Recent content by Bensonby

Yesterday, Monday 26th May 2026, I was caught up in disruption on the East Coast Mainline. I was on 1A31 the 1810 from Leeds to London Kings Cross (Link to RTT). It terminated at Doncaster having lost 107 minutes following (several?) broken down trains. The messaging kept changing, the latest...

I’m currently travelling from Abbey Wood to Heathrow T5. All of the T5 trains seem to come down from Shenfield, necessitating a change along the way. The first station I could change at is Whitechapel, the last Heathrow T4, with a large number of stations in between. All changes will be on the...

This is part of the problem with our whole criminal justice system: once you “fall out the bottom” so to speak, there is no deterrent or further punishment that really has any affect, you may as well just continue committing crime. If you are a person with a job, assets, and participating in...

It’s free on the 5-10 Oyster card isn’t it? It’s just free *without* the Oyster in the core and just to the north. This is the map I’ve previously used to check validity: https://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/en/media/77/download?attachment

I posted a thread about this from a police-perspective a few years ago: I was off duty on the way home from work when someone tried to double up behind me. I identified myself as a police officer and detained the individual and presented him to rail staff asking what they wanted done, such as...

I commute into Charing Cross and have definite set preferences of seat and will even on occasion take a slightly later train to get them. I like seats with no neighbour. My rationale being I like to plug myself into a film on my phone for my 50 minute journey and sometime have a beer/G&T to go...

Exactly, and “should” doesn’t mean “must” and that phrase isn’t in a numbered paragraph like the rest of the T&C’s, so to me it’s unclear if that forms part of the contract.

I wouldn’t have thought it’s that niche an issue: someone holding a season ticket into town for work but holding the railcard for longer journeys, and sometimes being accompanied by their companion for leisure travel into town.

Just seen that the update from the railcard team merged into my previous post. Despite following up, they either didn’t understand, or want to give me a definitive answer: merely repeated what was on the website.

Good idea. I have emailed them and will post the reply. 1745333776 The Veterans Railcard Team don’t seem to understand my query as they keep just repeating the wording of the T&C’s. I attach their initial reply, my clarification of the issue, and their further reply. Am I missing something? I...

That’s my reading too, but I’m not sure it wouldn’t be queried.

I have recently bought a veterans railcard for a couple of planned long-distance trips. I added my wife as my companion as I’m not likely to travel with anyone else. However, I am unlikely to do any other long distance trips in the near future. For shorter journeys I get free travel (Police...

What do you mean you are being prosecuted for travelling a “lesser distance than your ticket”?

Funnily enough I walked through Southwark yesterday to get to Waterloo East and accidentally touched my National Rail Smartcard on the barrier to exit Southwark and it opened the barrier, rather than my Oyster - despite the fact that it doesn’t normally open barriers at LU stations.

A “good service” is a man coming round with the offer of a complimentary G&T and bag of nuts. Anything else is either a “poor service” or the “advertised service”.