In the end left half an hour late.   That had a knock on effect to the 09:46 from Westbury to Swindon which departed 11 minutes behind schedule.

Thanks to a generous layover at Swindon, the 11:05  back to Westbury left almost on time.

 

Indeed.  As railway line remain open all night (don't they?), perhaps there is social use in restarting one of the services from [much] further west.  I have vague memories of a Maesteg (via Bristol?) to Waterloo train, and wonder about Cardiff to Gatwick, connecting at Reading into the Paddington train.

 
And here's one of our old stalwarts at Perth

 
Thanks for your very prompt and interesting replies.  Sadly I can't see there being much interest in buying the site as it now is, though perhaps it has slightly more potential thanthe Andover sidings.

 

 

Yes, hopefully the aim will be to make it viable.

If I was to hazard an educated guess then they will do well to leave Reading with passengers in double figures, but will pick up en-route and perhaps have 30-40 on board at Gatwick.

It certainly won’t be a massive money spinner, after all none of the existing late night/overnight/early morning services are either, but it will be a socially useful service …and that’s what the railways should be for.

Hats off to them for trialling it.

 

3 year old cars have some of the highest fail rates of any age vehicle.

 

They’re not penalising all users.

Black boxes are only being fitted to first time users, and those under 30.
If it’s your second or more car, and you’re over 30 you wont get one fitted.

 

JourneyCheck suggests an arrival at 09:58 now.   Real time trains suggests 09:47, and I would concur.

Delays awaiting crew at Swindon seem to be a new thing.  Is this, perhaps, because of crews needing to change there as they now sign less routes?

 

40,000 requests yesterday evening from one origin ...


A spectacular array of reports - "Bad Bot", "Hacking", "Brute Force", "Web App Attack".  Normally the access ceiling I have installed on the Coffee Shop would limit such attacks to a relatively few attempts, but very occasionally the process itself gets tied up.   Very quick fix once I realise what's going on

 
Person died, sadly: see https://www.london-now.co.uk/news/25996954.paddington-gwr-delays---person-hit-train-dies-swindon/ 

 
"Singleton Station Heritage Statement"

Mark

https://docs.planning.org.uk/20240514/72/SCK12RTUG7V00/i21f25mga4h2ca3v.pdf

 
From the BBC:

 
This happens to be the station for the TV 'Repair Shop' series - a few years back I dropped them a line with a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that they take it on. It appears that someone else has done just that though.

Also, just look at that passenger handling capacity...

Mark

 
Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to the emergency services dealing with an incident between Reading and London Paddington all lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Customer Advice
-
What has happened?
-
A person has been struck by a train, leading to all lines being blocked. It is necessary to bring all trains in the affected area to an immediate stop.

 
From the BBC:

 
Twyford or Maidenhead pax perhaps; small fry compared to possible connections from west during the day, but if every possible passenger counts to make this service viable...

 
Safer than Dubai at the moment.

 
Taken from a short line that's been on my "bucket list" for years but only has a sporadic service and things have never quite aligned.  They did yesterday with Easter engineering works.

 
Unusual visitor there on Friday !

 
"Denial of service" activity this evening ... I think I have dealt with it ... sorry the site was working like glue if at all for you earlier. Looking better now but time will tell.

 
From the BBC:

 
...and here (hopefully) is part three!

Part three - Dunkeld, Dundee and travel by ScotRail

We had a pleasant half day excursion to Dunkeld, taking the train as it’s the first stop on the Inverness line. It’s a pretty, tidy small town (or rather two, as Birnam, of Hamlet’s wood fame, comprises part) in a fine location by the banks of the Tay. Its partly ruined cathedral is the highlight. It was once the centre of Christianity in Scotland, but suffered after the Reformation and during a battle with Jacobites in 1689. The exterior is behind barriers, as is the entirety of the Nave for safety reasons. Even in the choir, retained as the parish church, the walls visibly lean outwards.

Dunkeld’s station (strictly Dunkeld and Birnam) is on a passing loop. It has recently been renovated with resurfaced platforms, rather mean-sized bus shelter style shelters on each platform and a plaque recording that John Swinney formally re-opened it when the works were completed. It’s a bit of a shame that the fine retained old station building was not refurbished for use at that time.

The following day we visited Dundee. The station is on the waterfront in the middle of an area that has clearly benefited from much investment in regeneration in recent years. There are blocks of new flats, new offices and tourist attractions including Discovery Point adjacent to the ship and its dock with a fine museum of Antarctic exploration, HMS Unicorn that claims to be one of the oldest almost complete ships still afloat in another of the remaining docks and the V&A Dundee on the waterfront. We did not have time for the latter, as we went to the municipal museum which has a family connection to one of our friends instead.

Dundee’s station has also been modernised, giving a favourable impression to passengers arriving there, and it lies a short step away from both Discovery Point and the V&A. It is a credit to the city and ScotRail.

As for our trains, all ran to time. It was a bonus that three out of four journeys, the outward one to Dunkeld and both to and from Dundee were on HSTs. These are reduced sets, with just four coaches between the power cars, and are branded “inter7city” by ScotRail. The interior refresh on each train still looked good and well-cared for, the only aspect possibly showing the age of the underlying trains was a noticeable amount of creaking and rattles from the trim. The outward journeys to Dunkeld and Dundee (both at about 10 am) were lightly loaded, but the return from Dunkeld, a stopping service comprising a 3-car 170 and 2-car 158 was busy, as was the return from Dundee. The latter was clearly a commuter train between Perth and Dundee, as many joined us leaving at Perth.

If you want your last real regular scheduled service HST ride, Scotland is where you should go.
 

 
Well, I tried to upload the rest of my account, but it seems to be too large! So here's a part 2 of 3

Part Two- Impressions of Perth and its station

Perth station reflects the city’s centre. Both have clearly seen better days!

You might have seen a fine 19th century painting, now at the NRM, showing a busy bustling Perth station with a grand overall vaulted roof – see https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co226668/perth-station-coming-south. That is not the scene that greets the modern traveller disembarking from the London train on arrival at Perth.

Perth station is a muddle of extensions and additions. It is shaped like a glove, with the “thumb” being two platforms (1 and 2) serving the line to Dundee that leaves on a curve to the east, and the remaining platforms 3-7 on the rest of the “hand” with north-south lines. It appears that the original station as shown in the painting is now platforms 5 -7, with 7 used for through trains for Inverness, the other two cut short as bays for lines going south, and the northern end of the old train shed being a covered car park where through lines previously ran. Platforms 3 and 4 lie under another roof which looks like a second-hand factory roof, which appears to be a later extension, so that some fine Victorian Gothic railway buildings are hidden to the outside world. They are not well-used, just for the London-Inverness trains and a few Edinburgh-Inverness ones. Finally, filling some of the gap between the “thumb” and the main station building there is a more recent single storey building housing the ticket office, a Costa and a kiosk. One unusual feature is a proliferation of bridges in the station. From north to south, there’s a standard lattice iron footbridge linking platforms 3 and 4 under the roof, a disused one between the same platforms that has out-of-order goods lifts at either end, a more substantial bridge with steps one side and ramps the other linking all platforms with the exit under the portion between platforms 3 and 2 also under the bridge. If you want or need a lift for passengers, there’s a much newer one spanning all platforms outside the train shed to the south with modern lifts to each, but no roof over the bridge deck between the lifts like the ones us namby-pamby southerners have at places like Goring, Tilehurst, Oxford or Newbury…. Pity the poor wheelchair bound passenger using it on a cold, wet Scottish winter day.

Although it has prosperous looking suburbs and busy trading estates, the city centre itself is clearly struggling. There are a lot of empty shops and the not-so-old Debenhams that was clearly the city’s main department store sits empty. From the shops that are left, it seems its citizens have immaculate nails, are well-coiffured but have a serous vape habit and live off take-aways. There are though some fine old 18th and 19th century buildings, and fine municipal buildings in the shape of the city’s museum (its top-rated attraction, with the Stone of Scone and currently an exhibition centred on Mary Queen of Scots last known letter – recommended for history buffs) and a building with the library and theatre.

The city is a good base for exploring the wider area, with the added bonus of a chance to revisit the experience of travel by HST. More to follow…

 
From the BBC:

 
It was originally called the South Marston Euroterminal.   

Some details of the technical arrangements here https://reference.swindonpanel.org.uk/index.php/South_Marston

As mentioned in that it has been rarely used and I think the last train to visit was a railtour in October 2022.

 
The Rail Terminal, Keypoint Logistics Park, former Honda Logistics Rail Terminal, Swindon.

See https://www.avisonyoung.co.uk/properties/214677-the-rail-terminal-keypoint-logistics-park-for-sale

 
From the BBC:

 
What purpose does/did the spur have that branches off the Swindon-Didcot line close to Swindon Police Station and above "Dunelm"?  Map.

I was out that way this morning so had a snoop as best I could from public roads.  There's a somewhat rusty single spur off the main line that disappears through gates. Scrolling enlarges the map and shows what appear to be three loops that merge into two sidings, to the west of AIT Home Delivery.

I've looked at various other maps but can spot no clues. It doesn't feature on maps published up to the early 1970s.

Any info, please?

 
From the BBC: