Work on platform extensions were also taking place.

Not sure YKN. All I do know is I booked tickets a few weeks back (Advance) and the times had since changed by a few minutes to allow a diverted Bristol train to travel in front of a WoE train that I’m travelling on because our train stops at Newbury and Pewsey.

Here’s your answer YKN:
https://www.gwr.com/~/media/gwr/pdfs/planned-engineering/2018/week-38-saturday-15-to-friday-21-december-2018-v2.pdf?la=en

My preference for DC^▸ (Direct Current) extensions would be to use overhead wires. The kit for OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") was in fact developed for DC, with the contact wire gauges of 107mm2 and 120mm2 being used for 550V and 750V tramways/LR. I imagine that 3rd rail extension costs would have tracked with OLE, still giving OLE a marginal advantage. It would need either dedicated stock or a second LV pantograph but would prepare the way for seamless 25kV conversion.

Another link is the use of 33kV supplies to the 750V substations. It seems that the only real difference in equipment specifications between 25kV and 33kV systems is the transformer turns ratio.

I would like to see progress in my lifetime.

OTC

Not said here before - that's your first post - welcome to the forum!   

Also as an immigrant from third rail land, I really do look and wonder at all this string!

Staff memo from Mark Hopwood, posted here as he seems unwilling to keep his passengers informed:

"Getting our new Class 800 and 802 Intercity Express trains into service has been far from plain sailing.  I recognise that there are still daily challenges when working with the IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) which are impacting customer experiences.  We're focused on resolving these problems and are working hard with Hitachi to solve them one by one.

I'm pleased to say that improvements to the on-board experience are coming very soon.  New labels for quiet carriages and bike storage have been agreed and will be fitted retrosepctively to our IET fleet, making it clearer where they should travel and helping colleagues give accurate information.

Opearational issues are also being addressed - we've now accepted more than half of the sets we've ordered, driver availability is improving as our driver training programme progresses, and problems with train formations will get better as our train plan settles."

Make of it what you will.

You should see 800001 and 800002 on the network next week freeing up some more duties and by January shortforms should be at 1 or 2 a day due to stock shortage. All five car 802s are now in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) however they are only slowly putting them onto lines and through Swindon there should be no HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) by march excluding substitution and empty stock. HSTs will solely be diagramed onto B and H.

This time next month, excluding substitution and STP (Short Term Plan Diagrams) all services to and from Cheltenham should be Intercity Express operated, and the line will he the first to see full IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) introduction.

From January there should only be 5 HST Diagrams to Wales and Bristol (possibly 4) and slowly going by March. No HSTs planned for Cotswolds for after January.

Thanks to the new timetable  now being postponed to December 3000, there will be more available units than required between February and December meaning that to see a short form it would be very rare.