Living in the far West, unfortunately mostly it's a car.

 

 

So true.
Little provision for bus drivers, and no encouragement from management to do anything about it!
Generally runs of  up to 5 and a half hours before a 'meal break'. 5 and a half hours is the legal maximum, so our duties were timed for between 5 and 5 hours thirty!
Legally, if you were late, you must not drive further.  Try telling your passengers in the middle of nowhere you are stopping for a 15 minute break!
The problem was you arrived at your half way/return point very late (even more so in summer time), and invariably a large queue of passengers waiting for you. So, keep it in, load up passengers and return.
The quality of toilet provision provided varied between a well used portaloo and OK'ish........

 
A "spare" afternoon yesterday - based in Prague - and too hot to walk around the city.  I took the opportunity to travel on some random trains, keep cool, see the countryside, perhaps meet some of the people, and learn about what works and perhaps does not work here.

Praha Masaykovo n. - Poříčany
Poříčany - Nymburk hl.n
Nymburk hl.n - Usti Nad Labem hl.n
Usti Nad Labem hl.n - Praha hl.n

Pictured
- double deck train to Poříčany
- modern "railbus" on to Nymburk
- train to Usti advertises passenger comfort and low cost
- business-aware seating allowing good use of travel time
- smart branding for a GW train

So many lessons - fast, comfortable, electric trains.  A train that pulled out of Poříčany on time - then pulled up along the platform to allow people to connect into it from another train that was just arriving.  Passengers to and from Třebestovice - a small 'halt' just out from Poříčany, yet thriving in spite of its closeness to that main station, perhaps because of a reliable hourly service that really connects.  The use of really good pricing to encourage people to use the trains.  Open stations that are naturaly friendly without barriers, but with ticket checks on all legs. Display screen in trains telling me what the ongoing connections were at intermediate stations.  A train manager who let me know that a train was going to reverse at an intermediate station ... so I not be concerned.  On time arrival back into Prague, and a call in the supermarket actually located in the station, well stocked at sensible prices, and many, many outlets making the station very much a shopping mall for general use too. And walking / easy access back to the hotel with just one very local access road to cross.










 

 

Agreed. ‘Passenger’ is a much better word, covering every type of user. Perhaps it’s its ubiquity that makes journalists look for a different word, but it is a bit like calling every cat a mouser.

 
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G15387/2026-07-30/detailed#allox_id=0

2N02 0707 Par to Newquay
175007 coupled to 175114

 
It is perhaps encouraging to note that the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, has herself experienced some degree of overcrowding, on GWR trains between Swindon and London Paddington:

 
From the BBC:

 


I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding here.  Staff do use toilets on the train and at stations where available, and if it's their recognised PNB (Physical Needs Break) then they will almost certainly have access to staff toilets of some sort.

I see the article TG linked to as basically ASLEF saying that a lot of companies agreed to the Welfare Facilities Charter which promised action by late this year, but in some cases very little improvement has been made, so they need to buck their ideas up.  More detail here:  https://aslef.org.uk/news/aslef-win-train-drivers-will-finally-have-access-toilets-work

The issue largely applies to freight train drivers who don't have access to a toilet on the train - or perhaps I'm wrong and ChrisB can let me know where to find the train loo on a freight train? - and may work long periods where there is simply no access to a proper toilet.  But there are also some passenger operators that could make improvements.

The Guardian article TG linked to then goes on to rather randomly quote a couple of examples of completely unrelated industrial action on the railways, before rightly drawing attention to the similar issues that bus, coach and lorry drivers face as well.

 
In grahame's excellent collection of books, I found a copy of "Images of England - The Wilts & Berks Canal", compiled by Doug Small.

ISBN 0-7524-1619-7  Published in 1999, 128 pages.

I am reading through it: it's absolutely fascinating.

CfN. 

 

Thanks, Bob.   There are lots of flows that go through those staircases or have to use the lifts if they can't ...

What about people who arrive at Swindon Station by bus / taxi / on a mobility chair and are headed for London?

 
I have now amended (again) the date on our Coffee Shop forum calendar. 

CfN.

 

That should not be necessary. Where there are alternative fares for the same journey with different "via" routeings, a more expensive fare is always valid by any cheaper routes. As the instructions document to the Routeing Guide puts it:

In some cases the tickets make this clear. The most expensive ticket is likely to be marked "valid via any permitted route". This is the case for the GWR-priced ticket from Wokingham to London that is valid via Reading. The cheapest ticket for this journey is marked "valid only via Staines", as it can't be used on any other route.

There is another fare in between those two, via Guildford. This route's short name is "Ascot/Guildford", which is confusing. As I've never bought one I don't know how the tickets are marked. However, the TVM information for the Ascot/Guildford option on the selector page says: "valid only for travel via (changing trains or passing through) Ascot or Guildford". Given the ticket has space for just oner line of routeing text, I imagine that would be "valid only via Ascot or Guildford".

As far as I know it is permitted to travel on a train with a ticket for the right journey by the wrong route. You just have to pay the relevant excess fare if asked to to so. However, the NCoT (and NCoC before that) doesn't really address the point. The bit about excess fares in the 2013 NCoC related to travel not by a permitted route at all, and in the current NCoC even that's not present. What is there mixes up a ticket being valid for your journey with being valid on the service used - so explicitly missing exactly the point in question!

 
That lift has been problematic for a few weeks but in recent days it seems to have suffered a  fault which needs a more permanent repair.

I am aware of one person who arrived at Swindon for a TransWilts service and needed the lift.  They were put on a train from platform 4 (which has both a lift and level access) to Chippenham where they could change onto the following TW train a few minutes later.   Not sure what would have happened if they had arrived closer to the TW departure time.

I understand the favoured option for people heading east is to stay on the train to Reading.   There is level access to platform 1 at Didcot Parkway but it involves going through the gateline and out into the car park to get there.   There is no lift for platform 1.   There is also a more frequent service from Reading back to Swindon - although of course don't catch one to Cheltenham Spa!

I have asked what the prognosis is for the lift at Swindon and am awaiting an answer.

 

The issue with that could be if there's pressure on time. Sods law leans towards the train loo turning out to be the UK's most occupied toilet / is out of order / the type of train is provided with only one loo etc.

Mark

 
Will Lord Hendy make another announcement confirming this? 

 
Still 1 out of 10, GWR. No indication of how long it is likely to be, what the problem is and how long on the current knowledge it might take to resolve it (technical failure or closure on a long term basis), what is being done about it and what the other places you may have to travel to to get back to Platform 4 (and that you'll not be charged - assuming that's the case) - or even which trains call at which platforms and are therefore either affected by lack of step-free access or available for the suggestion to go to the next available station and return to platform 4 to get out of the station.

Worse still, the main GWR website (where I expect most non-regular passengers would check to see what disabled facilities are available still does not alert passengers, either in the "Travel Updates" on the landing page or on the information for Swindon in the "Stations" section.

Quite appositely, the video uploaded today by Jago Hazzard on You Tube (see - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkxZRJHsQo) gives some examples of inadequate information on problems for passengers, one from GWR, but also an example of good practice from them by way of contrast.   

 

JourneyCheck has this as a station update:

So some text exists, but could do with copying to other places enquirers may land.

 

I would think so - and even Reading on a train non-stop Didcot!!

Might just be quicker via Chippenham & taxi though....

 
Alterations to services between London Paddington and Reading
Due to severe weather between London Paddington and Reading:

Train services running to and from these stations will be running non stop. Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford will not be served. Disruption is expected until 21:00 29/07.

Additional Information
With the high temperatures today, a contingency plan is in place to reduce the strain on the points which allow trains to move between lines. As a result, our local stopping services between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway are not calling at Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford in either direction until later this evening.
-
The Elizabeth line services will continue to call at Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford and you may use your ticket, at no extra cost, on their services. Elizabeth line use platforms A & B at London Paddington outside the main station concourse.
-

 

Sort of occurred to me - can they not use the loos on the train when they stop at a station, or indeed the loos at a station itself?

I also feel for bus drivers though, a different set of circumstances altogether without either of those options, I think it's one of the most undervalued and underpaid jobs there is, especially when compared to train drivers.

 

I'd generally take a chance on the train/public transport to Heathrow as there are several fallbacks (Elizabeth Line, Picadilly Line, HEx, bus in extremis), but for any of the other airports it's simply too risky, and that's even before thinking about having to carry luggage around.

 
It might be a knock-on effect of disruption on the main line, with a slew of cancellations today.

Mark

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:LSK/2026-07-29/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

 
https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/network-rail-sets-new-date-for-botley-road-reopening

Now reopening on the 20th September

 
Trying to recall how much retail stuff there is on that island platform too, and whether there may be a second lift for... goods.

Mark

 
A bit away from the coffee shop area: I *think* this is the last known sighting of the provision for personal needs breaks for staff at a rather obscure railway junction on the line from... somewhere to who knows where. Google streetview link.

Mark

https://maps.app.goo.gl/tpFZjTRqJnagqttK6

 
Well, here's something I hadn't expected to see
11:54 Liskeard to Looe due 12:24
11:54 Liskeard to Looe due 12:24 will no longer call at St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, Causeland and Sandplace.
This is due to overcrowding.

 
There's also concern for provision for bus drivers, something I'd wondered about with services to Bath: even before the current road works, several services did not include the bus station, and with Manvers Street closed, most/all Faresaver services are turning round short too. Happy to hear more how the employer handles/doesn't handle this, especially given the weather. Warm work environments combined with restricting fluid intake has implications for health, both short and long term.

Mark