I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

"Clansman" was Euston-Inverness in both directions.

The only one in the list that I can recall travelling with.

The estimate was 2m people p/a - so 20% of station users-ish

Will Bristol ever get a tram network?

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has committed to "making progress" on a mass transit system for Bristol - leaning into a decades-long saga that has left the West of England as one of the biggest city regions in the country without a tram or light rail.

"Mass transit" can include buses, trams and trains - the key is the service moves separately to other vehicles, preventing it from getting stuck in traffic.

Labour's West of England Mayor Helen Godwin has already allocated £150m to develop a mass transit "vision", with the aim of work starting within five years.

But government funding to deliver the project has not been guaranteed. A similar project for a tram system in Leeds is set to cost £2.1bn.

"The big cities of England... should have mass transit systems," Burnham said. "I'm talking about Leeds, I'm talking about Bristol.

"I will work with the wonderful mayor of the West of England, Helen Godwin, to make progress on that.

"To connect Bristol, its new arena, the station, the development at Temple Meads, into a mass transit system that takes Bristol forward."

Why hasn't Bristol got a mass transit system?

Continues ...

A small library has opened at Westbury railway station, giving passengers of all ages the chance to pick up a book for their journey.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) Little Library opened on Tuesday 4th August as part of a summer reading initiative aimed at encouraging children to keep reading during the school holidays. Following the success of the scheme, the Westbury library will now remain at the station permanently and has books for both children and adults.

GWR’s Little Libraries are also located at Didcot Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Gloucester, Penzance, Plymouth, Reading, Swindon, Truro and Worcestershire Parkway.

Stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather, minister says

Households should stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather as the strongest El Niño event in a generation develops over the Pacific Ocean, a government minister has said.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle told the Guardian the powerful natural climate phenomenon will lead to "more extreme storms in this country".  Her comments came as the National Audit Office (NAO) warned Britain's food supply chain is at risk given the growing threat of cyber-attacks and the climate crisis.

The NAO said the government was too reliant on the private sector to deal with food supply disruption. The government is due to unveil a strategy about preparing for national emergencies later this year.

Dame Angela said "We're about to experience probably the largest El Niño that has ever been seen, and that will lead to drier summers, wetter winters, with more extreme storms in this country.

"It will do a lot more damage in Asia with flooding, and therefore I think that we need to take it seriously.  If you've got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you're going to be a lot better off than if you haven't.  So some of it is that kind of preparation for just being a bit more resilient."

Her comments came as an NAO report warned Britain's food supply chain is vulnerable to plant or human disease outbreaks, cyber-attacks and extreme weather.  It also cited climate change as a longer-term chronic risk which could leave Britain's food supply at risk.  The disruptions could push up prices and leave vulnerable people struggling to buy food, it said.

The NAO said the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) was too reliant on private companies to handle disruptions to food supply.  It added the department had not done enough in recent years to improve supply chain resilience.

UK households are less prepared for emergencies than those in several other countries such as Finland, Sweden and European Union nations, the NAO added.  It said ministers should encourage households to prepare for supply chain disruptions and learn from the approaches taken by other countries.