..............  and how desperately run down and dilapidated much of Liverpool was back then.  All those politicians and journalists who twitter on today about "Broken Britain " should have seen Liverpool 8 back then.

When did "points" become "switches" or is there a difference?  And surely crossings and not (usually) moveable?

Terriers are being welcomed aboard trains at a station which shares their name on a reopened railway line.

Bedlington Station finally opened on Sunday as part of the Northumberland Line between Ashington and Newcastle, which reopened in December 2024.

Operator Northern said the first 25 Bedlington terriers to arrive at the station on Monday between 10:00 and 12:00 BST would earn their owners a free travel pass.

REMINDER: Britain’s rail network open for business this Easter – but passengers asked to check before they travel on some key routes


The vast majority of Britain’s rail network will be open for passengers travelling over the Easter bank holiday weekend, helping them make the most of their spring break.

London Waterloo to Clapham Junction and around Winchester: From Friday 3 to Monday 6 April the renewal of switches and crossings (moveable sections of track that guide trains from one track to another) and structural repairs will mean reduced services between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction, while track improvements in Hampshire will mean buses replace trains between Winchester and Southampton over all four days of the bank holiday.

Plans for an open access service between Nottingham and Bristol Temple Meads have been dropped.

Consultancy firm SLC had proposed eight trains a day via East West Rail and Oxford, using the name Midland Central & Western Railway (MCWR).

However, the application has been withdrawn, with the expected introduction of Great Western Railway’s Oxford-Bristol services identified as a key factor.

GWR has applied to run two-hourly services six days a week, increasing to hourly in 2027. At present it runs two return trips on Saturdays.

I'd take the Torpoint Ferry over that rusty old tub full of Scousers any day of the week! 

Ferry cross the Tamar doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.   

However there is a link.  The Royal Iris was launched in Devon in 1959.

Ferry crosses the Mersey on final voyage after 66 years


Launched in 1959, the Royal Iris will be replaced by a new vessel

An "iconic" ferry that crossed on the River Mersey for 66 years has set sail on its final voyage.

The Royal Iris of the Mersey featured in the 1965 film Ferry Cross the Mersey, starring the band Gerry and the Pacemakers, who also sang the legendary title song.

It is set to be replaced by the new £26m vessel Royal Daffodil later this year, with an interim service to be run on the Snowdrop, a vessel nicknamed the Dazzle Ferry because of its design by Sir Peter Blake, who created the Beatles' Sgt Pepper album cover.

Liam Phelan of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, said the Royal Iris is estimated to have carried more than 17 million people since 1960 between Liverpool and Wirral. "Locally, she's as iconic probably as the Graces and the Mersey Tunnels," he added. "She's part of the history of the Mersey and obviously today's a bit of a sad day for us."

(BBC article continues)

Article in the Times newspaper.

"We live three minutes from the station — and can’t catch a train"

(The station in question: Wilmslow)

Mark

(Paywalled) https://www.thetimes.com/uk/transport/article/east-west-rail-winslow-oxford-milton-keynes-002w6bkmq

Announcement by the train manager on the 15:30 ex Paddington on 24th March (2026) which I was travelling on "This train does not call as Didcot and if you are travelling on split tickets changing from one ticket to another there, your tickets will not be valid.   There is revenue protection on this train". 

Has clause 14.3 been withdrawn?    The announcement by the train manager seemed to ignore it. 

If making 2 return trips, both at peak times and using trains that do not call at Didcot, from Melksham to Paddington within a week, the lowest cost way has been a single to Didcot, a weekly season to Cholsey, a return from Cholsey to London an a further single Didcot to Melksham.  My understanding is that's within 14.3, but is contradicted by what the train manager said.

Two Australian states offer free public transport as war pushes up fuel prices

Public transport in two Australian states will be made free to incentivise people not to drive as fuel prices soar due to the war in the Middle East.

Victoria, home to Melbourne, has said it will have free travel throughout April, while Tasmania has said commuters will not need to pay from Monday until the end of June.

However, other state governments have so far declined to follow suit, with New South Wales (in which Sydney is located) indicating it was reserving funds to meet increased demand for public transport.

Australia is among a host of nations that have seen fuel prices increase sharply since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The near-total blockade of international shipping in the vital waterway - through which around 20% of the world's oil and natural gas flows - has led governments around the world to begin implementing measures to conserve fuel.

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sought to reassure motorists on Friday following reports of panic-buying and petrol stations running dry.

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan announced on Saturday that trains, trams and buses in the state would be free for all from Tuesday in a bid to drive down pressure on petrol pumps. "This won't solve every problem, but it's an immediate step to help Victorians right now," she said.

Meanwhile, the government of Tasmania - an island off the Australian mainland - announced people would be able to take its coaches, buses and ferries without charge for the coming few months. "We know the rising cost of fuel is impacting the family budget, and that's why we have again taken strong and decisive action to protect Tasmanians," its Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.

Tasmania's transport minister also noted that paid-for school buses would be made free, saving those who use them A$20 (£10.40) a week. But other Australian states have demurred from similar actions.

NSW transport minister John Graham told broadcasters his state was keeping its "powder dry" as "this situation will last more than a month".

South Australia said it was expanding the number of senior travel cards while absorbing higher fuel costs, and a spokesperson for Queensland pointed to it introducing a flat 50-cent fare last February in comments to SBS News.

Similarly, Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said his state had already reduced fares. "Rick Astley was top of the charts when fares were this low in Western Australia back in the 80s," he said.

The average price of petrol in Australia had risen to A$2.38 a litre as of last Sunday, up from around A$2.09 when the war began a month ago, according to figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum.

The Australian government says supply is not an issue - rather, sharp rises in the price of oil on the international market has had a knock-on effect on the price of fuels derived from it.

With only a trickle of cargo ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz without fear of being hit by Iran, there are concerns a prolonged blockage could have a wider impact on the global economy.

These rising costs have already led several other governments to implement fuel-saving measures.

Shops, restaurants and cafes in Egypt were told to close early from Saturday as part of a raft of measures that also included non-essential workers being told to work from home one day a week and increasing public transport fares.

At the same time, the Ethiopian government told state-owned companies and public institutions to place non-essential staff on leave so they would not travel into work.

On Tuesday, the Philippines declared a national emergency, with its government offering subsidies to transport drivers, reducing ferry services and implementing a four-day work week for civil servants.

We had them in the uk and they  were bloody terrible to drive