Recent Public Posts - [guest]
| Re: Holding GWR to account - service reliability In "TransWilts line" [368405/31113/18] Posted by grahame at 12:50, 20th November 2025 |      |
As part of a local rail user group committee update this morning, I wrote concerning Monday's meeting:
GWR were made aware:
* That Melksham is a substantial town in which the train service is a key factor - even more so into the future
* Melksham station is a grotty place to be left with minimal and uncertain information and with no staff present
* Melksham passenger groups (WWRUG, MTUG) align with parish and county medium and long terms plans
* We have eyes on the ground, experise, an ability to reach people and want to work in partnership for common good
* Rail replacement services as currently implemented / informed are often not customer friendly and are misleading
* We consider a train declared “will be cancelled” but in the end runs has lost most of its use and also bought disrepute on the service
They were also reminded that two thirds of passengers at Melksham are though - so this is far from a “just Melksham” issue
| Re: Fuel for rail: taxation: electricity versus diesel In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [368404/31123/51] Posted by stuving at 12:31, 20th November 2025 | |
Yes and no. I see that Witham Booby has just answered, but here's a more rail-specific version.
Electricity supplied to the railway is standard rated (unlike domestic supply, which bears 5%). The diesel bought by the railway is "rebated red diesel", meaning there is a 5% concessionary rate of VAT on it.
However, passenger travel is zero rated, and domestic goods transport standard rated, so the majority of the VAT paid on supplies is reclaimed. The VAT on that element in revenue is substituted by the rate of zero or 20% applied to that product. There are, as is normal practice, a few odd exceptions to this charged at the other rate. There may well be a few items of railway revenue that are VAT exempt - which means the difference in VAT rate paid on supplies is retained as is, just for that element.
| Re: Dilton Marsh - request stop and status In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [368403/31124/20] Posted by matth1j at 12:30, 20th November 2025 | |
Slightly OT - do the schedules that include Dilton Marsh assume that the train will stop ie. there will be a bit of hanging around at the next stop if it doesn't?
| Re: Fuel for rail: taxation: electricity versus diesel In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [368402/31123/51] Posted by Witham Bobby at 12:26, 20th November 2025 | |
Thinking VAT here. Is it really the case that electricity used to power trains is rated at 20% vs diesel at 5%? (cf aviation fuel a... but let's not go there...)
Mark
Mark
Businesses exceeding the annual turnover threshold (currently £90,000, but likely to be reduced so that very small businesses get caught) are able to reclaim the VAT that they pay on their inputs. For most businesses, this is a set-off against the VAT that they must charge customers and hand over to the Revenue. But where businesses don't charge VAT on what they sell (such as train fares) the VAT is repaid to the business by HMRC
VAT is a neutral to most businesses (apart from the hassle of being an unpaid tax collector, and keeping up with the admin). It's a tax on all of us as consumers. The admin is a disproportionately large burden on small enterprises, which is why, up until now, there has been a turnover exemption for the smallest ones
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [368401/31117/51] Posted by grahame at 12:24, 20th November 2025 | |
I've broken it down to the number of users per day back in 2019/2020.
TOTAL: 331
TOTAL: 331
Visualising 300 people ... from Saturnx.http on TikTok
| Re: 5th December 2025 - TravelWatch SouthWest AGM In "Diary - what's happening when?" [368400/30741/34] Posted by grahame at 11:55, 20th November 2025 | |
TravelWatch SouthWest CIC - Notice of Annual General Meeting
Dear Member
TravelWatch SouthWest’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at 1400 HRS on Friday 5th December 2025 via Teams. Please RSVP so we can send you a separate email invitation with a link to access the meeting.
The meeting will be chaired by TWSW Chairman, Nick Buckland. Representatives from all member groups are welcome to attend the AGM. During the AGM, those members entitled to vote will be asked to consider and vote on the resolutions set out below and as usual, we will hold the AGM in compliance with the rules set out in our Articles of Association.
RESOLUTIONS The following resolutions are set to be proposed at the AGM
To receive and approve the Minutes of AGM from December 2024
To receive and approve the Report and Accounts of the Company for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 inclusive.
To receive and approve the Community Interest Company Report (form CIC34) for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 inclusive.
To elect to appoint Melanie Watson as a Director of the Company
To re-elect Nick Buckland as a Director of the Company
To re-elect Christopher Irwin as a Director of the Company
To re-elect James White as a Director of the Company
To appoint Easy Accounts & Tax Plc, Registered Office: 2 Carlton Row, Trowbridge, England, BA14 0RJ as Reporting Accountants to the Company as Reporting Accountants to the Company.
To authorise the Directors to agree the fees of the reporting accountants at approximately £525 plus VAT.
By order of the TravelWatch SouthWest CIC Board
Bryony Chetwode
Company Secretary on behalf of TravelWatch SouthWest CIC
Shareholders who are entitled to attend and vote are entitled to appoint a proxy if they can’t attend the shareholders meeting. A proxy can exercise any of your rights to attend, speak and vote at the meeting. Proxies do not need to be members of the Company, but they must be appointed by you no more than 48 hours before the meeting.
TRAVELWATCH SOUTHWEST is holding its next General Meeting on Friday 6th March 2026 at the Firepool Centre in Taunton. We will send details early next year and look forward to seeing many of you there.
As at time of posting - Company Secretary: Bryony Chetwode. Directors: Nick Buckland; Richard Gamble; Christopher Irwin; Vinita Nawathe; Graham Parkhurst; James White; Graham Ellis
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [368399/31117/51] Posted by IndustryInsider at 11:40, 20th November 2025 | |
I've broken it down to the number of users per day back in 2019/2020.
I've chosen that year because of Covid and the suspension of services for a year from Dec '22 to Nov '23 skewing all the figures since then. The average users per day being based on the 6-days a week service.
Fenny Stratford: 89
Bow Brickhill: 137
Aspley Guise: 31
Millbrook: 40
Kempston Hardwick: 34
TOTAL: 331
| Dilton Marsh - request stop and status In "Portsmouth to Cardiff" [368398/31124/20] Posted by grahame at 11:40, 20th November 2025 Already liked by Witham Bobby | |
Almost every time I travel on a train through Dilton Marsh that might stop there, it actually does stop there. That's not withstanding that the in-train display may say "next stop Warminster" or "next stop Westbury". And I hear of trains not calling because the train manager has called though "are you for Dilton Marsh" and a chorus of "No, thank you"s has rung out, drowning out the "yes please" of one or two people, or indeed his call has not been noticed by people with EarPods or limited hearing. When a train is cancelled through Dilton Marsh, a stop order should and, patchily, is put on the Portsmouth <-> Cardiff train that follows, but there's no indication of that at Dilton Marsh and it requires a certain cheek to stick your hand out to try and stop the express if you don't know there's a stop order.
Request stops have there place. They make sense at Thornford and Chetnole - but that's no longer the case at Dilton Marsh. What was once a station set amongst the rural fields of Wiltshire and - let's face it - a unusual survivor of the Beeching era cull - is now set in amongst the houses of Westbury Leigh which has grown across to the railway, with Westbury's main primary care medical facility just a few minutes walk away, and the houses of Dilton Marsh itself which has blossomed and now presses against the edge of the railway.
Is in not time to remove the "stops by request" status and have all trains which currently may call there do so automatically?
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [368397/31117/51] Posted by Mark A at 11:23, 20th November 2025 | |
Jo Kibble could have written this for Graham personally.
Mark
'On the Slow Train':
No more shall I go from Fenny Stratford to Bow Brickhill;
No cat, no porter, no permit to ride,
At Millbrook, Kempston Hardwick or old Apsley Guise,
We won't be meeting again...
https://bsky.app/profile/politicanimal.bsky.social/post/3m62huxqqb225
| Fuel for rail: taxation: electricity versus diesel In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [368396/31123/51] Posted by Mark A at 11:14, 20th November 2025 | |
Thinking VAT here. Is it really the case that electricity used to power trains is rated at 20% vs diesel at 5%? (cf aviation fuel a... but let's not go there...)
Mark
| Re: Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2025 In "TransWilts line" [368395/29726/18] Posted by Phil at 10:50, 20th November 2025 Already liked by grahame, Witham Bobby | |
14:18 Westbury to Swindon due 15:00
15:15 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59
15:15 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:19/11/2025 14:17
15:15 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59
15:15 Swindon to Westbury due 15:59 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:19/11/2025 14:17
I was caught up in this. What it doesn't mention is that the train was only cancelled at 14:17.5, by which time it was already standing on platform 1 in WSB, nicely warmed up and chugging away with the driver trying to explain to people that they couldn't get on because it might go to a different platform before going to Swindon. After half an hour or so of this it was shunted off into a siding, presumably in the hope that it could be used to provide the next scheduled service two and a half hours (!) later. I believe the next Trowbridge service didn't run until 4pm or so due to the goods train blocking the line (or do we call them freight trains now? I'm old; forgive me. "Freight" sounds so American somehow). I must confess I had already caught the 3.15 bus to Trowbridge by then.
| Re: Weather updates, from across our area - ongoing discussion, 2025 In "Across the West" [368394/30953/26] Posted by grahame at 10:05, 20th November 2025 Already liked by matth1j, Western Pathfinder | |
[how do you delete a post, or can't you?]
You can't - but you can edit it to say "deleted" for a considerable time after you have posted it, and the moderators / admins will tidy up in due course.
Very sadly, in the distant past we have had members go rogue and had to remove a facility from the many because of a very few - very much like the airports put you through an whole screening process just to pick up one rogue in a million. We keep an eye on policies / settings such as this one; for the sake of a very occasional slight inconvenience, I am inclined to leave things as they are. The damage done by one particular former member who wrote a destructive script (in 2013) could be repeated more easily if we turned in back on.
| Re: Weather updates, from across our area - ongoing discussion, 2025 In "Across the West" [368393/30953/26] Posted by matth1j at 09:42, 20th November 2025 Already liked by grahame | |
First frost of the season here in Melksham.
The station sign didn't like it:
(National Rail app info was ok)
| Re: Weather updates, from across our area - ongoing discussion, 2025 In "Across the West" [368392/30953/26] Posted by matth1j at 09:19, 20th November 2025 | |
[how do you delete a post, or can't you?]
| Re: Pilning Station - where are we, and looking at future options (May 2025) In "Bristol (WECA) Commuters" [368391/30237/21] Posted by chuffed at 09:00, 20th November 2025 Already liked by Western Pathfinder, Witham Bobby | |
The new station was built on flyash foundations from the old CEGB Portishead A and B power stations.and had subsidence from the very beginnig. Towards the end, at least one of the platorms had to be cordoned off as unsafe, in case a window or door fell on you!
| Re: Exeter to Barnstaple "commute from hell" In "Shorter journeys in Devon - Central, North and South" [368390/31055/24] Posted by Andy at 09:00, 20th November 2025 | |
How great an effect on capacity would be achieved by creating a double track section for Okehampton and Barnstaple services between Yeoford and Crediton, and restoring the junction for Okehampton and Barnstaple lines at Coleford? This would of course mean bringing the second platform at Yeoford back into service as well, so wouldn't come cheap.
| Re: Weather updates, from across our area - ongoing discussion, 2025 In "Across the West" [368389/30953/26] Posted by grahame at 08:51, 20th November 2025 | |
Seemed to be quite a bit of wheel slip on the 06:46 Trowbridge-Bristol train this morning (-2C according to the Met office) - engine revs rise, train judders, revs drop, repeat. Didn't seem as bad once we got onto the main line.
First frost of the season here in Melksham. Lisa and I, Lulu and Lightning tucked up in our bedroom as our central heating boiler is being replaced this week and we have no heating.
| Re: Holding GWR to account - service reliability In "TransWilts line" [368388/31113/18] Posted by grahame at 08:48, 20th November 2025 | |
............... some reassurances that the matter is very much being looked at.
.........are you sure that there weren't any civil servants present?
That one sounds straight out of Sir Humphrey's "we're not going to do anything" phrasebook!
Perhaps there were some acting civil servants ... bearing in mind that many of them work for a company that receives £1 million per day from the public purse, and who's operation of GWR will be part of the public sector within a year from now. Several times during the meeting, it was asked that we reduce the time being spent on background information highlighting some of the positives that can be presented, and the intent and analysis, and move more closely onto customer issues. It is natural for people who are or will be, directly or indirect, paid by civil servant masters to want to protect their positions.
A reminder that people need reliable trains to travel on, and they cannot travel on promises of reliable trains. GWR are in a difficult position at meeting like this. We all understand that they do not have an instant solution to all their woes - but so many promises have been made in the past that it's hard to accept more promises. Reference was made - for example - to the strong request from Melksham council on 2nd September - 2024 - to bring the service through Melksham up to a reliable standard. And we are still at the same order of magnitude of level of cancellations, 3 times what their RSM for the Bristol area considers suitable and is already achieved at many stations - examples such as Bath Spa and Yatton are the ones I have chosen to use as typical controls.
| Re: Advertising of misleading minimum pricing which is scarcely available In "Fare's Fair" [368386/31116/4] Posted by GBM at 08:28, 20th November 2025 | |
| Re: Weather updates, from across our area - ongoing discussion, 2025 In "Across the West" [368385/30953/26] Posted by matth1j at 08:27, 20th November 2025 | |
Seemed to be quite a bit of wheel slip on the 06:46 Trowbridge-Bristol train this morning (-2C according to the Met office) - engine revs rise, train judders, revs drop, repeat. Didn't seem as bad once we got onto the main line.
| Re: Track defect at Plymouth - November 2025 In "Shorter journeys in Plymouth and Cornwall" [368384/31121/25] Posted by GBM at 08:22, 20th November 2025 | |
Any idea why it's taking so long to resolve this one?
I don't know the answer, but it's over a crossing and so usually it will be one (or a combination of) a special part being needed, it having a minimal impact on the service, and/or difficulty getting the time/staff/equipment to make repairs.
In terms of the impact on the service, it's just affecting the down line towards Penzance and is a 5mph restriction over a distance of 200 metres which seems to be typically causing 3-5 minute delay. Many services have a layover at Plymouth of at least that and in many cases much more, so actual delays further west are minimised.
| Re: Holding GWR to account - service reliability In "TransWilts line" [368383/31113/18] Posted by TaplowGreen at 07:29, 20th November 2025 Already liked by GBM | |
............... some reassurances that the matter is very much being looked at.
.........are you sure that there weren't any civil servants present?
That one sounds straight out of Sir Humphrey's "we're not going to do anything" phrasebook!
| Re: North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2025 In "London to the Cotswolds" [368381/29711/14] Posted by Worcester_Passenger at 06:00, 20th November 2025 | |
Not a good afternoon and evening either:
1P04 13:18 Hereford to London Paddington (16:24) : started from Great Malvern.
1P05 15:18 Hereford to Paddington (18:29) : started from Great Malvern, arrived +15.
1P39 17:26 Foregate St to London Paddington (19:52) : held Norton (+12) and Charlbury (+20), arrived +17.
1P40 18:02 Foregate Street to London Paddington (20:29) : held Norton (+11) and Charlbury (+18).
1P42 19:02 Great Malvern to London Paddington (21:26) : cancelled after Shrub Hill.
1P44 19:45 Great Malvern to London Paddington (22:24) : departed +20, saved 8 at Charlbury.
1P06 22:00 Hereford to London Paddington (01:17) : held Ledbury (+21), arrived Shrub Hill +48 and cancelled thereafter (points failure).
1W01 09:52 London Paddington to Hereford (12:46) : held Reading (+34), Evesham (+52) and Shrub Hill (+61), arrived Great Malvern +66 and cancelled thereafter.
1W02 11:52 London Paddington to Hereford (14:44) : lost time (37 mins Ascott-Evesham instead of 30.5 schedule), +22 at Newland, cancelled after Great Malvern
1W29 14:53 London Paddington to Foregate Street (17:04) : started from Reading, held Evesham (+12), arrived +14.
1W31 15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern (18:26) : held Evesham (+16), arrived +17.
2E14 17:04 Didcot to Evesham (18:23) : held Wolvercote, arrived +17.
1W33 16:58 London Paddington to Great Malvern (19:25) : lost time (36 mins AUD-EVE, scheduled 30), arrived +24.
1W03 17:34 London Paddington to Hereford (20:25) : Oxford +19, lost time (31 AUD-EVE, scheduled 27), arrived +24.
1W34 17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street (20:11) : held Wolvercote (+16), arrived +24.
1W05 19:53 London Paddington to Hereford (22:57) : arrived Shrub Hill +15, held there, Foregate St +48 and cancelled thereafter (signal failure).
1W41 20:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern (23:13) : delayed Evesham - Norton, arrived Shrub Hill +17 and cancelled thereafter (points failure).
1W43 21:53 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill (00:01) : held Evesham (+36), arrived +50.
1W45 22:51 London Paddington to Worcestershire Parkway (01:06) : held Evesham (+31).
The short working of 1W05 has consequences for this morning, Thursday November 20:
20/11/25 05:23 Hereford to London Paddington due 08:24 will be started from Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.
Last Updated:19/11/2025 23:30
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.
Last Updated:19/11/2025 23:30
Unreported on JourneyCheck, 1P11 05:16 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington (07:24) is formed of a five-car set.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [368379/31117/51] Posted by IndustryInsider at 21:45, 19th November 2025 | |
It seems to be more about the current stations proximity to the road which will likely need to be replaced with a bridge.
I wonder if it's a similar story to Waterbeach where - however - the solution seems to be a new station - https://www.greatercambridge.org.uk/sustainable-transport-programme/other-transport-schemes/new-station-for-waterbeach. I recall being there / using that station before Cambridge North opened and again two platforms by a busy level crossing which I'm sure Network Rail would be delighted to shed!
I don’t know the area well enough to comment on that, though the report makes frequent references to new housing and improving transport links/parking at several other of the stations along the line, including the new one to connect with the ECML at Tempsford.
| Re: Exeter to Barnstaple "commute from hell" In "Shorter journeys in Devon - Central, North and South" [368378/31055/24] Posted by LiskeardRich at 20:35, 19th November 2025 | |
The line, and others in the Southwest are a victim of their success. The line is pretty much at capacity, and no ability without mega money to up capacity further.
Additonal passing loops to increase frequency, or platform extensions to accommodate longer trains
| Re: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [368377/231/28] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:34, 19th November 2025 | |
Ahem.
I drove my Mercedes Sprinter van through various flooded locations in Yatton, the Wrington Vale and Chew Valley - not Nailsea.
They were indeed a good ten years.
| Re: Tiverton parkway parking In "London to the West" [368376/31122/12] Posted by ChrisB at 20:23, 19th November 2025 | |
Remnants of travellers from the Tarka Line (has it reopened yet?)
