LNER has this: 'Simpler Fares Update – Phase 2a'

Mark

https://www.lner.co.uk/news/lner-simpler-fares-update-phase-2a/

 
As in 'No more off-peak', apparently. LNER spokesperson pushing the principle that advance fares replace pay-on-the-day.

Telegraph article: paywalled but here's an archive dot is link.

Mark

https://archive.is/xSgqi

 
Follow up article on the BBC

 
There was certainly some congestion around Thingley yesterday evening.   The Gloucester to Salisbury service waited a good 15 minutes for the diverted service from Plymouth to come off the single line.   A Bristol service, which was also late anyway was trapped behind it for a further ten minutes.    A freight also got caught slightly. 

In the overall scheme I think it is a price worth paying given the circumstances but long distance travellers may not agree and may indeed not been told the full story.

 
Regular readers will know that I have been off to some distant places by train using an Interrail pass over recent months.  The Interrail folks are having a flash sale - 20% off - of these tickets until 9th September, for travel starting within 11 months from the date of purchase. https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/global-pass

If you want to travel extensively by train in Europe (outside Great Britain) over the winter and spring, these tickets are worth considering.  Remember that you'll also need to pay other costs - this is a train ticket only and hotels / hostels / food / tourist things / mobile phone roaming  / local metros will dwarf the rail cost.  Also remember that these prices do not include seat reservations and some supplements on trains. If you are travelling on almost all local and regional trains, and some long distance too, you can ride without these surcharges or without rebooking.

In past years, there has been a 25% "Black Friday" sale at the end of November too - that is not guaranteed. I am personally looking at the current offer and, though I am not a great sales purchaser, tempted ... Spring trip Melksham to Samsun perhaps?

 

Sometimes (and this was one) the line from Westbury to Reading is closed in one direction only, so the trains running through Melksham were lopsided.   There are a number of learning points from yesterday - seeing how it worked first time and I'm delighted that they are being fed back too.   You may have noted on Facebook that other experienced and comments far wider than just mine are there.

For completeness of story here in public, I would like to clarify one issue.   As authorised and set up, extra calls between Westbury and Reading (at Melksham, and also at Chippenham and Trowbridge) are to be made on the semi-fast services that already call at Castle Cary and Westbury. The Penzance express services will NOT usually call; rather than(as indeed we saw yesterday) they will still run through on diversion without stopping.  I noted on social media a complaint about the Plymouth to London train taking 3 hours and 44 minutes for the journey, and asking "is it any wonder it took so long with stops at places like Melksham".  The Plymouth to London train was diverted via Melksham but did not stop. The extra time it took above the "holy grail" three hours was because the normal route was not available, and the social media poster should be grateful that the diversionary route is available at all!

 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/collision-with-footbridge-on-the-dean-forest-railway

 
And as shown on the last image a second IET called just over an hour later, followed by a third shortly after 7pm.  All heading towards Swindon.  One also called at Chippenham. More details on the main TW disruption thread. 

 
Yesterday - 2nd September 2025 - saw the very first call for passengers at Melksham station of one of Great Western Railway's IETs (Intercity Express Trains). And what a fitting date as it was on 2nd September 1848 that that railway first came to Melksham.

Melksham Station lies on a now-single line between Chippenham and Trowbridge with a local shuttle train running up to 9 times a day from Swindon via Chippenham and Melksham to Trowbridge and Westbury.  But on occasions that the main line from London to the West Country via Pewsey is not available, long distance expresses are diverted via Melksham and our local service is culled.

GWR's IETs were introduced in 2017, and took over all long distance trains. They could not stop at Melksham though, because our station (like many other wayside stations) was not programmed into their train database, and the station was not equipped to receive them.  However, recent changes encouraged by the Melksham Transport User Group, and other community groups, and being common sense too, have added them to the database and signage has been added so that they can stop at Melksham.

The very first such stop was yesterday - when the 15:42 Exeter to London (Paddington) train, diverted "our way", called at Melksham at just after half past five. The first of what I hope will be a routine, but infrequent, event.  When our local train is displaced by the medium distance expresses that come up from Paignton and Exeter, serving Castle Cary and Westbury, we can now look forward to them calling at Melksham to give us an alternative service.  Yesterday's diversion was made at very short notice indeed (less than an hour) and only half a dozen people got off the train at Melksham, but future diversions of some of these semi-fast services are also authorised to call at Trowbridge and Chippenham. With better notice as will usually be the case when engineering works are planned, they will be an excellent step forward in providing a continuing service at Melksham. Our passenger journey numbers have risen from 3,000 to 63,000 per annum since a useful service was restored and should head for over 250,000 in future years when proposals to increase the regular service to at least hourly come to fruition.









For the record - train 802013 - a five carriage train - on service 1A89

 

Earl is a generally peaceful cat, I was surprised that he went for a gull. He visits me when there are no children at his home to entertain him.
I look after him, and the other cat from the same household, when the owners are on holiday.

 
The North Dorset Railway at Shillingstone gets permission to become an operational heritage line.

 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cev2v1pxnmlo

 
From BBC South


I am going to post this in "Railway History" ... but perhaps it should be in "Heritage attractions" or "Campaigns for new services" as the article goes on to talk about it being out of commission at present, but there being an interest in it having a future.

 
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:04
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:04 will be starting late from Penzance.

This is due to the train driver being taken ill.

Additional Information
Due to a resourcing issue we are unable to operate this evenings Sleeper service between London Paddington and Penzance / Penzance and London Paddington.

We have arranged for this service to be operated by one of our regular Intercity Express Trains which will offer a Standard and First Class seating service only. There will be no accommodation facilities.

 
It does include Fleming Way and the shopping area of the town centre as well as the GWR park which has been a bit of a disorder hotspot.

There was a PSPO for the town centre in the past which concentrated on public drinking, begging and pedal cycles in the pedestrianised area.  However it was rarely enforced and ultimately not renewed.   This latest one has already seen some scooters confiscated and destroyed. 

 
To go with it. One of Swindon's new PSPOs https://www.swindon.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/11646/town_centre_and_broadgreen_public_space_protection_order_-_2025-2028.pdf
Which I presume includes the new facilities.

 
It called! Report to follow - I have a meeting in 20 minutes and will write up overnight.

 
The Chairman and founder is Dr Andrew Seedhouse who, many years ago, was my predecessor here at the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership.

More about them here https://www.talktosam.co.uk/about-us

 
..and another two due to call - and on the screens

 

It is and not a one off.   However it wasn't announced until 16:39.   That is 15 minutes after the cancelled TW service would have left Westbury and the time it would have been at Melksham.    So unless someone was very on the ball at Melksham they would have unaware.

This is better news - announced an hour in advance.

 

 
Date was in my diary - now booked. I have a powerchair....

 

SUPERB step in the right direction!

 

Why do they cancel the trains on the next line across (yeah, I know, because the West County trains are more important).  Are there alternative arrangements for Melksham passengers? Such as the IETs stopping there?

 
On Eventbrite

 
If you go to this portal, it says this about itself:


In one place this site identifies itself as Travelwest, but mostly it doesn't - so it is? Or is "what exactly is Travelwest" just not an easy question to answer?

 

 

Oh drat and double drat!  Why didn't I think of Lubeck?  Mum trained there as a physiotherapist when she was in her late teens.

 
Not sure which section to put this, so apologies if wrong

South West Smart applications (a membership based central purchasing body) has issued a tender for 8 years covering:

1) Content Management systems (value £20m)
2) Ticket Vending machines (value £20m)
3) Electronic Ticket Machines (value £20m)
4) Assessable Rail Information and support units (£20m)
5) Transport and Data managed Services (value £20m)

https://bidstats.uk/tenders/2025/W36/853737845

Not really sure who they are, or how it might affect anyone in South West, does anyone know more ?

 
It's a long time since I got off the train / took a look around Frome.   Anyone fancy joining me and other members of the West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee on Thursday of next week?