Yes and we know who to blame now politicians who didn't know how to govern.  Clearing up their mess seems a good description here. 

 
More delay, more cost............

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0wr7nw7wxo

 
Description

A fault with the signalling system at Slough means that Elizabeth line trains must run at a reduced speed on some lines. Services operating through Slough may be delayed by up to 15 minutes or cancelled.

Disruption is expected until 12:15

 
Further analysis suggests certificate issues with changes made elsewhere ... I think I have fixed them for the Coffee Shop but you may still get some offputting reports - if so after about 8 a.m. please let me know.   My first "cure" test made in worse (more frightening) rather than better and for an hour or so that may have been cached!

 
It comes down to attitude of mind. "Always look on the bright side of life". I could write about [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] but I won't. I am writing on the final leg of my land based public transport journey from Melksham to Gorlitz - I set off from home yesterday lunchtime, and I'm arriving this afternoon [and posted next morning]. 9 trains and 1 bus. Got a seat on every one, and as a bonus a up of coffee on one as well. Marvellous scenery and pictures and a handful of brief encounters with other travellers.  In fact so many pictures I don't know which to share.

Perhaps my quickest connection ever - 2 minutes at Leipzig and clearly it was a regular race around for the regulars too from platform 12 to 9.  Reminded me of the 06:32's sorta connection to Weymouth which also has a number of sprinters and also usually works.

The Ibis Budget in Leuven is perhaps the closest hotel I have ever booked to a station - not actually in the station but towering up beside the subway exit

Enjoying the early morning in Leuven with a wonderful cup of WMF coffee and a roll that felt so fresh it was just out of the oven - even though breakfast did not start officially until 5 minutes after the train left (and it was on time). Admiring the stations at Leuven and half an hour later in Liege.

Scenery - flat countries and rolling hill, crossing over rivers, high over valleys and through tunnels. Crossing rivers and seeing other trains, rolling stock are railway architecture.

Taking in the ethos and atmosphere at stations at Melksham and Paddington and Kings Cross and St Pancras.  At Leuven and Liege, Frankfurt Hbf and Cottbus. Swindon, Brussel and Leipzig too brief to enjoy.

Learning how intermediate stations can work and people can change in all directions when lines cross each other - a lesson for Yeovil perhaps.  And learning how a clock face hourly service even in rural counties generate passenger traffic.

Having a train pull up again as it started (it just happened as I typed) to let a final passenger jump on. Seeing level access for cycles and wheelchairs that don't need a ramp and don't leave a gap between the platform and train. Seeing just how many bicycles can come out of a short train, and just how many passenger can fit without overcrowding.

Seeing how quickly 2 trains can pass each other on a single line - lessons for Yeovil and Maiden Newton again.

Contrasting how staff in different places keep customers informed of delays and how those customers react

Watching how in Cottbus - a town about half the size of Swindon - Trains, buses, cycles and trams all integrate at a station that's modern, light and airy and offers a range of retail outlets at sensible prices to it becomes a true community hub and not just a place to pass through

And realising how I am and we are when I see others struggling to get around.

I had better tell you what I am not telling you about, hadn't I?
1 - train a few minutes late, connection failed, Cottbus
2 - lights not working in hotel room
3 - promised coffee service on GWR never arrived
4 - 205 bus service cancelled
5 - Kicking screaming toddler on Eurostar
6 - Long security queue then no space in waiting room at St Pancras
7 - Worst possible seating and train time on Eurostar

Arrived at my accommodation at 17:50.  Plan had been 17:15 - not bad!  Hosts had asked me to let them know an hour ahead my e.t.a which I had done and a whole new story starts.

 

I take all reports of security issues very seriously. Looking further into this right now away.

My initial educated guess, based on the evidence you have provided, was that there is possibly a link somewhere that I missed in updating last December and / or Chrome has updated and / or one or more certificates have expired.   Analysis suggests the latter two; our certificates have limited life and some have expired. I have just renewed a couple of the key ones - see if that works for the message (it will probably not fix the unread topics not being properly reported)

I am not worried, but I am very interested.   Whilst we look to make all transactions though https these days,  it's still less than 6 months we've being doing so and - you may recall - the main reason we did so was as a re-assurance; the Coffee Shop does not collect payments or personal data which needed that extra layer. Still worth having the layer but no panic needed.

I will be very interested in feedback from other members to help me analyse and gain more evidence - either a pattern of problems or a deathening silence which would suggest it's cured or a very specific issue.
 

 

I would urge the purchase of an LPG or paraffin burning room heater and fuel for at least a weeks use, 2 or 3 weeks would be better.
A possible alternative would be a backup power supply for the existing gas central heating, either a battery and inverter or a generator. That of course gives no protection against a gas supply failure.

 
I've been getting this message a few times recently when I go to my saved bookmark https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?action=unread

Anything to be worried about? If I simply refresh the page it loads but sometimes shows no unread topics even though its been 24 hours or more since I last visited the site.

 
https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/footage-released-of-east-west-rails-first-commercial-freight-train

 
I also need to panic-buy 5L of fuel for the lawnmower. What I bought last year is almost gone. The next one will be battery unless I buy a new house with substantially more lawn. Gas for heating isn't an issue at the moment. We're snookered if the electricity goes in the middle of winter - probably go stay with our daughter and her log burner. That or spend the day in bed with Mrs K. It was fun during the last power cuts.

 
And this afternoon, the halts train and its return working have been cancelled.

 
A ~20 minute programme on the line, from ITV.

Mark

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/catch-up-on-border-life/8b00hx2

 
Thanks Mark - so it's the delay in getting to the final destination that counts? Makes sense of course; I'll give it a go.

 
£38.50?

Mark

 
Today my wife had an Advance Single ticket from Swansea to Melksham, with a change at Swindon - £38.50. The Swansea-Swindon train was delayed by about 20 mins, so she missed the 5 min connection.

As the 2nd leg was a TransWilts to Melksham, the next train would have been nearly 2 hours later (assuming it wasn't cancelled ). So she caught the next mainline train to Chippenham and I drove over to pick her up from there.

So what is she entitled to claim for - the ~20 min delay in arriving at Swindon, or what would have been a 2 hour delay had she waited for the next Melksham train?

EDIT: I'd put ~15 min in the last line, corrected to ~20

 
There's a lift also from platform 1 up to the overbridge at the open end of the station too, rather than the schlep around past platform 12....

 
If you book a through ticket to St Pancras, it's only £4 extra above the ticket for Paddington from Melksham (open return, departing after 10am, with Senior railcard, done through GWR). If you come in on platforms 7 or 8, there's ramp access to "first floor" level which gets you to gate-line access to the Hammersmith & City/Circle line, after which there are lifts to the platforms.

If you arrive at any other platform it's a longer schlep around the concourse, but you get to lifts to said "first floor level" on the concourse side of the platform 13-4 gate-line, thereafter to Hammersmith & City as above.

At St Pancras, if I recall correctly, two lifts give you step-free access from tube platform to International Departures, with helpful signs directing you to the correct lifts (I think E & F) to do so.

At Paddington, whichever route you take/have to take if you do not arrive on platforms 7 or 8, I'd guess it's quite a bit further than getting to the bus stop on Praed Street, but at St Pancras it must be much easier than getting off a bus in Euston Road.

Was this mentioned in the consultation, or TfL's response to it? More to the point, have any forum members seen this route recommended or  explained on any journeys they have taken via Paddington to St Pancras International? I only found out about the availability of "Euro High Saver returns" (Open returns valid for two months from nominated date for outward journey) from helpful Goring station staff, and worked the route out myself based on experience finding the new Hammersmith & City gate-lines after they were installed back in my working days when I had to travel up to London for meetings at venues best approached via that line.

Although I've done this route (using the tube) when travelling with my wife, who has some mobility problems not requiring any aids, I am not in a position to comment on how much worse overall it is than using a 205 bus. The fact it has not been mentioned so far in this thread implies that TfL did not mention it, nor investigate its suitability as a recommended alternative, which (if true) I find unimpressive for an integrated transport authority.

Of course, none of the above helps those seeking access between other London termini without the facilities at Paddington and St Pancras. TfL's emphasis on how much they sent communications to those resident along the route indicates an assumption that their buses are only used by locals, and that it did not occur to them that this service was also an important part of the cross-London connections for rail travellers on the national rail system. (On a route linking a number of termini stations, who'd have guessed? . Perhaps us poor yokels outside the M25 don't count.   

 
Yes....and you can board any number of buses within an hour for one bus fare too.

 

I don't think the Chief Secretary's job demands an understanding of where the money is being spent - she just has to stop it wherever possible.

 
Good news for Scunthorpe too

 

The new Diane Abbott?

 
Well, they could put a bridge across the lower Dart. Not sure how they'd fit the approaches in though. They'd have to bulldoze much of Kingswear and Dartmouth.

 

Yep - It's a model on the main concourse at Frankfurt (Main) Hbf ... a change of trains and - err - a hamburger and a coffee there this morning.  For a Euro, they allow it to be driven by drivers of any age.

 
Looks nice - once they decide where they are going to put it..............

 

Ah - frankfurters am Main HBf then.

 

I'm not a hamburger today ... but there may be a similar foodie link