Huh? It wasn't verbal.

I'm guessing that you have accessibility settings turned on, and it read the alert message to you. But the alert was a tone, nothing verbal

 
In the meantime...

https://mpowerkernow.org.uk/

 
Appreciated Chris.  Know a lot about this, and aim to update when I can.  Thank you.

 
Recieved here during lunch.  Why an American voice???

 
In a former life, did 50k a year in and around the South East.  Came to the conclsion that the M25 in particular was going to be the death of me. Returned home to Cornwall, and now drive no more than 10k a year.

Rarely leave Cornwall in a car these days, would rather take the train...

 
From the BBC:

 
An update, from the BBC.

Unusually, I choose not to quote from any of it: you are welcome to read whichever parts of it you find relevant.

CfN.

 
Thank you, again, for your write-up about your adventures, eightonedee.

 
I may, again, find myself in Trowbridge for this event.

My previous visit was great - see https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=30284.msg362023#msg362023

I do commend WWRUG for arranging such friendly meetings - and for just £2 on the door it's got to be worth it.

CfN.

 
The Return Journey – and some reflections on the trip

My return journey started with an 08-16 departure from Lubeck on ICE 585, another long-distance service whose eventual destination would be Munich. However today I would be leaving the service at Hannover, where after about an hour and a half’s wait, I would be taking my second train of the day, to take me all the way back to Amsterdam Centraal.

Lubeck has quite a grand-looking station, with an imposing central entrance leading to a combined foyer and footbridge crossing over all the running lines and platforms. This has a steel-framed, arched roof which has been adopted by the local pigeon population as a high-density housing scheme – watch where you step. Perhaps DB should contact their colleagues at Network Rail to enquire where they might acquire some netting to deal with the problem.

I later found out that the service I was booked on has an even worse record for timekeeping than ICE 104, the one that let me down on the way out. However, I did not have to rely on the generous change time at Hannover, as it ran almost to time despite a short delay on departure. It was quite lightly loaded on departure at Lubeck, but filled quite a bit at Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Harburg. The only mild problem was the reservation system. There was an announcement apologising for problems with the signage above seats for it shortly before we started at Lubeck, and the seat I had chosen as unreserved changed to showing as reserved all the way to Munich. My instinct that this might be wrong proved correct, and I was not disturbed all the way to Hannover. As with all journeys, the ICE train itself was comfortable and spacious.

Hannover was a busy, well-kept station with a substantial retail area at underpass level, with a good choice of outlets, mostly eateries. The main problem if you have an hour and a half to pass is the lack of seating in most of the outlets. I did find a Starbucks with seating, so a coffee and a book helped pass the time, while one of the many bakeries provided a pleasant Camembert and salad roll for an early lunchtime snack.

The next train was similar to that which took me to Osnabruck on the way out, a Dutch NS locomotive and a rake of DB coaches of similar age and specification. It was busier than the outbound service, with more arrivals and departures from the train, but still not unduly busy, with most single passengers having a double seat to themselves.  Timekeeping was not so good, as there was a stretch of engineering work where one of the double tracks was being removed for replacement resulting in a stretch of single line working. The countryside we passed through was pleasant, river valleys and wooded hills through to Osnabruck. We were 16 minutes late into Amsterdam, the last part in the Netherlands being timetabled generously for a leisurely run.

This delay reduced slightly a two-and-a-half hour wait for the London Eurostar. This time my choice of canal-view dining was an outlet called Exki, which I used on my last visit just before lockdown in 2020. I recommend the Tomato and Mascarpone soup and their lemon meringue pie. It was my first time in the UK departure and passport control area in Amsterdam, which turned out to be efficiently run with plenty of seating - much better than its Brussels equivalent, where passengers can end up standing in a queue in what looks like an airport duty-free shop.

No window seat this time, but as it was growing dark (and there was a good alignment with a window) this was not a problem. Another good, comfortable and uneventful journey, but it was 5 minutes late into St. Pancras. My final leg, from Paddington back to Goring, ran to time. So GWR won the prize for best time-keeping for this trip, having achieved a punctual trip on the way out as well!   

What are my take-away impressions from what was my first substantial German rail journey? Clearly, DB has a timekeeping problem. Problems on preceding trains are often blamed. High-speed expresses share tracks with freight traffic, that seems much heavier than in the UK. The experience of travelling by rail as a passenger is adversely impacted by social factors too.

Germany does seem to have a drink problem. I am not qualified to diagnose why any one person looks inebriated, but when you see rough-looking unkempt folk drinking beer out of cans at 8am, it seems unsurprising that they are still there in the evening, begging or making a nuisance of themselves. There is also a problem with begging, and both beggars and drunks are attracted to German stations. I was surprised that this should be the case at Lubeck, but as a tourist spot no doubt the city attracts those looking to try their luck with begging. I cannot recall similar problems from earlier trips to Dusseldorf, Cologne or Hamburg, although these were not trips by train. I do though recall when attending a conference in Hamburg some years ago and using the underground to get from my hotel to the conference centre that some of my fellow travellers bore the physical marks of alcohol abuse, even if they were well-behaved travellers at the time – I never felt unsafe.

I know that this is a difficult problem (where will these people go if moved on away from railway stations?), but I only saw any security personnel at Osnabruck, where there were three DB Police patrolling the station, and no sign of trouble.

On the positive side, it was good to see large, manned information offices open to the public even late at night, and plenty of retail outlets that remained open well into the night at stations. DB’s staff were smart and helpful too. But my experience getting to, and at, Hamburg makes it unlikely that we’ll take the train when I go back to Lubeck with my wife. I have tried to see if there might have been an alternative itinerary via Hannover for the outward journey, but DB’s online timetables seem all to be for individual stations rather than for specific routes. I might though just check again on-line before the final decision is made. 

       

 
Thread for September meeting carries on at https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/r30697.html

 
All welcome.   The Bethesda Church Hall is less than 100 yards from Trowbridge Station, and the meeting timed so that you can arrive and leave by train.

The West Witshire Rail User Group has seen huge changes over the past 20 years, being at the community heart of many of those and helping to ensure they work for passengers, as well as for the the wider industry and the world.   Where are we now, what changes we might see, and how to help steer those towards the very best for the people who use - or could use - the train and other public transport.  That session will be followed by a lighter session "every picture tells a story" and John has a number of pictures about which ... I will not spoil the fun.

All welcome - signed ups members of the group, it's included in the fee you have paid.  Guests - £2, or if you join for £8 for the year - four meetings, 4 newsletter.   As one of the really independent groups around, WWRUG does not have a trail back to being financed by local or central government or our train operators - so sorry about the membership costs.

 
You can (at least on my Android phone) set Emergency Alerts specifically to "Deliver quietly", ie without sound, independent of the overall sound setting for the phone. Can't totally vouch for it working, as I discovered after the event a completely separate setting for wireless emergency alerts which was set to "do not allow", and I was indeed not alerted in any way.  Pity I can't request a retest to check that the settings now do what I expect.

 
Pity them as the Marylebone Road will be nose-to-tail.

I think I'd be heading for the Elizabeth Line & finding a way from Farringdon (If station open) or Moorgate

 
Friend heading from Paddington to Eurostar tomorrow is not looking kindly on TfL for having arranged for the direct bus to cease this summer.

Mark

 
A few previous posts on the subject of 'flaming buses' have been merged here, to provide a definitive topic on this subject.

I hope this helps. CfN.

 

And the BBC adds

 
All three of us in this household received the alert 'on the dot' at 3:00.

Our dog didn't bat an eyelid. 

 
Several posts relating specifically to the St Blazey turntable have been merged here, to provide a definitive topic on the subject.

Hope this helps!  CfN. 

 
Those of us on the 3 mobile network have been blissfully unaware of any alerts (so far)!

 
Just a thought.......as this dispute is over their demand for a 32 hour week, are the RMT also campaigning for a reduction in wages to match the reduced hours?

 
I understand the thinking behind this but I do feel it should respect the user's desire for silence if that is what they have selected.   That is often set for a reason.   For me a vibration - which also goes to my watch - is quite sufficient.  As a result, with the current policy, such alerts are blocked on my devices.

 
An update, from the BBC:

 
The Daily Star adds more details - stated to be from the official report,

 
Today is the anniversary of the Portishead Line's closure to passengers, in 1964. 

 
From the BBC:


My highlighting. CfN.

From past experiences:

 
In your absence a group of 4 and 5 year olds from Chippenham picked up three bags of rubbish from the pick up/drop off and neighbouring areas at Melksham station having travelled by train from home.  They thoroughly enjoyed it.

 
The state of some driver's driving ability leads me to understand that feeling....a lot is apalling, especially foreign lorry drivers