It was.....not NR

 

Surely that would be a decision for the ORR?

 
There are some extra trains today for Bath Christmas market, but some other important ones eg Cardiff - Portsmouth are down to just 2cars

Also appears a number of these short trains are losing 10, 20, even 30 minutes presumably due to alighting and boarding delays whilst very crowded.

Some of the Bristol-Westbury stopping trains (which are often used as alternative park and ride locations) are also just 2cars, and losing time too.

1F16 11:23 from Portsmouth has been cancelled due to late inbound service.

 
I have read somewhere that Network Rail have withdrawn the authorisation for this passenger service because of congestion. However the stock still has to get to Euston

 
Thanks, stuving. CfN.

 

It was a public toilet. The door facing the street was the ladies', and had a sign until ca. 2008. The gents' entrance must have been round the side. It was built after 1912, since at that date there was an open-air multi-stall urinal there, along the base of the pier!

 
Redoubling the entire line between Wilton Junction and Pinhoe would be a good place to start but…..ooooozzzz gonna pay for it?

 
We are told by every new Prime Minister/Chancellor/Government recently that things will be tough, but we must 'suck it up', pay more and work harder and longer for a few years.  We should then start to see improvements.
Before we see any improvement, there's a change of Government/Prime Minister/Chancellor with a different outlook.
More taxes, etc.
Doesn't seem to matter who is in charge these days.

And don't get me started on the youngsters who are so aware of mental health issues these days, many go sick on leaving College, thus increasing our benefits bill.
This is no way takes away the issues for those with real health problems.

 
From the BBC:

 
Friday November 28

Quite a good day - well, apart from things running late as a result of the problem with the engines.  Only one short working:

1W41 2052 London Paddington to Great Malvern : arrived Worcester Shrub Hill +10 and cancelled therafter (RTT: "due to an issue with the train crew (TG)".)

 
From the BBC:

 

Now that we've solved the topic drift issue, I'd like to pose the question I was originally going to ask.

Until I retired, I spent some ten years driving delivery vans through this junction, generally waiting minutes for the lights to change so I could turn right from North Road onto Cheltenham Road. To while away the time, I looked around at various historic features, including this old building.

Can anyone tell me what it used to be?

 

Irrespective of Keynes, or their motivations, Labour demonstrably lied in their manifesto, and equally irrespective of "YeahbuttheTories", I think we were all led to believe by Starmer that we could expect better than that.

 

The notion that you can tax a nation into prosperity is an oversimplification.  It has a corollary that you can cut taxes (and in practice also spending) to make a nation prosperous.  Both are wrong as it is more nuanced.

Keynesian economics, which promotes public spending to boost the economy,  is proven to work (Roosevelt's New Deal is a classic example).  This relies on most of the money going into the pockets of ordinary people who spend most of it rather than keep it in the bank. It then gets recycled to other ordinary people.  But if you go too far there is more demand than supply and you get inflation as we did in the 1970's. 

If you take the corollary and cut taxes for the rich it generally goes into savings and doesn't get recycled. The theory of trickle down has been shown not to happen for the reasons stated above. The argument against this is that the wealthy will invest it in industry and that is good, except most people who save don't invest in shares and so it does not have that effect.  Banks have not been too good at investing in business either which is why keeping the money in the bank doesn't work. 

Where I would have issue with Rachel from accounts is keeping tax allowances stable.  This means the amount of taxes paid by the ordinary person, who would otherwise spend it, will increase.  In that sense you indeed cannot tax a nation into prosperity.  But taxing those with so much money they don't recycle it into the economy can indeed make a contribution to making a nation prosperous if government uses that money well.

On the expenditure side there are the arguments about big and small government.  If you cut both taxes and public services, but instead people have to pay for those services privately, they are no better of and many, especially the poor, will be worse off.

It is said that our productivity is low.  This is partly a skilled labour shortage and partly an investment issue. 

In my own industry (the water industry) we have an acute shortage of skilled professional engineers, at a time when investment is massively increasing to clean up our environment. I would suggest that student fees have not helped this, as civil engineering is generally a 4 year course. As a result most of the major engineering consultancies have offshored a lot of the detailed design abroad. This is money out of the economy.  In the next year as more projects move into the build stage it will be a shortage of skilled labour to build these projects. 

The number of working aged people who are not able to work due to illness is too high.  Yet we have a vicious circle because those left in work are worked so hard that by the time they get near to retiring age they are burned out! A properly funded health service would go a long way to help with this.  For this of course we need more skilled doctors and nurses etc. But these people are some of the most overworked! Raising the retirement age is unpopular, I am blessed that despite my infirmities the nature of my work means I am still able to work part time beyond retirement age and enjoy it. If my job involved manual labour I would not be able to do that.  If I was still working in the demanding job I had when it was full time I would have fully retired by now. 

Industry also wants good transport links and a decent power grid. People and industry need water whether it is private or public investment in these utilities it still needs paying for (either taxes or increased charges) and governments have through regulators stifled this investment over the last 20 years through demands to keep down bills.

Which brings us back to transport. East West Rail is justified in government by allowing movement of labour from areas around Oxford and Cambridge where the housing market is highly priced and where water resources are limited (especially in Cambridge) to commute from places like Milton Keynes and Bedford.  A better rail network is therefore positive for the economy. 

 
“If Avanti operates the service as empty coaching stock, [it] can be run more flexibly – delayed or rerouted – than a booked passenger service. This can assist with performance management and service recovery during disruption.”

Well of course the railway runs more to time without passengers. But...

If I were the secretary of state for transport I'd be planning an intervention this morning.

Mark

 
From the December timetable change, this train will run to Euston empty : see https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/29/avanti-axed-7am-manchester-london-train-will-run-without-passengers.

You couldn't make it up.

 
Three words: Bath Christmas Market.

 


And at least she had a train to sit on the floor of.

From her own constituency:


Previous train - 15:14, next train 21:10, no instructions as to how to get home if - for example - you live in Melksham

 

Thank you for that string of reports and your consistent help - really useful.   I have woken and left my double post following yours, exceptionally, because it gave me a chance to explain the alternatives and what they mean - which GWR haven't done on JourneyCheck ...

I am in the Leekes superstore today and tomorrow with members of the Melksham Transport User Group handing out printed December to May timetables that came from the printers yesterday. I hope we have made a wise decision to encourage users along.

 

After a few better days, here we go (or don't go) again.   I wake to 4 cancellations, with no alternative travel plans offered or suggestsetd.   Two successive trains each way, leaving a six hour gap inn the schedule.  

I have left the 16:27 Exeter to Penzance in the whole GWR area cancellation list - the only other train they have cancelled in this period across their entire patch.   Next train Exeter to Penzance is at 17:14.      After the 16:23 from Westbury to Swindon, the next train is at 20:08.  The GWR website will offer you travel via Bath if you are going to Chippenham and beyond, for which their website cheekily charged £19.80 rather that £9.80 (single) and if you have mobility issues "
The lifts are out of order between platform 1 and the subway at Bath Spa station."

 
Well, at least she had some company!

 
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew

17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17
18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29
19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

 
From the BBC:

 
From the BBC:

 
Rachel from Accounts is having a bad day in the office: from the BBC, see 'Reeves on brink' and 'Chancer of the Exchequer' 

 
from the BBC:

Airlines around the world have announced flights could be delayed after Airbus requested immediate modifications to thousands of planes over its discovery that intense radiation from the sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls.

About 6,000 planes are thought to be affected, around half the European aerospace giant's global fleet, but it is understood most will be able to undergo a simple software update.

The UK's aviation regulator said carrying out the updates would likely cause "some disruption and cancellations to flights".

Airbus said the problem was discovered following a recent "incident" in the US involving an A320 family aircraft and apologised for disruption to passengers.

The incident, which happened on 30 October, involved a JetBlue Airways A320 making an emergency landing in Florida, after a sudden drop in altitude. At least 15 people were reported to have been injured.

    Live updates on this story

The issue affects the A320 - its best selling aircraft - but also models from the same design fleet, including the A318, A319 and the A321.

It is understood that on around 5,100 Airbus planes, the issue can be addressed using a relatively simple software update which would typically take about three hours.

However, the remaining 900 aircraft, which are older versions, will need computers replaced and will not be allowed to carry passengers again until the job has been completed. The length of time that takes will depend on the availability of replacement computers.

Airbus said it acknowledged this will lead to "operational disruption to passengers and customers", and has apologised.

Aviation analyst Sally Gethin told the BBC the situation is "very much out of the ordinary", saying the disruption to passengers will depend on the "different approaches" airlines take to upgrade their software.

"I understand that Lufthansa is saying it may take its aircraft out of service to do this, in other cases airlines are saying that it shouldn't have much of an impact at all," she said.

London's two biggest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, both provided updates.

Heathrow said the required maintenance on some Airbus aircraft currently has no impact on its operations.

Gatwick reported "some disruption", but only "impacting a small number of airlines" and directed passengers to contact their airlines for further information.

Easyjet said said it was "expecting this to result in some disruption" but later added it had started and "already completed the software update on many aircraft".

"We plan to operate our flying programme normally on Saturday and ask that customers travelling continue to monitor their flights on flight tracker," a spokesman said.

"Safety is our highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with manufacturers guidelines."

British Airways is understood not be be heavily impacted by the issue.

Wizz Air added some of its aircraft were among those that require updates and that it had scheduled the necessary maintenance, while Air India said the directive from Airbus could lead to delays.

In the US, the software issue emerged on the same weekend as Thanksgiving, one of the busiest holiday travel periods.

American Airlines said 340 of its planes were affected and that it expected "some operational delays", but added the vast majority of updates would be completed on Friday or Saturday. Delta Airlines said it believed the impact on its operations would be "limited".

Australian low-cost airline Jetstar said some of its Airbus-operated flights were unable to depart.

"We're working through the impacts on our fleet and to our customers. We'll have more information shortly," the company said.

Airline giant Qantas, who owns Jetstar, did not report any impacts to its fleet.

    Airbus boss admits long delays in making aircraft

        Published
        26 July 2024

The Civil Aviation Authority [CAA], the UK's aviation regulator, said only some airlines would be affected, with others not impacted at all.

"The requirement will mean the airlines flying these aircraft will in some cases have to change software over the days ahead or remain on the ground from Sunday onwards until the software has been changed," the regulator said.

Tim Johnson, policy director at CAA, told the BBC: "That unfortunately may mean there is some disruption, some delays or cancellations over the coming days."

He added that aviation was still "one of the safest forms of transport" due to the rigorous maintenance programs airlines have and this was "a very rare event".

Giancarlo Buono, director of aviation safety at CAA, added: "Passengers should check with their airline whether their flights are affected. Airlines have a duty of care to look after passengers when a flight is delayed."

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said "the impact on UK airlines seems limited".

"It is heartening this issue has been identified and will be addressed so swiftly, demonstrating the high aviation safety standards globally," she added.
'Precautionary action'

The problem that could impact the A320 family aircraft is that intense solar radiation at high altitudes can affect the working of the ELAC computer, which controls the elevators and ailerons – aerodynamic surfaces that are used to make the aircraft pitch up or down or roll to turn.

However, Airbus said the JetBlue incident was the only time this has actually happened.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an emergency airworthiness directive, ordering airlines to replace ELAC computers on the worst affected planes before carrying passengers again.

The EASA directive stipulated that as of 29 November, these planes can only fly passengers once they've been fixed. They will be allowed to make so-called "ferry flights", without passengers, in order to get to a maintenance facility.

The A320 family are what is known as "fly by wire" planes. This means there is no direct mechanical link between the controls in the cockpit and the parts of the aircraft that actually govern flight. The pilot's actions are interpreted by computers - which actually "fly" the plane.

Airbus has issued an alert to airlines requesting them to take "immediate precautionary action…in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection and ensure the fleet is safe to fly".

 
Roof closed at the Principality Stadium then?

 
The 175 move Wolverton to Laira was cancelled today. Maybe another go next week? It will be 4 weeks since the last move.

175002 and 175114 have been at Laira for a year!!

 
From the BBC: