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    Travel Exeter - London in May in connection with overseas tour by Eurostar

    I've booked a Railtrail tour in Switzerland in mid-May, my first overseas trip since Brexit. We go via Eurostar to Brussels and through Germany. Some advice needed please on tickets between Exeter and London as there are industrial disputes going on in the UK and possibly Germany. I know that...
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    Royal Mail Sunday deliveries and the future of Saturday letters

    Mod Note: Posts #1 - #8 originally in this thread. I had a Christmas card arrive here in Exeter on 24th January - from Torquay! I've just seen a Royal Mail van today (Sunday) delivering a parcel to a neighbour. I didn't know they were working Sundays. Recently it was announced that Royal Mail...
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    Poor pay offer to send GWR and LNER trains off the rails

    This from the Unite Union website today. Does Unite have many staff in the rail industry? I'm a bit out of touch but see they were formerly the T&GWU. https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2023/december/poor-pay-offer-to-send-gwr-and-lner-trains-off-the-rails
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    QR code scam in station car park

    This from BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-67335952 My main purpose in posting this is to ask whether there was a card payment option at this car park (in which case a QR code is not needed)? Surely all car parks should have a card payment option (whether on the railway...
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    Layout of seats and timetable cases in bus shelters

    Here's an issue which has been of concern to me for some time. Bus shelters should always have a seat or seats, and there should also be a timetable. Many shelters are provided by advertising companies free of charge to the local authority in return for the right to install advertising panels on...
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    Government Plan for Drivers

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plan-for-drivers/the-plan-for-drivers https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plan-for-drivers/the-plan-for-drivers Anyone read this? A worrying development. We risk going backwards on bus priority, encouraging active travel, reducing carbon...
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    The "bus culture" in your area

    A couple of topics under this general heading. 1. Do buses in your area sometimes have to reverse when in service, either to turn round at a terminus when empty or in the middle of the route with passengers on board? I’ve come across both practices since moving to Devon and previously in West...
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    Objection to appearing in a street photograph

    I and two other guys had an unusual experience today while photographing the Devon General Running Day at Newton Abbot. The first bus to pass our vantage point was a Stagecoach bus on service which the two others photographed, at which point a woman pedestrian crossed the road and said to us “if...
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    New books on Parliament and Westminster matters

    There are two new books on this subject, which should make interesting reading "How Westminster Works … and Why It Doesn't" by Ian Dunt, author, political journalist and broadcaster. "Code of Conduct: Why We Need to Fix Parliament" - and How to Do It by Chris Bryant MP, due out soon A...
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    My idea to abolish single operator tickets

    Moderator note: split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/train-cancelled-ticket-office-advised-to-board-service-of-another-operator-rejected-by-guard.252127/#post-6334205 Indeed. All the revenue is going to the Govt. anyway. A task for GBR, if and when it happens, is to ditch...
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    Network Rail debt.

    Today I skimmed through Roger Ford's "Informed Sources Preview", which was a bit hard going. What caught my eye was the statement that "interest payment on Network Rail’s debt....represents roughly a quarter of current fares revenue." How much of this is due to high levels of investment in...
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    1V50 06.06 Edinburgh - Plymouth today (19th June)

    Anyone know what’s happening to 1V50 today? HST with 43357 and 43285. It left Edinburgh on time and was on time passing Widdrington, but lost 19 minutes between there and Butterwell Jn. Departure from Newcastle was 32 late and from York 60 late. The train has omitted the Leeds and Wakefield...
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    Daily Telegraph for sale

    It's being reported on TV and in the papers that The Daily Telegraph is to be put up for sale after Lloyds Banking Group took control of the parent firm over unpaid loans and placed it in the hands of receivers. It was interesting to listen to former Telegraph journalist Sonia Purnell on BBC2...
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    Intermodal day tickets in UK cities (and beyond)

    The likely demise of the Day Travelcard in London, reported elsewhere on this forum, has prompted me to enquire how many other cities offer a similar ticket. In the recent past I've used Greater Manchester Wayfarer - allows travel for a day anywhere in GM and parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire...
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    Leamside Line should open to enable an express Northern service for the area

    Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/new-newcastle-middlesbrough-express.244402 Having the Leamside line open would improve the chances of a Newcastle - M'boro service via Stillington getting a path but this would compete with other possible uses - a new main line to...
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    Delivery of the railway's diesel fuel by road

    I read that much of the diesel required by the railway is delivered by road. Is this mainly because the quantity required at a depot is too small to make an economic trainload and/or the facilities don't exist to increase storage capacity? Is there any rail delivery to depots now?
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    What future is there for on-train catering?

    We know that SWR has withdrawn its on-train catering and there are rumours that GWR might follow suit. Is catering likely to be a casualty of Treasury-inspired cuts? And could an independent provider such as a rail user group step in as on the Settle Carlisle line?
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    Train v bus in the snow

    Someone writing on Facebook yesterday. I remember a time when, in bad weather, you were asked to consider switching from car or bus to train. Now it's usually the other way round. Discuss, as they say. (There may have been other issues like trees on the line, but trees can also block roads.)
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    Londoners in tears as they say their final goodbyes to the 'best' bus route

    This is the article about the 271 route. https://www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/londoners-tears-say-final-goodbyes-26188825?int_source=nba It must be hard for those of us outside London to comprehend that a bus route can stay more or less the same and keep the same number for over...
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    Problem in Severn Tunnel? (30/12)

    Trains don't seem to be running eastbound between STJ and Pilning at present - anyone know what the problem is? (Information from RTT).

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