And an interesting follow up in The Standard which includes an interview with Heidi Alexander - there's a lot there - quotes to follow.

 
From the BBC

 
QUFTW
VQINT
NIKMA
DSTRS
BLFBH

Hidden in the puzzle above are 20 three letter codes. Start anywhere and read horizontal, vertical or diagonal, forwards or sdrawkcab. How many can you spot, and how many of them have you visited?  With the help of Cato and Rasmus, I can identify the 20, I have visited 7 to get on or off a train, and I have passed through the majority - just one I am in doubt about.

 

...........as long as contingency plans are robust enough to allow alternatives to be put in place rapidly to prevent other customers being stranded.

 

Surely not? 

 

Overnight, someone has swapped the next-day workings at Shrub Hill -
the 5-car set is on 1P11 0514 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington (07:24), and
a 9-car set on 1P16 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington (08:44).

But it still means that three of the first four London trains from Worcester to Oxford are five cars instead of nine.

And none of this is reported in the 'Formations' section of JourneyCheck.

Later in the day:

 
I have been cynical for many years.
"Providing more seats" sounds good but too often means higher density seating rather than longer trains.

 

Not a hope in hell!

 
4 All have Tower in their name, Middleton Towers, Alton Towers, Tower Hill and Tower Gateway.

 

Hmmm ... hard to know and rare enough to wish appreciate it's just one of those rare things where passengers need sorting out at the detriment of the train running.  Be they unwell because of a regular illness, or because they've been assaulted by someone else or from the effects of imbibing too much of something.

 
From Autoshenanigans - 56 minutes of it...

here on Youtube

Enjoy ...

 

I hope the all-day couple/uncouple arrangement works out in practice. A Sprinter covering something would snarl it up!

I wonder if there's any scope to swap the arrangement so the 3 car portion goes past Swansea and then ends up on Cardiffs in between. With most other routes in theory going up to an appropriate new baseline train length (CDF-HHD 3 car, CDF-MAN 5 car etc) the off-hour Cardiff-West journeys are a bit of an anomoly being stuck with 2 cars. Swapping the arrangement would mean more 3 car (with Standard Plus) diagrams in total, as some will be locked into West Wales cycles at any one time. I can see why the extras aren't attaching/detaching at Swansea - it would otherwise involve having two sets couple/uncouple movements going on at the same time each hour, and either very tight movements or having overlapping layovers, none of which is good for resilience. Maybe once things have settled down the 'extras' could have a separate routine of attaching/detaching a 2 car set at CMN to make 4 cars.

Several 153 subs today, it seems, and a 150 on at least one Ebbw Vale diagram, which was doing the stepping-up thing that suggests availability is tight. So I am a bit concerned about how there will suddenly be an increase in availability! Especially with 150s starting to be withdrawn now AIUI. 756s are starting to appear; only 1 diagram on today, as far as I could see, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a dramatic increase in the next few weeks. That would help to cascade some 150s to the Valleys routes currently operated with 153s, which would then help to cover the SWML locals etc until 197 availability improves. Most of the Pembrokes seem to be 197s atm, for example, so they could be released if covered by 153s per previous plans.

 
It is interesting Realtimetrains puts the cause down as "disorder".

 

And this is the sort of situation in which it can be perfectly reasonable and indeed right to cancel a train.

 

And cut big swathes through the local service for the Marcher stations, but they're in England so they don't count.

I try not to be too reactionary about TfW's attitude to the stops between Hereford and Shrewsbury, but they really could make more of an attempt to at least pretend to care. Two morning stops are being dropped from Church Stretton in this attempt to "deliver a standard pattern", which means no departures between 0937 and 1104. There are several more of these 1.5-hour gaps through the day, and southbound to Hereford too.

 
Anyway, back on topic - is 3 "staff halts"?

 

Indeed!

Norwood Tunnel is on the Chesterfield Canal - indeed it's the current limit of navigation of the "connected section". (There's an isolated restored section beyond the tunnel.) Significantly collapsed; the restoration plans envisage opening up a large part as a cutting.

Greywell is on the Basingstoke Canal, also the limit of navigation. Full of rare bats so not going to be reopened. (Plus the "navigable" part of the Basingstoke has enough problems of its own without adding more.)

Drakeholes is also on the Chesterfield, but it isn't closed - it's part of the navigable section, and it's actually broad-beam (14ft) so that wider boats can proceed some way from the Trent before the locks start in earnest.

 

Well done, AMLAG - I was really struggling with that one! 

 

Indeed - they were the only five when it came to nationalisation in 1948. 

 
Swanline still not being hourly all day is disappointing however its still a much improved service in the morning and evening peaks.  Particularly going in Cardiff direction in the morning.

I have noticed the Carmarthen-Cardiff services that have been cut during the week appear to be running on a Saturday. This is very sensible knowing how busy services are heading towards Cardiff on a Saturday.

With Swansea-Manchester meant to be 5 carriages on most services from the timetable change in a few weeks are TFW confident that they are finally able to deliver this? According to the FAQ's on the website it sounds like they are.

Also after looking at RTT it seems the arrival from Manchester loses 3 carriages at Swansea with the 2 car going to West Wales and the 3 car just sits in Swansea for an hour until the next 2 car comes from West Wales.  The 0945 arrival at Swansea (from Crewe in this instance) then sits there until the next departure to Manchester at 1054.    It appears that the few trains that still go from West Wales to Cardiff the hours they dont go to Manchester will 2 cars throughout which could see 2 cars on some busy Cardiff-Milford services.

 

8. All had GWR Hotels.

 
... and rail fares will inevitably have to increase, just to pay for all that. 

 

At least the crazy notion of the railways being privatised is coming to a rapid end, along with the façade of independence from government. It should be all back in public hands within not much more than a decade. There will be serious negotiations with the unions they get the best of each TOC's T&Cs for everyone across the board, after which the government of the day can start talking about weekend working.

 
You have reminded me that the garage that usurped the 1954 station in Portishead had an absolutely huge stuffed Tony the tiger on the forecourt roof back in the 70s. I think there was a huge row...shouldn't that be ROAAAAR.... about planning permission....!

 

Mmmmm ...............and if you replace the existing 2+2 seats with 2+3 seats that gives you 25% more seats (now where have I heard/seen that one before ??)  Gosh, I am getting cynical in my old age.

 

I man I admired hugely, despite his dalliance with Parliament, until his reputation was posthumously wrecked. His association with the late Captain Sir Tom Moore may have saved him, until recent events, but I shall always remember his programme involving a dinner in a Viennese restaurant. He took out his wallet and said how lovely it was to visit a country where they put a picture of your grandfather on the banknotes for you.


Another day, another defenestration.

 
A couple of short-formations this evening which will impact upon peak up services tomorrow morning:


which seem to make up the stock for the next morning's 0523 Hereford to London Paddington and 0643 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington services.

 
I'm surprised - there are 3 other TOCs whose break clauses expired this autumn & Chiltern whose break is at the end of March 2025. So SWT being the first are unlucky.....

 
Thanks for posting, CyclingSid: we both posted at the same time, so I've merged our posts here.  CfN.