Recent content by abn444

It seems odd that they plan to make Winchester set down/pick up and cut out Basingstoke given the connections at Basingstoke. Surely if they insist on doing this it'd have been better to do it the other way round and make Basingstoke pick up/set down and cut out Winchester

Isn't the reason that they're single 455s because double 455s can't work on certain routes, like Hounslow, because there's short platforms and 455s don't have SDO?

I can believe they'll be in service at some point. I saw one at New Milton the other day and it didn't just go straight through, it stopped for a bit before continuing as if it was on a test run rather than a standard ECS move

But so is £40m but it didn't stop them threatening to withdraw the travelcard. I bet the new worldline system is the cheapest (although still expensive) given how much technology has supposedly got better over the years yet atos/worldline sounds so much worse, much more robotic and rough

Amazing how TfL complain about lack of money yet they've got the money for this

Genuine question, how is it possible to drive the same all year round and still keep to time when they put extra padding in the timetable from around October time specifically for leaf fall?

If that happened there'd definitely be no point in HS2. I really can't see it being hugely popular not having a central London terminus as it is

Morebus have announced they're staying with it https://www.morebus.co.uk/great-news-ps2-fare-continues-all-summer-long

Strongly disagree, by hiding it your just shutting down talking about it and making it more "taboo" and potentially making the problem worse. Completely agree, just tell the truth. People will find out anyway and it just gets people's backs up if they feel they're not being told the truth

I can't see that being a particularly good idea. Even if the DfT agree (which I very much doubt given their penny pinching attitude at the moment) it'd still take years for the new trains to arrive from Siemens, and let's not forget, whilst not as bad as this, the Siemens 707s weren't exactly on...

In the same area, unless it's been massively improved over the last few years, I'd say Stapleton Road. When I went there once it felt very dirty and run down and didn't really feel like the place you'd want to be at night

@AlterEgo has just mentioned the likely reason why SDO wasn't announced. As to your more general point about SDO at CLJ, it's a regular occurrence there on "main line" SWR services. It's the front 9 if a 12-450 and front 8 if 10-444. As to it being terminated at Eastleigh, it looks like its a...

Slightly after Beeching but there is the Alton line. Formerly an "ox-bow line" off the South Western Main line, rejoining at Winchester, the line was cut back to Alton although the watercress heritage railway has taken over part of the section between Alton and Winchester

Apart from the new traction equipment, isn't the bare minimum effectively what they did? I'm sure the basic interior refresh and conversion to 3rd rail (from 4th rail) would have needed doing if they were going to the island whoever did it

I believe the SWR name and SWT before it came from the fact that it was largely the former South Western Division of Network SouthEast