with a slope then up to the platform - loose surface for sure, and with a tiny lip,

I have engaged and had a very useful conversation on transport with Jon, and got to know him much better than I did; Tom is very welcome to respond to my multiple invites to engage should he wish to do so.

15:52 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 18:26 will be terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:10/10/2025 12:03

19:02 Great Malvern to London Paddington due 21:26 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.
Last Updated:10/10/2025 12:03

17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 20:11 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:10/10/2025 14:05

20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 23:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a broken down train.
Last Updated:10/10/2025 14:06

... Freshford is a curious case ... in terms of both county and accessibility.The station in indeed in Somerset (BaNES) but can only be reached by rail from Wiltshire - the red and blue line on this map shows the county boundary...

Minor point regarding the map.   Isn't Freshford just over the border into Bath & North East Somerset rather than Wiltshire?

More than five per cent of services were cancelled in the year so far

CAMAPIGNERS are calling for more investment into a railway line after a train operator serving Dorset stations was ranked as one of the least reliable in the country.

Maintenance warning after Spitfire engine failure


The World War Two aircraft's propeller and underside were damaged in the emergency landing

A heritage Spitfire was forced to do an emergency landing after its engine stopped mid-flight, investigators have found.

The World War Two aircraft made the emergency landing in a field in West Hythe, Kent, on 3 May due to the "failure, probably age related, of a gasket", the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority subsequently issued a safety notice on the "importance of monitoring and maintaining the airworthiness" of ageing fuel and hydraulic systems.

Fly a Spitfire, which owns the aircraft, said it had noted the safety notice and "fully" supported the AAIB's findings.

The passenger on the plane suffered minor bruising and the pilot was uninjured in the incident, the AAIB said.

The engine on Spitfire MJ627 began vibrating then started cutting out and producing dark smoke 35 minutes into the flight, according to the AAIB report.

Investigators said they found a degraded gasket had created a fuel system leak, which caused the power loss.

The agency found the system was "at least 70-years-old and its last overhaul date was unknown".

The emergency landing damaged the Spitfire's underside and propeller, the report said.

According to the AAIB, the Spitfire pilot opted not to lower the landing gear or jettison the plane's canopy after losing power to reduce drag and glide for longer.

Fly a Spitfire said that the aircraft had "safely returned to service" after "minor" repairs.

The pilot, who is a flying instructor, routinely practiced forced landings, the AAIB said. He asked the pilot of another Spitfire flying in formation to make a mayday call to air traffic control, investigators wrote.

According to Fly a Spitfire, the pilot "identified a suitable landing area and completed the manoeuvre safely and in full accordance with training and established procedures".

The AAIB said the passenger was an experienced commercial pilot who "remained calm throughout".

Spitfire MJ627 first entered service on 25 September 1944 and, just two days later, destroyed a Messerschmitt Me 109 over Arnhem in the Netherlands.

It was previously involved in an emergency landing in 1998, when its pilot made a "wheels up landing" at Coventry Airport.

The cockpit canopy detached from the plane during a take-off from Biggin Hill Airport in 2024, but it landed safely and neither occupant was harmed.

Nailsea and Backwell station, which has steps to one platform and a very steep slope to the other, was due to have had ramps installed at both platforms more than 10 years ago but £1m funding was withdrawn in 2014 after a deadline to start the work was missed.

A severely visually-impaired woman said she crossed railway tracks alone to catch a train, after station staff she had booked to help her did not turn up.

Kath Vickery has now started a petition to improve assistance arrangements after feeling "too anxious" to use her local station - Yeovil Pen Mill in Somerset - following the "really scary experience".

Great Western Railway (GWR) apologised and said it was exploring how to "deliver more robust staffing".

Figures show 10 out of 62 stations (16%) across the West of England have either no step-free access or issues with at least one platform. The Department for Transport said improving accessibility is "at the centre" of its decision-making.

Ms Vickery uses a cane and needs assistance when navigating railway stations. She said the incident happened in August 2024 - although she only started her petition recently after other more minor incidents.

Yeovil Pen Mill has a stepped footbridge to get to one of its platforms, but staff are able to help people across the tracks using a private level crossing reached by a ramp, if needed.

"When I got there I was a bit stuck because the ticket office was shut and that's usually where I find staff," she said. "I didn't feel comfortable going across the bridge on my own. I walked down to the track crossing in the hope someone would help. I rang the passenger assist call centre, I had a 13-minute conversation with them - they accidentally cut me off transferring me to someone - in the end I managed to attract the attention of someone at the station who told me I could cross, so then I had to run across the track crossing and up the platform to get my train. It was a really scary experience for me and obviously not great for safety, and still really affects me now."



Passenger assistance can be booked in advance for rail journeys - by phone, online or using an app - and is confirmed with the passenger. When assistance has been booked, if staff are then unable to fulfil that, the passenger is meant to be informed and GWR said it offers alternatives including a free taxi to the nearest accessible station.

Staff are meant to be available at Yeovil Pen Mill from 07:20 to 18:25 on weekdays, other than a lunch break, with shorter hours at weekends.

Ms Vickery used to use the station every week or two to get to medical appointments and ad hoc self-employed work in Bristol and Weymouth. She said she has recently had to turn down work in Weymouth as she felt unable to rely on the assistance she would receive at Yeovil Pen Mill.

Ms Vickery said losing the option of using the railway station long-term would be a "disaster" for her, with the only alternative to Bristol being a three-hour bus journey. "It's not like I've got the choice between driving and catching a train - the choices I have are very, very limited and that's why making sure the station is staffed its scheduled hours is so very important to me," she said.

She said she had two cancellations of assistance in the last year in addition to the experience in August 2024 when she was not informed the station would be unstaffed. "I think it's really important that disabled people have equal opportunity to use services and that includes train stations - and in order to use the train station I need there to be staff there," Ms Vickery said.

A spokesperson for GWR said: "We recognise that staffing gaps during holiday periods have impacted advertised opening hours at Yeovil Pen Mill, and we apologise for any inconvenience this causes passengers like Kath who rely on staff assistance. While our dedicated team works hard to maintain coverage, we know that we need to increase the staff relief pool to consistently staff all stations during peak leave periods, and we're exploring opportunities to deliver more robust staffing."



According to the disabled-led campaign group Transport for All a quarter (25%) of UK train stations have step-free access with 11% of stations staffed at all times.

Of Somerset's 10 national rail stations, four (40%) do not have step-free access to all platforms, which can be used independently of station staff, according to information listed on the National Rail website.

For example, Castle Cary station, on the Paddington mainline, has a stepped footbridge to the westbound platform meaning passengers need staff available to help them across the tracks.

Across the West of England, 10 out of 62 stations (16%) have either no step-free access, like Avoncliff and Freshford in Wiltshire, or issues with at least one platform.

Nailsea and Backwell station, which has steps to one platform and a very steep slope to the other, was due to have had ramps installed at both platforms more than 10 years ago but £1m funding was withdrawn in 2014 after a deadline to start the work was missed.



A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said it was "taking action to make rail travel easier and more reliable for disabled passengers". They added this included investing more than £10m to upgrade the Passenger Assist scheme, publishing a rail accessibility roadmap and improving information about the facilities available to provide support to passengers at stations.

,

Isn't that dependent on how cleanly generated the electricity used to power them is?

TRAINS are being cancelled along the Weymouth to Bristol line due to staff shortages.