That installation needed to have been designed by a nautical architect.

Me: not experienced as a nautical architect, but aware that, say, farm animals, in poor weather, do not by choice stand facing the prevailing wind: wishing I'd had more input into the design than just the opportunity given (and taken) to comment on the planning application.

Mark

.....is there still a "water lane" near Ide or Alphington, close to Exeter.....

Good news, though let's hope the ride quality is better than the CAF Mk 5a's Chiltern are re-introducing!

I think GWR could really do with more capacity in its high speed fleet now.  A similar order of 10 7-car units, based on either the Hitachi Class 807 (but a Tri-Mode version), or 7-car versions of these Tri-mode Class 897s, would be extremely useful to help cater for growth on both the North and South Cotswold services, and doubtless other routes, where 9-car will be overkill, but 5-cars isn't enough.  7-car services also fit nicely into the platform length profiles at most stations on those routes.

Try boarding the 10:29, 11:32, 15:31 (and others) at Oxford towards London and there's a good chance you'll be standing all the way.  Incredible given not too long ago those trains were in the hands of 3-car Turbos!

Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 03/02/26.

Makes me laugh the train passes the station so why can't it stop .If the signal is at caution then what's the problem because it's highly possible the train will stop just down from halt .Public transport is a joke

A single from Dilton Marsh to Westbury must be the most expensive in terms of time and distance on the entire system. I wonder how many are sold?

What about People TRYING TO GET TO WORK IN Dilton Marsh from Trowbridge or Warminster ??

Part of that is based on usage. One way of monitoring usage is by checking ticket sales. If fewer tickets are sold to and from Dilton, it appears that not many people are using it. If a ticket isn’t bought online prior to boarding and a guard doesn’t sell a ticket, it appears that not many people are using the station.

Train withdrawn for NO real reason. As not as though it takes a long time to stop to let people on/off a train!!

Wife went to catch train this afternoon, cancelled even though nothing on the app saying so. It’s a joke that we have a station on our doorstep yet we can’t use the train as much as we want because of such poor service

If a train stops at a request stop ,why can't it stop at any other times?[Image from here is not available to guests]

Smaller Station issues - Melksham and Dilton Marsh

There are two railway stations in Wiltshire where the limited facilities and infrequent services give lie to the fact that they serve substantial catchments. Those stations are Melksham, where the population of the urban area it serves is 25,000, and Dilton Marsh where the population it serves in 9,000. Both stations have residential expansion planned locally; Wiltshire is one of the fastest growing authority areas in the UK, and sustainable and efficient transport is at the hub of that.

Those stations:
Dilton Marsh: 10119 journeys in 2001/02 rising to 21580 journeys in 2024/25 (2.4 journeys per resident)
Melksham: 3266 journeys in 2001/02 to 60932 journeys in 2024/25 (2.4)

By comparison:
Warminster: 247665 journeys in 2001/02 to 355958 journeys in 2025/25 (14.2)
Bradford-on-Avon: journeys 211968 in 2001/02 to 532220 journeys in 2024/25 (53.2)
Trowbridge: 404998 journeys in 2001/01 to 904342 journeys in 2024/25 (24.4)

[snip]

How much traffic is being lost by the poor services at Dilton Marsh and Melksham? Let's take the Warminster figure of 14.2 journeys per resident per annum. We would predict 127800 ticket sales for Dilton Marsh - a rise of 106000, or 592% of current journeys. And we would predict 355000 ticket sales for Melksham, or 583% of current journeys.

Outrageous predictions like these have me questioning my own sanity. However, discussions with retired specialist civil servants I have worked with over the years, my sanity is confirmed. These are the sort of numbers they would expect after a lead in time of 3 to 5 years of a reliable, friendly, appropriate, usable service. Which leads us to ask two quetions - "why has it not been done" and "what is the negative economic effect of the poorly served areas caused by the lack of decent trains".

Alterations to services between Liskeard and Looe
Due to flooding between Liskeard and Looe the line is closed.
Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 02/02/26.

Coates? He could fund restoration of Sapperton Tunnel - its portal is right there. (The canal one, not the railway one!)