Government ministers have had to approve an additional £14.69m for the project to reopen the railway between Bristol and Portishead. The scheme is already well underway, with vegetation cleared along the three mile route and work beginning on the construction compounds for the new stations in Pill and Portishead.

The cost of the scheme has increased by almost £50m since January 2025. The scheme had been set to cost £152.01m but inflation and rising costs saw this increase to £182.21m as of July 2025. Now, following the tender process and negotiations to appoint the contractors to deliver the track infrastructure, civil engineering, and signals and controls, the price tag has risen again to £196.9m.

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Ah............obviously a MAGA supporter !!!   

As you specifically selected, I believe that no.7 may be the exception in this set.  I had my doubts about including that one in this thread.   "Art" is in the eye of the beholder ...

Have you seen the buckets of water and brushes near the stop boards at stations like Westbury and Reading? Are they still there?  A low-tech solution to what looks like an industry-wide issue.

I wouldn't want to sit anywheere with Bill Clinton looking over my shoulder

Street Art or Grafitti or Criminal Damage? My view is that to be Street Art the daubing has to have a degree of artistic merit and, for example, I reckon Picture 7 is completely lacking in this.

Also the paint should only have been applied with the express permission of the property owner.

And where do you draw the line concerning images which some people would regard as offensive?

Service 9, between Swindon and Wroughton will be withdrawn completely due to low passenger numbers. Customers can continue to travel between Swindon town centre and Wroughton using Service 49, which runs every 30 minutes.

Service 49, between Swindon, Wroughton, Devizes and Trowbridge will see a route alternation to serve the former bus station, improving access to the railway station, as the current stop on Fleming Way is too far for passengers.

There will also be general retiming and journey adjustments to better meet passenger demand, and additional evening journeys to replace funded service 9 journeys.

The route has also been revised to better connect with Wiltshire College in Trowbridge, with a new morning journey added to complement the existing afternoon service.

From Railway Gazette

Starting this summer, railway afficionados will be able to make a record-long train journey within the EU.

And for those seeking the old-time romance of the rails, the key to the new route is a evocatively restored station in Haparanda, Sweden, dating back to 1919.

When a long-awaited rail link opens between northern Finland and Sweden, it will be possible to travel some 5,000km by train from Portugal's Algarve to Kolari in Lapland – Finland's northernmost station.

Alstom, in conjunction with its cleaning contractor, OCS, has developed a solution to clean the windscreens of Avanti West Coast’s Pendolino fleet by hand at its Traincare Centre in Polmadie, Glasgow.

Previously, because of overhead live wires in the depot, windscreen cleaning had to be carried out at track level. However, a spotless clean could not be achieved due to insufficient water pressure reaching the brush at that distance.

The solution makes use of mobile staging, which, by isolating the overhead electricity supply, allows cleaners to get closer access to the Pendolino windscreens, especially the edges of windscreens that automated train washes cannot completely clean.

East West Rail (EWR) has released details of its promised final route-wide consultation despite new rules brought in by the Planning and Infrastructure Act making the engagement not statutory.

The new railway linking Oxford and Cambridge confirmed earlier this year it would still carry out the full public consultation for the remaining sections of the line despite the Planning and Infrastructure Bill removing the legal requirement to do so.

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The Royal Scotsman brought its passengers to the Clyde coast on Sunday as part of a three-night scenic tour for rail tourists taking in all the beauty of the west coast.

The train which takes passengers on a once in a lifetime 'Western Scenic Wonders' tour has a luxury onboard spa and dining with tickets costing up to almost £20,000 for the full tour.

The Royal Scotsman is scheduled to be a regular visitor to Wemyss Bay over the coming months, bringing her passengers to the coast for a trip across the water to Bute and a visit to the stunning Gothic mansion of Mount Stuart.

The train is one of several rail experiences offered by luxury tour company Belmond across the UK and Europe.

Cathedral choir sings on after Scilly ferry delays


Some of the Truro Cathedral Choir on the island of Tresco, one of the Isles of Scilly

A Cornish choir extended its tour of the Isles of Scilly after the passenger ferry that connects the islands with the British mainland suffered an engine fault.

The singers and support staff of Truro Cathedral Choir found out they were stranded for the weekend on Friday and added some extra engagements to their itinerary over the weekend.

The choir was able to return on Monday once the Scillonian III ferry resumed sailing after repairs to its engines had been completed.

James Anderson-Besant, director of music at Truro Cathedral, thanked islanders for their hospitality, adding: "It's been a much longer trip than we planned for. It's been surreal and complicated but wonderful."

The trip to Scilly after a busy Easter period had been delayed initially when rough weather delayed the choir's arrival last week from Tuesday to Wednesday. But the news on Friday the Scillonian III had developed an engine problem and would not sail again between St Mary's and Penzance until Monday left the group of about 20 young people aged between eight and 13, six school staff and 12 adult singers with a weekend to fill.

Anderson-Besant said: "The kindness and generosity of people on the islands has been amazing. People have really gone out of their way to help us. It's been brilliant."

One bonus of the delay was it allowed the choir to join islanders at Sunday services on St Mary's.

Anderson-Besant said: "It was absolutely amazing. We weren't planning that at all, so we didn't have any music with us for that. The chaplain to the isles Elizabeth Burke very kindly printed off lots of copies of things for us and we did some extra singing. It was just totally lovely to join the community here."


Their Sunday best: the Truro Cathedral Choir outside St Mary's Church on St Mary's

Anderson-Besant said the unplanned change to the half-term holidays had not caused issues back on the mainland. He said: "All the parents and the families we've been in touch with have actually been really excited about what we've been up to and very grateful to the team of staff who've looked after everyone so well."

Truro Cathedral Choir has an unbroken tradition dating back to the 1880s. It currently has 12 adult professional singers, as well as 34 boy and girl choristers.

The canal used to pass by my back gate but now provides a bit of green space close to Swindon town centre.

In some ways it would nice if it was still there but then I consider the practicalities.  It would make access to my local bus stops more difficult.  Would it flood in winter?  Would it encourage unwelcome wildlife in my garden?

There is also the practical consideration that one of the town’s main sewers now follows the route of the former waterway.