Photo here, courtesy of Simon Hickman.

Mark

Depends on the day. Once MK-OXF EWR is open, then it'd simply be two changes, from May 18th.

'I get to work on the most scenic railway line in the world'


The Settle-Carlisle line is celebrating 150 years having survived a threat of closure in the 1980s - Image © John Giles/PA

Have you heard the one about the railway line that was threatened with closure, so lots of people started using it and it was saved?

Welcome to the Settle to Carlisle line, the quirky steel road through some of Britain's most magnificent countryside.

The line starts in Leeds and passes through Shipley and Skipton, but it is the section between North Yorkshire and Cumbria that is world-famous for its views.

Heading north from Settle, the peak of Pen-y-Ghent soon looms large, with Whernside and Ingleborough following a few miles later.


The line was voted the second most famous in the world last year - Image © Nick Wooley/BBC

Karen Morley-Chesworth from the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company said the route was "the best of British countryside".

"You can come on the train at Leeds where you bump into people every second, and you get off the train here and there's nobody. There's just scenery."

In the 1980s, there was a proposal to close the line but thousands of people - and one dog - objected. There is now a statue of Ruswarp the border collie, who signed the petition with his paw, and was classed as a paying passenger.

Passenger services started 150 years ago today, and to mark the occasion, tickets are being made available on the Northern-operated route for 150p each.


Ruswarp's pawprint was counted as a signature towards saving the railway - Image © Nick Wooley/BBC

This is a line with added value - it is not uncommon for the train conductor to give a running commentary on the landscape passing by.

Conductor Aaron Hendry said: "It's the luckiest part of my job, getting to be on this line. Last year it was voted the second most scenic line in the world, and I get to work on it. It's brilliant."

It could be argued there's a certain romance about the line too, according to operations manager Susie Smith. "My dad was a driver on the line and we used to come on holiday to Dentdale and stand in a field waving our tea towels, giving him a wave and he'd toot his horn," she said. "I met my husband, who works on the line, so we have our very own love story."

The crown jewel of the route is the legendary Ribblehead Viaduct. Blood, sweat, tears and death built this line. So many men died, many of them "navvies" who moved between major construction projects, they had to make local graveyards bigger. The viaduct consists of 24 arches carrying the track at more than 100ft (30.5m) high. It is an engineering marvel and a Yorkshire landmark.

Pete Myers, chair of the Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Company, has spent his life working on the railways. He said: "Without the viaduct, the line just wouldn't be complete. If we are serious about carbon reduction and green travel, public transport is an instrumental part of that. It is a truly green way of looking at the Dales."

At Ribblehead, you will find a station and a pub; appropriately named the Station Inn. The hostelry has just been bought by Andrew Hields, who said the pub and viaduct were "iconic".

"It's a few thousand people a year who come in from the train for sure," he said. "This place wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the railway 150 years ago."

The railway has some stations so far from the towns and villages they purport to serve, you need to bring your walking boots - Dent is four and a half miles from the village itself, but geography dictated where the tracks went.

In 2026, the railway is used by regular passenger services, commuters, steam engines and even mainline trains travelling between London and Glasgow when a diversion is required. When a steam train passes by, you can easily imagine what it was like here a century and a half ago.

Ad today as tickets to the Hammersmith Apollo on sale tomorrow.
Refers to Christopher as 'author'

Europe’s Rail Ticketing Mess: Why Booking a Train Still Feels Harder Than Flying

The European Union likes to present rail as the backbone of a sustainable transport future. Yet, as an April 2026 report from think tank Transport & Environment makes clear, the reality of booking a train across Europe remains fragmented, opaque, and often frustrating. The core problem is not a lack of infrastructure or even demand—it is a failure of the ticketing system to match the expectations of modern travellers.

A System That Discourages Its Own Use

At its most basic level, the European rail ticketing system fails to do what passengers expect: allow them to book a journey from A to B in one go. On some of the EU’s busiest corridors, one in five international rail journeys cannot be booked as a single ticket through major operator platforms.

The problem worsens with distance. For journeys above 900 km, more than half cannot be booked end-to-end via incumbent operators. This is precisely where rail should be competing most strongly with aviation. Instead, it is here that the system breaks down.

Passengers notice. Surveys show that 61% of long-distance travellers have abandoned rail journeys because booking is too complex and booking a train can take up to 70% longer than booking a flight. In an era where convenience defines consumer choice, this is a critical failure.

Think the boat's the Mount's Bay nautical equivalent of an Optare bus. Glad you've mentioned ferries, as there would surely have been a bit of too-ing and fro-ing between Mousehole, Newlyn and Penzance. All horribly weather dependent though.

Mark

Not long to wait for the results.

Widening the Thames bridges?.....

Radio Bristol reporting a contract is being signed today for continued construction work on the Portishead line,
not sure if they also said thee will be a "special train" going onto the line to celebrate the contract being signed.
 

Widening the Thames bridges?.....

It has sometimes struck me that this would have been (and might still be) a good idea. Being no civil engineer, sitting in a train between the two it strikes me that it might not be too much of a challenge,

Train ash used to seal leaky canal lock gates


The technique was used to protect the canal's water supply during last summer's drought

A centuries-old method of sealing gaps in lock gates lives on across West Yorkshire thanks to a partnership with heritage steam railways.

"Ashing up" dates back to the 19th Century when heavy boat traffic meant water was often in short supply. Lock keepers would float coal ash, from nearby steam railways, on the water's surface overnight which would then be drawn into gaps in the gates and form a bung.

The Canal & River Trust (CRT) is working with the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway, and most recently the Middleton Railway in Leeds to use their ash.

Darren Trolley, the CRT's team leader in Yorkshire & the North East, has decades of experience using the technique along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. He said: "The process of ashing up is a simple, cost-effective solution that reuses a byproduct of the heritage railways. We pour a small amount of ash into the canal just above a lock, and the flow of water draws it into the gaps in the gates, forming a completely watertight seal. It's amazing to see this technique in action and to think it's still being used centuries later."

Over the years, rubber and polymer sealants, soaked sawdust, wood chips and even natural clay have all been tested. But the CRT said none matched the effectiveness of railway ash in creating a reliable, watertight seal.

Tom Jefferys is a waterways operative for the trust based at Dobson Locks in Apperley Bridge where the ash is stored. He said: "Apparently the way they found out... lock keepers, back in the day, when they had their coal fires they just dumped it out and they realised it was sealing the gates. Whether or not that is true, I don't know, but somebody discovered it. We go and collect it from the heritage steam railways now. It's a by-product for them, but we can use it and it's brilliant."


Lock gates are made from oak and have paddles which allow some water to flow through

Ian Smith, vice-president of Middleton Railway, said "This really is a win-win for ourselves and the Canal & River Trust. We have a responsible way of disposing of our ash, and the trust can use it to repair locks and keep another heritage operation running for many people to enjoy."

Trolley said: "Sometimes the old ways really are the best when it comes to working on the canals and it's great to see Yorkshire's heritage railways and canals supporting each other."

New Worcester railway bike lockers aim to boost cycling


Councillor Hannah Cooper said the lockers would help cyclists in Worcester - Image © Worcester City Council

A series of secure lockers have been installed near a Worcestershire train station to make it "easier and safer" to store bikes, a council said.

The lockers have been fitted at the Arches, opposite Worcester Foregate Street railway station, for cyclists to store individual bikes, available to hire at an hourly rate.

They can hire a locker through the Bikedok app without the need for personal locks or keys, the authority said.

Councillor Hannah Cooper said: "These new lockers are a practical step towards making cycling a more attractive option for commuters and visitors to Worcester."

The lockers are priced at 45p per hour, or in bundles of £1.40 for four hours or £2.40 for eight hours.

There are also different sized lockers for standard bikes and for cargo bikes, both at the same price, a council spokesperson said.

22:51 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway Hl due 01:06 will be terminated at Oxford.
It will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Honeybourne, Evesham, Pershore and Worcestershire Parkway Hl.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Many years ago, I made a proposal for this with grade separation that was largely dismissed, which followed on from a Didcot grade separation that received a more favourable approval.  I have tried Deep Search on this platform to no avail.

Maybe Chris From Nailsea could be of assistance with finding my old post.

En passant, je pense ...

Another bottleneck not too far away to open out (but I think more of a challenge) would be to quadruple Reading West triangle (or however the revised shape is now named!) to Southcote junction. What do forum members who have more "real" knowledge think?