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[151] It's not the train that's the problem...
[113] [OTD] Senior Railcard launched 1st April 1975
[86] [OTD] 2nd April 1962 - First Panda Crossing
[73] On this day. South Australia's triple decker train experiment.
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1  All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: [OTD] Senior Railcard launched 1st April 1975 on: Today at 10:54:42
I was paid cash in hand, by the foreman down in the pub on a Friday afternoon, at one of my first jobs. Quite extraordinary now when I think back to it. And certainly remember £1 notes.

More on topic, I have a physical card, so renew it each year at the ticket office. I did have a 3 year card until you had to have that on a phone, and reverted back to an annual card. Happy to pay the extra for that to help keep the ticket office open.
I have a plastic 3 year senior card issued only last July, has that been changed since then? 

My mistake, having a senior moment.  Cheesy

What changed was that ticket offices were stopped from issuing 3 year cards, and can now onlu issue annual ones.
2  All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: [OTD] 2nd April 1962 - First Panda Crossing on: Today at 08:33:37
You have overlooked Toucans, where two can cross at the same time - pedestrians and cyclists (unless they have been renamed in the years since I was involved in installing them).
3  All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: [OTD] Senior Railcard launched 1st April 1975 on: Today at 08:29:24
I was paid cash in hand, by the foreman down in the pub on a Friday afternoon, at one of my first jobs. Quite extraordinary now when I think back to it. And certainly remember £1 notes.

More on topic, I have a physical card, so renew it each year at the ticket office. I did have a 3 year card until you had to have that on a phone, and reverted back to an annual card. Happy to pay the extra for that to help keep the ticket office open.
4  Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Re: TransWilts Anniversary - formed 14 years ago - 26th March 2010 on: March 26, 2025, 16:56:15
Are there any campaigns to get extra stations opened on this line?

I don't know the exact location of the old Holt station, but there should be a little local demand there, and The Courts at Holt would benefit from more people arriving in a sustainable manner.

I don't know if there was ever a station at Lacock (I haven't investigated that one, but would assume there was) but obviously that attracts many tourists, and for cyclists it would open up some wonderful quiet cycling country. I am aware the line is a little way away from the village (three quarters of a mile?) and involves crossing a main road, but the crossing there already needs a safe crossing place for cyclists. (It is quite a while since I cycled that way, so things may have changed since I last did).

5  Journey by Journey / London to Swindon and Bristol / Re: Bristol to London - via Trowbridge on: March 26, 2025, 16:40:40
Now when did that start running... it passes through Bath but it doesn't stop there, something that must be good for a quiz question.  The 7:40am arrival into Paddington from Bradford and Trowbridge must be pretty useful for people that need it, though it still takes a little over two hours from Bradford.

When the Bristol - Waterloo trains were axed, various people who should have known better made a play on "It's OK, BoA» (Bradford-on-Avon - next trains) and Trowbridge still have a through service to London", omitting to mention that it runs at, for the target market, silly o'clock & with peak time fares (and didn't run to Waterloo for that matter, and indeed, no through train for the return).

Mark

Oh bugger. When I read the first previous comment I immediately thought I must try that out one day.  Sad
6  Journey by Journey / TransWilts line / Re: 2025 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury on: March 23, 2025, 09:56:34
is it just me?

No - it's very annoying when you change your plans to take a less convenient (or, based on recent experience, more inconvenient Smiley ) form of commute and then find out you needn't have bothered.

Thank you for that confirmation.

There are times I feel that I am reflecting the needs / concerns of members and and the many people I talk with who are not Coffee Shop members - and that's good.    There are also time that I find myself wondering if I am the only one concerned at something - in which case I should probably move on from that issue.

Have just seen this. Yes this is definitely an issue which needs resolving. I have often gone to an unmanned station and been confronted with a screen just saying the service I am aiming to catch is cancelled. It has often meant that I have had to cancel a trip I was intending to make, or if possible to very hurriedly find another way of making the trip (for me this has often been to cycle very quickly from Oldfield Park to Bath Spa). It is exceptionally annoying to find that the service did run after all (at Oldfield Park it has often been that the train was running but late and was missing out our station). Screens, announcements and websites need to have much more information given in these circumstances.
7  All across the Great Western territory / Looking forward - the next 5, 10 and 20 years / Re: A move to longer trains? on: March 12, 2025, 11:21:23
I would argue that there is a much greater need for longer trains on lines like the Kyle line. My reasoning is that on what are essentially 'tourist lines' the demand to have a window seat will be much greater than on a commuter line. It can be frustrating to travel up to somewhere scenic, and find you can't get near a window to get the best view possible.

Many services run long trains to stations with platforms that are not long enough for all doors to open, so I don't see why longer platforms per se are necessary before longer trains are introduced.
8  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Over the country towards Skye on: March 06, 2025, 21:12:08
If they are in order, 5 has to be Duirinish.
9  Journey by Journey / Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall / Re: Looe timetable changes this Summer on: March 05, 2025, 20:28:39
Then that is what they should do.

Indeed they should.

Out of interest, has that ever happened elsewhere? (providing a taxi for a regular traveller who loses their regular service and has no other feasible choice for their regular journey).
10  Journey by Journey / Shorter journeys in South and West Wales / Re: Connectivity - north to south Wales on: March 05, 2025, 08:55:22
I can see there being a demand for a north to SW Wales service, but not to the extent of 8 coaches a day. Much of the demand will be capable of being satisfied using the existing T1 and 2 services, so as already said, tweaking these plus maybe a couple of through services that are very limited stop, would I would have thought, be a more sensible way of matching demand to supply.

Improving train times, and more importantly, providing greater capacity (ie more carriages) from north to SE Wales would satisfy the greater demand for a reasonably quick and comfortable service from north Wales to Cardiff and Swansea.

I don't think long-distance coach services can ever really fully replace long-distance trains. There will be many people who find being in a coach for several hours (even if it has toilet facilities) very uncomfortable or completely impossible. How would they accommodate wheelchair users and others of limited mobility? What about luggage space (which the current trains fail to provide adequately)?
11  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Renaming Stations [OTD, 14 Feb 1889 and 2014} on: February 17, 2025, 08:22:45
Quote
Maybe stations should regain the Halt in their name

... and Platform. Although I am not entirely clear of the definitions of either.

https://branchline.uk/rail_chronology/Halts.html tells us something of the history of the naming "halt" but does not differentiate between "halt" and "platform".  A post 14 years ago on railforum suggested

Quote
A halt was an unstaffed station, with no goods facilities. However not all railway companies used this term. A "platform" was staffed but at a minimal level and again with no goods facilities. The term is not officially used now

I took a "halt" as an optional call, and a "platform" as a minimal facility but at least certain specified trains called there.   Places like Dilton Marsh are clearly halts to my mind.   And if the name "platform" issued it should surely be pluralised on double track lines?

I thought Halt was a station where so few trains stopped that when one was approaching, passengers would say "Halt, who goes there?"  Grin
12  All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Re: How many countries have you visited? Used a train in? on: February 15, 2025, 09:37:32
My personal answer would be 10 and 9. The ten would be:

UK (United Kingdom), Portugal, France, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Germany.

The only one I haven't travelled by train in isn't the one that might seem to be the most obvious.  Smiley

Had I answered this before our Interrail trip last year, the second answer would have been 5.
13  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Plymouth Argyle 1 - 0 Liverpool on: February 10, 2025, 21:35:23
To follow that, Plymouth have been given an away tie at Manchester City.

What chance a second toppling of a giant?
14  All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: Three new bus routes for Bristol on: February 07, 2025, 12:47:56
That is good news.

I think service 36 is a restoration of a service that used to run, though possibly not that precise route.
15  Journey by Journey / Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall / Re: A journey in the faaar west - Penzance to St Ives - 28th Jan 2025 on: January 31, 2025, 17:04:34
If you do find yourself having to wait at St Erth for up to 30 minutes, what facilities does the station have? Waiting room, toilets, any refreshments?

We will be heading to St Ives in March so would be good to know.
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