The farce was the Trumpian gold plating by previous Prime Ministers especially when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave HS2 the official green light in February 2020, he highlighted its "extraordinarily fast journey times". While speaking in the House of Commons, Johnson stated that the new high-speed trains would "travel at speeds up to 225 miles per hour".  Also the succession of start building in without all the consents and outline decisions being done.

The option to upgrade the existing WCML was never and option, it went through that in the early 2000's and by 2020 all the capacity had been used.

The biggest blunder is cancelling phase 2 ie North of Birmingham to Manchester 

 
Interesting to see that the last part is in Italian!…or Latin .

 

It might be a multi-mode train

GWR could just about get away with battery EMU, but realistically anything over about 60 miles (or 30miles out and 30 back) off an electrified line, especially in cold winter or very hot summer day is pushing it.   Battery technology is improving so maybe this will go up a bit to nearer 80 miles.

If looking at regional train (say 5-6 cars, capable of 100-110mph on electric, maybe 90-100mph on diesel or battery, with seats and comfort suitable for 3+ hour journeys) then as GWR operate to Portsmouth, Weymouth, Gatwick really needs to be dual voltage.

But a quick look at a map, will show that routes like Cardiff-Exeter, Exeter-Basingstoke, Bristol-Great Malvern/Worcester etc are too far for the battery.  So either got to add few miles of electrification where charging can happen, or fit train with diesel generator set too.

Chiltern probably need ability to work off Metropolitan line 4th rail.  I think this is now 500v outer rail, -250v centre rail, but at least it is effectively 750v not the old 600v (400 and -200)

To be honest, if GBR (or its shadow version) had ordered 70-100 of these, a cascade would probably solve 90% of train shortages or types coming up for renewal.

So yes, SWR doesn't really need anything different to GWR regional fleet, or even others like Cross Country Cardiff-Nottingham.  Can see why it is one type desperately needed (have built high speed bimodes, lots of commuter electric units in last 10 years, but no regional units for 34+ years

 
........and also the second one of the day a little further West in the Thames Valley.....I guess now it's a little warmer we have to expect the infrastructure/service to start melting down.......literally as well as figuratively

Still, cracking BBQ weather! Just in time for the Bank Holiday weekend!

Cancellations to services between Reading and Newbury

Due to a points failure between Reading and Newbury some lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 19:00 22/05.

 
Due to a points failure between Reading and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run on some lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 15:15 22/05.

 
The mention of GWR/Chiltern - might this be the battery train?

 
Apart from the Ten Tors for children who navigate the moor with only maps!

 
Excellent evening with update from Andrew A.

For member - slide set here

 
For the next six months in Bath, how are faciilities being provided for personal needs breaks for bus staff on the routes affected, anyone?

Mark

 
On the Manvers Street northbound stop - that useful one when leaving the train - the industry seems to be slowly removing its remaining bus services - starting with the 11 to Bathampton. The notice for that *does* have a map but it took me a moment to interpret it as it doesn't show the railway station. Possibly for good reason as the bus will now only stop at the far end of Dorchester Street, so, Number 11 bus passengers who've been on a train - "Welcome to Awkwardsville".

There's also, now, the 'Notice' version of that web page which is mapless - but in common with their web page on this forthcoming disruption, a map would illustrate the extent to which the bus network is disrupted and exactly how much walking people will need to do to make connections. (Both below...)

Stars of the show is Stagecoach's 620 bus, which continues to run to the bus station albeit via a diversion - and usefully stops at a couple of stops on the diversion too - as does the 700 that runs a very occasional service to the decidedly poor area surrounding Julian Road and also the prosperous part of the city up at Sion Hill.

Mark

 
Cancellations to services between Newbury and Reading

Due to a fault with the signalling system between Newbury and Reading trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 25 minutes. Disruption is expected until 11:45 22/05.

 

Since never, but unfortunately I assume the days of our schoolchildren being taught something as useful as Ordnance Survey map reading are long gone.

 

Confusion reigns!    Industry open data feeds still report cancelled, but are giving actual times for it running

 
Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to a points failure between Reading and London Paddington fewer trains are able to run on some lines.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 10:15 22/05.

 

Ye gods they could do with a map and connection advice!

 

https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=27523

Something of a co-incidence, Mull comes up again (and indeed Craignure) "On this day" today with the first steam locomotive run on the island in May 1983

Your report, Chris, also brings back memories of a trip of my own on Waverley in - it must have been 1976 or 1977 - when we were sailing up the Clyde and one of the paddle boards came loose. A dreadful thump every time the paddle wheel turned and we dropped to a crawl, and tied up at the nearest emergency place we could which happened to be an oil terminal.  A tiny figure of a security guard appeared on the jetty and shouted "You can't tied up here".  Wanna bet - big ship, lots of people on a beautiful sunny evening.

TS Queen Mary - in her last year or 2 - was also coming up to Glasgow that evening, and she tied up alongside Waverley and all the passengers transferred across to complete our journey into Glasgow - a rescue story from many years ago.  And the last two steam powered passenger boats on the Clyde tied up at - oops - the fuel depot.   That was my final trip on Waverley in CalMac hands and I suspected it might have been my last ever.  Little did I realise ...

 

 
This, now, from Travelwest.

Mark

https://travelwest.info/on-the-buses/closure-of-bridge-street-manvers-street-bath/

 
From the BBC:

 
From the BBC:

 
Or a second gang turn up intent on demolishing the box and find a pile of rubble.   

 
Freight was held on the up line so reversible working was needed - which obviously does affect both lines.

 
When I used to live Kingston -Richmond borders occasionally used the level crossing by Sheen station.    Have waited for 5 trains to pass.

Get a bit of late running and mix of stopper on Kingston loop, faster trains to Windsor or Reading trains can be just 2-4 minutes apart, get a train going other way between them and just insufficient time to put barriers up.

Before SWR thinned the timetable 6 years ago (and never fully restored it post covid), barriers could be down for around 35-40 minutes each hour in the peak

 
Someone was asking how these would show up on our disruption map ... yep, they do ...



Very odd in effecting trains in both directions - shunt movement at Royal Wootton Bassett?

 
RAIB have published their report on this accident, with the main conclusions on the summary page. This says:

The main recommendations are about Network rail's management processes, with some learning points for signallers and other staff too.

 
I just got back from a shopping trip, and I found another missive from NR in the door. It's essentially the same as the first, but with a different background/frame and header "metadata". Both are from Basingstoke Campus, and both sign off as from Community Relations. The second adds Wessex Route to that, and in the heading it says "Ref: ELR: RDG2 62, 02ch / MW/OCT-Wokingham Signal Box". The first is vaguer about it origin, and it is headed "Ref No: RDG_62.0002_STN_WSX_22412 / 20/5/2026 1:00:00 am". Both in the footer invite you to sign up for information about future works, but for services with different names and URLs!

Doesn't that look like a case of the left hand not knowing what the next finger on the same hand is doing? And maybe it's a reminder that just being part of the same legal entity does not guarantee good communications within an organisation. I wonder if we will see more or less of this kind of thing as GBR coagulates.

 
Ah, and several more stills showing the crossing (as well as many more featuring suburban street scenes from the early 1960s) here:

https://www.reelstreets.com/films/wrong-arm-of-the-law-the/

Mark

 
A still from the film, showing the crossing, here:

https://railwaymoviedatabase.com/the-wrong-arm-of-the-law/

Mark