Sounds to me that because the train was busy the TM^‡(resolve) wasn't able to reach the panel at the front of the train to allow the TGS to be platformed, bear in mind he/she needs to be at the rear to dispatch at PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains).  So the TM and driver probably agreed at some point to leave the TGS out as it's easier to get to the front of A or rear of B rather than the opposite end of the train. 

And I want to think that the TM knew perfectly well that none of the cycles on board was for TWY^▸ (Twyford station)?

I think I can explain the ridiculous timeframe.

If it's the same time of system installed in other ex-Wessex stations, the footage can only be downloaded by staff from Telent.  They have to do it locally at the station and even when they are connected directly to the network in the same cabinet it takes forever to do.  And that assuming it doesn't fail and they have to start again!  It helps a lot if the exact time and date can be given as that way they only have to download a couple-of-hour chunk, but I had in the past engineers with me from about 8 in the morning till maybe 5 in the afternoon to download a whole night footage.

And this is a system that was installed about 4 years ago!

The problem with the hump at Exton is that nobody seems to want to use it, when the train arrives everybody is waiting at either side of it!!!

And St Thomas apparently now is going ahead, they had some kind of green light and is happening.  No idea of when, though!

Crediton and Portsmouth Arms still waiting, too.

By franchise commitments the timetables must be available in printed format at least 30 days before they start , so they should start to arrive to booking offices sometime next week.  I guess they'll be available online about the same time.

Hope this helps!

When we saw the Mouchel thing we asked what it was. 

In brief, it's the weather forecasting system in use for the seawall, it mainly records the wind and the waves and generates a graph.  When both peak we have a problem, and they are peaking badly between 19.00 and 21.00 this evening.  It presents the information in a colour scale, green being normal, blue a bit bad, amber would be Level 1 or 2 depending on the scale, red is level 2 and black is black.

The line is not expected to reopen until at least thursday, friday being more likely.  And the reason is because as far as we know NR^» (Network Rail - home page) are not doing any repair works until after the high tide tonight as they think it will be a pointless exercise.

If the railcard bought online is in paper stock, the answer is yes.

Same as before, if the expiry date can be read take it to any ticket office (or to one that issues that type of railcard, i.e. if it's a Network Railcard don't take it to St Austell) and it will be replaced there and then.

If it's so faded that it cannot be seen, then take the receipt that shows the expiry date and the issue date and it will also be done there and then.

If you are not sure or you want to avoid a potential second trip, take the receipt with you anyway.  In both cases you'll have to fill in a replacement railcard form and surrender the old railcard.  The ticket office should NOT keep the receipt or charge you any fee in any case, they should endorse the form as "Railcard Faded" and attach the old one.

Please note that in the case of (at least) the Devon & Cornwall Railcard there isn't any receipt, so you MUST take to any ticket office in Devon or Cornwall before the date fades completely.

The fading is to do with the manufacturer of the stock, at the time when the previous supplier (Bemrose Booth) went into administration and the new supplier (Magnadata) took over.  Apparently they didn't use the correct call it paper to make the railcard stock, I think it was the same as the common stock, so it's not designed to last.  All the new stock should last longer, I'm not going to sure it won't fade, but as the railcards came in boxes of 10,000 I'm sure there are loads of them still around!

If the expiry date is not clearly visible, take it to the ticket office with the receipt you should have been issued with, the part of the application form the office should have stamped and given to you when you bought the railcard.  You can do it in any ticket office, as somebody said is to do with some older stock that fades as it was defective.

A taxi or a bus should have been organized, whether proactively as one already waiting at the station or on request from the passengers to the station staff.  In smaller stations staff have to ring Control and it would have been authorized straight away, in bigger stations they have the authority already to order taxis.

The policy is to get them as far as possible by train and then by other means from there.  I once had a group of about 15 teenagers travelling from Newquay to Bristol, the train to Par was cancelled so it was arranged to take them as far as Exeter on the last train and then a couple of taxis were organized from there.  In the example you quote some road transport should have been provided, the only thing I would say they did wrong was to travel to Chippenham without asking at Swindon first, and that's assuming when you say "on the understanding that there will be some sort of replacement transport available from there" they concluded that without speaking to anybody...

And even then something should have been arranged.

Just to add a bit of a twist to the whole story...

Have any of you considered those already on the train?  I don't know, their connections could depend on leaving on time...

And I'm not taking sides on this story, I can understand where all of you are coming from.  But the same way that you missed the train because it couldn't be held for a few seconds, somebody else could miss the last train somewhere else because of it (whether it's an official connection or not).  You would be surprised how a few seconds here can account for a few minutes there!

I was once asked to justify a minute delay (yes, 1 minute) to a Paignton to Paddington service.  Apparently that minute caused delays to another 27 trains...

Weston Milton and Polsloe Bridge, for example, already had helpoints with screens installed originally.  Unfortunately they were replaced by ordinary ones after they were constantly vandalised.  Camborne also shows in the list of screens, so I can only guess that if there isn't one now is because of the same reason...

Unfortunately, some *d**ts only learn one way...

I don't know how much of what I'm going to say is true, but it's what I've always been told when mentioning platdorm lengthening and the costs implied...

Apparently, when NR^» (Network Rail - home page) does any work on a platform, then it is consider a station modernization and all the disability access regulations must be followed for the resulting 'new' station.  So to put that platform back in service will mean that the whole station loses the old bulding excemptions and the whole station must be made disable accessible.

So that's why NR almost never does any work on any old station platform without lifts or ramps already fitted...

But, as I said, it could all be a lie that somehow makes some sense to me!   

Perhaps not considered necessary as per NRCoC^▸ (National Rail Conditions of Carriage), but I would always seek some kind of endorsement from the bus driver and/or from somebody from London Underground (unless the problems are so wide that they have been passed onto staff through say Tyrell).  The bus might have been genuinely late, but I won't necessarily know if I've been working the train say from Plymouth...

It's easier to use discretion when you have some way to prove it   

When a service is set-down only means that the train arrives and leaves without following a timetable, if it's running 10 minutes early it will leave 10 minutes early.  Likewise, if it's cancelled then the operator has only have to worry about the passengers already on the train at the last timetabled stop.

I could not say the exact reasons of why a service is pick-up only.  I guess they are mainly to control overcrowding or people using certain services for short distance journeys when their main purpose is not that.  If you push me, it could mean that the Guard might decide not to release the doors if there's nobody to join the train on the platform and that way save some time by not having to check the doors.  In practice it's impossible to control, really.

The connections between Paignton and Waterloo trains are pretty good these days since SWT^▸ (South West Trains) change the departure time from Exeter after the introduction of hourly services:

The services from Honiton and Axminster usually arrive at Exeter St Davids at about xx.42 and the Paignton trains usually depart at xx.56.  Likewise, in the other direction, services from St Thomas arrive at about xx.15 and Waterloo trains depart at xx.26. 

Maybe this is different at peaks when the Paignton trains run very 30-ish minutes, but the waiting time shouldn't be more than 20-25 minutes...

The landslip next to the Exmouth side portal, there a 5 mph restrction.  The T board or end of the restriction had to be placed on the other side of the tunnel as it couldn't go inside the tunnel due to apparently H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) reasons, even if the problem area is over as soon as the train enters the tunnel.