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?

 
Do you know your Atlantics from your Prairies and Pacifics?  What is a Decapod?

http://www.railway-technical.com/trains/rolling-stock-index-l/wheel-notation.html