(Accompanied by SWTSMBO who indulged in some ‘Retail Therapy’ while I was at Edgbaston.)

10/09/26 - Exeter To Birmingham
DIG 1342 (OT) > EXD 1354 (OT) : 2T20 EXM > PGN : 1 x 166/2 (3 Cars)
EXD 1427 (1429) > BHM 1655 (1658) : 1S53 PNZ > EDB : 1 x 221/1 + 1 x 220/0 (9 Cars)

Tickets (All With Senior Railcard, 2 Pax, Price Per Person):
DIG > BRI Advance Single £7.35
BRI > BHM Advance Single £11.55

2T20 not busy. Tickets/railcards not checked.
At EXD the usual PIS Train Formation display for 1S53 was absent. We, along I suspect with lots of other pax, used RTT (or similar) to ascertain approximately where to stand on P5. Big mistake - when the train arrived it proved to be in the reverse order of what RTT showed resulting in a passenger melee on the platform. (NB. On RTT the information has since been corrected). Our coach (D) was virtually full.Tickets but not railcards checked. In the front unit (221135) the catering trolley only provided a static service in the first coach F.
At BRI there was a PA announcement instructing any pax without a reservation to head for the rear 4-car unit which was apparently completely unreserved.
Having left PLY on time 1S53 started to lose time after Teignmouth and, despite timetabled extended stops of 6 minutes at BRI and 5 at BPW, still arrived at BHM 3 late. A delay leaving CNM seems to have been the main culprit.

(Overnight stay - HIE City Centre - with dinner at the rather splendid Tamatanga restaurant)

11/09/26 - Cricket/Shopping + Birmingham To Exeter
BHM 1912 (1920) > EXD 2145 (2151) : 1V66 EDB > BRI/PLY : 2 x 220/0 BHM > BRI, 1 x 220/0 BRI > PLY
(EXD 2152 (2151) > DIG 2203 (2202) : 2F35 Missed Connection)
EXD 2240 (2244) > DIG 2256 (OT) : 2F36 PGN > EXM : 1 x 165/1 (3 Cars)

Tickets (All With Senior Railcard, 2 Pax, Price Per Person):
BHM > BRI Advance Single £11.55
BRI > DIG Advance Single £7.35

1V66 had been previously delayed after Tamworth and arrived at BHM 8 down. The timetabled 5 minute wait did not produce any delay reduction. Nothing much changed until an obvious longer wait than expected at BPW led to a departure 10 down and an 8 minute late arrival at BRI. No matter; the booked 13 minute stop, where the rear unit was detached, resulted in a departure delay of only 2 minutes. Various presumed signal checks delayed the train to a 6 minute late arrival at EXD where GWR managed, not for the first time in similar circumstances, to annoy the hell out of me.
1V66 was scheduled for a 2145 arrival. 2F35 was timetabled to leave for Exmouth at 2152. The actual numbers were 2151 & 2151. So we, and other pax with Avocet Line destinations, were 2/3rds of the way across the footbridge from P4 > P1 when the GWR dispatcher evidently decided it would be OK to let 2F35 go slightly early. One can only hope that the full implementation of GBR will stop this sort of thing (fat chance). So we patiently waited for the subsequent 2F36 2240 Exmouth departure. Which, just to annoy everybody even more, was held for nearly 5 minutes to collect pax from the 12 late 1C96 ex-PAD GWR service.
I think the behaviour of the EXD platform staff qualifies as completely crap customer service. National Rail? Really?

BTW we made the entire BHM >DIG journey without any ticket or railcard checks.

 

I don't think I've ever used that phrase. 

 
Here (I believe within the rules of the open government data license) are the headlines

 

Member's mirror (there so we can read back in a decade and see what has been achieved, long after the original has gone) at https://www.passenger.chat/mirror/LTRS_holb_2026.pdf

And I will flush-flip the initials in the title.

 

In essence then, "GBR" only fully covers England, given devolution of many rail matters to Scotland and Wales, and has the potential to be further diluted by current and upcoming regional devolution........there will, however, be "expectations" of devolved administrations.

 
LTRS maybe?

 
Just published by DfT, a briefing paper for House of Lords called Long Term Rail Strategy

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6aaa782344ec1aa417346b36/proposals-for-long-term-rail-strategy.pdf

Plenty to discuss .......

 
Ellesmere Port was built, but not the Ellesmere Canal as originally envisaged. It was going to be a more or less north-south route via Chester, Wrexham and Ruabon, then on to Trevor, Ellesmere and on to Shrewsbury. But the Chester-Trevor section was never built, nor the Ellesmere-Shrewsbury section. Eventually a rather indirect route was provided via what we now call the Shropshire Union main line and the Llangollen Canal, joining up some of the bits of the Ellesmere that had been constructed.

 

I've never tried to hide my rum.

 
Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading

Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Reading fewer trains are able to run on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes. Disruption is expected until 11:30 16/09.

 
While we're on off-topic, another Port that is a long way from the town after which it was named is Ellesmere Port, some 30 miles from Ellesmere.  Though to be fair they did have a direct link, namely the Ellesmere Canal.

 

Not much good for signalling by by means of coloured lights, or use as an emergency tail light.

 
We have a little LED live departure board in the dining room that makes it easy to check.

I do often keep an eye on RTT a few hours before to see if an outbound (i.e. to Worcester/Hereford) journey has been cancelled, in case the train was due to form the inbound service I was planning to catch to Oxford.

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/port has no fewer that 10 definitions of "port".  Does this place produce a fortified wine?   Is there a business there that translates software between languages and operating systems?  Is there a place called Starboard Douglas on the other side of the village?

 

I'm sure I recognise a few Forum members in that picture - was it produced at an AGM? 

 
Ah... off-topic... a puzzling one from last week: the terminus station called "Port Douglas" - not particularly near the village of Douglas in Lanarkshire, and in no way a port (or particularly near what was for a short term, a canal) but very much a railhead for extractive industries that have now moved on.

 
I do wonder if the lobbing a metal object over a fence at a railway substation in UK last week, which has caused so many problems for electric trains to Paddington should be deemed sabotage.    Unless a fluke happened was clearly going to cause damage.

Vandalism was official version, but that feels wrong because it clearly created a fire (maybe arson ?) causing damage.

I think there is a section in Victorian Railways Act about causing damage that is likely to lead to a fatal accident or endanger a passenger.

 

That "express" pauses long enough for loo breaks:

8 minutes at Swindon
9 minutes at Westbury
12 minutes at Salisbury

From https://swindonian.me/2024/02/19/33-swindon-railway-station-1842/


^* - no longer a loco change - but probably a crew change


The Buffet, Swindon Station (1863)
George Elgar Hicks (English, 1824 – 1914
via https://artvee.com/dl/the-buffet-swindon-station/


Image is in Public Domain (?)

 
I/we have a 10-15 minute walk to Digby & Sowton so the status of the service to Exeter Central / St.Davids (or very occasionally further on) is always checked. Where onward connections are involved I always use RTT to see whether the subsequent train is on time or not.

 
Maidenhead Boyne Hill station opened 1 Aug 1854 closed 1 Nov1871
Maidenhead Riverside station opened June 4, 1838, renamed Maidenhead and Taplow in 1854 closed 1 Nov 1871

 
Crossed legs express!

05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:10
Facilities on the 05:11 Gloucester to Southampton Central due 08:10.
Toilet facilities are not available. Disabled toilet facilities are not available.
This is due to a fault on this train.

 

Has me straying off topic

Llanbister ROAD ... about 10kms from Llanbister

London ROAD ... but how far from London?

 
I find it ironic that in German - that language that concatonates syllables to make complex new words - they are making a feature of LlanfairPG

 
Clearing and repairing the track is going to take over a week. The first stage is removing the two damaged - or in one case wrecked - DMUs. SNCF are using the same method as NR did at Lewes - the two-Kirow ballet. While the five vehicles on the track are being moved, a lot of trees have to be felled so the two jibs can be slewed far enough to reach the other vehicle.

 


On line systems typically let staff look up cancellations all across the network; they can find the proof.

Reading the statement with a pedant's eye in answer to your questions

* London stations to Exeter "via Honiton" WILL be accepted via Taunton.

* Sheffield to Taunton "not via London" WILL be accepted via London but not on East Midlands Trains

* It says "ticket" singular, so a split ticket booked journey must still stick to the "must call at" rule.

And adding some thoughts of my own

* Nothing is said about failed connections - only cancellations. So a late running train that fails to connect with another operator is not covered.  For example, a Penzance to Cheltenham Spa Advance ticket on GWR to Plymouth then XC but where the train from Cornwall is late - it does NOT cover onward travel by GWR from Plymouth and you must wait for the next Cross Country service.

* Can we treat a train that stops short as a cancellation - for example, if a Bristol to Portsmouth passenger who finds his (advance ticket) train gets cancelled beyond Southampton - I'm unclear as to whether he can carry on with SWR or Southern or must wait for the next GWR service an hour later

* A passenger planning to travel from Melksham to Bristol Parkway, tickets only available via Bath Spa, CAN travel via Swindon if the service via Bath Spa is cancelled - and indeed may want to because it's much faster

* Passengers from stations with occasional services cannot take advantage of the scheme if the next train isn't until more than two hours later.   Menheniot, Pilning, some gaps at Melksham, smaller stations on the halts train in Oxfordshire

* I am unclear as to how this works with tickets sold on virtual branch lines - a ticket from Kingsbridge to Kings Norton, for example.

I am probably overthinking this and in practise I find staff pretty reasonable when things go wrong.

 

Yes, though that only needs to be one person involved in the planning. But the degree of planning and the number of people involved does say "political group" (including workers' ones). We don't seem to be using "splinter group" any more  - is there a current equivalent? 

 
...and a degree of insider knowledge as to how railways technically work.

 

I agree: the word used should be 'alternative'. 

CfN. 

 
In my retirement, I generally don't 'book in advance' for rail travel: it's no longer time critical, as it used to be when I had an important team meeting to attend in London, for example.

Nailsea & Backwell, on the main line, benefits from a rather reliable service, these days: half hourly services into Bristol Temple Meads, for example, from which there will probably be alternative options if there is any disruption.

I will be taking the three trains from Nailsea to Kemble tomorrow (two changes, at Bristol and Swindon).  I will only be looking at 'train running' so I can inform my family that I may be a few minutes late for our lunch.

CfN. 

 

It seems like only yesterday when you first said "Manana Manana"