Just stayed at the Long Boat Inn in Penzance right next to the station. Great location and decent prices but if you want a quiet night (as I did as was starting off on St Michael's way at the crack of dawn) make sure to request a room on the second floor. First floor rooms are quite noisy due to their location above the bar area.
Also a handy place to know of for leaving luggage. They charge ^3 per item for non-residents but still a lot cheaper than normal station left luggage and nowhere else to leave luggage in the town.

Survey filled in. My responses influenced more by being a daily commuter encountering regular delays due to trespassing on tracks or people being hit by trains than by having to use level crossings regularly.

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/watch-steam-train-tornado-gives-10969024

I so wish I had been at the station then!!!

My parents have been visiting me in Reading from France for years now and we found ourselves on a train at Paddington very often. If I had a fiver for every time they have asked me which way the train was going to go... And every time my response is: if the train goes that way (pointing to the station direction) we need to jump out!
It always amuses me how unobservant and illogical some people can be 

As a French expat, in love with both my native language and the language of this beautiful island, I was horrified about this reform of the language. And all because poor darlings at school need to be spared learning anything a bit too challenging.
And simplifying the spelling at a time when spell checkers and other such validating tools are getting better and better sounds ludicrous.
Let's just hope English does not go down the same root and remains the amazing, complex language that it is! And at least you don't have to worry about too many special characters 

Rail staff did not intervene on the Thalis attack attempt. It was trained members of the public who managed to control the idiot who was going to start shooting. The staff in the train actually ran to their secure compartment and locked the door.
And having more security personnel is not a guarantee that nothing will happen: France was in a high alert state when the attacks happened in Paris and it did not prevent the number of people being killed.

So cuts in train staff will not mean an increased safety risk. Would they be checking all passengers, all bags? NO.

As for the trials being held in secret: there is currently a trial in Reading about a couple who was plotting to bomb London and is being widely reported on ( http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/terror-suspect-tested-explosives-garden-10487996, http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-couple-were-close-pulling-10462527)

The way I did at Easter: took the week off after all the warnings at Reading station and by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) mails that trains may be affected by the engineering works planned then. And in fact no issues on the trains for once and all running like clockwork. Not best pleased  to have used up holidays this way!! But better this way round than the misery of spending hours in stations for trains that are not coming, I guess!
And as I work for a company that closes down between Christmas and New Year I guess I will not be too affected by the works at the end of the year... Unless I want to spend some days in London that is. 

What a shock this morning: the 8:19 from Reading to Paddington, a normally 3 carriages train which is usually packed to the rafters and a real nightmare when alighting at Maidenhead, was this morning 5 carriages long!!
At last a change in the number of carriages that makes sense.
It did not stop the peops in Maidenhead from cramming right in front of the doors despite there being plenty of seats available on the train but all in all a much better experience than usual.
Thanks FGW^▸ (First Great Western)!

 
Thank you so much for the good laugh on a Friday morning!!

What a ridiculous idea!! I am a woman and travel on the trains on my own at all times of day and night and have never had any problems.
As ChrisB said the quiet carriages are anything but (I have seen controllers go past people on phones there and not say anything!! Had visitors over from Australia who were amazed at the level of noise in the 'quiet' carriage - even talking is not permitted in quiet carriages in Sydney).

Rather than separating the sexes, how's about going back to teaching respect for each other and good manners?

I used to commute from Twyford to Reading everyday a few years ago and seeing Norman always made my day.
I now commute from Reading to Maidenhead and a few months ago saw Norman surrounded by first aiders on platform 1. I felt horrified that something had obviously happened to him.
I shall miss seeing him and seeing someone who takes such pride in the station. It is always immaculate and a joy to go through.

De m^me.

Not familiar with the Settle-Carlisle route but the area, where the French track is, is definitely very touristic and if managed properly I see no reason why it should not be viable as a touristic attraction.

Thanks for bringing this petition to my attention    I have family in this part of France and know it well.
And for a translation by a native of the petition here goes:
No to the closure of the SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) line B^ziers - Neussargues - Clermont-Ferrand
In December 2015 France is organising in Paris a world conference on the environment, the future of the planet and the climate. The planned decision to close the line on January 1st 2016 and to keep increasing pollution with more and more buses and lorries on the roads and motorways goes against France^s clear ambitions lead in this field.
I consider the SNCF line B^ziers - Neussargues - Clermont-Ferrand useful and essential for a vibrant rural life, for a balanced distribution of the territory, for the environment and for healthy populations.
I declare being:
^   Against closing the line,
^   Against a policy for all transport on road and motorway,
^   For a public transport policy that gives priority again to rail transport,
^   For the transport by rail of goods and passengers as a must in the fight against pollution and climate change.
I strongly demand:
^   Maintenance and renovation of the national passenger train ^ Aubrac ^ as a TET (train for balanced distribution of the territory) with modern duel fuel (electricity and diesel) cars,
^   Revival of the TER passenger trains with the relevant regional communities,
^   Lifting the ban of goods trains circulation in the South by B^ziers-Marvejols,
^   Defending rail workers posts to maintain the quality of the public rail service.

What is it with passengers at Maidenhead station? I sometimes take the 8:19 from Reading for Maidenhead. Getting off that train always feels like such a fight: I have never seen passengers stuck on mass in front of the carriage doors not letting people off the train anywhere else in the country.
Has there been a common-sense bypass for all people getting on trains in Maidenhead? Surely making sure you leave a clear passage for people to get off would ensure a much quicker run of trains. Seems really odd to me. Any explanation welcome.
I read once in a survey that Maidenhead was the second worst station in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). I am sure this is one of the contributing factors for this classification.