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Great Western Coffee Shop
As at 8th February 2025 00:06 GMT
Recent Public Posts - [guest]
Re: Outstanding server / web site issues
In "News, Help and Assistance" [358026/29715/29]
Posted by grahame at 23:32, 7th February 2025
 
If you get this page anything other than VERY rarely, please let me know



Last year's code that quietly turned away aggressive robots needed tuning which I did this morning ... load has gone down (good) but I need to know if the occasional one I divert away is a real user


Re: Final call - now up to 4 minutes at Kings Cross
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358025/29865/51]
Posted by UstiImmigrunt at 22:55, 7th February 2025
 
And people wonder why nothing appears to work properly or costs a fortune to run in this country; talk about risk averse.


Don't forget the ambulance chasing leeches as it's always someone elses fault.

Re: Children going on holiday during school term time
In "Fare's Fair" [358024/29833/4]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 21:35, 7th February 2025
Already liked by grahame
 
Thanks, grahame. 

I voted for two answers - both of which registered fairly low on the scale. 

Back in 2003, we had a three week family holiday in South Africa.  Our child at the time was aged 6, so we sought and obtained permission for their 'leave of absence' from school.  The school were very supportive - indeed requiring us to include in our luggage a teddy bear, who was their mascot for such excursions.

I have photographic memories of our child sitting on a small boat, about as close as you can get to a wild walrus sunning itself on a dockside in Cape Town without untoward results.  Also, of our child standing in the doorway of the cell which housed Nelson Mandela on Robben Island.

That school teddy accompanied us everywhere - those are experiences which most primary schools are unfortunately unable to offer.

CfN. 


Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358023/29867/51]
Posted by broadgage at 21:05, 7th February 2025
 
Hopefully, the car driver will be treated as severely as the law allows, in view of the substantial costs and disruption resulting.
I hope that the driver, or more realistically their insurers, are charged the full costs of repairs.

Re: Children going on holiday during school term time
In "Fare's Fair" [358022/29833/4]
Posted by grahame at 20:50, 7th February 2025
 
No early answers (which I think we knew anyway) ... 22 people voted

Companies should not put prices up   - 5
Parents should not take children out of school for holiday   - 13
School holidays should be staggered   - 7
It should be left up to parents   - 3
It should be left up to the travel industry   - 3
School aged children should not be allowed holidays   - 0
Schools should organise holidays themselves   - 1
It's OK if the parent reports the child sick - good training for weaselling through life   - 0
I don't like any of the options   - 4

Good to see that no-one here was draconian enough to suggest that children do not have holidays ...

Only one vote that the schools should organise the holidays.

A different era ... and I recall going on a school trip extreme ... I had a way of convincing my parents which I think stretched things for them, but that was memorable for life.

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358021/29867/51]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:42, 7th February 2025
 
No, it's a BMW. 

Was.

Touché. 


Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358020/29867/51]
Posted by ChrisB at 20:39, 7th February 2025
 
With no recourse to insurance if they get charged with drink/drug driving

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358019/29867/51]
Posted by JayMac at 20:37, 7th February 2025
 
No, it's a BMW. 

Was.

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358018/29867/51]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:27, 7th February 2025
 
Wonder what the make and colour of the car waa..... oh.

black Audi?.....



No, it's a BMW. 


Re: Finland and Estonia ponder undersea railway tunnel
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [358017/16620/28]
Posted by grahame at 19:43, 7th February 2025
 
It's quite likely that Estonia sees this as more than just a transport link. There are a large number of Russians living in Estonia ^ off the top of my head it could be a third of the population ^ who, due to decisions taken when Estonia became independent, were never given Estonian citizenship. So they not only speak Russian and think of themselves as Russian but have Russian citizenship. Estonia fears that Putin (or perhaps whoever succeeds him one day) could use this as a lever to interfere in the country's government or even annex part of it, in a similar way to Crimea. Estonia is culturally close to Finland and since the early 90s has viewed Finland as a sort of protector, so this tunnel not only emphasises that link but could give Finland a legitimate excuse to support Estonia militarily in the event it was needed.

Unless France has unsuspected ambitions, the Isle of Wight is not in a similar position!


From the Daily echo

Can we get a rail tunnel under the Solent to Isle of Wight?

With Hovertravel facing financial challenges and climate change making our weather increasingly wet and windy, it is becoming difficult to always rely on ferries and hovercraft to provide a reliable service.

If a rail tunnel was constructed under the Solent the cost would eventually be justified.

As well as passengers, the railway line could carry freight, taking it off our crumbling roads.

Our current ferries, especially on the Cowes route, are nearing the end of their efficient lifespan.

Until recently, I would not have thought of France wanting to take over the Isle of Wight ... but with the USA with designs on Greenland, perhaps it would be a good defensive idea to tunnel to the IoW? 

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358016/29867/51]
Posted by JayMac at 19:27, 7th February 2025
 
So, he went 'straight on at the roundabout'. 

Learner drivers are instructed "At the roundabout ahead take the 1st/2nd/3rd etc exit." Probably to avoid them taking the request "At the roundabout ahead go straight on" literally.

I guess this driver in his (suspected) drunken state forgot what he was taught.

Re: How to Run a Railway, Portuguese style.
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [358015/29868/52]
Posted by UstiImmigrunt at 19:17, 7th February 2025
 
I cannot give a clear answer unfortunately.

It depends on the type of train, what exactly the defect is and which door on the train it is. For example on older stock if an extreme end door is locked out of use then the whole vehicle is taken out as you don't have an emergency exit in case of a fire....

But on an IET you can lock out the passenger doors behind the cab but they will still open if an emergency ingress is used.

And it also depends on when. Pre First Group Sprinter drivers were taught the faults and failures very intensively. You want to go home, you repair the fault. But the First Group policy is phone a friend, someone in control who had a couple of cards with flow charts but physically has never been in the engine room of a HST power car or walked around a Sprinter. Part of this was to do with delay minutes, Driver Managers didn't like budgets being drained if a driver made a mistake.

And also how the fault is described between train crew and control differs..

Some of the things I did to get Sprinters moving would give out the "You can't do that!" from control or management.

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358014/29867/51]
Posted by ChrisB at 19:14, 7th February 2025
 
Wonder what the make and colour of the car waa..... oh.

black Audi?.....


Re: North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2025
In "London to the Cotswolds" [358013/29711/14]
Posted by ChrisB at 19:13, 7th February 2025
 
A cancellation for some of the Malverns part of what BR InterCity used to call The Cotswolds and Malverns line

It still is......

The train with the fault was in front of a down service.  So the reason/excuse for this cancellation is not really a proper explanation

I think it is - the train only reached GMV on the down service owing to the train in front having a fault. Therefore it bas to start back from the same place for the same reason - it got stopped on the down....

Re: Uber credits
In "Fare's Fair" [358012/29854/4]
Posted by Clan Line at 19:07, 7th February 2025
 
Weirder and weirder !

I decided to go ahead and pay for the ticket before the price went up (Advance ticket required). I went through the Uber App as normal and told them to go ahead and charge it to my card - my bank sent me an SMS to authorise the full payment, which I did. This is normally closely followed by another SMS saying that the debit has been paid. Silence ................ followed by the arrival of 2 emails from Uber telling me how to collect my tickets. I go back into my "wallet" in the Uber App to see that my credit is now 4p !!!!

I must assume that the full amount is requested by Uber to cover anything from 0p to the whole ticket amount - then, once my bank has confirmed that I am willing to spend the whole amount, Uber than take what they actually need to cover the cost of the ticket (price minus any credits). It just seems strange that they don't do the maths before they go my my card issuer.

Anyway, I have my train ticket. My whole journey involved another short train trip after this one - I have a bus pass I will now use that !! It's too much aggro to buy another train ticket - and the bus is free...................
 

Re: How to Run a Railway, Portuguese style.
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [358011/29868/52]
Posted by IndustryInsider at 19:02, 7th February 2025
 
A faulty door that can’t be used has three potential scenarios.  From memory, if it’s at the end of the train then that carriage has to be taken out of use if there is no escape route.

If the carriage with the faulty door contains the emergency equipment usually the whole train has to come out of use.

Otherwise, generally, a single door fault just means that door can be locked out of use and the carriage, and the train, remain in service.

There may be subtle differences depending on the type of train.  For example, IET doors can be locked out of use electronically, so there is still a means of escape available as they are not physically locked and can still be opened in an emergency.

Re: How to Run a Railway, Portuguese style.
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [358010/29868/52]
Posted by eightonedee at 18:35, 7th February 2025
 
With apologies if I have posted this comment before...

Here there seems to be some kind of lottery when problems occur with one coach of a train. My 20-odd years' experience as a commuter before I retired in 2022 was that if a problem occurred (almost always a door problem), there was no way of telling whether they would simply lock that doorway out of use, lock the entire carriage out of use or "fail the train", get everyone off at the next station and send an empty train on to the depot.

I appreciate that as a mere passenger I would not know what any fundamental problem might be, but I would hope that the first of these would be the default in the absence of any other consideration, and the last only applied in serious cases where there was some problem creating a danger for all passengers.

Can any professional railwayman forum members throw any light on this? ("Railwayman" being here used as a gender neutral description of someone who works (or used to work) for a railway company!)

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358009/29867/51]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 18:27, 7th February 2025
 
So, he went 'straight on at the roundabout'. 


Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358008/29867/51]
Posted by bradshaw at 18:22, 7th February 2025
 
The bridge through which the car travelled was on the pedestrian walkway at the centre if the roundabout

https://maps.app.goo.gl/vbrBwLuYsS9TUm4J9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358007/29867/51]
Posted by Mark A at 17:36, 7th February 2025
Already liked by Chris from Nailsea
 
Wonder what the make and colour of the car waa..... oh.

Mark

Re: Want to go to Venice - will Innsbruck do you?
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [358006/29866/52]
Posted by UstiImmigrunt at 17:08, 7th February 2025
Already liked by Mark A
 
I booked a sleeper with this company from Ústí nad Labem to Bruxelles last October for mid December travel.

A few weeks before I received an email stating that the Ústí stop was no more and I had to board at Praha Hlavní nádraží or Děčín with no mention of what ticket to use to get from Ústí to my boarding station. Also it is a lengthy train and no information provided about the formation. I stood at around halfway and boarded towards the rear. My ticket wasn't checked until after Děčín but in that time I inspected my cabin. The lock for the hopper window was defective which meant some wind noise and the blind randomly flying up. The light above the sink didn't work. Neither did the two toilets, both locked out of use. And finally, plus this suited me, time keeping was atrocious with a 75 minutes late arrival. All put in an email and 25% of my ticket was refunded.


The stock is life expired and needs some serious money thrown at it.

Re: How to Run a Railway, Portuguese style.
In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [358005/29868/52]
Posted by UstiImmigrunt at 16:58, 7th February 2025
 
No FPLs for the crossing loops on the Douro Valley. One member of staff sent to each end of the loop to manually pull the hand point  then waves a red hand signal to the driver as authority to proceed then the person in charge of the station dispatches the train with a red hand signal. Simple.

Hopefully no heart attacks...

Re: Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2025
In "Across the West" [358004/29650/26]
Posted by TaplowGreen at 16:35, 7th February 2025
 
Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to a speed restriction over defective track between Reading and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run on all lines.

Train services running to and from these stations will be cancelled, delayed or terminated at and started back from Reading. Some stations between Reading and London Paddington will not be served. Disruption is expected until the end of the day

Re: Mainline closed after car crashes on to railway at Salford - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358003/29867/51]
Posted by GBM at 15:45, 7th February 2025
 
Live updates https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0k5214vn6pt

UK cold snap to bring sleet and hill snow over the weekend - 7 Feb 2025
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [358002/29870/51]
Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 15:00, 7th February 2025
 
From BBC Weather:

A spell of colder weather has set in across the UK, with some places likely to see sleet and snow.

Friday will be a cloudier, windier day for England and Wales, with some rain showers, mainly towards the southeast. A little sleet and hill snow will also be possible over high ground.  Scotland and Northern Ireland will have a sunnier, drier and less windy day.  Temperatures across the UK will range between about 5 to 8C, but as a brisk easterly wind develops, a wind chill in the south will make it will feel closer to freezing.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued yellow cold-health alerts for parts of northern and eastern of England, valid from 7 to 11 February. They warn of the potential for minor impacts to health and social care services.


There will be a significant wind chill on Friday, making it feel several degrees colder than the thermometer suggests

For most places, we're not expecting a widespread snow event, but you may notice a few wintry flurries on Friday even to low levels in southern and eastern England. The higher chance of wintry precipitation will develop late Friday and overnight into Saturday for parts of the Midlands and east Wales.

By Saturday morning, there may be up to 5cm of snow for some places in the Brecon Beacons, eastern Cambrian Mountains and perhaps the higher parts of Exmoor.  There could also be 2 to 3cm of snow for places like the Cotswolds, Chilterns, Peak District and the Pennines.



Through the weekend, some slightly less-cold air will move in for a time, especially in the south, so any impacts from snow or ice should be fairly short-lived for most.

Into next week, high pressure to the north-east of the UK will continue to bring a feed of colder air from continental Europe and temperatures are expected to be around 3 or 4 degrees below average for the time of year. Whilst most places should be predominantly dry, there is a chance of some wintry showers, especially in the east.

(Article continues)



Re: Electrification of Weston Super Mare loop?
In "Media about railways, and other means of transport" [358001/29864/49]
Posted by Phantom at 14:38, 7th February 2025
Already liked by Chris from Nailsea
 
Sadly our local paper often looks like it has been compiled by people with zero knowledge of anything, report after report is flawed and poorly written, sadly I am blocked from posting in the comments section for pointing out many errors in previous reports

This article is just another lot of nonsense

Even though money has been approved for new lifts etc, the feeling amongst staff at the station is "we'll believe it when we see it"

Re: North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2025
In "London to the Cotswolds" [358000/29711/14]
Posted by Witham Bobby at 14:10, 7th February 2025
 
11:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 14:44 will be terminated at Great Malvern.
It will no longer call at Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 35 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on a train in front of this one.
Last Updated:07/02/2025 12:42

A cancellation for some of the Malverns part of what BR InterCity used to call The Cotswolds and Malverns line

and, inevitably

15:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29
15:18 Hereford to London Paddington due 18:29 will be started from Great Malvern.
It will no longer call at Hereford, Ledbury and Colwall.
This is due to a fault on a train in front of this one.
Last Updated:07/02/2025 12:42

The train with the fault was in front of a down service.  So the reason/excuse for this cancellation is not really a proper explanation

Re: North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2025
In "London to the Cotswolds" [357999/29711/14]
Posted by Witham Bobby at 14:07, 7th February 2025
 
11:52 London Paddington to Hereford due 14:44 will be terminated at Great Malvern.
It will no longer call at Colwall, Ledbury and Hereford.
It has been delayed at London Paddington and is now 35 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on a train in front of this one.
Last Updated:07/02/2025 12:42

A cancellation for some of the Malverns part of what BR InterCity used to call The Cotswolds and Malverns line

Re: Final call - now up to 4 minutes at Kings Cross
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [357998/29865/51]
Posted by ray951 at 13:32, 7th February 2025
Already liked by Witham Bobby, broadgage
 
And people wonder why nothing appears to work properly or costs a fortune to run in this country; talk about risk averse.

Rail Innovation Exhibition 2025 - 13th February 2025
In "Looking forward - the next 5, 10 and 20 years" [357997/29869/40]
Posted by grahame at 13:08, 7th February 2025
 
From Innovate UK



Join us in London for the Rail Innovation Exhibition 2025 delivered in partnership with the Department for Transport. The event will bring together over 500 delegates from industry, research, and trade associations, including Network Rail - this is the place to review the latest in rail innovation.

This year we aim to provide you with ample networking time and enable you to connect with innovators across the rail supply chain.

Register now to secure your place at the 2025 Rail Innovation Exhibition.

Please note we are now at capacity for 2025 Exhibition stands.

 
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