Perhaps there were some acting civil servants ... bearing in mind that many of them work for a company that receives £1 million per day from the public purse, and who's operation of GWR will be part of the public sector within a year from now.   Several times during the meeting, it was asked that we reduce the time being spent on background information highlighting some of the positives that can be presented, and the intent and analysis, and move more closely onto customer issues.  It is natural for people who are or will be, directly or indirect, paid by civil servant masters to want to protect their positions.

And from comments on the BBC article ...
.....Comment by millkeeper at 11:14.....
.....I'm surprised this hasn't included rail companies and airlines who all say prices from but there are so few of those seats available they shouldn't be able to advertise like this

A gritting lorry has blocked a road after overturning while heading out ahead of expected wintry weather conditions.

The crash happened on the A382 near Moretonhampstead and Lustleigh on Dartmoor at about 15:20 GMT with a road closure set up while emergency services deal with the incident.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the driver of the lorry is believed to have sustained minor injuries and motorists have been asked to avoid the area.

Councils across Devon and Cornwall have sent gritters out to prepare roads for snow and ice which have been forecast and led to a Met Office weather warning which is active until 23:59 on Thursday.

(BBC article continues)

The damage done by one particular former member who wrote a destructive script (in 2013) could be repeated more easily if we turned in back on.

Worcester railway mural project divides opinion


Tewkesbury-based artist Sarah Brown has been chosen to lead the mural project

Plans for a mural under a railway bridge in Worcester have divided opinion.

The project, which has been approved by the city council, is to be placed underneath the bridge near Foregate Street Station and will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway.

The council and Severn Arts said they hoped the project would draw attention towards the arches and the walkway that links Foregate Street to the river.

But the Conservation Advice Panel has objected to the scheme, saying recently exposed brickwork should be celebrated and potentially cleaned up.

In response, council officers said the mural would not be painted directly on to the bricks but on an aluminium panel that could be removed in the future.

The project has been described by planning officers as "a sensitive and reversible cultural intervention that celebrates Worcester's railway heritage by enhancing the public realm".

Tewkesbury-based artist Sarah Brown, who has recently created a large mural in Redditch, has been chosen for the Foregate Street project.

She will be working with residents of Platform Housing and students from Heart of Worcestershire College.

Inspiration will be taken from vintage railway posters that used to be displayed under the bridge in the 1960s.

Councillor Alan Amos said the project was "excellent" and asked for railway staff to be included in consultations.

... if any member wants the removal of something they posted, but which they are unable to edit for whatever reason, I can help. CfN.

Increasingly as we move to "One Railway" and to avoid finger pointing, they are just identified as "trains" rather than freight or passenger.

Channel Tunnel says UK investment 'non-viable' as it halts projects



Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, has halted its UK projects, claiming "unsustainable" levels of taxation has made any future investments "non-viable".

The company said it had been informed its business rates would increase by some 200% from next year.

It hit out at the government, arguing that the higher costs were "clearly contrary" to ambitions of growing the economy and increasing investment.

The Treasury said it would support firms "hit hardest" by tax hikes and would continue talks with affected industries over such concerns.

The outburst from Eurotunnel comes days ahead of next week's Autumn Budget, where Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out the government's tax and spending plans.

The potential 200% increase in business rates for Eurotunnel is a result of new calculations by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which provides the government with valuations and property advice used in setting taxation and benefits.

A spokesperson for Eurotunnel said such a hike in business rates, along with other taxes, could put its total tax level at about 75% on UK earnings.

The VOA told the BBC the body "does not determine business rates" and that "next year's liability has not yet been confirmed".

"This unparalleled and unsustainable level of taxation makes any future investment in the UK non-viable," the Channel Tunnel said. "It is therefore impossible to develop new services, create jobs, and pursue what is needed for the long-term development of our activities." The company claimed it had "no other choice but to freeze our future investments in railway assets in the UK, starting in 2026".

The BBC has asked Eurotunnel what investments it has frozen. The Financial Times reported that its chief executive, Yann Leriche, told the newspaper it had scrapped plans to reopen a freight terminal in Barking and to run a new direct freight service from Lille.

The Channel Tunnel is an undersea tunnel linking southern England and northern France. Nicknamed "Chunnel", it comprises three tunnels, two rail tunnels used for freight and passenger trains, and a service tunnel. The link between Folkestone and Calais is operated by Eurotunnel.

Separate company Eurostar, Eurotunnel's biggest customer, operates passenger services through the tunnel between London and a number of other European cities on the continent, including Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

A VOA spokesperson told the BBC it had engaged with Eurotunnel and their advisers "on multiple occasions over the past eighteen months to discuss their valuation and fully explain our approach. These discussions remain ongoing, and we are committed to continuing constructive engagement." The spokesperson added Eurotunnel could formally challenge the valuation.

Ahead of the Budget, the Eurotunnel called on the government to "provide certainty on business rates". The firm has not been alone in issuing warnings to the chancellor, with supermarket bosses claiming part of the government's business rates reforms posed a problem for its industry.

Business rates are a tax on non-domestic properties such as shops, pubs and offices.

It is expected that Reeves will confirm the rates businesses will have to pay at in the Budget, along with further details, which will come into force in April 2026.

The Treasury said in response to Eurotunnel's comments that it did not comment on "speculation around future changes to tax policy". It said once it understood the "complete" revaluation picture, it would be in a position to "make final decisions" on support.

Petition launched after flooded rail line issues



A petition has been launched after commuters faced more than a week of train cancellations due to flooding.

North Devon MP, Ian Roome, who launched the petition, said ongoing problems on the Tarka Line, in Devon, were "totally unacceptable" and residents had been left with "a second class service".

Earlier in November, rail passengers and campaigners called for change on the line due to delays, cancellations, flooding, and overcrowding.

Full service on the line - which stretches from Barnstaple to Exeter - has since resumed and Network Rail said it closed the flooded line "for the safety of customers".

During the closure limited replacement buses and taxis were put on, with journey times often taking longer, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. People who regularly use the service, which has about 800,000 passenger journeys a year, said they frequently experienced delays or cancellations on the line and were calling for it to be made more resilient.

Roome said: "I am pushing for structural improvements, additional train carriages to deal with persistent overcrowding, additional drainage work, longer platforms at some stations en route, and more passing places along the single track line so the train timetable can be improved. This is one of the most successful train lines in the country in terms of passenger numbers and we will be lobbying the rail minister to put it at the top of his agenda. It's time to future proof the Tarka Line."

Great Western Railway said it was aware some trains immediately before and after the start of the college day were in demand, and with non-Exeter College travellers using the route it was over capacity on some services during peak times. It said it was looking at providing more trains and carriages with selective door opening to cater for shorter platforms and was supportive of the campaigns to upgrade the infrastructure.

On Tuesday, Network Rail said: "Water levels have receded below the closure mark on all three bridges along the Barnstaple line, which allowed specialist divers to carry out an inspection of each structure earlier today." It said divers found no damage to any of the bridges and had to run an inspection train along the entire length of the line before it could be reopened to passenger trains.

Yep - and statistically, the 4 new stations may be closer to where they start or finish their journey than the current five for many of them - so gainers & losers.....