Recent Public Posts - [guest]
| Rail replacement Germany/ Czechia In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [373026/31707/52] Posted by LiskeardRich at 19:21, 3rd March 2026 |      |
Has any one experience of rail replacement buses in Germany?
I have an itinerary for Berlin to Prague on 17th March.
I’ve just received an email saying my train is cancelled and telling me to use an alternative itinerary.
It appears to contain a rail replacement bus between Dresden and Usti nad Labem on the new itinerary.
Is this likely to be a pleasant option?
My travel plans are flexible and I could change my plans completely.
(The irony being I’m driving rail replacement for 2 weeks out of Plymouth)
| Re: Project Churchward - future regional fleet for the West, new rolling stock to replace DMUs In "Looking forward - the next 2, 5, 10 and 20 years" [373025/27482/40] Posted by Kernow Otter at 19:01, 3rd March 2026 | |
Government (s) not investing in South Western transport? Who would have thought it.....
| Re: Why has the world's first hydrogen double-decker fleet failed? In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373024/31681/5] Posted by Western Pathfinder at 18:38, 3rd March 2026 | |
Don’t forget the carbon based life forms onboard.
| Re: Cardiff woman dodges flight luggage fee by posting her clothes In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373023/31706/5] Posted by Ralph Ayres at 17:55, 3rd March 2026 | |
To me it sort of makes sense that it's cheaper that way. The clothes have several days to be carried by the most cost-effective and efficient means rather than space having to be provided at the same time as the passenger is travelling. It's clearly less convenient though and I'm glad the railways haven't generally tightened up on luggage carrying, although Lumo have started down that slippery slope.
| Re: Project Churchward - future regional fleet for the West, new rolling stock to replace DMUs In "Looking forward - the next 2, 5, 10 and 20 years" [373022/27482/40] Posted by John D at 17:38, 3rd March 2026 | |
Dft have updated their procurement spreadsheet March 2026
Against the GWR entry the estimated commencement date is now TBC (which presumably is Government speak for not imminent)
Procurement of rolling stock for Thames Valley / North Downs and West (including options)
Replacement of all existing DMUs (and possibly EMUs), excluding the IET fleet, with Battery Electric Multiple Units (BEMUs) and/or diesel multi-mode units.
Potential for this procurement to include units for other non-GWR routes.
Replacement of all existing DMUs (and possibly EMUs), excluding the IET fleet, with Battery Electric Multiple Units (BEMUs) and/or diesel multi-mode units.
Potential for this procurement to include units for other non-GWR routes.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69a6a120bc86a487b52c71a9/dft-future-commercial-contracts-dft-partners.csv
Rather disappointing that replacement trains appear to have been pushed into the long grass
| Re: Direct London trains from Shropshire 'could start in 2026' In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [373019/31388/28] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 15:26, 3rd March 2026 | |
From the BBC:
What is different about new direct rail bid?
Julia Buckley said Shrewsbury has been 'overlooked for so long'
Times have changed since Shropshire last had a direct rail link to London.
The county has not had a direct train link to the capital since Avanti West Coast stopped its single daily service in 2024 because, it said, of low passenger numbers. Before that, another direct service which connected Shrewsbury with Marylebone ended in 2011.
But Julia Buckley, the MP for Shrewsbury, said there was renewed interest in public transport and in improving rail infrastructure in the county. She was among a group of people who travelled by train to London to make the case for a new direct service between London and Wrexham and to deliver a petition to Downing Street. Public transport user numbers had "really bounced back" since the Covid pandemic, she said, and businesses were also demanding more trains to the capital.
Buckley hoped the "Hollywood factor" could add some sparkle to the bid, believing there was new interest in Wrexham as a destination, since the football club was taken over by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR), led by international rail firm Alstom, submitted a bid at the end of last year to provide daily trains.
An initial bid for five daily services in each direction was rejected by the Office of Rail and Road, which said it had concerns over congestion on the line.
In the new application, WSMR reduced the number of daily services to three, with the option of a fourth in the future and included an additional stop at Wellington, Shropshire.
WSMR's mobilisation director Darren Horley said the aim was "linking towns and cities which aren't currently connected".
Previous services had been criticised for the time it took to reach the capital, but Horley said the new service would be quicker, taking about four hours from Wrexham to London.
(BBC article continues)
Julia Buckley said Shrewsbury has been 'overlooked for so long'
Times have changed since Shropshire last had a direct rail link to London.
The county has not had a direct train link to the capital since Avanti West Coast stopped its single daily service in 2024 because, it said, of low passenger numbers. Before that, another direct service which connected Shrewsbury with Marylebone ended in 2011.
But Julia Buckley, the MP for Shrewsbury, said there was renewed interest in public transport and in improving rail infrastructure in the county. She was among a group of people who travelled by train to London to make the case for a new direct service between London and Wrexham and to deliver a petition to Downing Street. Public transport user numbers had "really bounced back" since the Covid pandemic, she said, and businesses were also demanding more trains to the capital.
Buckley hoped the "Hollywood factor" could add some sparkle to the bid, believing there was new interest in Wrexham as a destination, since the football club was taken over by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR), led by international rail firm Alstom, submitted a bid at the end of last year to provide daily trains.
An initial bid for five daily services in each direction was rejected by the Office of Rail and Road, which said it had concerns over congestion on the line.
In the new application, WSMR reduced the number of daily services to three, with the option of a fourth in the future and included an additional stop at Wellington, Shropshire.
WSMR's mobilisation director Darren Horley said the aim was "linking towns and cities which aren't currently connected".
Previous services had been criticised for the time it took to reach the capital, but Horley said the new service would be quicker, taking about four hours from Wrexham to London.
(BBC article continues)
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373016/31701/23] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 14:13, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by grahame | |
7: a wild guess - Sudbrook, where there was a branch line to bring coal to the pumping station for the Severn Tunnel
Sorry - it isn't. Sudbrook is on my "wanna visit" list mind, so may crop up in a future quiz.
I will confess to having some insider information here, as I do know the main purpose of grahame's recent visit to Wales.
7. Ruthin. More specifically, Railway Terrace, Station Road, in Ruthin. See https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/ll15-1bt.html
By the way, it's spelled Ruthin but pronounced 'Rithin'.
| Re: Cardiff woman dodges flight luggage fee by posting her clothes In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373015/31706/5] Posted by bobm at 14:06, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Chris from Nailsea, Mark A, Western Pathfinder, TonyN, JayMac | |
I did a variation of that on my All Line Rover tours, posted my clothes home as used them. In theory it meant my luggage got lighter as I went, in practice the space was filled by souvenirs.
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373013/31701/23] Posted by grahame at 13:25, 3rd March 2026 | |
Is 10. Swansea?
I can’t think of many locations where you would see a Class 150 sharing a platform with a Class 197.
I can’t think of many locations where you would see a Class 150 sharing a platform with a Class 197.
Yes, it is.
I wondered whether to use that picture as some sort of caption competition - in speech bubbles, what might the two trains be saying to each other?
| Re: Seagulls: particularly in Bath, Bristol, Cornwall and Minehead - ongoing discussion In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [373011/19857/31] Posted by IndustryInsider at 12:42, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Witham Bobby, TaplowGreen, matth1j, Western Pathfinder, TonyN, JayMac | |
Another heart warming story from deepest darkest Somerset!
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373010/31701/23] Posted by brooklea at 12:29, 3rd March 2026 | |
Is 10. Swansea?
I can’t think of many locations where you would see a Class 150 sharing a platform with a Class 197.
| Re: Why has the world's first hydrogen double-decker fleet failed? In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373009/31681/5] Posted by Red Squirrel at 12:04, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Mark A | |
On the other hand, things can go somewhat awry when too much hydrogen is combined with carbon: from Wikipedia. 
Without wishing to appear picky, I suspect that the ruling reaction in this case was more like:
2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O
...so, stoiciometrically speaking, carbon won't have had much of a rôle. In reality it will have been much more messy than this as air is nearly 80% nitrogen; a lot of those hydrogen molecules will have given up hunting for oxygen to bond to and the reaction will have formed all manner of by-products, with NOx being among them.
The main carbon-bearing component of air is good old carbon dioxide, but this makes up only 0.03%. The skin of the airship (It's not a balloon ... It's an airship ... an airship ... d'you hear?) will no doubt have had organic materials in it, but it is still unlikely that many hydrocarbons were produced by the Hindenburg disaster.
| Re: Cardiff woman dodges flight luggage fee by posting her clothes In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373008/31706/5] Posted by PrestburyRoad at 12:00, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Witham Bobby | |
PLA also included the additional option of collection and delivery, which made it a door-to-door service. I remember using this when I was a student in the early 1970s and my parents had no other way of getting my trunk to and from university at the beginning and end of each academic year. Going further back, my mother used the same service and the very same trunk in the same way in the 1930s. I still have the trunk stored away in my garage.
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373007/31701/23] Posted by grahame at 11:37, 3rd March 2026 | |
7: a wild guess - Sudbrook, where there was a branch line to bring coal to the pumping station for the Severn Tunnel
Sorry - it isn't. Sudbrook is on my "wanna visit" list mind, so may crop up in a future quiz.
| Re: Cardiff woman dodges flight luggage fee by posting her clothes In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373006/31706/5] Posted by Witham Bobby at 11:25, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by PrestburyRoad | |
Highly reminiscent of the old PLA - Passengers Luggage in Advance - system.
You'd take your luggage to the departure station a day or two before you travelled. Dropped it off and paid a not huge fee. Labelled up with the destination station and PLA labels.
When you later arrived at the destination station, your lugage would be waiting for you to claim, at the parcels office at smaller stations, or the luggage office of bigger places
The luggage was conveyed by parcels services. Either dedicated parcels trains (remember those?), or in the guards van of passenger trains
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373005/31701/23] Posted by PrestburyRoad at 11:05, 3rd March 2026 | |
7: a wild guess - Sudbrook, where there was a branch line to bring coal to the pumping station for the Severn Tunnel
| Re: Barriers to bus and tram travel - lessons from Florence In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [373004/31691/52] Posted by Noggin at 09:45, 3rd March 2026 | |
It's good to research local transport in advance of your trip
In many (maybe all) German cities if you buy a one day ticket it needs to be validated before travel on the train (or once you get on the bus) and you may be able to use any door on the bus without showing your ticket to the driver.
In the UK, do you just tap your debit card when you get on or do you have to state your destination? Depends on the town / city / bus company.
It's not just tourists that get confused.
In many (maybe all) German cities if you buy a one day ticket it needs to be validated before travel on the train (or once you get on the bus) and you may be able to use any door on the bus without showing your ticket to the driver.
In the UK, do you just tap your debit card when you get on or do you have to state your destination? Depends on the town / city / bus company.
It's not just tourists that get confused.
Indeed.
For instance, both Lisbon and Bilbao have handy stored value travel cards which are much better value than debit card PAYG. However in Bilbao, a family can tap the same card on multiple times, whilst in Lisbon, every family member needs their own card. Fortunately the Lisbon revenue controllers on the trams seem clued up to the fact and will fairly patiently point out the error and point the user at the card machine.
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373003/31701/23] Posted by TonyN at 09:40, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by grahame | |
5: Llandrindod Wells
| Re: Why has the world's first hydrogen double-decker fleet failed? In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373002/31681/5] Posted by Oxonhutch at 09:35, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Mark A | |
To be fair, hydrogen is fine as a fuel - as long as you remember to hook it up with a few carbon molecules...
Indeed the energy density of hydrocarbons is their leading property - especially those liquid at room temperature and pressure.
Hydrogen's value though should not be as a fuel per se, but a chemical precursor to many varied chemical reactions and products. Industry produces this hydrogen every day for these essential processes but often in an inefficient and highly polluting way. This is where green or gold hydrogen (electrolysis or natural/geological H2) should be being used, not powering buses or trains.
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373000/31701/23] Posted by grahame at 09:25, 3rd March 2026 | |
How we are doing ...
1. Rhymney - Chris from Nailsea
2. ??
3. Holyhead - TonyN
4. Llandudno - stuving
5. ?? (Yes, Heart ow Wales, but where?)
6. Severn Tunnel Junction - brooklea
7. ??
8. Sugar Loaf - Western Pathfinder
9. ??
10. ??
... anyone like to have a second go / we are 24 hours later.
| Re: TravelWatch SouthWest General Meeting, Friday 6 March 2026 In "Diary - what's happening when?" [372998/30742/34] Posted by grahame at 08:28, 3rd March 2026 | |
Does anyone know what the Agenda for this 6/3/26 meeting is and who the Speakers are and on what topics as I can’t find these details on the TWSW Website.
