Recent Public Posts - [guest]
| Re: Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2026 In "Across the West" [381189/31163/26] Posted by TaplowGreen at 09:27, 22nd October 2026 |      |
Cancellations to services between London Paddington and Reading
Due to a fault with the signalling system between London Paddington and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines towards Reading.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 10 minutes. Disruption is expected until 09:45 22/10.
| Re: New TfW services to Bristol in December timetable In "Shorter journeys in South and West Wales" [381188/32236/23] Posted by chipbury at 09:19, 22nd October 2026 | |
TfW have been running route learning services into Temple Meads for the last couple of weeks. On Monday I saw a class 150 and two class 153's running together from Temple Meads up to Parkway then reversing to head back to Wales.
| Re: Electric Trains - Manchester to Sheffield, retired to the Netherlands In "Railway History and related topics" [381187/32133/55] Posted by Electric train at 08:26, 22nd October 2026 Already liked by PrestburyRoad | |
It's instructive to take a Streetview ramble around the station at Dinting. Are those 1954-era headspans from 1500 volt days?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zsEeJEdnxxLUwUPg6
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zsEeJEdnxxLUwUPg6
Yes, constructed by BICC (British Insulated Callender's Cables / Construction Company Limited)
It's instructive to take a Streetview ramble around the station at Dinting. Are those 1954-era headspans from 1500 volt days?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zsEeJEdnxxLUwUPg6
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zsEeJEdnxxLUwUPg6
I think they would be called portals; not headspans, but yes, the structures are from the original electrification. Even the characteristic inverted-A that holds the registration arms for the catenary.
The lines from Liverpool Street to Shenfield were electrified around the same time as Woodhead and also at 1500V DC. Although the li.nes have been converted (twice! - to 6.25kV AC in 1960/61 and then 25kV in 1979/80) the original design of overhead is still evident. E.g this photo of Romford that appears on the Wikipedia page for that station:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Romford_railway_station_MMB_10_315802.jpg
The LNER (the "big four" version) electrification choice was 1500 V DC for a mainline (intercity) railway they were ahead of the other 3.
When the Liverpool St to Shenfield was converted to AC overhead electrification it was at 25kV AC. It was done by changing the insulators from the DC type to AC type in stages the 1500V DC could still function using the AC insulators; however the insulator technology at the time meant at low bridges they could not achieve the 8 inch (200mm) dynamic electrical clearance, so there were 25kV to 6.25kV transformers and 6.25kV circuit breakers installed to feed these short sections a 25kV cable was used to feed around these 6.25kV short sections.
The 6.25kV was decommissioned in the late 1970's early 80's due to the testing and development by British Rail, BICC and Pirelli of fibreglass bridge are insulators which allowed a significant reduction of the dynamic electrical clearance.
The problem with the 1500V DC OLE the contact wire and catenary used a larger cross section of wire and was fixed tension, this limited the max speed to 80mph. Conversion was done on plain line to wire tension by counter balance weight which allowed the line speed to be increased to 100mph; curved sections were later converted to small 25kV contact wire with counter balance weights allowing line speed increases.
| Re: Storm Austen: modified services In "Across the West" [381186/32650/26] Posted by John D at 08:13, 22nd October 2026 | |
Network Rail update
Network Rail and Great Western Railway are amending services after the Met Office issued an amber weather warning – its second highest – for strong winds and gusts, which could exceed 80mph in coastal areas.
Strong winds increase the risk of trees and other debris falling on to the railway. To keep trains running safely, lower speed limits will be introduced on routes in Devon and Cornwall between the start of service and 1300.
Speed restrictions mean that there will be fewer trains running than normal. Those trains that do run are expected to be busier and some journeys could take longer than usual.
Long-distance services will run between London Paddington and Plymouth only, with local services providing a shuttle between Penzance and Plymouth.
Tomorrow (Thursday) night’s Sleeper service from London Paddington will terminate at Plymouth.
Other services in the region are likely to change as we seek to minimise the impact of the storm and some early-morning services will be cancelled to allow us to assess the impact of any damage in full daylight.
Full details of the amended timetable will be published at GWR.com/check from tomorrow. GWR and Network Rail will continue to update customers throughout Friday as conditions change
this was issued Wednesday, so amended timetable will be published today (Thursday)Strong winds increase the risk of trees and other debris falling on to the railway. To keep trains running safely, lower speed limits will be introduced on routes in Devon and Cornwall between the start of service and 1300.
Speed restrictions mean that there will be fewer trains running than normal. Those trains that do run are expected to be busier and some journeys could take longer than usual.
Long-distance services will run between London Paddington and Plymouth only, with local services providing a shuttle between Penzance and Plymouth.
Tomorrow (Thursday) night’s Sleeper service from London Paddington will terminate at Plymouth.
Other services in the region are likely to change as we seek to minimise the impact of the storm and some early-morning services will be cancelled to allow us to assess the impact of any damage in full daylight.
Full details of the amended timetable will be published at GWR.com/check from tomorrow. GWR and Network Rail will continue to update customers throughout Friday as conditions change
https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/storm-austen-check-before-you-travel-as-strong-winds-impact-rail-services-in-devon-and-cornwall-on-friday
| Re: Aberfan disaster - 21 October 1966 - 116 children, 28 adults killed In "The West - but NOT trains in the West" [381185/31667/31] Posted by broadgage at 01:52, 22nd October 2026 | |
ISTR, that the dedicated graveyard, situated on a hillside nearby was recently refurbished. Each grave is marked by an arch of white marble, these had not stood up to the weather and were refurbished/renewed.
I visited the graveyard before the restoration, and was saddened by the (then) poor state of repair.
| Re: Bussing onto ferries - not a welcoming experience! In "Buses and other ways to travel" [381184/32637/5] Posted by LiskeardRich at 23:54, 21st October 2026 Already liked by grahame | |
Plymouth used a footway, similar to an air bridge last time I travelled through Plymouth Brittany Ferries.
Plymouth still uses a gang way from the terminal building
| Re: Project Churchward - future regional fleet for the West, new rolling stock to replace DMUs In "Looking forward - the next 2, 5, 10 and 20 years" [381183/27482/40] Posted by anthony215 at 21:36, 21st October 2026 | |
Putting my money on the 158s which I believe are to go on the Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour services
| Re: Cross Country say that they will seriously consider stopping at Bridgwater In "Cross Country services" [381182/32647/43] Posted by grahame at 21:31, 21st October 2026 | |
Love your use of the word "just". Joe Public test - would your neighbour's mum be able easily do this?
| Re: Cross Country say that they will seriously consider stopping at Bridgwater In "Cross Country services" [381181/32647/43] Posted by ChrisB at 21:01, 21st October 2026 | |
Shiona was also asked about sky high long distance fares, people splitting tickets and then having to change seats along the way, and whether this was / is something she might address.
I agree with your report =- however, this has sort of been dealt with. You can now choose your seat for reservation on the XC app (at least, maybe on their website too?), so you just locate am available seat for each ticket & then book & reserve.
| Re: Electric Trains - Manchester to Sheffield, retired to the Netherlands In "Railway History and related topics" [381179/32133/55] Posted by Trowres at 19:53, 21st October 2026 Already liked by Mark A | |
It's instructive to take a Streetview ramble around the station at Dinting. Are those 1954-era headspans from 1500 volt days?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zsEeJEdnxxLUwUPg6
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zsEeJEdnxxLUwUPg6
I think they would be called portals; not headspans, but yes, the structures are from the original electrification. Even the characteristic inverted-A that holds the registration arms for the catenary.
The lines from Liverpool Street to Shenfield were electrified around the same time as Woodhead and also at 1500V DC. Although the li.nes have been converted (twice! - to 6.25kV AC in 1960/61 and then 25kV in 1979/80) the original design of overhead is still evident. E.g this photo of Romford that appears on the Wikipedia page for that station:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Romford_railway_station_MMB_10_315802.jpg
| Re: Paskage sale - travel + festival. Oops - just festival. Is that allowed In "Fare's Fair" [381175/32653/4] Posted by ChrisB at 19:04, 21st October 2026 | |
I imagine your only recourse would be to get a full refund on the entire package if you couldn't attend without coach travel.
| Paskage sale - travel + festival. Oops - just festival. Is that allowed In "Fare's Fair" [381174/32653/4] Posted by grahame at 18:54, 21st October 2026 | |
From the BBC
An administrative error resulted in coach journeys to the Glastonbury Festival being oversold through its official ticketing partner.
More coach package tickets were sold for certain departures than there are seats available, according to an email See Tickets sent to customers.
Those affected will not lose their tickets however. Instead, their booking will automatically be converted into a general admission ticket and the coach fare will be refunded.
The ticketing agency declined to comment further, but the BBC understands Glastonbury Festival was not responsible for the error.
Glastonbury coach ticket prices range from £26 to £185 - on top of general admission - depending on the departure town or city and whether it is a single or return journey.
More coach package tickets were sold for certain departures than there are seats available, according to an email See Tickets sent to customers.
Those affected will not lose their tickets however. Instead, their booking will automatically be converted into a general admission ticket and the coach fare will be refunded.
The ticketing agency declined to comment further, but the BBC understands Glastonbury Festival was not responsible for the error.
Glastonbury coach ticket prices range from £26 to £185 - on top of general admission - depending on the departure town or city and whether it is a single or return journey.
I have to ask the question - "so how are the people who paid for a package supposed to get to Glastonbury then?" I can't imagine Tui selling a holiday to Majorca include flights and hotel, then telling people to make their own way from Leeds, Liverpool or Luton to the hotel.
| Re: Storm Austen: modified services In "Across the West" [381173/32650/26] Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 18:48, 21st October 2026 | |
From the BBC:
Amber warning issued as Storm Austen threatens UK with strong winds and heavy rain
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for strong winds as Storm Austen is forecast to sweep across parts of the UK.
The warning - the second-highest tier that the Met Office issues - is valid for Cornwall and parts of west Devon from 03:00 until 10:00 BST on Friday. Wind gusts of up to 80mph (130km/h) are expected around exposed coasts, with 60-70mph gusts elsewhere.
Flying debris could lead to injuries or a danger to life, with the risk of power cuts and damage to buildings.
A broader yellow Met Office wind warning covers large swathes of southern England and south Wales with some travel disruption possible.
Southern and eastern Scotland is also covered by a Met Office yellow warning - this one for heavy rain which could bring the risk of flooding.
Storm Austen - an area of low pressure - is currently developing in the Atlantic and will continue to deepen as it approaches the UK. It will move close to south-west England on Thursday night with the strongest winds expected to arrive early on Friday morning.
The very windiest conditions are expected on coastal headlands in north and west Cornwall - exposed to the north-westerly gales - but gusts of up to 70mph could occur even in inland areas.
Gusts of 60-70mph are expected across the amber warning area, with 80mph gusts possible in exposed areas.
According to the Met Office there is a high risk of 'significant' disruption with possible delays to road and rail transport. Air and ferry services could also be affected.
Injuries and danger to life are likely from flying debris and large waves along the coast. Some power cuts are also possible.
The centre of Storm Austen is then forecast to move through the English Channel which could mean the Channel Islands - which are not covered by the Met Office warning system - are hit by damaging winds. Gusts in excess of 80mph are possible.
(BBC article continues)
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for strong winds as Storm Austen is forecast to sweep across parts of the UK.
The warning - the second-highest tier that the Met Office issues - is valid for Cornwall and parts of west Devon from 03:00 until 10:00 BST on Friday. Wind gusts of up to 80mph (130km/h) are expected around exposed coasts, with 60-70mph gusts elsewhere.
Flying debris could lead to injuries or a danger to life, with the risk of power cuts and damage to buildings.
A broader yellow Met Office wind warning covers large swathes of southern England and south Wales with some travel disruption possible.
Southern and eastern Scotland is also covered by a Met Office yellow warning - this one for heavy rain which could bring the risk of flooding.
Storm Austen - an area of low pressure - is currently developing in the Atlantic and will continue to deepen as it approaches the UK. It will move close to south-west England on Thursday night with the strongest winds expected to arrive early on Friday morning.
The very windiest conditions are expected on coastal headlands in north and west Cornwall - exposed to the north-westerly gales - but gusts of up to 70mph could occur even in inland areas.
Gusts of 60-70mph are expected across the amber warning area, with 80mph gusts possible in exposed areas.
According to the Met Office there is a high risk of 'significant' disruption with possible delays to road and rail transport. Air and ferry services could also be affected.
Injuries and danger to life are likely from flying debris and large waves along the coast. Some power cuts are also possible.
The centre of Storm Austen is then forecast to move through the English Channel which could mean the Channel Islands - which are not covered by the Met Office warning system - are hit by damaging winds. Gusts in excess of 80mph are possible.
(BBC article continues)
| Re: Pelleponese Railway. (Out of use, but now, multiple threats) In "The Wider Picture Overseas" [381172/32644/52] Posted by Noggin at 18:40, 21st October 2026 | |
Those lines shut up shop in 2011, a few years after the huge superyacht builders saw their market bloom. Not saying that correlation is causation of course.
Without getting overly political, Greece's post-WW2 politics and public administration have been far from a shining example to the world.
Greece was included in the initial Euro members for political reasons, western European banks lent it far more than was prudent, there was a lot of crazy spending and inflation, then when the music stopped in the light of the banking crisis of 2008, Brussels was very aggressive in it's treatment of Greece, in part because of fears that the big French and German banks would go bankrupt if the Greeks renaged on their debts (or at least that's the way Varoufakis, the Greek Finance Minister at the time tells it).
For its part, the Greek state reacted as it traditionally did in times of financial crisis - by sending the tax collectors out and landing anyone who looked like they might have a few Euros with a big bill. A friend's mum who rented a converted garden shed to friends occasionally in the summer was landed with a five figure demand, with the assumption that she must have been booked solid at €100/night. So the economy ground to a halt - building stopped and even weddings were cancelled. Even big companies like Danone got fed up - it transferred all but essential activities to Bulgaria!
| Re: Electric Trains - Manchester to Sheffield, retired to the Netherlands In "Railway History and related topics" [381171/32133/55] Posted by Mark A at 18:33, 21st October 2026 | |
It's instructive to take a Streetview ramble around the station at Dinting. Are those 1954-era headspans from 1500 volt days?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zsEeJEdnxxLUwUPg6
| Re: Electric Trains - Manchester to Sheffield, retired to the Netherlands In "Railway History and related topics" [381170/32133/55] Posted by Mark A at 18:31, 21st October 2026 | |
That short well-used electrified section from Southport, part of the line to Preston. Very careless admin to close that just because BR were pulling the plug on the rest of the line. Crossens: I should think they *were*.
| Re: The People's Emergency - film, free, 27.5.2026 In "Diary - what's happening when?" [381169/32079/34] Posted by broadgage at 17:32, 21st October 2026 | |
Not much chance of the above policies finding wide support !
Today HMG have announced an INCREASE in natural gas production from the north sea.
Climate emergency ? now very last year !
| Re: PHP Vulns In "News, Help and Assistance" [381168/32649/29] Posted by grahame at 17:11, 21st October 2026 | |
Severe PHP vulnerabilities reported today times 2 - such that patches need immediate implementation with sites taken down until repaired.
I note that this site has a PHP logo - does it need the patches?
I note that this site has a PHP logo - does it need the patches?
I have just moved another thread on this into "News and Assistance" and merged them. So now answers for you "upthread' - thanks for asking / bringing it to attention - best twice than not at all. I am taking a look at other sites on both servers too.
| MOVED: Coffee Shop vs PHP? In "Pen and Quill (and keyboard)" [381167/32652/56] Posted by grahame at 17:07, 21st October 2026 | |
This topic has been moved to News, Help and Assistance.
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=32649.0
| Re: Coffee Shop vs PHP? In "News, Help and Assistance" [381166/32649/29] Posted by grahame at 17:05, 21st October 2026 | |
Not sure if it's wise to muck about while this security thread/threat develops, but I have grabbed an extra copy of the Coffee Shop databases to my laptop in - oops giving the game away - Pravia. And I have told the worker server that if it gets any requests from other that the receptionist, it's to turn them away - so the receptionist is to act far more as a firewall than [he/she] has done until now. This may break a few older pages, but now makes sense.
The taking up of the backups does NOT make us immune in itself to anything, but it does mean that as and when I have a decently fast Internet connection, I could restore things. As we don't collect personal data, payments, etc, there is very little to be leaked or stolen anywhere on our servers - the risk of a problem on the worker is low, and the effect would be low - an outage until I could rebuild which while away might be a few days, and a risk that data in places like "frequent posters" and potentially registered email addresses could be leaked, but none of it would leak in an easy-to-use form.
| PHP Vulns In "News, Help and Assistance" [381165/32649/29] Posted by ChrisB at 17:04, 21st October 2026 | |
Severe PHP vulnerabilities reported today times 2 - such that patches need immediate implementation with sites taken down until repaired.
I note that this site has a PHP logo - does it need the patches?
| Re: Swindon <-> Westbury service updates and amendments, ongoing discussion - 2026 In "TransWilts line - Swindon, Chippenham, Westbury" [381164/31359/18] Posted by IndustryInsider at 17:03, 21st October 2026 | |
12:17 Westbury to Swindon due 13:01
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57
13:14 Swindon to Westbury due 13:57 will be starting late from Swindon.
This is due to train crew being delayed by service disruption.
A very - err - predictable delay as the crew comes off a main line service and they are up the swanny this morning
A 45-second delay according to RTT.
Looks like a 'standby' TM ended up working it, instead of the one booked to arrive from Paddington on 1C77.
| Storm Austen: modified services In "Across the West" [381163/32650/26] Posted by Mark A at 16:34, 21st October 2026 | |
GWR are adjusting their timetable to mitigate the impacts of Friday's forecasted weather event.
| Re: North Cotswold line delays and cancellations - 2026 In "London to the Cotswolds" [381162/31371/14] Posted by charles_uk at 16:24, 21st October 2026 | |
and a regular pairing makes a reappearance:
17:04 Didcot Parkway to Evesham due 18:23 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
18:51 Evesham to Oxford due 19:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
18:51 Evesham to Oxford due 19:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
| Re: Coffee Shop vs PHP? In "News, Help and Assistance" [381161/32649/29] Posted by grahame at 16:17, 21st October 2026 Already liked by Red Squirrel, Mark A, Oxonhutch, Western Pathfinder, GBM | |
Just wondered whether this affects the forum?
At this moment of writing, I am not panicked, but our web space provider for the worker machine reports ...
Our control panel and website are temporarily offline
The PHP security team has announced an upcoming security release that fixes two critical vulnerabilities. The fixes are due on 21 October 2026 at 14:00 UTC.
Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken our control panel and marketing websites offline for 24 hours while we prepare and apply the updates.
Your hosted services are not affected by this shutdown. Only these websites are offline. We'll bring them back as soon as the fixes are in place.
You can read the PHP project's announcement here: php.net: Upcoming Critical PHP Security Release.
The PHP security team has announced an upcoming security release that fixes two critical vulnerabilities. The fixes are due on 21 October 2026 at 14:00 UTC.
Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken our control panel and marketing websites offline for 24 hours while we prepare and apply the updates.
Your hosted services are not affected by this shutdown. Only these websites are offline. We'll bring them back as soon as the fixes are in place.
You can read the PHP project's announcement here: php.net: Upcoming Critical PHP Security Release.
... and I am watching
| Coffee Shop vs PHP? In "News, Help and Assistance" [381160/32649/29] Posted by GBM at 15:55, 21st October 2026 Already liked by Mark A | |
Just wondered whether this affects the forum?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmly0lg3w5x2o
The Finnish government, Edinburgh council and the BBC are among those to have taken down sites and pages ahead of a software update to a programming language which underpins many online services.
Two critical vulnerabilities have been found with the PHP programming language, which is widely used across the internet. A fix was issued on Wednesday afternoon.
The flaws were discovered by AI, with cyber-security firm Wiz saying they were the "most severe vulnerabilities ever discovered" by the tech, which is reshaping the cyber landscape.
Multiple national cyber-security agencies have urged organisations to rapidly adopt the updates, or consider taking their websites offline.
Finland has temporarily shut down the government's public web services, while the Netherlands' cyber-security agency said it was taking its own website offline due to the vulnerabilities.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh council's website has become inaccessible, as well as the online homes for several BBC programmes including Doctor Who and The Traitors.
.........continues.............
