07/05/26 - Exeter To Leeds
DIG 0943 (0957) > EXD 0955 (1009) : 2T12 EXM > PGN : 1 x 166/2 (3 Cars)
EXD 1015 (1047) > PAD 1229 (1310) : 1A78 PNZ > PAD : 2 x 802/0 (10 Cars)
TfL Underground Paddington > King's Cross St. Pancras (Circle Line)
KGX 1340 (OT) > LDS 1549 (OT) : 1D17 KGX > BDQ : 1 x 801/1 (5 Cars)
 
Tickets (All With Senior Railcard, 2 Pax, Price Per Person):
DIG > PAD Advance Single £42.95
TfL Underground Single £1.95
KGX > LDS Advance Single (1st Class) £58.40

Both 2T12 & 1A78 were affected by the fallout from the Southern England GSM-R failure. From reports elsewhere it seems Network Rail are running out-of-date / life expired communication systems lacking adequate fallback arrangements. And just to cap off the journey 1A78 was further delayed at RDG by a trespasser close to the eastern end of the station. Time for tasers to be made standard BTP issue?
Is it formal GWR policy to not bother with ticket/railcard checks on late running trains so as not to annoy their passengers even more?
We made our booked service at KGX with 5 minutes to spare - so we missed our usual LNER 1st Class Lounge visit ( ) - only to discover minor chaos engendered by substitution of the scheduled 9-car Azuma by a 5-car unit; not much effect on 1st class but for Standard the TM had to make 3 PA requests for bags to be removed from seats. The lack of consideration exhibited by some of my fellow citizens never fails to annoy me.
1D17 provided an on-time KGX departure & LDS arrival so 50% Delay Repay will only apply to the Exeter > London sector.

08/05/26 - Activities Around Leeds, Wakefield & Pontefract
LDS 0858 (OT) > GLH 0923 (OT) : 2F07 LDS > KNO : 1 x 150/2 (2 Cars)
WKF 2110 (2124) > LDS 2125 (2141) : 1D28 KGX > LDS : 1 x 801/2 (9 Cars)

Noted that at GLH the landing at the top of the KNO-bound platform stairs had been partially plated over and the surrounding area was very badly rusted; looked like an accident waiting to happen.
1D28 lost time progressively between New Southgate & Welwyn GC, never fully recovered and was further delayed between WKF & LDS following the 2A28 KNO > LDS stopper.
Of interest (maybe) is the availability of very good value same-day LNER Advance Singles, used to fill spare seats, on some of their services - our Railcard AS tickets cost £1.85, while the equivalent Northern fare is £3.30.

09/05/26 - A Day Out At The K&WVR, Dinner In Pontefract
LDS 1049 (OT) > KEI 1112 (OT) : 2H86 LDS > GSD : 1 x 158/7 (3 Cars)
KEI 1601 (OT) > LDS 1631 (1640) : 2H53 SKI > LDS : 1 x 333 (4 Cars)
LDS 1729 (1731) > PFM 1805 (1806) : 2A25 : 2 x 150/2 (4 Cars)
PFM 2120 (2133) > LDS 2155 (2204) : 2F72 : 1 x 158/7 (2 cars)

Ticket (2 Pax, Price Per Person):
West Yorkshire Daysaver Train Only £9.90

There are no railcard discounts on the above ‘Train Only’ ticket but the desk clerk at Leeds implied that there were discounts on the combined Train & Bus ticket. I didn’t check because we have crusties bus passes.
The weather wasn’t great but the K&WVR was very enjoyable. We went for the hop on/off as much as you like ticket (£24 pp). Keighley to Oxenhope on a Class 101 MetCam DMU and Oxenhope to Keighley via Haworth using a top & tail 78022 BR Standard Class 2MT + visiting RES liveried Class 47.
The late arrival of 2H53 at Leeds might well have been our mandatory Whitehall Junction delay. In the absence of an alternative explanation the late running of 2F72 was maybe caused by an issue with the crew of the outbound 2A31 LDS > KNO. This left Leeds 8 minutes down despite the traction for this service, 2L28 SHF > LDS, having got to LDS only a couple of minutes late.

10/05/26  - Grandsons 2nd Birthday Celebration
LDS 0913 (OT) > PFM 0944 (0941) : 2F01 LDS > KNO : 1 x 150/2 (2 Cars)
PFM 1917 (OT) > LDS 1956 (OT) : 2A22 KNO > LDS : 1 x 150/2 (2 Cars)

Ticket (With Senior Railcard, 2 Pax, Price Per Person):
Off Peak Day Return £4.65

The Sunday LDS<>KNO 1TPH service, alternately every 2 hours via Wakefield or Castleford, might seem poor but the pax numbers we observed indicate it matches demand.

11/05/26 - Leeds To Exeter
LDS 1040 (OT) > KGX 1254 (1258) : 1A16 LDS > KGX : 1 x 801/1 (5 Cars)
TfL Underground King's Cross St. Pancras > Paddington (Circle Line)
PAD 1436 (OT) > EXD 1659 (1701) : 1C85 PAD > PGN : 1 x 802/2 (5 Cars)
EXD 1715 (1716) > DIG 1728 (1732) : 2F26 PGN > EXM : 1 x 158/9 (3 Cars)

Tickets (All With Senior Railcard, 2 Pax, Price Per Person):
LDS > KGX Advance Single £19.00
KGX > PAD Off-Peak Single £1.95
PAD > DIG Advance Single £32.30

1A16 was extremely busy and, disappointingly, the TM again had to make PA requests for bags to be removed from seats. The service was initially slightly delayed on the approach to DON, waiting for the late 1J44 SCA > SHF to clear Marshgate Junction, ran a few minutes down all the way to Hitchin, and was then further delayed by what looks like general congestion from Stevenage onwards.
1C85 was also very busy. The service ran a few minutes late for most of the journey and, I discovered while composing this article, was cancelled short at NTA due to an unspecified traction issue. The TM was evidently a wannabe comedian whose PA announcements were peppered with attempted humour, particularly the oft repeated description of CLC as Castle Scary (which rapidly became pretty wearing). On the + side he did manage a full ticket & railcard check.
2F26 was held for a while at Exmouth Junction waiting for the 5 late 2T27 EXM > PGN to clear the single line.

It was noted that prior to initial departure the TM’s of both 1A16 & 1C85 made specific PA announcements asking all pax travelling on Advance tickets to check that they were on the correct service.

I submitted our DIG > PAD Delay Repay claim to GWR on Tuesday 12th May. I received email approval of the claim at 0630 on Wednesday 13th May. Pretty good work by GWR I think.