Lympstone Commando numbers are astonishing - would that be because there tend to be whole troups of commandos or recruits arriving at the same time, or is there traffic well spread across trains.   Also looking at some the other flow metrics - how peaky are they - right down to Dockyard.   With Dockyard, is there still a significantly larger flow to and from the dockyard with certain trains?    Thanks for your help on this

 
From current conditions of travel:


Bolding and capitalisation as per current NRCoT

Announcement by the train manager on the 15:30 ex Paddington on 24th March (2026) which I was travelling on "This train does not call as Didcot and if you are travelling on split tickets changing from one ticket to another there, your tickets will not be valid.   There is revenue protection on this train". 

Has clause 14.3 been withdrawn?    The announcement by the train manager seemed to ignore it. 

If making 2 return trips, both at peak times and using trains that do not call at Didcot, from Melksham to Paddington within a week, the lowest cost way has been a single to Didcot, a weekly season to Cholsey, a return from Cholsey to London an a further single Didcot to Melksham.  My understanding is that's within 14.3, but is contradicted by what the train manager said.

Yes - revenue protection did come through; I was not making use of this clause and did not feel inclined to raise it with them.

 
I understand that the £14 return fare (£18 before 09:00 Monday to Friday) from Melksham to Trowbridge exists because the Melksham is a "Chippenham Group" station and Trowbridge is in the Westbury group. The fare is valid via Bath Spa.

I am told that the fare should be overridden on the front of the TVM by the direct fare but due to a "database error" it's the higher fare - £14 or £18 - rather than the fare of around £6 that is offered on the single press "popular destinations" menu on the front panel; the lower price fare can be found if you know to dig in and look for it.

My GWR contact has apologised for how long he has taken to get back to me on this (I heard on 26th), but only explained (no apology) for the database error.  He tells me the database was corrected on 19th, but as of 25th when I was last at the station, the change has not percolated through.   

I raised this matter with GWR's head of revenue on Tuesday (23rd) at GWR's parliamentary reception, and he assured me that this fare was chosen for the front of the TVM as it's the one that's most sold for the journey. If he's correct in that statement, it illustrates just how many people are being what I regard as overcharged by nearly £10 for a ten minute journey.  K-chink - nice money raiser!   If he's incorrect in his statement, then can I believe anything else he tells me with an assurance.  Just occasionally, "don't know - I'll find out" would be the best answer.

I have gotten back to GWR asking them to changes the offering on the front panel to reflect the fact that most Melksham to Trowbridge passengers take the direct train ...

 
The "Beeching Report" is mirrored at https://www.passenger.chat/mirror/BRB_Beech001a.pdf and that document is "whitelisted" so it is publicly available from our site. The associated maps are at https://www.passenger.chat/mirror/BRB_Beech001b.pdf

For signed in members, we also hold archive copies of some other contemporary documents such as
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/NUR_UpToYou1963.pdf - NUR Its Up to YOU! Save your Railways - 1963
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/NUR_Misshaping1963.pdf - NUR The Mis-Shaping of British Railways - Part 1: Retort -1963
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/Hans_Beeching02051963.pdf - Review of Dr Beeching's Report The Reshaping of British Railways - 1965
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/Obs_Beech001.pdf - The Observer on Beeching - "The Transport Conflict" - 10 Jan 1965
I'm not sure on the copyright on this even 60 years late, hence I have not made them generally available.  We do welcome new members to the Coffee Shop, and once you have signed up for free and been approved, you'll be able to read them

 
Missed them in Bath (but then not sure if I would recognise them or they would recognise Lisa and me).

We went in by bus ... and noted with some pleasure that in some parts of the city there seem to be more buses than cars around - has to be a good thing to help reduce congestion, though the bus station was crowded to the extent that we had to push our way through to get to the waiting area near the bay that the 271/2/3 leave from.

 

The copy I see / and have just downloaded from https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/NRCOT/ is also missing 13.2

The refund of unused tickets issue from 1st April has been heavily flagged - not that the news will have reached everyone who may have made use of the facility in the past. However, I have not been able to find a new NRCoT document, nor seen any re-assurance that there won't be other changes quietly slipped in - such as this omission of 13.2.   

It strikes me that it's normal for changes and official documents such as agenda items for meetings to be published at least a week ahead, and I find it extraordinary that I can't read what conditions will be applied to rail tickets I purchase from next Wednesday!

 
Thanks, Ralph Ayres and Mark A.

The wording in the original quote:

had me a bit worried, but the "Anytime" stipulation appears only in the conditions for changing Anytime tickets (yes - the wording is subtly different for different types of ticket).

Now, in trying to answer your the original question about changes that were formerly possible on-train, I discovered a problem with the latest NRCoT.  . To ensure it remains visible, I have put my find in a separate thread:
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=31796.0

 
My wife and daughter (neither of whom are particularly experienced in 'the ways of the railways') chose to travel by train for this leisure day out today.

I offered them my advice about 'through trains' and 'off-peak ticket prices' - for which they were grateful.

They apparently had a grand day out, having shopped around Bath and enjoyed lunch, then returned home happy.

Off-peak ticket price was £10.60 each.  I regard that as a bargain, compared with the costs of running a car and parking anywhere in Bath for such an occasional excursion.

CfN.

 
I was looking for clauses on excess fares in the current (2025) National Rail Conditions of Travel (NRCoT). I noticed that, compared with the 2024 version, a couple of significant clauses were missing from my PDF download. They are part of The Routes You May Use and are:


In the 2025 version, 13.1.2 is followed by two information boxes, then 13.3.


Firstly, would someone like to confirm that the omission is general, and not restricted to my copy of NRCoT?

 


  . ... Freight came thru at time passenger train was due ... passenger train 10 minutes behind.

 
They were possibly the illegal immigrant stowaways.

 
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/guy-martins-house-without-bills (I think)

 
Sorry 15-20 got off a freight train?

 

The title was ... a credit to the longevity of the forum - outlives the power station ...

 

I can recognize a 'hint' from a squirrel, particularly when it is then 'liked' by broadgage, so I have made the appropriate updates.

CfN. 

 
Alterations to services between Newbury and Reading

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Newbury and Reading the line towards Reading is disrupted.

Train services running through these stations may be delayed or diverted between Westbury and Reading.

Disruption is expected until 18:15 26/03.

 

And if you try to book by train for a summer weekend instead, effectively get no availability (yet) of fares, unlike the airlines that are happy to allow people to book summer break.

GWR is happy to let book tickets upto 24 weeks ahead on selected routes according to its website (not that I have ever managed to find a list of routes they have selected, so no idea which routes), but won't let anyone book weekends beyond 5th July (which is why I picked the comparison in opening post).

Are GWR seriously scared there might be engineering works on the major holiday routes to South West at height of summer, stopping these advances being released through to end of August. We all know the works are never done peak season, so why is GWR holding back whilst airlines have opened summer bookings ?

 

Very excited to be at Minehead over the coming weekend for the 50th Anniversary of the re-opening to Blue Anchor.  I've even got a ticket on the 1015 from Minehead commemorative train.  It occurs to me now, although I thought nothing of it at the time, that I wasn't on that first train to Blue anchor and back.  I was too busy at Minehead

I remember getting a huge lump in my throat as I gave the right away to the guard and he waved the green flag.  And then the train was gone.  We were underway.  Trains to Taunton were coming back before the end of the year.  Quite overwhelming.  I may have filled-up a little

https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/events/view/50th-anniversary-weekend

 

Or a Sunday morning. A couple of years ago, when we were all just getting over all the lockdowns, I tried to catch the first train* on a Sunday morning from Bath Spa to Paddington. The number of people waiting on the platform was frightening, and they all tried to get on, which resulted in easily the most crowded train I have ever travelled on. I had to stand near to a window, which would have been good except that the sun was beating down through it, and at one point I fainted from sheer exhaustion and heatstroke, and was helped back up by everyone around me (but they couldn't move to give me any space as they had none themselves). I got out at the next station rather than try to continue the journey in that manner. It was bliss being out in fresh air.

*I think there had been an earlier train but then a gap of an hour and a half before this train was timetabled (sometime after 9am) and it is possible it was short-formed but even if it hadn't been, it would have been exceptionally crowded.

 
In a sure sign that Platform 5 is still a couple of years away, the old Pumpkin unit on Platform 4 has now been repurposed as an additional waiting room. 

Good news in that the previous small facility is now more than three times larger.  Bad news that it's taken so long and that they closed the Pumpkin in the first place! 

Hindsight, eh?

 

Yes, indeed.  I've never known off-peak services be so busy, despite many routes having more seats than ever. 

Saturday's and Sunday's are verging on chaos - spend a couple of hours at Bath or Oxford in the morning on a Saturday or the afternoon on a Sunday to see what I mean!

 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9m0zl4ryzo

 
Would it confuse people if we were to drop the 'Aberthaw Power Station and' part of this thread's subject? It has now been six years since Aberthaw B closed, and the Turbine Hall was recently reduced to rubble...

 

Bit harsh, but yes, west country rail services *are* now provisioned with what is essentially a train with interiors fitted out with the Reading-Paddington commuter run in mind... does the catering trolley even cross the Tamar any more, and then there's the resilience aspect...

Mark

 
Ryanair also fly to Stansted three or four times a week (four in high season).

 
Skybus had the contract for a Public Service Operator for a while -
At a meeting of Cornwall Council’s cabinet this morning, the Council has voted in favour of discontinuing its support for the PSO air service between Cornwall Airport Newquay and London. At the same meeting, it has been confirmed that support for the air service has been withdrawn from the Council’s budget.

It is with sincere regret that we therefore must confirm that Skybus services from Cornwall Airport Newquay to London Gatwick must cease by 31 May 2026. Our team is proceeding to initiate contact with all passengers who hold forward bookings from that date to arrange a full refund of all monies paid and to convey our disappointment that many must now face arduous alternative travel plans to London.

Skybus stepped in to operate the service from 23 November 2025 following the collapse of the previous operator.
https://www.skybus.co.uk/latest-news/pso-air-services-cornwall-to-london-gatwick/

A daily service (from) £114.99 single.

Easyjet only doing the run twice a week, but not as a PSO.

 
Also factor in costs of getting to and from airports or stations.   

I recall chatting with someone who was attending an IT course I was running, and he was "flying to Scotland to see his mum for the weekend" and saying how much cheaper it was that going overland.  "How will you get from the airport to her home, though?" I asked.   "I'll walk" he said "she lives 300 yards from the airport terminal on Benbecula".   Such responses are unusual - there's often a bus, taxi or hire car.

 
Ok I realise EasyJet is an airline, but the vey fact that they are starting competition with a GWR routes suggests it could merit discussion.

Strictly can travel the route by using the North Downs line between Gatwick and Reading, and then either direct to Newquay (at the limited times of through train), or changing again in Cornwall.

Even if take the more vague route of London to western Cornwall how does price and time stack up

https://www.cornwallairportnewquay.com/press/easyjet-to-launch-london-gatwick-to-newquay-flights-for-summer-2026/

Taking example of last Saturday in June (27th) it is £44.99 out and £52.49 back week later 4th July (before adding extras)

GWR website, London to Newquay on same dates and nearest same departure times of 07:05 and 09:15 is from £62 out and from £72 return, with various ticket prices upto staggering £469.40 for anytime first class return.

Has GWR missed a trick by allowing airlines to undercut it on cheapest fare, thoughts please

If daft enough to actually pay £469.40 what would you actually get, I suspect there is not a First class lounge at Newquay serving champagne breakfasts at weekends.