19:38 Weymouth to Swindon due 22:00

19:38 Weymouth to Swindon due 22:00 will no longer call at Frome.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

Sun, 19 July 08:06 Warminster to Swindon due 08:58
Sun, 19 July 09:08 Swindon to Westbury due 09:49

19/07/26 09:08 Swindon to Westbury due 09:49 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Excellent news if Louise Haigh gets a cabinet position.

And a waste of money?  Perhaps that could be labelled at Chiltern who are busy slapping their new/adapted livery on their entire fleet of 168s and 'Explorers' currently...and they only have 2 months left as a TOC!

I understand that Louise Haig is helping to run his campaign....far better transport secretary IMV

What an utter waste of money.

Painting a train in the livery of a TOC that will cease to exist in less than 5 months. Why not paint it in GBR colours?

3 – The boundaries of the authority make no sense. There’s a substantial part of the built-up area of Reading in West Berks – most of Tilehurst, all of Calcot, Purley and Theale. All have good bus links to Reading town centre, two have stations on lines into Reading. Yet South Oxfordshire and the Vale are losing land to the new Central Oxfordshire authority. There will now be a single council whose elected members will be making decisions on places they probably couldn’t find on a map. Lumping the towns I refer to above is simply ridiculous.

Likewise Devonshire although we have raised Oxfordshire's plan by one council; Devon County Council and eight district councils together with the two existing unitary authorities - Plymouth & Torbay - are to be replaced by four new unitary authorities - 'Greater Exeter', 'Greater Plymouth', 'Greater Torbay' (I've no idea what they are actually going to be called) and Devon Coast & Countryside.

Personal Opinion Alert: I have always thought, and said so in the online consultation (using more polite language), that this was, is, and will remain a completely crap proposal. Largely driven by the self-serving administrations in Plymouth, Torbay & Exeter who were seemingly more interested in retaining their own influences rather than acting in the interests of all Devonians. I think this will lead to the three urban-centric authorities sucking up all the commercial & financial resources of Devonshire with the new Devon Coast & Countryside unit left to deal with the scraps of a largely rural community stretching from Ilfracombe (N) to Start Point (S) and Holsworthy (W) to Axminster (E), around 110 miles in each direction.

FWIW my view was that three unitary authorities centered around Exeter, Plymouth & Barnstaple would have been a better model, which would have allowed the total population of c. 1,260,000 to be split into three bits of roughly equivalent size. Does Torbay warrant being a unitary authority in it's own right? Nah!

There was a (half) sensible suggestion that local government reorganisation should align with the new ICB (Integrated Care Boards), as they will have to jointly manage and fund social care. This will be a test of the new PMs thoughts on improving social care. The relevant ICB in this case is Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire,

On 1 April, 2026, NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board was established to plan and oversee health and care services for the 2.5 million people who live in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Our creation brings together the former NHS Frimley and NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) Integrated Care Boards into a single organisation with one shared vision for improving health across the Thames Valley.

4 – This is also going to perpetuate the battles between the Oxfordshire authorities on the sharing out of housing allocations. Central Oxfordshire will refuse to increase housing numbers, Ridgeway will try to put them all in Thame and Didcot but face pressure from Reading to bear their share of their numbers, North Oxfordshire and Ridgeway will push back against Central Oxfordshire, pointing out (correctly) that there’s plenty of “grey belt” around the city, so none of them will produce compliant local plans.

Back to Oxfordshire - Words (almost) fail me!

I cannot think of any local government reorganisation proposal that is as badly thought out as this (and the competition over the last 50 years is pretty fierce), in particular, the one that affects me directly, the proposed new Ridgeway Council.

Hate it !

A right royal pain in the *** when you have to drive along the A303, only to be faced with queuing traffic.  Why? because the delightful traveller in front of you has slowed down to 15mph while they gawp out the window at the magical marvel.  A picturesque rubber-necking you may call it.

The sooner the build a chuffin big hedge in front of it, the better, cause the tunnel is never going to happen ! 

[rant over]

[snip]

Current Situation

It was time to get something done. The strikes continued, every one requiring Network Rail to hold trains until an inspection had been done.

The strike on the 23rd March had caused 38 full and 39 partial train cancellations; this was costing Network Rail serious money, Network Rail wanted something done too, and they were prepared to discuss funding risk mitigation measures.  One of the many things suggested by residents to me was some sort of sensor activated sign before Winsley roundabout warning high vehicles to turn around. This option was discussed positively by both parties. The estimated cost would be around £25k. which Network Rail would fund and Wiltshire Highway would install. Network Rail also proposed putting up a temporary electronic sign until a permanent solution was installed. This was sounding like something was going to get done, and it still may, however, new options have entered the discussion, which might produce better results, but they will take longer and cost more.  Please read the attached Meeting Notes and supporting slides for details.

Essentially, the main problem is that Network Rail engineers think that the correct height restriction should be 3.9m but Wiltshire Highways think that 4.1m is right.

If that sounds intractable, fear not, Network Rail need to get something done and I’m going to make it my mission to get something done, because residents need something to be done!
[snip]