I think Payton was the actor who played "Gloria" in "It Ain't Half Hot Mum", now banished form our screens for making fun of peoples' differences.

Well - I know that wasn't addressed to me, but I think I would start off by working out where we want to be in 20 years, and would then look to motivate all sectors involved - at all levels to get us there with their ownership of the project from grass roots level up.  The problem is getting the right people with the right authority in the room ... there are some ideas which should form part of a solution which results in shocked responses when you suggest them.

**Three GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) stations which - though not terminii - you can only leave in one direction on a passenger train:

Banbury, Basingstoke and Gatwick Airport. - Although I guess technically they are not GWR stations but stations GWR use and you can leave them in other directions with other TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s. Maybe need to think again

FirstGroup is set to return to the Transport for London (TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) contracted bus market after reaching a binding agreement to purchase of RATP Dev Transit London and its subsidiaries London United Busways, London Sovereign and London Transit for £90 million.

Completion is expected in H1 2025 following approval from current ultimate owner the French government. The deal will bring around 12% of the TfL red bus market along with 10 depots in central and west London, 982 buses – of which a third are battery-electric – and in the region of 3,700 staff.

I'll claim the lowest score of anyone.  I've visited only three places: Bucharest (airport), Lecce (outstanding architecture and so few tourists), and Wick (along with Thurso, on a damp day trip by train from Inverness).

I'm ... looking to get a list of where we stand on all the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) and reverts to nationalisation:

2025 Abellio East Anglia Limited 2021 rail contract
tba  Abellio East Midlands Limited 2022 rail contract

There's a lot of variation in the circumstances in which a ticket will be issued though - between bus companies and even on the same bus.

*Diamondcard passes, nope.
*Touchcard, nope.
*Ticket on phone, nope.
*Cash, yup.
*Payment via a rfid transaction and a phone, perhaps.
*Payment using a debit card, can't recall.

This doesn't sound to be as wild as... certain car park arrangements (and we don't know if this story had two sides) but this is sounding like a customer service fail - the passenge had paid and could produce evidence that she had paid - also, possibly, a problematic relationship between them and the member of staff driving the bus and taking the fares (which is one of the more underrated jobs and if both are experienced they'll know where the actual fare dodging is happening. On London's buses it's often very visible even to other passengers and is really annoying)

Mark

Mark

For all we know, the driver asked the passenger to take her  ticket, and she chose not to. Maybe her hands were full. Nut the T&Cs (which she accepted by paying for travel) require her to be in possession of a ticket while travelling. Not the companys fault if the passenger refuses to read the T&cs. she chose to get on the bus.

Reading predictions on other forums that this coming Sunday is expected to be the worst yet for crew shortage cancellations/general chaos.

Essential short-notice track repairs will block access to the Stoke Gifford Train Depot in the Bristol area on Sunday 3 November.

Although we will be able to move some trains to alternative locations in advance, fewer trains will be available for passenger service throughout the day. Services will also not be able to stop at Bristol Parkway.

This is in addition to pre-planned engineering work between Reading and Didcot which will already significantly limit our ability to run services between London Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads and South Wales.

Services that do run are expected to be extremely busy. Customers are advised to only travel if absolutely necessary on these routes.

Because of the late notice of some of these works, and the complexity of updating timetable systems, journey planners will not show every change correctly before Sunday morning.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused by this disruption. Customers with tickets for Sunday 3 November on the affected routes will be able to use them to travel on Saturday 2 or Monday 4 November. If you prefer, you can claim a full refund. 

Services between Devon/Cornwall and London Paddington are expected to operate as normal.

For the latest information and to check your journey visit GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).com/check.

Here's Network Rail's take on today's events, together with a cab's eye view of some of the route.

https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/first-train-completes-test-run-between-oxford-and-milton-keynes-for-east-west-rail

I wonder how the drivers & trainers are trained on anew route that no one's worked?