Recent Public Posts - [guest]
| Re: TravelWatch SouthWest General Meeting, Friday 6 March 2026 In "Diary - what's happening when?" [373038/30742/34] Posted by infoman at 07:29, 4th March 2026 |      |
Thank you Grahame for posting those details.
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373037/31701/23] Posted by grahame at 07:22, 4th March 2026 | |
1. Rhymney - Chris from Nailsea
2. ??
3. Holyhead - TonyN
4. Llandudno - stuving
5. Llandrindod (Wells) - TonyN
6. Severn Tunnel Junction - brooklea
7. Ruthin - Chris from Nailsea
8. Sugar Loaf - Western Pathfinder
9. Penarth - Chris from Nailsea
10. Swansea - brooklea
Just one to go:
2.
And it's a much-discussed location too!
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373036/31701/23] Posted by grahame at 07:13, 4th March 2026 | |
9. The best I can offer is Penarth - I'm ready to be shot down, however it's pronounced. 
Yes, Penarth
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373035/31701/23] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 06:57, 4th March 2026 | |
9. The best I can offer is Penarth - I'm ready to be shot down, however it's pronounced.
| Re: Caledonian MacBrayne ferries in Scotland In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373033/30034/5] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 01:56, 4th March 2026 | |
From the BBC:
Ferguson shipyard to be given contracts to build four new ships
The publicly-owned Ferguson shipyard is to be directly awarded contracts to build four new vessels under plans announced by the Scottish government.
Ministers have proposed that the Clyde yard be commissioned to build two small ferries as well as a marine research vessel and a marine protection ship.
The decision, announced in the Scottish Parliament, is subject to a due diligence process.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said another contract, to replace the CalMac ferry MV Lord of the Isles , would not be directly awarded, but would go to a competitive tendering process.
In a statement to parliament, she proposed that contracts to build two new vessels for the Sound of Harris and Sound of Barra - under Phase Two of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme - are directly awarded to Ferguson Marine.
Shortly afterwards, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes announced plans to award Ferguson Marine contracts to replace the Scotia marine research vessel, and the Minna marine protection vessel.
Forbes told parliament that the award of the four contracts would help unlock up to £14.2m of promised funding to modernise the Port Glasgow shipyard.
MSPs also heard that the contract for a replacement for MV Lord Of the Isles would go to open tender in the next few weeks with a view to placing an order with a shipyard later this year, despite calls for it also to be directly awarded to Ferguson's.
Forbes said the government planned to directly award the contract to replace Minna, a fisheries protection vessel previously built by Ferguson's
(BBC article continues)
The publicly-owned Ferguson shipyard is to be directly awarded contracts to build four new vessels under plans announced by the Scottish government.
Ministers have proposed that the Clyde yard be commissioned to build two small ferries as well as a marine research vessel and a marine protection ship.
The decision, announced in the Scottish Parliament, is subject to a due diligence process.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said another contract, to replace the CalMac ferry MV Lord of the Isles , would not be directly awarded, but would go to a competitive tendering process.
In a statement to parliament, she proposed that contracts to build two new vessels for the Sound of Harris and Sound of Barra - under Phase Two of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme - are directly awarded to Ferguson Marine.
Shortly afterwards, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes announced plans to award Ferguson Marine contracts to replace the Scotia marine research vessel, and the Minna marine protection vessel.
Forbes told parliament that the award of the four contracts would help unlock up to £14.2m of promised funding to modernise the Port Glasgow shipyard.
MSPs also heard that the contract for a replacement for MV Lord Of the Isles would go to open tender in the next few weeks with a view to placing an order with a shipyard later this year, despite calls for it also to be directly awarded to Ferguson's.
Forbes said the government planned to directly award the contract to replace Minna, a fisheries protection vessel previously built by Ferguson's
(BBC article continues)
| On this day - 4 March 1890 - Forth Rail Bridge officially opened In "Railway History and related topics" [373032/31708/55] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 00:49, 4th March 2026 | |
From Wikipedia: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_Bridge
| Re: Passenger Growth - railway termini of the South West In "Across the West" [373031/31692/26] Posted by Hafren at 00:20, 4th March 2026 | |
The standout thing for me is the correlation with service improvements. For example cases where the red bars are at least 2x the blue bars:
• Severn Beach – at some had a 2-hourly bus off-peak (possibly inc 2005)
• Falmouth – loop & doubled service
• Okehampton – proper service introduced
• Newquay – basic daytime service (ignoring summer weekends) doubled (or similar)
• Barnstaple – not had a headline change IIRC but more consistently hourly now perhaps?
Can't think of a factor for St Ives's huge change, unless perhaps tied in with a Cornish holiday boom or Park & Ride marketing.
Cf some others that haven't changed much – e.g. Looe, which hasn't had any obvious service improvements, and perhaps anecdotally is particularly prone to problems. Weymouth has two rouces of course – summer offering arguably deteriorated somewhat but IIRC the SWR offering has improved.
Exmouth is perhaps the most 'commutery' line there? So perhaps its WFH-related losses have disproportionately offset the other general increases in ridership over those two decades.
| Re: Passenger Growth - railway termini of the South West In "Across the West" [373030/31692/26] Posted by Noggin at 23:12, 3rd March 2026 | |
An interesting exercise to see how passenger numbers to GWR termini have grown from 2005 (blue) to2025 (red). Some branch lines have significant intermediate traffic, in one or two cases dwarfing the terminus. Others have very limited intermediate traffic. So the growth may be the thing to compare and not the absolute numbers
Thank you for posting, those are indeed amazing figures.
Were it possible, it would be interesting to know:
a) The type of travel e.g. work commute, school commute, business, tourist, leisure
b) Whether a long or short distance journey
With Okehampton, I think that indeed that the Interchange is likely to take a lot of the park & ride and bus-sourced traffic. For a lot of people in places like Bude, the preference is to drive into Exeter if they are going on a longer journey such as London. I suspect that direct 80x trains from Okehampton through to London in the morning and evening would bring a lot of new users.
It will also be interesting to see what the figures for Portishead and Pill end up being. The business case reckoned 958,980 passenger trips per year for the two in the opening year based on an hourly service (https://metrowestphase1.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8.4-outline-business-case-2017-part-2-of-3.pdf)
| Re: Rail replacement Germany/ Czechia In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [373029/31707/52] Posted by Noggin at 22:36, 3rd March 2026 | |
We had a rail replacement bus I think between Rastatt and Baden-Baden a coupe of summers ago when the Rhine mainline was blockaded.
Not well done at all - no signage, no staff to supervise, no barriers to ensure orderly queuing and not enough busses. Whole ICE decanted into the street outside the station and became a scrum for the bus, all in 40-degree heat.
Compared very poorly to XC doing similar at Worcestershire Parkway which was extremely well organised and done.
| Re: Rail replacement Germany/ Czechia In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [373028/31707/52] Posted by grahame at 21:06, 3rd March 2026 | |
Variable ... which is probably not very much help to you.
If you have all day for ... Berlin, Cottbus, Goerlitz, Zittau, Liberec, Prague. With a steam train side trip at Zittau. Other alternatives too. The line from Dresden is beautiful, mind - not sure about the road.
| Rail replacement Germany/ Czechia In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [373026/31707/52] Posted by LiskeardRich at 19:21, 3rd March 2026 | |
Has any one experience of rail replacement buses in Germany?
I have an itinerary for Berlin to Prague on 17th March.
I’ve just received an email saying my train is cancelled and telling me to use an alternative itinerary.
It appears to contain a rail replacement bus between Dresden and Usti nad Labem on the new itinerary.
Is this likely to be a pleasant option?
My travel plans are flexible and I could change my plans completely.
(The irony being I’m driving rail replacement for 2 weeks out of Plymouth)
| Re: Project Churchward - future regional fleet for the West, new rolling stock to replace DMUs In "Looking forward - the next 2, 5, 10 and 20 years" [373025/27482/40] Posted by Kernow Otter at 19:01, 3rd March 2026 | |
Government (s) not investing in South Western transport? Who would have thought it.....
| Re: Why has the world's first hydrogen double-decker fleet failed? In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373024/31681/5] Posted by Western Pathfinder at 18:38, 3rd March 2026 | |
Don’t forget the carbon based life forms onboard.
| Re: Cardiff woman dodges flight luggage fee by posting her clothes In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373023/31706/5] Posted by Ralph Ayres at 17:55, 3rd March 2026 | |
To me it sort of makes sense that it's cheaper that way. The clothes have several days to be carried by the most cost-effective and efficient means rather than space having to be provided at the same time as the passenger is travelling. It's clearly less convenient though and I'm glad the railways haven't generally tightened up on luggage carrying, although Lumo have started down that slippery slope.
| Re: Project Churchward - future regional fleet for the West, new rolling stock to replace DMUs In "Looking forward - the next 2, 5, 10 and 20 years" [373022/27482/40] Posted by John D at 17:38, 3rd March 2026 | |
Dft have updated their procurement spreadsheet March 2026
Against the GWR entry the estimated commencement date is now TBC (which presumably is Government speak for not imminent)
Procurement of rolling stock for Thames Valley / North Downs and West (including options)
Replacement of all existing DMUs (and possibly EMUs), excluding the IET fleet, with Battery Electric Multiple Units (BEMUs) and/or diesel multi-mode units.
Potential for this procurement to include units for other non-GWR routes.
Replacement of all existing DMUs (and possibly EMUs), excluding the IET fleet, with Battery Electric Multiple Units (BEMUs) and/or diesel multi-mode units.
Potential for this procurement to include units for other non-GWR routes.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69a6a120bc86a487b52c71a9/dft-future-commercial-contracts-dft-partners.csv
Rather disappointing that replacement trains appear to have been pushed into the long grass
| Re: Direct London trains from Shropshire 'could start in 2026' In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [373019/31388/28] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 15:26, 3rd March 2026 | |
From the BBC:
What is different about new direct rail bid?
Julia Buckley said Shrewsbury has been 'overlooked for so long'
Times have changed since Shropshire last had a direct rail link to London.
The county has not had a direct train link to the capital since Avanti West Coast stopped its single daily service in 2024 because, it said, of low passenger numbers. Before that, another direct service which connected Shrewsbury with Marylebone ended in 2011.
But Julia Buckley, the MP for Shrewsbury, said there was renewed interest in public transport and in improving rail infrastructure in the county. She was among a group of people who travelled by train to London to make the case for a new direct service between London and Wrexham and to deliver a petition to Downing Street. Public transport user numbers had "really bounced back" since the Covid pandemic, she said, and businesses were also demanding more trains to the capital.
Buckley hoped the "Hollywood factor" could add some sparkle to the bid, believing there was new interest in Wrexham as a destination, since the football club was taken over by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR), led by international rail firm Alstom, submitted a bid at the end of last year to provide daily trains.
An initial bid for five daily services in each direction was rejected by the Office of Rail and Road, which said it had concerns over congestion on the line.
In the new application, WSMR reduced the number of daily services to three, with the option of a fourth in the future and included an additional stop at Wellington, Shropshire.
WSMR's mobilisation director Darren Horley said the aim was "linking towns and cities which aren't currently connected".
Previous services had been criticised for the time it took to reach the capital, but Horley said the new service would be quicker, taking about four hours from Wrexham to London.
(BBC article continues)
Julia Buckley said Shrewsbury has been 'overlooked for so long'
Times have changed since Shropshire last had a direct rail link to London.
The county has not had a direct train link to the capital since Avanti West Coast stopped its single daily service in 2024 because, it said, of low passenger numbers. Before that, another direct service which connected Shrewsbury with Marylebone ended in 2011.
But Julia Buckley, the MP for Shrewsbury, said there was renewed interest in public transport and in improving rail infrastructure in the county. She was among a group of people who travelled by train to London to make the case for a new direct service between London and Wrexham and to deliver a petition to Downing Street. Public transport user numbers had "really bounced back" since the Covid pandemic, she said, and businesses were also demanding more trains to the capital.
Buckley hoped the "Hollywood factor" could add some sparkle to the bid, believing there was new interest in Wrexham as a destination, since the football club was taken over by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR), led by international rail firm Alstom, submitted a bid at the end of last year to provide daily trains.
An initial bid for five daily services in each direction was rejected by the Office of Rail and Road, which said it had concerns over congestion on the line.
In the new application, WSMR reduced the number of daily services to three, with the option of a fourth in the future and included an additional stop at Wellington, Shropshire.
WSMR's mobilisation director Darren Horley said the aim was "linking towns and cities which aren't currently connected".
Previous services had been criticised for the time it took to reach the capital, but Horley said the new service would be quicker, taking about four hours from Wrexham to London.
(BBC article continues)
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373016/31701/23] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 14:13, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by grahame | |
7: a wild guess - Sudbrook, where there was a branch line to bring coal to the pumping station for the Severn Tunnel
Sorry - it isn't. Sudbrook is on my "wanna visit" list mind, so may crop up in a future quiz.
I will confess to having some insider information here, as I do know the main purpose of grahame's recent visit to Wales.
7. Ruthin. More specifically, Railway Terrace, Station Road, in Ruthin. See https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/ll15-1bt.html
By the way, it's spelled Ruthin but pronounced 'Rithin'.
| Re: Cardiff woman dodges flight luggage fee by posting her clothes In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373015/31706/5] Posted by bobm at 14:06, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Chris from Nailsea, Mark A, Western Pathfinder, TonyN, JayMac | |
I did a variation of that on my All Line Rover tours, posted my clothes home as used them. In theory it meant my luggage got lighter as I went, in practice the space was filled by souvenirs.
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373013/31701/23] Posted by grahame at 13:25, 3rd March 2026 | |
Is 10. Swansea?
I can’t think of many locations where you would see a Class 150 sharing a platform with a Class 197.
I can’t think of many locations where you would see a Class 150 sharing a platform with a Class 197.
Yes, it is.
I wondered whether to use that picture as some sort of caption competition - in speech bubbles, what might the two trains be saying to each other?
| Re: Seagulls: particularly in Bath, Bristol, Cornwall and Minehead - ongoing discussion In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [373011/19857/31] Posted by IndustryInsider at 12:42, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Witham Bobby, TaplowGreen, matth1j, Western Pathfinder, TonyN, JayMac | |
Another heart warming story from deepest darkest Somerset!
| Re: Where in Wales? Quiz! In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [373010/31701/23] Posted by brooklea at 12:29, 3rd March 2026 | |
Is 10. Swansea?
I can’t think of many locations where you would see a Class 150 sharing a platform with a Class 197.
| Re: Why has the world's first hydrogen double-decker fleet failed? In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373009/31681/5] Posted by Red Squirrel at 12:04, 3rd March 2026 Already liked by Mark A, broadgage | |
On the other hand, things can go somewhat awry when too much hydrogen is combined with carbon: from Wikipedia. 
Without wishing to appear picky, I suspect that the ruling reaction in this case was more like:
2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O
...so, stoiciometrically speaking, carbon won't have had much of a rôle. In reality it will have been much more messy than this as air is nearly 80% nitrogen; a lot of those hydrogen molecules will have given up hunting for oxygen to bond to and the reaction will have formed all manner of by-products, with NOx being among them.
The main carbon-bearing component of air is good old carbon dioxide, but this makes up only 0.03%. The skin of the airship (It's not a balloon ... It's an airship ... an airship ... d'you hear?) will no doubt have had organic materials in it, but it is still unlikely that many hydrocarbons were produced by the Hindenburg disaster.
