Again? Or is this still an issue of engines being away for servicing that caused a lot of problems in the summer?

1. Oldfield Park

20:06 Westbury to Gloucester due 21:41 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.

* One guess at the most-visited city among Interrailers (let’s just say it’s home to a very famous tower…)

Train firms warned over ‘best price’ claims after watchdog bans ads
Advertising regulator said operators and a ticket seller could not prove bookings were cheapest

Train companies have been warned over price claims made on their ticketing websites after the advertising watchdog banned ads run by three sellers.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that claims made for fares booked via ScotRail and Greater Anglia’s website, as well as by a third-party ticketing site, My Train Ticket, were misleading.

In all three cases, the ASA said, it found the companies could not provide evidence to show that people would get the lowest available price by booking train tickets through them.

[....continues]

Boat stranded on canal hole edge pulled to safety


The Pacemaker was left perilously close to tipping into the large hole

A narrowboat that was left teetering on the edge of a giant hole after part of a canal in Shropshire collapsed has been pulled to safety.

Paul Stowe's boat, the Pacemaker, was perilously close to falling into the hole on the Llangollen Canal in Whitchurch, which opened up on Monday after an "embankment failure". Mr Stowe, originally from Solihull, escaped barefoot with his wife, son, and two cats at about 04:10 GMT after he woke and heard rushing water "equivalent to the Niagara Falls".

Shropshire Council said the boat, which the family live on, was rescued at about 22:00 on Tuesday using a specialist winch operation. Once in location, the winch was able to haul the boat along the drained canal away from the breach hole," the authority said in a statement. "The boat is now safely located next to the lift bridge," the council said, adding that it would be refloated in the new year, when a dam would be constructed beyond the boat.

Overnight, water was pumped into dammed sections created by the Canal and River Trust on Tuesday, and as of 06:00 on Wednesday, water levels were recovering. "This means that one of the boats near to the breach site, plus six further up the canal, are now beginning to refloat," it said. "They are expected to be fully afloat by later today."

Mr Stowe previously told the BBC that all of his and his family's possessions were on the boat, and that they had escaped with only the clothes on their backs. He said they had no phones or credit cards, and added his birthday was on Christmas Day. "I'm not sure I'll ever moor in this area again, I'm not sure I'll ever moor on an embankment again," he said. "I'll be honest with you, it's very debatable [that] I'll ever want to go on a boat again."

The authority added that investigations had begun into what caused the collapse. "This will continue after the new year together with the initial plans to recover the two boats in the breach hole and the long and costly process of rebuilding and reinstating the canal."

"Now the initial emergency response, including the concern for boaters' immediate safety, has passed, our teams have been working hard to refill the Llangollen Canal around the site of the breach," said Campbell Robb, chief executive of the Canal and River Trust. "This will mean the boats in the immediate area are refloating, and navigation along other affected areas will be restored."

He said the trust would be providing regular updates and assurance to the local community and boating community in the coming weeks. "Thankfully, breaches of this scale are relatively rare, but, when they do occur, they're expensive and complicated to fix," he said.

The trust previously told the BBC that repairs could take months.

Is Portishead 3 years away ?

Yesterday DfT published a WECA update which on page 21 shows competition as October 2027 (just under 2 years time)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/693c0aedcfacd5e888491ed1/weca-crsts-annual-monitoring-report-24-25.pdf

ScotRail's 'cheapest tickets' claim is misleading, watchdog rules



ScotRail has been ordered to withdraw claims that it offers the "cheapest tickets" on its website after a watchdog ruled this was misleading.

In August, adverts on its journey planner claimed it was "unbeatable on price" and customers should "book direct for the best price".

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint from long-time campaigner George Eckerton in finding that ScotRail had no evidence to back up those claims.

The rail operator said it has changed the wording on the website, and remains committed to offering great value for money.

Following the ruling, Mr Eckerton told BBC Radio Scotland's Lunchtime Live programme he hoped it would "set a precedent for how we market rail travel in Scotland and across the UK" from now on. He said: "If you say you sell the cheapest possible fare, it actually needs to be cheaper than anywhere else, and that wasn't case. It's an inherently complex system – I get that. But that doesn't mean that we can't make it clearer through marketing and sell people the best fare for their circumstances. Hopefully ScotRail and others can reflect on how we sell train tickets across the UK, because I think we should be honest with passengers."

His complaint to the ASA referred to an advert which appeared on the ScotRail website's journey planner section in August. It featured statements such as "get cheapest tickets" and "book direct for our best price".‎‎ Another page titled "find the right ticket" featured a tab labelled "buy tickets". That tab could be clicked on to reveal a drop-down box with a journey planner, under which text stated "unbeatable on price".

ScotRail said the claim "book direct for our best price" referred to the fact that consumers who booked directly with ScotRail always paid the lowest price it offered. A spokesperson said the rail industry operated under regulated fares with a centrally-controlled fares database from which all accredited retailers sourced their ticket prices. They said they applied no additional booking fees to those standard fares, unlike some third-party retailers and competitors, which meant they could guarantee their best price when a consumer booked with them directly.

The ASA ruling said: "As stated, we considered the overall impression of the ad was that consumers would be able to find the cheapest ticket for a particular journey on the ScotRail website. As such, we considered that the claims 'get cheapest tickets', 'book direct for our best price', and 'unbeatable on price' discouraged consumers from searching elsewhere for cheaper tickets. However, they provided no evidence that, through purchasing tickets separately on the ScotRail website, they would always beat competitors' prices."

The ASA said that the ad must not appear again and told ScotRail to ensure they do not mislead consumers by claiming they could offer the lowest price available if that was not the case. The ruling came as part of a wider piece of work related to online ads in the rail industry concerning "lowest" or "cheapest" price claims, with ruling against Abellio Greater Anglia and mytrainticket.co.uk also published.

George Eckerton had also complained to the UK government about price claims made by the rail operator Northern, which were subsequently changed without the need for ASA involvement. Mr Eckerton, who has spent the past 10 years campaigning for cheaper rail travel in Scotland, said: "I complained to ScotRail but didn't get much more of a response (other) than, 'we'll consider it'.  I just hope that going forward, and in the spirt of Christmas, we can all learn and move forward."

Claire Dickie, ScotRail's commercial director, said: "Our aim is always to provide clear, accurate information to customers, and we regret that the website messages did not fully reflect the ASA's requirements. We take great care to ensure all promotional material meets advertising standards and expectations and will further review our processes to make sure we maintain the highest standards of compliance."

14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:00

14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:00 will no longer call at Melksham.
This is due to a late running freight train.

No7. Bradford On Avon I think.
And while I'm here
Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year .