Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
 Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 06:35 06 Dec 2025
 
- Disruption as flights resume at Edinburgh Airport after outage
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]		 13/12/25 - Inspiration, Paddington
17/12/25 - Interrail pass sale ends
31/12/25 - Photo competition closes
06/03/26 - TWSW General Meeting

On this day
6th Dec (1897)
London becomes first city to host licensed taxi cabs (*)
Train RunningCancelled
05:24 Exeter St Davids to Barnstaple
06:16 Exeter St Davids to Barnstaple
06:38 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads
06:41 Plymouth to London Paddington
06:50 Westbury to Weymouth
06:50 Penzance to St Ives
06:54 Plymouth to London Paddington
07:10 Penzance to Plymouth
07:30 St Ives to St Erth
07:33 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads
07:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach
07:47 St Erth to St Ives
08:04 St Ives to Penzance
08:40 Penzance to St Ives
09:01 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads
09:04 St Ives to St Erth
09:23 St Erth to St Ives
09:37 St Ives to St Erth
09:52 St Erth to St Ives
10:03 Bristol Temple Meads to Filton Abbey Wood
10:06 St Ives to St Erth
10:51 Filton Abbey Wood to Bristol Temple Meads
13:04 Bristol Temple Meads to Filton Abbey Wood
13:51 Filton Abbey Wood to Bristol Temple Meads
13:51 Worcester Foregate Street to Bristol Temple Meads
14:44 Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury
16:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
16:34 Swindon to Bristol Temple Meads
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:04 Bristol Temple Meads to Filton Abbey Wood
17:06 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
17:51 Filton Abbey Wood to Bristol Temple Meads
Short Run
05:22 Reading to Gatwick Airport
05:40 Penzance to Exeter St Davids
06:20 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
06:31 Barnstaple to Exeter Central
06:40 Penzance to Exeter St Davids
06:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
09:52 Exeter St Davids to Cardiff Central
10:15 Penzance to London Paddington
10:48 London Paddington to Carmarthen
11:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street
12:03 London Paddington to Penzance
12:48 London Paddington to Carmarthen
13:00 Cardiff Central to Exeter St Davids
13:30 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads
15:28 Carmarthen to London Paddington
15:38 Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester Foregate Street
15:42 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
16:10 Weston-Super-Mare to Severn Beach
16:20 Penzance to London Paddington
17:27 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
17:30 Carmarthen to London Paddington
17:32 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa
etc
•
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
•
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
•
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
•
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
•
Train companiesSelect from:
GWR
SWR
XC
Chiltern
TfL
TfW
WMR
Southern
• Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple Meads • Bath Spa • Chippenham • Swindon • Didcot Parkway • Reading • London Paddington • Melksham
Exeter St Davids • Taunton • Westbury • Trowbridge • Bristol Parkway • Cardiff Central • Oxford • Cheltenham Spa • Birmingham New Street
December 06, 2025, 06:39:16 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[159] Cars getting bigger - is this a concern?
[59] Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing d...
[49] Estimates of station usage 24-25 - North Cotswolds line
[44] Cambridge Guided Busway - ongoing discussion and updates
[43] Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion
[37] Passengers locked inside Hartlepool station
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Great Western Coffee Shop > All across the Great Western territory > The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom > News from around the UK
Poll
Question: Why so little South West News  (Voting closed: December 26, 2023, 03:20:55)
We have it better - nothing to report - 2 (15.4%)
We're a quiet bunch - 1 (7.7%)
We're just a small part of the UK▸ (United Kingdom) - 7 (53.8%)
We've become immune and it's no longer news - 2 (15.4%)
Some other reason - 1 (7.7%)
Total Voters: 11

Pages: [1]
« previous next »
  Print  
Author Topic: News from around the UK  (Read 2784 times)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 45679



View Profile WWW Email
« on: December 21, 2023, 03:17:26 »
Very little from our neck of the woods.   Is that because we're just in a small part of the UK▸ (United Kingdom), because so much that used to be newsworthy is now daily stuff, because our rail provision is so much better than in other places that it doesn't make the news, or because we're a quiet bunch to the south west of London?

Freight train wagons 'susceptible to derailment'
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-67780232

Leaders' fury over new rail timetable cutting region's services
https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/24003967.new-train-timetable-north-east-cut-services/

Private sector will pay for HS2▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) Euston tunnel, minister insists
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/mark-harper-hs2-euston-john-armitt-tunnel-susan-hall-potholes-london-sadiq-khan-b1128357.html

See how a former popular railway line could be brought back to life
https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/24000944.former-cardi-bach-railway-line-walking-cycling-route/

‘The reality is the North didn’t get to keep all of the money from HS2’, says Northern Powerhouse Partnership boss
https://www.channel4.com/news/the-reality-is-the-north-didnt-get-to-keep-all-of-the-money-from-hs2-says-northern-powerhouse-partnership-boss

Shoppers rush to snap up £15 digital railcard to save a third on train travel
https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/shopping-deals/shoppers-rush-snap-up-15-31714700
Logged
Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
GBM
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1893


View Profile Email
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2023, 07:37:11 »
Being devils advocate, define South West!
It means totally different things to different people.
TV▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) defines as Bristol down.
Government means Gloucester down (?), guessing, no proof.
To me, SouthWest is Cornwall and Devon.
Logged
Personal opinion only.  Writings not representative of any union, collective, management or employer. (Think that absolves me...........)
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 45679



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2023, 08:04:50 »
Quote from: GBM on December 21, 2023, 07:37:11
Being devils advocate, define South West!
It means totally different things to different people.
TV▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) defines as Bristol down.
Government means Gloucester down (?), guessing, no proof.
To me, SouthWest is Cornwall and Devon.

From our web site home page, here's the map of the area we cover:


From WikiPedia confirming the government's definition as used in so many of the official stats that get quoted:
Quote
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England in the United Kingdom. It consists of the counties of Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
Quote
The region includes the West Country and much of the ancient kingdom of Wessex.

This Goverment region is the regions used by TravelWatch SouthWest too and many other bodies that naturally work withing political zones. I think it's the old European Parlimentary Consituency too - though that include Gibraltar too.



For the purposes of this survey, I'm not sure how much difference the exact boundary makes - though perhaps the Thames Valley (escpecially inward from Reading) and the Welsh bits that GWR▸ (Great Western Railway) serve are out of scope of the question.
Logged
Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
TaplowGreen
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 9063



View Profile
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2023, 11:34:02 »
As Graham says the Government's official definition of "Southwest" includes outliers such as Gloucestershire & Wiltshire but the true "Westcountry" is Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset........although to some Cornish people everything East of the Tamar is "London"  Smiley
Logged
PrestburyRoad
Transport Scholar
Sr. Member
******
Posts: 264


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2023, 12:24:05 »
Quote
As Graham says the Government's official definition of "Southwest" includes outliers such as Gloucestershire & Wiltshire but the true "Westcountry" is Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset........although to some Cornish people everything East of the Tamar is "London"  Smiley

Gloucestershire has long been a boundary area.  For example, before the privatisations it was served by Midland Electricity Board and South Western Gas Board.
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 13760


View Profile Email
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2023, 12:39:09 »
That railcard offer includes the south west though
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 45679



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2023, 16:50:51 »
Quote from: ChrisB on December 21, 2023, 12:39:09
That railcard offer includes the south west though

Yes ... there is a sprinkling of national news there ...
Logged
Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
GBM
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1893


View Profile Email
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2023, 17:39:26 »
Quote from: TaplowGreen on December 21, 2023, 11:34:02
......although to some Cornish people everything East of the Tamar is "London"  Smiley
We certainly do  Grin
Logged
Personal opinion only.  Writings not representative of any union, collective, management or employer. (Think that absolves me...........)
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
« previous next »
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of page • Jump to Forum Home Page