A German woman has been separated from her two-year-old daughter in Edinburgh after a Home Office mistake left her stranded in Dusseldorf earlier this week.

Liza Tobay, who has lived in the UK for 15 years, had taken her oldest child, a six-year-old boy, to visit his grandfather and some other relatives over Easter when confronted with what she said appeared to be “a serious administrative error”.

She is one of millions of EU citizens who, before Brexit, could just use their passport at the border, but must now prove they have “settled status” to enter the country as a lawful resident.

The first she knew of the error in the UK system was during her return on Wednesday when she tried to make a connecting flight from Munich to Edinburgh during a layover in Dusseldorf.

Article continues ...

Sixty years on ... from the closure of stations at Melksham, Devizes, and many other Wiltshire locations. Only Melksham has re-opened so far.  Where are we today?   What for the future?  Take a look at my thoughts and see if you agree - https://www.passenger.chat/sixty_years_on.pdf

Petrol cost 5s 5d per gallon - equivalent to 7.1 pence per litre , or £1.17 per litre at today's prices taking inflation into account. Car parking at Heathrow cost 10s (50p) for 24 hours "In London and some city centres, parking meters were common. In places such as Newcastle, motorists were often avoiding city centre parking, with many spaces being free or substantially cheaper than today." A Hillman Minx would cost you £672 new. It's hard to determine insurance cost comparison but indications are they were not wildly different in real terms to today's. Annual Car tax was around £17 10s (£17.50). There were around 12 million vehicles on the UK roads, around 8 to 10 million of them private cars. That was up from around 3.4 million cars just 10 years earlier; today (2026) the number exceeds 34 million.

Some other changes to consider. The UK's population has risen from around 54.5 million to 68.2 million last year (2025). The average household size was 3 persons, which has dropped to around 2.3 persons today (that's why we need far more houses today in additions to renewals of life expired stock). Life expectancy at birth has risen in the UK from 71.5 years to 82 years today (that's why we have so many extra cost challenges supporting retired people). The UK State Pension age was 65 for men and 60 for women, The UK State Pension age is currently rising from 66 to 67 for those born on or after 6 April 1960.

When am I talking about?

Fan flies via Barcelona instead of taking train

A Brighton-based Coventry City fan has flown via Barcelona for his sides away match against Blackburn Rovers as it was cheaper than taking the train.

James Roach paid £84 for two flights – from Gatwick to Barcelona and back from Spain to Manchester. A single train ticket from London to Preston would have cost him £85, he said.

He is due to land back in the UK at 14:00 GMT on Friday and will take the train to Blackburn, checking in to a hotel in Preston en route, before heading to Ewood Park to watch the match in the evening.

Roach said that he wanted to go on a solo trip somewhere not too far away and that had sunshine. He told the BBC: "I used to go to Barcelona when I was younger on holiday but haven't been for a while. I love the city. It's great and so easy to get around."

During the Spanish stopover, he visited Casa Batllo, Fundació Joan Miró and the Sagrada Família, which he said was "the best building I've ever seen".

When walking in the city on Wednesday night, he said many bars were showing the Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Barcelona's rivals, Real Madrid. He added: "Every time Bayern scored, there was a massive roar that went up around the bars and in the city."

Roach was born and raised in Coventry but moved down to Brighton two years ago with his wife. He still holds a season ticket to the Sky Blues.

A point in their match on Friday night will see Coventry City promoted to the Premier League, with Roach predicting a 2-0 victory.

Train fares will not increase this year, Govia says


Louis Rambaud, chief customer officer for Govia, has been answering questions on BBC Radio Sussex

As Govia Thameslink Railway prepares for renationalisation on 31 May, the company's chief customer officer shared his vision for the future with BBC Radio Sussex.

Louis Rambaud has worked in countries including his native France, as well as Germany, the Netherlands and now the UK.

He talked about what renationalisation meant for the company and commuters, as well as its current services including ticket prices, customer satisfaction and relationship with employees.

The future was bright for commuters, he said, but people who talked to BBC Sussex about their experience on services, said more could be done.

(BBC article continues)

Level crossing warning after youths 'play chicken'


Network Rail said there had been four instances of "dangerous misuse" at the crossing in the past fortnight

Rail bosses have condemned the behaviour of young people reported to have "played chicken" at a level crossing in West Yorkshire.

Network Rail said it was "extremely concerned" about the behaviour on railway tracks in Featherstone, with four incidents of "dangerous misuse" recorded in the past fortnight.

Besides young people "playing chicken" by standing on the tracks in front of oncoming trains, a separate incident saw a two-year-old allowed to wander onto the railway by their grandparents, according to Network Rail.

The organisation said it would carry out a risk assessment at Featherstone's Sportsfield level crossing, as well as at the neighbouring crossing on Halfpenny Lane.

Darren Robertson-Wilson, Network Rail level crossing manager, said trespassing and taking risks on the crossings could have "devastating consequences". He said: "My feeling is that we will have a serious injury or worse here very soon if these unsafe behaviours continue. We're extremely concerned by the behaviour seen recently and urge everyone to follow the level crossing safety guidelines and to speak to children and young people about the dangers. One poor decision can change lives forever."

"One poor decision can change lives forever."

“At the moment, the plan for delivering the new platform 5 and the new western entrance will see works commence in early 2027 with a view to it being in place ready for when East West Rail and Cowley Branch Line need it in probably December 2030,” Clark said.

Fans feel 'gouged' by £111 World Cup train tickets


Fans will have to pay more than $100 to catch a train to MetLife Stadium for the eight World Cup fixtures

The Football Supporters' Association says fans are being "fleeced" and "gouged" after the announcement that a 30-minute train journey to a World Cup game at MetLife Stadium will cost $150 (£111).

The journey from Penn Station in Manhattan to the venue in New Jersey, which is about 18 miles, shows more than an 11-fold increase on the usual $12.90 (£9.50) for a return fare.

There are no concession prices, so children and seniors must also pay the full $150. Shuttle bus tickets are priced at $80 (£59). Both train and bus tickets are non-transferable and non-refundable. Reports this week suggested the price would be $100 (£74), but on Friday operators NJ Transit announced the fare would be higher.

MetLife Stadium - which will be named New York/New Jersey Stadium during the World Cup as part of Fifa's policy on corporate sponsored names - will host eight matches, including an England group game, and the final on 19 July.

This comes after train fares for matches at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, outside Boston, were vastly increased to $80 (£59), with coach tickets costing $95 (£70).

Thomas Concannon, who leads the FSA's England fans' group, told BBC Sport it is "incredibly disappointing" to be hit in the pocket again - on top of the high ticket prices for the matches. "The price is obviously astronomical in terms of what you would expect to pay going to a match, going to a tournament," Concannon said. "This is completely out of the norm from previous tournaments.

"You're supposed to be welcoming fans from around the world. And I think at this stage, fans couldn't feel less welcome. I don't think anyone this time was expecting transport to be free. But we weren't expecting to be gouged, either. That's ultimately what's happened here, and that's just extremely disappointing. We don't understand why."

Travel at the World Cups in Russia and Qatar was free, and the United States had committed to offer the same perk in its host agreement with Fifa.

On Wednesday, New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill criticised Fifa for not providing any funding. The governor said she would not "stick New Jersey commuters with that tab for years to come" and "Fifa should pay for the rides".

But Fifa responded, saying it had already "recognised the financial strain" on host cities and said travel could - and should - be offered "at cost".

(BBC article continues)

Strange, I read it earlier.

Not sure when this service stopped running to Cribbs Causeway and settled on Parkway instead. Was it last autumn that some funding allowed the 19 bus's frequency to be upped to half hourly? Anyway, the funding for that has dried up and it's now back to sort of hourly and an earlier finish. Anecdote not data, having caught it a few times when its frequency had been increased, passenger numbers had responded.

Mark

Route Changes: Historically linked Bath to Cribbs Causeway, the 19 was modified in January 2023 to terminate at Bristol Parkway Station, with the M4 MetroBus covering the rest of the route.

Service Frequency: Funding fluctuations have caused the service to alternate between half-hourly and hourly frequencies. An increase in frequency was reversed due to lack of funding, with First Bus reporting hourly service in April 2026.

Current Service: The route primarily connects Bath Bus Station to Bristol Parkway, with revisions in 2021 and 2026 updating access to areas like Charlton Hayes and adjusting operating hours

Well worth a read:

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/delivering-the-delayed-oxford-station-bridge-replacement-before-and-during-the-8-day-blockade-26-02-2026/

Lack of spare locos and traincrew at depots

Lack of inter-operability between classes of loco

Few places where there are crossovers to enable rescue locos to reach a failed train conveniently

Lack of lay-by loops and refuge sidings where a train can be placed "out of the way"

The lighthouse was built in 1862 at a cost of £75 by Hennet, Spinks and Else of Bridgwater, based on a design by James Abernathy, whose work was chosen over that of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Culprit seems to have been the 6V50 Wembley-Merehead.

Moving again after standing for >3 hours. (passed Kintbury 16:52 and Bedwyn 20:22).

What are the barriers to achieving a rescue in less time?

Interesting the article mentions concrete slabs added in 1940s.   Manvers Street had a tram route until 1939 so wonder if these slabs were part of its track removal and replacement.

Of course with those big rotary diamond saws that fit on front of large bobcat machines, can probably cut the road surface into manageable size pieces in couple of days.  That leaves 5.9 months to remove it and lay new stronger road
...... But as this is a Council run job, it will probably be couple of blokes doing odd bits of work between sitting in their van having long tea breaks which explains the timescale

Not sure this has been mentioned yet, there's a 5-part series with Michael Portillo to be found on the iplayer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002v462/great-japanese-railway-journeys-series-1-1-osaka-to-nagoya

I was called in, urgently, just before the weekend after abnormal test results.  "Day Surgery" ward but I ended up being admitted and only being discharged this afternoon - Monday.  Seeing so many other patients far worse off than I am is very humbling;  I have lost the best part of a stone, weaker on my feet and tubed up, but nothing malignant. Probably a "day surgery" op later in the year.  Discomfort but no pain; brain working ... a bit wobblier on my feet but still, already, well enough to use the bus home.