All cancelled "more trains than usual needing repair"

06:16 Bourne End to Maidenhead due 06:27
06:31 Maidenhead to Bourne End due 06:42
06:36 Marlow to Bourne End due 06:43
06:46 Bourne End to Marlow due 06:53
06:46 Bourne End to Maidenhead due 06:57
07:01 Maidenhead to Bourne End due 07:12
07:06 Marlow to Bourne End due 07:13
07:16 Bourne End to Marlow due 07:23
07:16 Bourne End to Maidenhead due 07:27
07:36 Marlow to Bourne End due 07:43
07:46 Bourne End to Marlow due 07:53
08:06 Marlow to Bourne End due 08:13
08:16 Bourne End to Marlow due 08:23
08:38 Marlow to Bourne End due 08:45
08:48 Bourne End to Marlow due 08:55
08:58 Marlow to Maidenhead due 09:21
09:32 Maidenhead to Marlow due 09:55
10:00 Marlow to Maidenhead due 10:23

 

Indeed I doubt that the DfT will sanction it, but are we/they missing three things if we/they say "no"?

1. What proportion of tickets sold into regional and local journeys are returns compared to singles?   I don't have more than an educated guess (anyone know better?) but I would estimate that for every 90 return sold, there are just 10 singles.  The majority of journeys are of an out and back nature and most of those within a day.  Even on longer distances, most journeys are return trips though spread out over longer periods.  Further, this vast majority of people would buy both outbound and return legs via the same route and so the total financial "take" will add up to the same.   The headline fare of "just £3" in your example will be sold, yes, but they will be sold two at a time. So selling two singles rather than a return will not result in a substantive loss of income.

2. (a) Why do return tickets, and at good prices compared to two singles, exist in the first place?   Firstly, because of cost-of-sales; if the vast majority of tickets sold are returns sold at ticket offices, is slashed.  Look at my TRO to BBZ example - it is quicker for someone to ask for and purchase a "return to Bristol Brabazon please" at the Trowbridge ticket office or TVM than to make two purchases / two tickets, and that means more staff needed if you go to a singles-only system.   Except - that approaching 90% of tickets are sold online these days, so that argument goes away;  the ticket office is very much more the help desk for the majority of people these days and not the queue of people all purchasing returns that would double in length if only singles were sold.  Online, I can (and do) click on one column for outbound, the next column for inbound, and it does not involve extra staff time or complexity

2. (b) It has been explained to me that return ticket give the revenue team twice the opportunity to catch potential fare dodgers - if it costs £14.50 for a return (TRO to BBZ) but £12.60 for a single, then if I get away with an illegal journey outbound (fictional situation personally) I still end up paying £12.60 - 87% - anyway if I have to buy just the ticket to get me home.   But with closed stations, very much more thorough and quicker on board checking for the most part, that revenue protection issue is much reduced.

3. (a) Offering single tickets at excellent prices where there are alternative public transport services will help encourage integrated transport and journeys to be made by different modes where it works.  Taking examples like Saltash into Plymouth, Melksham to Trowbridge, and you could find many more, there is a real price barrier at present to making outbound journeys by bus and return via train, or vice versa.

3. (b) For people working overnight - a small proportion of passengers - the move to singles would remove the unfair pricing for these shift workers and allow outbound and return travel at an unpenalised fare.

The current fare system is overcomplex for many people, with unnecessary decisions needed on (for example) fares from Melksham into London on when you are coming back.  We are already penalised by (a) the lack of a day return product, (b) the lack of availability of Network card discounts - why from Axminster and Yeovil, but not from Melksham of Trowbridge and (c) the often lack of availability of a return service within an hour when you finish your business in London.   Offering purely single fares at a level that maintained rail income would be a step in the right direction of encouraging rail use, and would reduce the publicity own goals of reported very high single fare prices.

Is there scope for the "Network South East" card to be extended into being a "Network England" card?   Or even a "Network GB", "Network UK" or "Network British Isles" of "Network Europe" card ....

 
I was rather hoping it would include Donald Trump, but no such luck, apparently. 

From the BBC:

 
I'm starting this new topic here, not so much as I'm particularly a fan of anything to do with Weston-super-Mare, but because it is an historic feature of national significance - like Birnbeck Pier.

From the BBC:

 
Thanks for posting, Western Pathfinder. 

No, actually: it wasn't Isambird Kingdom Brownowl' I was transporting, on that particular occasion.  He is safe in an annex at grahame's - I know, because I met him there, last time I was in Melksham.

It was another of grahame's rather cumbersome pieces of equipment - also from that publicity event on the Reading Transfer Deck, in 2019.  That was one of the two foldable tables we used at that particular event - despite being ''foldable', they are built like portable air raid shelters - even broadgage would approve!

Folded down, it has the appearance of a surf board - but it is very much heavier! 

CfN. 

 

True, but when you have an Off-Peak Day Return from Newton Abbot to Exeter with a Railcard at just £5.95, I think it highly unlikely that the Single would be re-priced to just £3.00. 

Or an Off-Peak Single from Exeter St David's to Penzance (a distance similar to Exeter to Paddington!) with a Railcard re-priced to just £10.00.

I'd like to think it would happen, but I doubt DfT would sanction it.

 
New trains=shorter.
Flexible train length=shorter.

 

Owls well that ends well ?…

 
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/11/10/workers-fear-losing-jobs-over-train-delays-warn-mps/

In case the pay wall gets you....

Workers fear losing their jobs because rail services are regularly late, MPs have warned.

A spate of line closures and cancellations during the summer heatwaves made it impossible for thousands of commuters to arrive at the office on time.

MPs at a Westminster Hall debate said workers were increasingly fearful of the lack of reliable train connections and urged the Government to spend more on rail infrastructure to improve punctuality.

Charlotte Cane, the Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, said: “One [constituent] in particular has written to say that because their train has been so unreliable for getting to their job in London that their employer is now putting them under pressure.

“They are becoming an unreliable member of staff and their employer doesn’t know when they are going to turn up to work.

“They are also having to make up the time at the end of the day, which means they are getting home very late. It makes it a complete nightmare for them.”

Desperate to protect their jobs, some workers were now considering moving house to be closer to stations with more reliable services, MPs said.

Others are considering giving up well-paid positions in London and other major cities for less lucrative roles closer to home.

Among the worst-hit lines this summer was the route between King’s Cross and King’s Lynn via Cambridge and Ely, the later of which lies in Ms Cane’s constituency.

It suffered three months of disruption, including 900 cancellations after normally damp peat beneath the tracks dried out, leading the ground to become uneven.

James Wild, the Conservative MP for North West Norfolk, which includes King’s Lynn, said people from the town who worked in Cambridge and London had found the disruption intolerable.

He told The Telegraph: “I’ve had quite a number of constituents who have said they’re thinking of moving jobs. They’ve been in tears and incredibly stressed.

“One lady said her husband, who commutes and is self-employed, had been driven to depression and was having
suicidal thoughts because he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to provide for his family. It’s pushing people to breaking point.”

Mr Wild said some commuters had opted to drive to Peterborough on the East Coast Main Line, or Norwich, which has trains to Liverpool Street – both an hour away by road – to be sure of getting to work.

He said there were concerns that with the line suffering heat-related disruption for the past two summers, people would stop viewing King’s Lynn as a viable commuter town, which could have a knock-on effect on house prices.

Mr Wild questioned Andy Burnham about the matter in September, when the Prime Minister said he would “convene a rail summit soon”.

Richard Foord, the Liberal Democrat MP for Honiton and Sidmouth, said commuters to cities beyond London had also been affected.

He said restrictions imposed between London Waterloo and the West Country had in one case led a dental hygienist to cancel her 9am appointments “indefinitely”.

Simon Lightwood, the minister for local transport, said he could not rule out further weather-related disruption.

He added that while speed restrictions and closures might be frustrating, the railway’s primary duty was to keep passengers safe.

 

That would have been the one I saw stationary just past Hanwell this morning. Very sad for all concerned.

 
I have taken a pragmatic view (and I can, because I'm an admin ) and I've now merged several previous topics on the Coffee Shop forum here.

They all refer specifically to the conveyance of poppies by train from across the West to Paddington, for inclusion in the Remembrance ceremonies there, and associated commemorations.

I'm sure we here on this forum would like to show our respect to those who served, suffered and indeed many died.

An update, from the BBC:


There are several other BBC articles relating to this theme - too numerous for me to list them all here.  Please do look at your local area news items, if you have an interest.

CfN.

 
Without wanting to pre-judge the outcome of an ongoing criminal case, I would like to say here that Andrew Johnson (train driver) and Samir Zitouni (train staff) should both be nominated for an award of a George Cross to them, for their actions that day.

If I am ever on a train travelling at 122 miles per hour and something untoward happens, they are the staff  I would like to have on board, looking after my safety.

CfN.

 
Heritage Railway Magazine's Post

 
It would if the singles were recalculated to half the return fare....

 
Single Leg Pricing will not work within Devon and Cornwall with fares as they currently stand, with Off-Peak Day Return prices mere pennies more expensive than Singles.

 
Train involved was a railtour ECS movement, headed to London Victoria, being hauled by steam locomotive 34028 'Eddystone'. It was due to operate an 'Armistice Day' special to Canterbury.

 
Mr Johnson spent some time afterwards answering his plaudits on X....seems a nice, very down to earth, chap.

 

Nothing to do with poor railhead conditions.

The driver swaps over as of the 08:25 from Twyford, having travelling there from Reading, but there were limited options in that regard due to the fatality so they arrived late. 

One return trip was cancelled, and a couple of subsequent ones ran late.  Service recovery being helped by the rather odd 50-minute gap in departures from Henley at the end of the peak from 08:40 to 09:30 on what is otherwise a service every 30-minutes these days.

 

Cat litter?

 

Journey that normally takes an hour ended up taking 2 hrs 45 but could have been a lot worse - and obviously was for many that were involved.

Went past Hanwell and the "clear up" operation was ongoing - not a sight I'd want to witness too often.

 

Would any possible electrification of Filton Bank include the Henbury Branch (and I guess the single line chord from Parkway to the branch)? Or is it more likely that any such plans would likely involve having rolling stock with batteries for the Filton to Henbury section? I wonder if a Brabazon -> Parkway shuttle for events would satisfy most of that need.

 
A significant development in that traffic from the town is now being diverted around the new Quays Avenue roundabout in one direction.

 
This is an incredibly important issue to many travellers.  From https://www.facebook.com/groups/RickStevesEurope/permalink/2152817348767210/


And I have rarely see such a lot of uninformed stuff, bad advice and way out concern being posted ... brings home the need to help ensure that the occasional traveller is safe, feels safe, and takes appropriate and sensible precautions that don't case cause problems to others.


Edit note: Typo corrected, for clarity. That was another good one, grahame.

 
IIRC, the plan is that when Portishead opens in late 2028/early 2029, a new hourly service will continue to Henbury, resulting in a half-hourly service to Brabazon & Henbury (plus presumably upping the frequency to the existing stations).

I wonder if given enough rolling stock and high enough loadings from Brabazon, there might be a way to introduce the service early by, say a Brabazon to Parson Street shuttle reversing on the Portishead branch?

Incidentally, if/when Filton Bank finally gets electrified, perhaps the 387s from Paddington to Parkway could reverse at Brabazon, giving it a direct London service?

 

 
... after which, normal service resumed, until around 8:30 this morning when the line appears to have closed once more.

 
A guide to pre-planned or rota power cuts.
1) Every consumer is allocated a "load group" this is denoted by a single capital letter, usually found on your electricity bill.
This load group is allocated according to your location on the network. It is NOT related to social status or to house price.
Your load group will normally be the same as that of your neighbours, unless you are  right on the edge of one load group.
You can not change your load group, and neither can the electricity supplier.
The letters O and I are not used lest they be confused with the numerals 0, and 1. The letters F and V are also not used.

2)In event of of a shortage of electricity, a rota will be published. Half the load groups will be vulnerable to cuts on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The other half will be at risk of cuts on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This position will be reversed each week.
Power cuts will generally be for 3 hours at a time. The hours will be published for each load group.

3) When the power cut occurs it will apply to EVERY consumer in the affected area. There can be no question of any exceptions for those with special needs, nor for hospitals etc.

4) During a power cut, EVERY SINGLE lamp or appliance will be off.

I have met worrying number of people who believe that they or their workplace will be exempt.

 
I would hope that with the TOCs being swallowed up into GBR, all TOC related routings should disappear and only geography related routings remain, therefore clearing out the fares database of a lot of duplication.

 

 
Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to a person hit by a train between Reading and London Paddington the line is blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 09:30 11/11.

I'm stuck between Southall & Hanwell (where the person was hit), not looking like I'm moving far for a while.

 
From the BBC: