Here's another new topic I've primed, ready.  CfN. 

Would the same argument be used for heritage railways?   Just being the Devils Advocate 

Just two cancellations across the whole GWR are as I write.   No prizes for guessing where, or why!

21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 22:31
An additional bus service has been planned to operate as shown 21:16 Westbury to Swindon due 22:31.
Additional Information
The coach is operated by Applegates Coaches Limited.

Please check the stations Onward Travel Information poster and wait for the replacement road transport at the designated stop.

The replacement road transport may run later than the advertised train times owing to the additional time taken by road between stations and the time required for loading and unloading at each stop.
Further Information

If you require further information please speak to our staff at the station or on the train, use the Customer Help Point, message us on X @GWRHelp or call National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950.

If you arrive at your destination 15 or more minutes late because your GWR train was delayed or cancelled, you can claim Delay Repay compensation. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR.com/DelayRepay
Last Updated:30/12/2025 19:14

If you really require those details, ChrisB, they are readily available in the full list on the Government's website ...

However, there are some other names in that list, where senior people at the Department for Transport have been awarded "Order of the Bath, Companions of the Order of the Bath" for 'Services to Transport'. Surely, they were just doing their jobs - for which they are probably already very well paid?

Chime Whistle Publishing has retweeted his claim about this timetable change, saying yesterday -

Chime Whistle Publishing has retweeted his claim about this timetable change, saying yesterday -

Probably because of complaints (from a certain member   ) that none-travel, none-south-west topics that could dilute the forum's inetrests be kept to one or two places - and "Introductions and Chat" and "And Also" were the two chosen places.  So correct for the thread to be started here, and as it's likely to be a long runner with a number of follow ups, it would get lost and confuse a general canal thread.  


Ah ... where??   I think we both come from the viewpoint that the canals are not really a means of transport these days.

TaplowGreen, the Coffee Shop forum is prepared for you.

As for a timetable change.... The number of GU's isolated has dropped significantly so I can't see them making that decision now.  They believe the problem is related to contaminated fuel (salt specifically)

Revised timetable coming into force from 5 January, to allow for two trains to have ten hour repair slots in depot.

Valid on all scheduled services wholly within Scotland, including to and Carlisle and Berwick-Upon-Tweed.

Travel is valid Monday to Friday on trains departing after 09:15 and on any service at the weekend

The restriction does not apply to customers travelling on the following routes:

Glasgow Queen Street - Oban/Fort William/Mallaig.
Inverness - Kyle /Wick/Thurso.
Glasgow Central - Stranraer.
Direct services from Lockerbie to Carlisle, Carstairs, Motherwell or Glasgow Central.

Valid anytime Monday to Friday, and all day Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays on trains from Pwllheli to Aberystwyth and Machynlleth.

Errr....why is this here & not in the canals thread? Took an age to find it....

Sorry, I'm in the middle of moving it: it's a specific infrastructure issue in the UK, not a viable alternative means of travel.

There isn't a specific board for 'canals': perhaps there should be?

CfN. 

Workers attempt to rescue three narrowboats dragged to the depths by canal collapse

Workers have attempted to salvage three narrowboats that were dragged to the depths of a gaping canal collapse in Shropshire.

Aerial pictures show the vessels submerged in mud with bits of debris scattered round them and a long stretch of corrugated metal draped over.

At least 10 people were rescued on Monday last week when the crater, around 50 meters by 50 metres in size, began to form at 4.22am in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch.

Firefighters arrived on scene shortly after 4.40am when the section of the canal mooring three boats completely drained of water.

Two narrowboats had fallen into the hole and were left sitting on the canal bed, while one remained teetering over the edge.

This morning, emergency workers in orange high-vis vests were pictured positioning boat turners in a bid to winch the stranded vessels to safety.

Pumps were put in place to keep water levels normal and to prevent further catastrophic flooding.

Workers were also seen positioning a boat turner amid the rescue operation

Canal and River Trust chief executive Campbell Robb said: 'Now the initial emergency response, including the concern for boaters' immediate safety, has passed, our teams have been working hard to refill the Llangollen Canal around the site of the breach.

'This will mean the boats in the immediate area are refloating, and navigation along other affected areas will be restored.'We are also delighted to have been able to recover narrowboat Pacemaker from the edge of the breach overnight.

'Alongside this, our engineers are continuing their investigations into why the canal embankment was undermined and will be drawing up plans for its repair.

'We'll be providing regular updates and assurance to the local and boating community in the weeks ahead.

'Thankfully, breaches of this scale are relatively rare, but, when they do occur, they're expensive and complicated to fix.'

Mr Robb added he was thankful initial support had been in place for all people 'and pets' caught up in the 'disaster'.

'With most of the boats now refloating, we'll continue to support those affected,' he said.

Last week crews battled through 'unstable ground and rapidly moving water' as they began to rescue 14 members of the public.

The canal bank collapsed leaving large volumes of water escaping into the surrounding land.

Residents were urged to avoid the area, while emergency services responded to the incident.

A 'multi-agency' response was set up but no injuries were reported.

The town's former bus station is being removed following the opening of a new £33m bus interchange on Fleming Way in September. Councillor Robbins said the old bus station failed to create a good first impression of the town and Fleming Way is a "more pleasant environment".

HS2 bought hundreds of people’s homes – and now makes millions renting them out

HS2 is raking in £14m a year as a landlord, including letting out homes bought along the cancelled legs of the railway.

Of the 782 homes which have been voluntarily bought along the route of the high-speed railway since 2012, when the project began, 602 have been rented out, data released to The Telegraph under Freedom of Information rules showed.

Nearly half of the rental properties are on the cancelled legs – Phase 2 – of the project, which would have run from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds but was scrapped in 2023 under the then prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Between Birmingham and Crewe, 121 of the 122 homes bought have been rented.

The average monthly rent for homes along Phase 1, between London and Birmingham, is more than £2,100, while for the second leg up to Manchester, average monthly rents are lower, at £1,733.

Taking the average rent from Phase 1 and Phase 2, this means HS2 Ltd – the company responsible for delivering the project – is making more than £14.1m a year as a landlord. Meanwhile, the project is projected to cost the taxpayer £81bn.

Joanna Marchong, of the Adam Smith Institute think tank, said: “It is unlikely that these funds are being channelled back into the Exchequer, or whether they are contributing to lowering the cost of this doomed mega-project.

“HS2 should explain why it is undertaking this practice and whether these rents are offsetting taxpayer funding or just being recirculated for executive bonuses.”

Penny Gaines, chairman of campaign group Stop HS2, said: “£14m from rent might sound like a lot of money, but it is dwarfed by the ongoing cost of HS2. The latest figures show that HS2 cost the Government more than £7bn for the last year, so however much they have taken in rent, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the continuing cost of HS2.”

“Meanwhile, the Government is about to start selling off land and properties it purchased for HS2. Stop HS2 thinks that they should be offered back to the original owners at the price HS2 paid for it.”

Ms Gaines added: “It looks like HS2 will end up being a vastly extravagant shuttle service from the suburbs of London to somewhere near the centre of Birmingham. They should put the whole project out of its misery and cancel it entirely as soon as possible.”

Most of the rental contracts are periodic – meaning they renew month to month or over a set time frame – although some are guaranteed for as long as two years.

But the renters will not benefit from the changes brought in by the Renters’ Rights Act, which will ban Section 21 “no-fault” eviction notices and outlaw fixed-term contracts. This is because the properties are Crown tenancies.

An HS2 source confirmed that it would comply with all applicable changes introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act.

These requirements could delay any later sell-off of the purchased homes, with court delays running to several months. Previously, HS2 allowed those who sold their homes to the railway to “rent back” the property until work commenced.

The rail project – which was first proposed 13 years ago – will not be in operation until at least 2033, following delays and changed plans.

In October 2023, the then prime minister Rishi Sunak cancelled the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the route, with Sir Keir Starmer’s administration confirming a year later that it would not revive the full project. It was reported at the time that £600m had already been spent on properties along the northern route.

The eastern leg of the original HS2 plans, which would have run from Birmingham to Leeds, was cancelled in 2021.

The scheme, approved in 2012 in its original three-pronged form between London, Manchester and Leeds, was expected to cost £33bn. This was revised up to £57.5bn in 2015, with the final cost now estimated at £81bn in 2019 prices.

Once inflation has been taken into account, this represents a final bill of more than £100bn.

The chief executive of HS2, Mark Wild, is overseeing a cost-cutting reset, which will deliver new estimates of the total cost of the project. He is expected to deliver an update to ministers in January.

In November, it was announced that HS2 was planning a fire sale of surplus land in an effort to offload land that is no longer required around stations and the main depot on the 140-mile London to Birmingham line.

The announcement, which contradicted original plans to hold on to the land until the line was open, came months after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the project as an “appalling mess”, and said its opening would be delayed beyond 2033.

Parliamentary powers allowing the Government to begin work on the cancelled line to Crewe will expire early next year. A link with the West Coast Mainline has been delayed for at least four years.

Labour has committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail, with Rachel Reeves reiterating this at the Budget last month, but details on funding and routes are light.

A spokesman for HS2 Ltd said: “Rent charged on properties acquired for HS2 is income for the taxpayer – ultimately offsetting costs incurred by the project.

“Hundreds of properties spanning a variety of prices were voluntarily sold to the Government for the new high-speed rail network.

“Routing the line through less populated rural areas meant that large, detached dwellings situated on their own land formed a significant number of total purchases. As a result, the concentration of high-value properties in our rental portfolio affects average rental prices. Wherever possible, they are let out at market rates.”

A DfT spokesman said: “We will dispose of surplus property in a sensitive and sensible way, including developing a disposal strategy that ensures we do not flood local markets and achieve the best outcome for the taxpayer.”

'Awful' bus station to be demolished in days


Work will begin to remove the metal canopy of the bus station followed by the main building

A dilapidated bus station criticised for failing to create a "good first impression" of a town is being demolished next week.

Swindon's former bus hub at New Bridge Close is being cleared to make way for a new regional entertainment venue to replace the town's ageing Wyvern Theatre. Work to remove the bus station is due to begin on Monday.

Councillor Jim Robbins, leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: "I'm so happy I was able to play a small part in getting rid of this awful facility."


Pre-demolition work is already under way to remove the individual bus stops

The town's former bus station is being removed following the opening of a new £33m bus interchange on Fleming Way in September. Councillor Robbins said the old bus station failed to create a good first impression of the town and Fleming Way is a "more pleasant environment".

"The [former] bus station is being knocked down and that means that we can progress the plans for a replacement entertainments venue in that space," he added. The new venue will be larger than the Wyvern Theatre and "deliver all sorts of events for the town", according to the council leader. However, funding for the new entertainment venue has not yet been secured.

"We've got a lot of it already ready and we're waiting on funding bids for the rest. If we're not successful with these bids we will keep going until we get that cash so we can make that area the bit of Swindon we want it to be," councillor Robbins said.