Have you never heard the expression, 'shooting yourself in the foot', grahame ?   

Two got off and four got on the 14:12 coach at Melksham heading towards Trowbridge today.    Driver was ensuring people were heading in the right direction as they boarded.

Half a dozen got off at Trowbridge.

After being frozen for over a decade, from Sunday 2 March 2025 the price of most Railcards will change to £35 for a 1-year Railcard and £80 for a 3-year Railcard. The price of the Disabled Persons Railcard will stay the same, at £20 for a 1-year card and £54 for a 3-year card.

I think there'a a bit of truth in both arguments.  There's no doubt Parkway struggles at times even with its four platforms and two goods loops, as so much has to get routed through the flat junction immediately west of the station.  You don't want to make that worse, especially if those trains are starting/terminating there and taking up valuable platform space whilst they do.

Cold snap grips UK as -20C possible overnight

Wintry weather is tightening its grip in many parts of the UK, with sub-zero temperatures expected to plunge even lower overnight and more snow forecast in some places.

Forecasters predict the coldest nights of the year over the next two days, and temperatures are expected to fall as low as -20C in some places that endured heavy snowfall at the weekend.

A fresh amber warning for snow has come into force in the South West, with yellow snow and ice warnings also in place for other parts of the UK into Thursday.

There are also 75 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 148 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, in place across England.  One flood warning and four flood alerts are in force in Wales. There are no severe flood warnings in place, which indicate a danger to life or significant disruption.  Looking ahead, the flooding and warnings are expected to reduce with no significant rain predicted in the areas experiencing flooding.

An amber cold health alert - the second-highest level - covering all regions of England is in place until midday on Sunday.  The alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warns the freezing conditions are likely to result in a rise in deaths, particularly among older and vulnerable people, and an increase in demand for health services.  They are different to weather warnings and provide early warning to healthcare providers, and suggest actions such as actively monitoring individuals at a high risk.

Dr Agostinho Sousa from the UKHSA said it was vital to check in on vulnerable people who could be "more at risk of heart attacks, stroke and chest infections as a result of cold temperatures".

Some people are entitled to cold weather payments to help with fuel bills. Eleven thousand people in England are estimated to have received the top-up since November ...



An amber warning for snow covering Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset is set to last until 21:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Isolated yellow snow and ice warnings spanning Wednesday and Thursday are in place across the UK, including parts of Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, although their coverage is not as wide as in recent days.

Yellow warnings have also been issued for Wales and other parts of South West England from 03:00 GMT until 12:00 GMT on Thursday.

Rain will spread across the far south of England but there will be some snow over Exmoor and Dartmoor, perhaps as much as 10cm (4in) on Wednesday.

Snow may also fall over mainly higher ground later on Wednesday in south-east England.  The focus will switch to how far temperatures are likely to fall, particularly during the night.

Temperatures on Tuesday night widely fell below freezing, with most of the UK waking up on Wednesday to a frost.  The lowest temperature overnight was in Scotland with -7C at Tulloch Bridge. But with -6.9C in Katesbridge, it was Northern Ireland's coldest night of the winter so far.

Across England, the temperature fell to -8.4C in Shap, Cumbria, but even in southern England it was -6.1C at Benson, Oxfordshire.

In Wales, the lowest temperature was -3.8C in Bala, Gwynedd.

The wintry conditions have caused significant disruption across the UK since snow swept many parts of the country at the weekend.

Hundreds of schools were closed in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including schools in Yorkshire, Merseyside, the Midlands and Aberdeenshire.

Extensive flooding caused some local roads to remain shut on Wednesday in Lincolnshire, while Northern Rail also confirmed no services would stop at Gathurst station near Wigan.

Most flights are running again after they were temporarily halted at airports in Liverpool, Bristol, Aberdeen and Manchester - but operators have warned some delays are still likely.

Bitter cold is expected in many parts of the UK in the coming days, with the likelihood of sharp overnight frosts.  Temperatures are expected to drop well below freezing on Wednesday and Thursday night, with forecasters expecting many parts of the UK to experience a hard frost and lows of between -3C and -10C.

In places that are still experiencing snow cover, it could be as cold as -14C to -16C on Wednesday night, and on Thursday the Pennines and snow fields of Scotland could register temperatures as low as -16C to -20C.  That would actually be far colder than was experienced at the weekend when a low of -13.3 C was recorded at Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands.  It is also significantly lower than anything seen last winter when a particularly bitter night in Dalwhinnie in the Highlands saw a mark of -14C being recorded.

The last time the UK had any temperature below -20C was in February 2021 when Braemar in Aberdeenshire was measured at -23C.

Maybe I'm wrong, but my understanding wasn't that they couldn't. More that they didn't want to given it may give people the wrong idea since these services will form the Henbury services in time meaning they couldn't simply be extended to Parkway from Filton like now. Basically giving a worse service now to avoid the obvious negative reaction when they'd have to cut it from Parkway again in the future.

17:04 Didcot Parkway to Evesham due 18:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:08/01/2025 11:19

18:51 Evesham to Oxford due 19:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Last Updated:08/01/2025 11:19

Passengers causing a disturbance that early in the morning. I wonder what that was all about?

The 0650 rep-bus was a bit later this morning and didn't make it to Chippenham in time to catch the 0711 Penzance service. No great loss however as the latter has been cancelled 'because of passengers causing a disturbance on the train'

Means the 0734 Weston is going to be packed though...

I've recently had the misfortune to become old enough to qualify for one of these, and have been making use of it. I had been looking forward to being challenged at the ticket barriers and on board, supporting my belief that I don't look anything like old enough to have one But so far that hasn't happened.

Means the 0734 Weston is going to be packed though...

My own suggested walking route is perhaps rather more speculative. 

The south Devon Kingsbridge branch line never reached the coast as far as Salcombe, but if it had, there would have been opportunities for some fantastic coastal walks, towards Dartmouth.

Even from Kingsbridge on the estuary, walking due east to Slapton Sands, there are still some stunning views of Devon countryside to be enjoyed.

“So there’s lessons learned everywhere – the main one being from Network Rail’s point of view that they probably shouldn’t have taken on the project themselves.

"It should have been escalated and perhaps managed by the Department [of Transport] directly."

Mine was Chippenham ... and I found myself wondering if punching a hole in a ticket these days is a way of signalling to other staff "awkward customer".  Staff are usually excellent, but this was the exception.   I do recall a more thorough check of my FOSS that usual at Southampton Central too - same person perhaps - but then utterly helpful there on other occasions.

The FOSS ticket is a bargain if you want to do what it allows, and I wonder if s minority of staff resent the really good price you've got your travel at.   I've found the same attitude on occasions with my Interrail pass.

The Office of Rail and Road is asking for views on a new annual assessment, to be launched in 2025, that will rate the performance of how train companies provide assistance to disabled passengers.

ORR said the new assessment of train operators’ and Network Rail’s performance in delivering passenger assistance will strengthen the regulator’s ability to hold operators to account for poor performance.

It will also highlight good practice to share across the industry, and drive improvements in the provision of the service for passengers. Feedback from passengers, including what ORR gets from its regular passenger surveys, has highlighted that assistance needs to be delivered more reliably.

ORR has proposed that operators be assessed on two core areas: their actual delivery of assistance and their capability to improve. They will be measured across several factors, against three levels of performance - Upper, Middle and Lower – with a potential further assessment of whether an operator’s performance is improving or worsening.

More detail of the proposals are in the consultation document. They were developed through a process of informal engagement with disabled people’s organisations, industry bodies and other regulators.

The consultation will close at 17:00 on Friday 14 February 2025. Responses can be sent by online form, by email to ATP@orr.gov.uk, or by post to: Assistance Benchmarking Consultation, Office of Rail and Road, 25 Cabot Square, London, E14 4QZ.

https://www.orr.gov.uk/search-consultations/benchmarking-operators-performance-rail-passenger-assistance

Call for evidence: Review of train operators’ revenue protection policies

We are carrying out an independent review of train operators’ revenue protection practices, including the use of penalty fares and prosecutions.

We'd like to hear from you if, for whatever reason, you boarded a train without a ticket, or with an invalid ticket, (or were told by rail staff this was the case), and as a result you:

were required to buy a new ticket for your journey or pay an additional fare
were required to pay a penalty fare, which included the cost of a new ticket
faced prosecution by the train operator
faced another action by the train operator
You should be aged 16 years or over to take part.

Ways to respond
Respond online.
If it is not possible for you to submit evidence online, you can also read the list of questions and write to:
Revenue Protection Review
Office of Rail and Road
25 Cabot Square
London E14 4QZ

If you are planning to write to us, please only send copies of any supporting documents and not the originals. You can redact personal data before posting. We are unable to return documents.   

Please send your response by 17 January 2025.

More about the review
In November 2024 the Secretary of State for Transport wrote to ORR and asked us to conduct this review. You can find more details on the review's scope, timeline and governance in the terms of reference. We will provide a final report to the Secretary of State no later than 15 May 2025. Our report will look to make recommendations on any areas for change and improvement.

You may also find it useful to read our guide which explains more about the process and the information we are seeking. /.... continues at link