The whole commercial / competition setup is about survival of the fittest, and the failure to survive of the weakest, and the whole thing is modelled around weaker companies or parts of companies failing. Which does not in the short term fit well with social need - it leads to a scramble to get alternatives in place - sometimes perhaps better, sometimes not, but very much a shock change brought upon at a time and in a way that's triggered by the failing company and not in a planned sensible way.  [Personal view ...]

 

My wife Lisa is a dual citizen - originally from the USA, but now more British than American.  And some of my family too emigrated from the UK to the USA some 60 years ago and are now more American than British.  So we are an international family, and this question is about far more than a vacation - it's also about family events. Never the less, in the current climate we do not intend to visit the USA, even for those family events.

We are somewhat "with" family - Lisa's and mine - online and the distance does not feel as great; for sure, we can't pop into the yacht club at Los Alamitos to catch up with my cousins, nor into Roanoke, Long Beach or Naples to catch up with Lisa's siblings, son and family but yet we remain in touch.  Not *just* the political situation and what's going on in the headlined parts of the huge country, but also no desire to fly and as we get older the health issues so far from home, under such tension, and we have an alternative online too. We welcome family here to the UK and to Europe;  I've posted pictures of my cousin and her husband at Dundas and on the Two Tunnels walk, and in a couple of months I'll be meeting up with my other cousin and her husband in the Low Countries.

The world travel situation has changed even since I posted this poll though - so I never say "never".  The changes, this week, are rather in the opposite direction and I am rethinking my late spring / early summer plans to go as far as I can by train across Turkey.  Last year, the heatwave put me off, and I went to the other extreme of Narvik, and I've already been to Faro and Westport at the other extremes by train - Kars, Samsun  and Van may need to wait to a future year.

 
"The Last First Bus in Cornwall"

A video from a channel I subscribe to telling the story of buses in Cornwall from deregulation in the mid 1980s to the last days of FirstGroup's presence on the peninsula.

https://youtu.be/wLdlJZ73nk0

 

In my retirement, I could do with a three day week 

 

Well the situation HAS now escalated. My personal view is that the present war in unlikely to have much direct influence on oil prices. In the past, many Arab nations co-operated to restrict oil supplies, this appears unlikely this time around.
The first response of Iran has been to bomb several neighbours, the first response of whom might otherwise have been to cooperate in imposing a united embargo on the West.
Still well to be prudent WRT stocks oil derived fuels.

 

I think Broadgage is hoping to get hold of one.....he can offer the cats a packet of seagull scratchings & other delicacies 

 
" Restaurants are replaced by buffets, buffets replaced by a trolleys, and trolleys are replaced by nothing"

This is called progress.

 
I suspect that the line is single due to engineering at the moment, the number of trains through cut right down, and many trains replaced by buses.    I'm sure it's more your worrying than any actual problem; it will be very much like UK rail replacement, though finding the bus, and understanding what's happening, can be harder in a different language.

If it were me, that day, I would either take the route I've already suggested - or I would go via Rumburk - a pleasant little town.    I might also see if I could find member UstiImmigrunt who lives along the way.   So - Berlin - Dresden - Bad Schandau - Rumburk - Decin - Prague; the diversion off the normal way, by local trains , is Bad Schandau - Rumburk - Decin, most of which I have done - and enjoyed.

Can't give you total re-assurance, but you have two rail-only options from me now, both which are fun days.

 
Try Cross Country they have just removed trolleys from the 170 services.

 
From Birmingham Live


Would that be because fewer people are cycling to the station, or because more are now taking their cycles with them on the train?

 
Thank you both. Neither of you have given me confidence!

There appears to be a couple of journeys that don’t involve the bus. I have screenshot a couple of these itineraries, would either of you be able to advise further.

It’s my first long distance Europe trip and I’m starting to get a little nervous. Thanks

 
The ones on IETs say they are owned by Hitachi judging by an ID plate on them.  Might be worth approaching them. 

 
What happens to GWR refreshment trollies when they retire?   How would I set about getting hold of one (or two - one for spares) - don't see them at Railwayana sales ...

 
One of the best chemistry experiments I saw at school was the hydrolysis of water where the products were captured in a cone of filter paper with a bit of washing up liquid added. As the Oxygen and Hydrogen bubbled up in the cone, thinking they would be going their separate ways a lighted splint was applied (sellotaped to a metre rule from a distance). As they recombined (in near-perfect quantities to make water) there was of course a huge bang!

 
I knew a US management consultant who did something similar in the 1990s when he was on road trips in order to travel light.

He'd only pack a few overnight things and spare underwear, FedEx-ing clean shirts to himself at the hotels he was staying in along the way.

Carbon Footprint? We didn't really think of that back then.

 
It's like the 1970s all over again. 

 
Another update, from the BBC:

 
They could have done some good publicity if they had go ahead with creating a few more battery powered class 230s ateast for the thames valley branches and possibly say Portishead to Henbury  with fast charging technology would havw freed up a few 165/166's

2030 we are going to run into issues not with the class 150s I think its going to be the 158s or.tuebos that are going to start really having problems with their bodyshells. Que the DFT panicking and spending a fortune or ordering cheap class 197s from CAF

 

Did they forget to fit buffers at the end of the siding these hypothetical trains were shunted into?

 
Long article in the latest Rail magazine 1056 of an interview with GWR Programme Director Barry Milsom about the 175 delays.
In summary, outside storage for years has caused damage requiring repair, plus other issues.

 

Yes.

But - it's the only yard of the sort left, and it's now owned by the nation, and it has far more first hand experience of handling difficult contracts through political minefields.

 
Isn't that the same yard which had the massive overruns/overspends on the last ferry contracts given to them by the Scottish Assembly?

 


The thing that struck me is how different all the lines / cases are. 

Falmouth Dock, Severn Beach, Paignton and Gunnislake are all at the end of branches with more major intermediate stations, and the health of the line does not hinge only on the terminal.

Weymouth ... feels to me like a case of a station that falls - badly - between two stools.  It has felt at times like a darned nuisance with peaky GWR loadings and with trains on "high days" being shortened and fewer extras.    On SWR, passengers coming in have to pass through other attractive places such as Bournemouth and Poole, and day trips are perhaps abstracted by those places.   And the station is not welcoming.   

St Ives ... the other extreme?   The station itself is basic but the marketing had people parking up at St Erth (was Lelant Saltings) and it's very much a part of the tourist flow.

It would be very interesting to make other comparisons, St Ives v Weymouth
* Number of day visitors on a typical summer day, split down by how they arrive in the town
* Number of overnight rooms for holiday makers
* Number of commuters (classic definition - regular travellers) again by mode
* Marketing budget for public transport
* Some measure of bus services in and out of the town

 
Thank you Grahame for posting those details.

 
1. Rhymney - Chris from Nailsea
2. ??
3. Holyhead - TonyN
4. Llandudno - stuving
5. Llandrindod (Wells) - TonyN
6. Severn Tunnel Junction - brooklea
7. Ruthin - Chris from Nailsea
8. Sugar Loaf - Western Pathfinder
9. Penarth - Chris from Nailsea
10. Swansea - brooklea

Just one to go:


And it's a much-discussed location too!

 

Yes, Penarth

 
9.  The best I can offer is Penarth - I'm ready to be shot down, however it's pronounced. 

 
From the BBC: