 'annoyed' by the ongoing closure of Botley Road.
https://networkhell.co.uk/

Probably doesn't tell you anything new if you have been following this story closely, but useful to see opinions about this saga from outside the rail industry.

And people wonder why nothing appears to work properly or costs a fortune to run in this country; talk about risk averse.

Newspapers always love these stories. While the fare structure in this country is indeed absurd, we know that the £400 tickets are flexible, unlike air tickets. Additionally, air tickets are often priced with the assumption that you (or others) will pay for luggage and seat selection, which can often double the ticket price. This point is reiterated every time these stories are published.

If you were to buy tickets for tomorrow, you could get an Advance Single for two for £196.80 from Looe to Crewe, with reserved seats between Liskeard and Crewe. This can be done simply by using the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) app, without the need for split tickets, railcards, or unusual routes.

What surprises me about this whole project, and you can tell I am not impressed, is that it has already been running for nearly 2 years and yet there is still no obvious sign of either Platform 5 or the new west entrance.

Whenever I go past the site there are always loads of people standing around looking bored directing the public through the site, but many fewer working on the  construction of the road/bridge/station. It would be interesting to see the makeup of the costs for this project.