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The Wikipedia page for Bayford station, on the Hertford loop, suggests it was closed on 11th March 1973, and re-opened on 7th May 1973. This feels unlikely, though I'm aware of several stations and lines where Beeching-era (and subsequent) closures were soon regretted, and reversed. Of course...

Brighton & Hove are, from later this month, to start running to Heathfield via Uckfield, and Eastbourne via Ringmer and Hailsham, all at reasonable frequencies per the linked article. I think this is great news, though they’ll be in direct competition with Stagecoach between Hailsham and...

I note that, since the May timetable change, Copplestone has been a regular compulsory stop for Tarka line services between Exeter and Barnstaple. Previously it was a request stop. The neighbouring halts of Yeoford and Morchard Road remain request stops and have similar usage, though...

In connection with the football at Falmer this evening, 387 225 and 216 are working (as a pair) on Seaford branch duties today, including the 15.25 Seaford-Brighton. Has a 387 ever reached Seaford before? It’s a first for me to see one on the branch.

Since mid-afternoon today, a large number of Thameslink services have been cancelled, at short notice, due to staff unavailability (according to the TL Twitter feed and website). Crew resourcing issues on GTR at weekends are familiar, but why have they abruptly found themselves short of dozens...

This afternoon, 14.40-ish, as I worked from home with windows open, a train ran from Newhaven to Seaford outside of the half-hourly EMU paths. I heard the horn in advance of Tide Mills crossing, and it certainly wasn’t a 313 or 377: if I had to guess, I’d have said it was a Thumper DEMU horn...

Not my video, obviously, and also my first attempt at a YouTube link, so I hope I've got it right. A fascinating (to me) short piece of film, from a railway and cultural perspective, following the sole member of station staff at this gas-lit outpost. Times have certainly changed, for better...

GWR's timetables, and a fare search on NRE, seem to confirm First Class has been withdrawn from Reading-Gatwick services. What's the explanation? Lack of Standard capacity; lack of sales of FC fares, or a need to use more 165s on the fasts, as some 166s head west? I can't say enforcement was...

Is there an obscure reason why the 'next train' describer boards on the platforms at Barons Court have never been replaced by the modern (since 1980s) orange kit, which tells you *when* the next three trains are due? I thought the last of these white-against-black boards had disappeared years ago!

166 208 on the 06.58 Gatwick-Reading this morning. The only suggestion there might be a first class saloon was a '1' sticker on one leaf of an external door. No anti-macassars; no window or bulkhead stickers; compartment door locked open per the genuinely declassified saloon at the other end...

I have a season ticket from Seaford to Reigate, issued on GTR Key smartcard. My regular commute is to Gatwick Airport, but today I needed to use the full validity to Reigate, changing at GTW for the Reading GWR service. I came very close to being thrown off the train at Redhill by the...

Great Northern report as follows: 'Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 4. First class is declassified' Is this a 313 to Cambridge? It's not my patch, but I have a feeling 313s are very rare visitors to Cambridge?

377 604 worked the 18.24 Seaford - Brighton tonight, in connection with football traffic to Falmer. As far as I know, this is the first visit of a 5-car 377 to the branch, in passenger service.

Southern reported this to be running as 10 coaches vice 12. Were 442s deployed, or was it 2x377/6? If 442s, were extra sets moved over from Brighton, or were two of the recently 'stored' units in Eastbourne sidings (or elsewhere) pressed back into service? (I am aware there is a later...

The Southern 'alterations' page, on their website, states the above service is formed of five coaches instead of four. Likewise the return working and the rest of the diagram for today. Is this an error? If not, what class of unit worked these services: 377/6, 377/7 or 442? I'm not aware of...

For the purposes of calculating eligibility for Delay Repay redress, is there an obligation on the part of the passenger to take a different route from that intended, involving one or more changes rather than a direct train, if that would generate an earlier arrival time than waiting for the...

I pass by regularly and believe this is a recent development: or perhaps I've just not been paying attention? The canopy at Marine - the poor state of which was, if I recall, the reason given for the cessation of non-ECS workings - has gone. Clearly, this removes the last obstacle to the...

Hi all, I've a mid-week business engagement at offices on the perimeter of East Midlands Airport. I presume the best station - ie closest, plenty of taxis, and non-horrendous traffic - is East Midlands Parkway? I'm travelling from and back to St Pancras. I ask because I went to the same...

A revised timetable started on Monday, to coincide with the reduction in running lines outside London Bridge station from four to three, on the Southern side. Certain Metro services now terminate/commence at South Bermondsey, and timetabled journey times have increased for some other trains...

I was browsing the transcripts of a recent SWT web chat, earlier, and there they were: the two or three individuals not seeking answers to reasonable questions, or even expressing healthy scepticism about SWT's 'good news' stories, but instead using the opportunity to rant at great length and...