Greenways sound lovely and they can really bring life and benefit to an area, and abandoned railway lines are in many ways their obvious paths.  And yet the installation of a path along an abandoned railway track is a step towards making that old route a "never again" rail corridor. 

Times have changed since the 1960s - the peak period for railway lines and tracks to be eliminated.  It's no longer a joke to suggest that tracks might be relayed and trains run again, or indeed that closures in the 60 years since that peak where lines have fallen in to disrepair and perhaps key infrasturcture has become unusable could once again see a flow of passengers on rail.  But yet - to this day - some old sections will, surely, never see a train again.

There is a conflict. Here's an example from the Sussex Express


I don't know the answer on this particular case. I am aware of several Irish examples ongoing - Rosslare Strand to Waterford which was a late opening railway and with long straight sections through cuttinge that would be a really boring walk, and from RTE to the West of Ireland


All three of these examples pit local / regional interests against wider area ones, and also show the conflicts between going greener-by-walking and greener-by-better-transport.  I would love to see all three of these railways re-opening, however, that may be the heart over the head.   

I mused as I changed trains at East Grinstead the other weekend and carried on to Sheffield Park at the lovely countryside the train was passing through, the economic possibilities for a new community or two along there with Croydon and London commuting possibilites, and the prospect of extending from Sheffield Park back to Lewes.  And that's a line closed well over the 60 years ago, and in part ripped up, filled in, dug back out and restored into (heritage) use.  I'm not suggesting re-opening to restore old-time traffic flows - I am looking to make a use of the natural corridor for useful current and future flows.  From Horsted Keynes to Falmer for the University.  From Brighton to Sheffield Park for visitors to the gardens and The Weald there.  From West Hoathly to London, 2 or 3 days a week, for commuters living in that new town.  And from many, many placed to the steam and heritage diesel trains still running off peak on the Bluebell.

More locally to where I live, the old Chippenham to Calne branch has become a "Greenway" and the bridge on it over the A4 arches to add height and would be something of an obstacle in restoring.  I'm not sure of the condition of the viaduct over the Avon, and the site of Calne station was erased for a business estate which in itself was then erased for houring. But yet a rail service Calne to Chippenham and onwards (via Corsham and Box or via Melksham and Bradford-on-Avon) to Bath and Bristol might make huge sense.

The Bristol and Bath path - shares - its right of way with the heritage railway, single track where it used to be double. Into the suburbs of Bristol it has become very busy indeed, but yet a rail solution inbound from, say, Mangotsfield woukd make a huge difference to the city, and a rail link from that to the line to Westerleigh would allow a relief of the junction there.

And then ... Bath to Radstock and Shepton Mallett and perhaps Glastonbury and Wells. Trains sharing the Two Tunnels really is not on (IMHO) - that's an infrastucture that is better used for the current purposes into the far, far future, but perhaps the valley from Limpley Stoke up to Midford and Radstock could be a rail corridor once again.

Holt to Devizes then Patney and Chirton?  Ah - I am wandering here, but the canal along the same corridor provides the Greenway.  The railway is so burst, however, that although it was only closed in 1966 I don't see it re-opening.  As a new railed public transport along the corridor? Guided Busway? Tram?  I will be told, I'm sure, that I must be mad. But then I have been told that before and strange things have happened.

 

I have absolutely no idea how common, or otherwise, such a thing is in the UK or elsewhere but in Singapore I have seen utilities infrastructure which completely eliminates the unholy mess illustrated by the above image. By the simple expedient of installing reinforced concrete ducts, with secure but removal tops which double up as the the footways. Whatever services use the ducting, be it pipes or cables, are securely fixed to the insides of the box. No road closures, occasional minor traffic disruption depending on what level of workforce protection is needed and much speedier work completion. Pedestrians suffer some inconvenience but on the + side no imbecile is going to put a pickaxe, or the front end of a JCB, through a gas main.

I, of course, fully understand that widespread use of such systems in the UK would be an open invitation to the usual suspects attempting cable theft and the security of the ducting 'lids' would have to be so much better.

 
Survey closed ...



... and no surprises there that I can see.   It does confirm how important the online data feeds are, to us.  Coffees Shop members are, however, not an unbiased sample of the general public.  Would your brother/sister/neigbhbour check?  Would they even consider using the train or bus?

Which sources do you use?

I tend to start off with our own "Coffee Shop" map which - at a glance - fills me in on what's being reported by GWR through Journeycheck not only locally but across the region.  Journey Check itself, Tiger departures boards and Real Time Trains fill me in where there's a clue of things not running 99% right in the region.   A map showing perfection, frankly, has me checking than the feed and servers are running.

 

If the leak was within the outline of the gasholder, or close to it, it will be closer to the railway than the main road. Just taking the shortest distance from that circular outline, to the road it is 70 m, and to the railway it is 25 m. There is one house within 50 m, and none of the road past it (Hamble Road). Of course the actual leak will be somewhere specific, but that's likely to within 50 m of the railway but not of the road or any houses.

 
I will amend my request to "far-right wing politics" - apologies

 
According to NR services through Didcot Parkway are due to return to normal tomorrow. But even though the gas leak has been fixed no services from Reading to Oxford will operate tonight.

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/didcot-parkway-20260922/

No trains between Oxford / Didcot Parkway and Reading today: a normal service is planned to resume tomorrow, Thursday 24 September

 
I was at the event today and the October dates are the correct ones. This was arranged by Morgan Sindall the contractors at the Portishead end with input from the Harbour Road site manager and the community liason officer.About 50 attended and the project is on track and on schedule.
The site manager had worked on the delivery of the Ashington Newcastle reopening providing infrastructure and several new stations.

 
See https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=231.msg379852#msg379852

 

Really good questions ... and I don't know the answer.   A very interesting comparison between the cordon(s) at Falmouth and at Didcot today?

 

Typos - by grahame?  Whatever next ? 

 

Which way will it face on a class 139?   ... Will there be space for it, and will they need to turn it at the ends?

 
The above plan (minus the bay explosion) has been completed, cordons lifted now. I'd expect GWR services to restart between the Town and Docks imminently, if not already.

 
A couple of examples of your nemesis advice/advise.   

 
You can get to Didcot - but not a through train to Oxford

 
Just boarded the 15:00 Temple Meads - Paddington Didcot Parkway. TM has twice warned passengers that it's only going as far as Didcot, which is helpful. But has added that if they want to go to London then they should board the 15:30 Paddington service - that's showing as cancelled in the National Rail app (stopping at Bath), so that's not so helpful, unless he knows something the app doesn't.

EDIT my mistake - I was looking for trains to Chippenham; it's missing Chippenham out but is going to Paddington (via Westbury?).

 

For the original hook I was hanging this on (hook not published as it contained personal data), I felt that adding taxi and Uber data would lengthen and the post and to some extent mask the purpose.

But ... there IS excellent reason for writing up the Uber / taxi / private hire setup with a Melkham perspective and to have that data publicly shared.   The challenge will be to keep it balanced and customer centric.  It WILL be written up for inclusion in the "Information at the Station" FAQ.

 

ChrisB is is free to speak for himself, which he did.   As I read it, he asked as an individual for people to keep right wing politics off the board, and that is absolutely something that he can request, but neither demand nor persuade the moderators / administrators to enforce.

The Coffee Shop is a public transport forum and, inevitably, it involves the effects of politics and the political situation with regards to transport.   It also states - as part of the forum agreement - that all your legal views are welcome as they may relate to (and it can be indirectly) to transport and travel.

 

The only way you could make this livery work is to cover it all up.  I think it's very badly designed.  I've no idea how much it cost to create, but, to my eyes, every penny was wasted.  There's nothing in the design that suggests speed, convenience, or elegance.  All of which could have been considered as  suitable things to emphasise in branding. I suppose the read, white and blue somehow suggests "Britishness" and the Union flag.  Does that suggest that "we all" now own it? I don't think so

 
I know it's for "bus and train services", but might it be worth mentioning that Ubers are available in the area? They might be a last resort, and it reassures potential users that Melksham isn't one of those places where the Uber app implies it is available but in fact it isn't (eg. Thirsk, where we were a few weeks ago).

 

Does this mean that those of us who favour: small government/lower regulation + low taxation/high growth + freedom of speech and association + secure borders + strong national defence + preservation of our constitution, all of which are considered by many as "right wing politics", are not welcome here?

If so, I will take my leave of what would be a leftist echo chamber and bid everyone here all the best

 

Any fule kno that ex-GW 2-6-2 tank locomotive 5542 is "The PFP - Planet's Favourite Prairie"

 
The gas leak in Didcot is close to where I live, so I went to take a look this morning to see if I could try and understand why the railway remains closed.

The line has now been shut for more than 20 hours, yet people are able to walk and drive past the site without restriction. There have been no evacuations of nearby buildings and there is no longer any noticeable smell of escaping gas. Given that, I'm struggling to understand why the railway remains closed. If cars and lorries can safely pass the location, it seems reasonable to ask why, at the very least, diesel trains cannot do the same.

The leak was first reported yesterday afternoon, several hours before train services were suspended, so I find it difficult to believe that, at the very least, the gas supply has not been isolated.

SGN (Southern Gas Networks) requested the railway closure. Does anyone know whether they are required to compensate Network Rail for the disruption caused? More generally, are SGN and similar utilities being overly risk-averse, or is there simply insufficient incentive for them to restore normal operations as quickly as possible?

As an example of how incentives can work, there was another gas leak on a major road in Didcot last week. SGN initially maintained that the road would need to remain closed for more than a week, much to the frustration of local residents. However, once Oxfordshire County Council indicated that penalties of £8,000 per day could be imposed, the roadworks magically disappeared.

 
The latest proposal sees the object being moved slowly from its current position within the immediate docks area around Pendennis Point out into Falmouth Bay for controlled detonation a couple of miles offshore. No timescale is indicated. I would imagine that once the movement is completed shore based cordons will be lifted and consequent to that train service between the Docks and Falmouth Town resumed.

https://www.facebook.com/falharbour/posts/pfbid02PjtzKXAERqQb5GtUedxxDsN9sqrfnQQycaE2zm2RcHQR9NydM4J84wSQc2r6dnxZl

 
Written / posted on social media in answer to a question asked (which provided a convenient hook to hand an answer

https://grahamellis.uk/blog2092.html

Have I missed anything?