Now the Environment Agency releases this update on the water supply. I does not look like the emergency timetable will end anytime soon.

Severe drought declared in parts of southern England

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwm243lrgdpgo

 
Not quite sure where to put this (and it is opposite of cuts as per thread title) so happy for mods to find better thread

A speech at TransCity South 2026 said potential for £14bn growth and 238,000 jobs in South West if Rail is improved


https://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/articles/great-western-route-could-unlock-238000-jobs-and-deliver-ps14bn-annual-economic-boost

 

You set the parameters at "a general better level of service", you are getting rather specific now! 

Ticketing suggestions seem sound, and you would have thought that with one organisation rather than numerous TOCs consistency would be much easier in that context, but we'll see. I doubt anything that reduces overall revenue will gain much traction given her other comments about reducing subsidy!

Of course returning to the plan of shutting 90-odd% of ticket offices would be attractive to someone wishing to cut costs..................

 

It depends, I suppose, on how you define "better" and how you measure "level".  

A train every 15 minutes from Bristol Temple Meads to Bath Spa, calling at Keynsham, Oldfield Park and Bath Spa. Two carrying on via Chippenham and Swindon in the hour (one each to Bedford and London) and two via Westbury to London via Salisbury (all stations to Basingstoke) and to Southampton Central (all stations).  A train every hour Swindon to Yeovil, alternating onward to or via Yeovil Junction and Weymouth.  All trains at least 5 carriages long (London trains 9 or 10) and with timings to include 15% extra recovery time at key points along the way.   ... Is that "better"?

Tickets - singles only,  any time and off peak only, with off peak being for journeys starting after 09:30 and before 16:00, and after 19:30, 7 days a week.  Season tickets to be replaced by smart ticketing, linked to your credit card  or a Cuttlefish card (an overgrown Oyster) card.   Railcards available for all, at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels offering 12%, 24%, 36% off all tickets for an annual fee.   Holiday (rover) cards available for a week in dynamic geographic areas, no time restrictions.

 

Sure, that's what the public are hoping for.   But let's look

1. There are no offers of a general better level of service, though there may be some bright spots.  Indeed nothing much is said about level of service and could we be in for another Beeching, or Serpell? That could save money.  I won't give any pointers in the South West ... but I could look at East Anglia and and ask about lines such as those through Berney Arms, East Tilbury and Emerson Park, and to such places as Sheringham, Sudbury and Southminster and wonder about their economic case.

2. More reliability and fewer breakdowns could be achieved by reducing the number of services run and increasing running times, could it not?  Swiss timekeeping has an excellent reputation, but I've made a number of journeys where we have paused to make up time.  And modern technology (I've see demos) can hide that slowing down by programming the trains to run slower than they could - not awaiting time at stations but running a little slower between

3. "Fare Simplification" is what is suggested, and can be achieved, can't it, by simply scrapping some of the lower fares?  Let's get rid of super off peak - no, it's not in headlines terms putting "fares up" but it'll sure as heck make a substantial difference in our parts to weekend travellers!
[/quote]

"No offers of a general better level of service" - sure about that?

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/25506607.mp-heidi-alexander-promises-better-buses-reliable-trains/

“No more Sundays wondering if the train will turn up. No more baffling array of ticket types and prices - a public service, where reliability is the watchword and pride is restored.

“Great British Railways is coming soon and will be run by the people for the people.”
[/quote]

I'll have some of what she's on! (please) 

 
I have seen it referred to elsewhere as the 'dismalisation' of our currency - I merely included that in my heading for this new topic. 

I agree with you about the withdrawal of lower denomination coins. Who actually uses 1p or 2p coins these days?  In Wetherspoons, for example, I see anyone paying with cash and receiving 1p in change puts it straight into the charity collection tin on the bar.

Cash does indeed still have its uses. In Nailsea, for example, one of the Chinese takeaways is 'cash only' for transactions of less than £10, and in Melksham there is a barbers which is 'cash only' for everything.

CfN.

 
Incidentally, why ‘dismalisation’ CfN? Old money was a bit of fun, but the ‘new’ stuff is a lot more practical isn’t it?

It strikes me that had £sd survived, we would by now be on the brink of withdrawing denominations below the shilling anyway - can anyone think of anything that costs less than 5p? And then there’s the general abandonment of cash: without the need to fiddle for change, I suspect a lot of people are quite vague about the precise cost of things below £1.

That having been said, I have of late brought cash back into my life - partly for contrarian reasons. I am surprised how often people gaspin amazement when you try to pay them with, er, money.

 

"No offers of a general better level of service" - sure about that?

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/25506607.mp-heidi-alexander-promises-better-buses-reliable-trains/

“No more Sundays wondering if the train will turn up. No more baffling array of ticket types and prices - a public service, where reliability is the watchword and pride is restored.

“Great British Railways is coming soon and will be run by the people for the people.”

 

Both - but at food times or when we are eating, the quest for food manifests in a different way.   There is a comfort on his part which we are proud of; Lights (Lightning) came to us - I think the term is - scared of his own shadow and attached to Lulu as his sole safety from a fear of everything.  Kennelmates. She sometimes places her head similarly ...

 

I have to admit that change feels sensible - in that we have manoeuvred ourselves into a cancellation and compensation culture.  At the same time, this is just replacing the treatment with another one, and the best solution would be to fix the malaise in the first place - they should be able to reduce the number of claims by running most / more / a higher proportion of trains and connections on time.

 
Fortunately DfT/GBR have plans in place to ensure that the number of claims for GWR services reduces dramatically*.

* By removing the ability to claim for 15-29 minute delays, á la Cross Country.   

 
Thanks for those insights. For a while, my go-to check on the performance of the online booking engines was a quick search for rooms in the closed and derelict for some time Glenfield Hotel in Ullapool. Some site or other would usually have something on offer even after its site was redeveloped for housing.

Mark

 
That dog loves you. Or, you're the source of food. Or both. In any case, looks to be well grounded.

Mark

 
ORR has just released Delay Repay report for first four 4 weekly periods this year (1 April - 22 July)

GWR 549,707 claims, second highest volume by Operator after Avanti, and up hefty 52% on same periods previous year

Cross Country 202,954 claims, up 59% on year before

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/52abf1ay/delay-compensation-claims-factsheet-2026-27-rail-periods-01-04.pdf

These increases seem huge to me, although possibly claiming is bit easier, but it clearly reflects the shoddiness of the service.

 
From The Rotherham Bugle on Facebook

 

Booking Agency Commissions ... indeed, that 9% quoted was low, and the 22% is high from my (historic) memory. Sounds a lot - ranging from "high" to "profiteering" perhaps?   But yet, I'll give you a modified view, increasingly historic but not totally replaced.  We paid, in commission, somewhere between those quoted figures when we ran Well House Manor. We did so with full prior knowledge, and willingly. How do you reach people from far, far away to come to your little B&B in an obscure town in Wiltshire? 

The days are gone of advertising in magazines and holiday brochures, the walk ins to the TIC have faded to zero, and money spent on advertising and a commission to the TIC are no longer paid.  So the move to the online booking agencies can be viewed as a changed cost and not a new one. 

Whilst we preferred the commission rates to be lower rather than higher (who wouldn't?) we did not resent the agency payments.  Worth it for a good, easy to use and secure service that sold rooms only at times we otherwise had a surplus without having to field loads of enquires for rooms when they aren't available (negative marketing effect). We had control over what and when we offered, and indeed "Late Rooms" only offered them quite close to the date, required payment up front / not cancellable, and sometimes applied a minimum stay; Saturday night only available as part of a stay of 2 or more nights.

Potential direct customer question "We know you pay a commission to Late Rooms - will you take our booking, please, at a slightly lower rate than is offered there?"  Suprisingly, no, not if you're looking for just a night or two as a first time guest.  Our agreement with Late Rooms was that we had to offer the lowest rate there. But there was much more to it; the agency booking with "no cancels" reduced our no-shows and late drop outs.  And it secured payment ahead of time and saved us the admin that was done by the central agency.  And a "can you do it cheaper / direct" request was a flag of a potentially "squeaky wheel" customer - double edges sword there, since it could also indicate a thoughfulness on the part of the potential guest.

Are there are parallels, these days, in taxi bookings and Uber, and in split ticketing, where the obvious / rack rate price can be bargained for / undercut as we look to save money?

 
A day later ... here are the loadings



Here is an example report


an example of the sort of visitors we have


and here is the webmaster team working on it this morning



No big panics, by the way - ongoing stuff that needs ongoing watching

 

 
From SERUG


https://youtu.be/sk6TYNy8qH0?si=9r55a533zLh_Md4_

 
I’m afraid I still refer to the 50p coin as a ‘ten bob bit’, much to the annoyance of my kids.

 
Delays due to [checks magic 8-ball] safety inspection of the track.

 
The 50 new pence coin was introduced well before decimalisation,  in place of, and having the same value as a ten shilling note.
Within memory they were sometimes known as "ten bob coins"

 
Another bluddy train strike, then.