Diary Of A Reasonably Frequent Rail User

[whole diary]

[Bob_Blakey]

05/02/25-08/02/25 - A Few Days Away In (Mainly) Warwickshire
Daytime ‘touristy’ stuff and evening meet ups with our son who was at one of his Warwick Business School MBA on-site sessions - a useful occasional taxi service.

Tickets
2 x Senior Railcard Advance Singles DIG>RDG^‡(resolve) £41.90
2 x Senior Railcard Advance Singles RDG>LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948) £23.40
2 x Senior Railcard Off Peak Day Returns WRW>BCS £26.10
2 x Senior Railcard Off Peak Day Returns LMS>SAV £11.70
2 x Senior Railcard Advance Singles LMS>RDG £27.00
2 x Senior Railcard Advance Singles RDG>DIG £41.90

Outward - 05/02/25
DIG 1114 (1120)>EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) 1124 (1129) : 2T15 EXM>PGN : 1 x 165/1 (3 Cars)
EXD 1143 (OT)>RDG 1349 (1350) : 1A81 PGN>PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) : 1 x 800/3 (9 Cars)
RDG 1415 (OT)>LMS 1514 (OT) : 1M50 BMH>MAN : 1 x 220 + 1 x 221 (8 Cars)

2T15 was delayed at TOP by 6 minutes, waiting for the late running 2F13 to clear the single line.
Lightly loaded. No ticket/railcard check.
1A81 was very lightly loaded - in our coach there were only 10 pax on departure from EXD. Tickets but not railcards checked after departure from WSB^» (Westbury - next trains).
1M50 was very busy from RDG and, taking a leaf out of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) playbook, there was a PA^▸ (Public Address) announcement apologising for the lack of catering in the front unit. Tickets & railcards checked. Following an on time arrival at LMS we took a (free for us) bus to the Leamington Shopping Park and then walked (10-15 minutes) to our chosen hotel - the Leamington Holiday Inn is not served by public transport.

06/02/25
Morning stroll + bus to Warwick Castle which unsurprisingly was very quiet. A very interesting visit with plentiful historical information although some parts of the estate were still closed it being winter.
On a cold but bright sunny day we walked to Warwick Railway Station - there is no direct bus service - and headed for Bicester Village as SWTSMBO^▸ (She Who Thinks She Must Be Obeyed) wished to have a look at the latest handbag offerings!
WRW 1314 (1315)>BCS 1351 (OT) : 1H45 BMO>MYB^▸ (London (Marylebone)) : 68015 + DVT^‡(resolve) (6 Cars)
A minor annoyance was the fact that our tickets had to be purchased separately from the Chiltern TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) because it did not allow the specification of multiple Senior Railcards in a single transaction. This was not the case with some other railcards such as 2-Together.
First trip on one of these Chiltern ‘push-pull’ trains; they are fitted out to a very high standard. Arrived at BCS on time and took the electric BV1 bus (National Bus Passes accepted) to the village. Even in winter you might expect the outlet to be full of PRC tourists but it was surprisingly quiet largely, I suspect, because of the parlous state of the domestic PRC economy.
Steps retraced to Leamington via the bus and
BCS 1627 (OT)>LMS 1659 (1658) : 1G43 MYB>BSW : 1 x 168/1 (4 Cars)
Tickets & railcards checked immediately after departure from BCS. We used the ‘Break Of Journey’  to alight at LMS rather than WRW.
Note that the two platforms at WRW are  currently isolated from each other while the subway is closed due to lift installation and getting to P2 from the town centre can take up to 10 minutes longer than usual.

07/02/25
LMS 0939 (OT)>SAV 1013 (OT) : 2D16 LMS>SAV : 1 x 168/3 (2 Cars)
Same issue with the Chiltern TVM at LMS re Railcards. Tickets & railcards checked immediately after departure from LMS - with 3 staff doing the necessary! Have the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) identified major levels of fare evasion on this route?
Average speed on the journey was a smidgeon under 27mph and the infrastructure apparently only permits a two hourly service I suspect to accommodate the hourly Worcester to Stratford-upon-Avon via Birmingham service. I wouldn’t mind betting that the train service to one of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)’s principal visitor attractions could be significantly improved by reinstating the line between SAV and HYB given that it would reduce the rail distance between these two stations from 67 to 9 miles and allow the provision of a 'circular' service in both directions via Birmingham and Worcester.
We were mightily impressed with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust guides’ breadth of knowledge concerning the life and times of the great man and his family.
The return portion of our tickets were not used as we stopped in Stratford for dinner and returned to Leamington by car.

Return - 08/02/25
LMS 1138 (1143)>RDG 1242 (1250) : 1O12 MAN>BMH : 2 x 220 (8 Cars)
RDG 1301 (1303)>EXD 1505 (1504) : 1C81 PAD>EXD : 1 x 800/0 (5 Cars)
EXD 1518 (OT)>DIG 1531 (OT) : 2F22 PGN>EXM 1 x 165/1 (2 Cars)

1O12 was delayed after ADD^▸ (Automatic Dropping Device) and arrived at LMS 5 down. It was already very busy on arrival and pretty much full on departure. It lost more time passing KGS & XAN arriving into OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) 8 late where many pax alighted. Service did not make up any time and also arrived at RDG 8 late. The same platform - P7 - transfer to 1C81 was most welcome. Reservation data had not been uploaded to 1C81 and the TM^▸ (Train Manager) explained that this was due to it being 5 cars rather than the scheduled 9 car unit. However all the RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) information available to me indicates that 1C81 is invariably only 5 cars. Tickets but not railcards checked. A female with four kids in tow, one in a pushchair, who subsequently alighted at PEW were politely removed from 1st class; the pushchair avec sprog was moved by one of the GWR staff while the passenger dealt with the other three ankle-biters. The service caught up time by WSB and ran to schedule for the remainder of the journey.
2F22 was well loaded - I am not sure two coaches is sufficient on a Saturday coming up to tea time - and a group of very loud Scouser CTCRM inmates received a b*llocking from a couple of travelling GWR staff over their behaviour. Well done them!

[ChrisB]

Same issue with the Chiltern TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) at LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948) re Railcards. Tickets & railcards checked immediately after departure from LMS - with 3 staff doing the necessary! Have the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) identified major levels of fare evasion on this route?

Err.....yup!!
https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2025-02-11/chiltern-railways-recovers-12000-from-persistent-fare-dodger

[I'll post this in full on the Chiltern board too]

[Witham Bobby]

[SNIP]
I wouldn’t mind betting that the train service to one of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)’s principal visitor attractions could be significantly improved by reinstating the line between SAV and HYB given that it would reduce the rail distance between these two stations from 67 to 9 miles and allow the provision of a 'circular' service in both directions via Birmingham and Worcester.
{SNIP]

a group of very loud Scouser CTCRM inmates received a b*llocking from a couple of travelling GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff over their behaviour. Well done them!

Significant obstructions, boith administrative and physical to be overcome if the line between Honeybourne and Stratford upon Avon were to be reinstated.

The layout at Honeybourne isn't right. 

Either have to reinstate the South Loop allowing trains from Oxford heading to Stratford upon Avon to swing off the OWW^▸ (Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton) line almost a mile to the east of Honeybourne station, before heading north towards Stratford, or reverse at Honeybourne North Junction, which is situated a short distance westwards of the Honeybourne platforms

Then there's the industrial estate at Long Marston, which has been built over the trackbed in the vicinity of the level crossing

Then the greenway cycle/footpath

Then the substantial road development at Stratford upon Avon, which has seen the trackbed converted to roads

One of the ideas floated at the time of the decision to cover the former REME Central Park at Long Marston was to reconnect Long Marston to Stratford upon Avon by railway or tramway.  These ideas have gone awfully quiet.  The housing development, desirable though it may be, is badly served by public transport, and the road links are awful.  These issues should have been sorted out properly before building started, rather than left as "ideas" that have little chance of being fulfilled now

I suppose reinstatement of some kind of service towards Honeybourne may be less unlikely than towards Stratford upon Avon

And as regards the Royal Marines personnel, my late dad, a former Royal Marine, would be spinning in his grave.  They are instructed very forcefully not to cause annoyance to civilians.  In his day, he would tell me, that if a marine was as much as overheard cussing, he'd be up on a charge without his feet touching the ground

[rogerw]

ill be travelling from Long Marston to Stratford on 22nd of this month on a railtour https://www.ukrailtours.com/product/the-shakespearean-sonnet/,It is a long way round.