Recent content by HSTFan57

I don't often find myself wanting to sit down while waiting outside on a platform. For about half of the year, I will get cold if I sit outside for any length of time, so I wander around the platform to keep warm. More indoor seating might be useful, particularly in stations that lack other...

Stroud District Council have announced draft plans to build a station at Sharpness. I imagine it's fair from certain it will actually happen, but it would be a significant development, involving re-opening the branch line to passenger traffic. In calendar terms, I suppose it wouldn't happen...

Is there a rough list of the stages that need to be completed in order to open a new station? For example, a small semi-rural station on an existing line where a fairly "greenfield" site is available without major obstructions. Would it be something like this, and what percentage of cost and...

The Mayor of the West of England is talking about a twice-hourly service at the new Charfield station, which is double the frequency of the service currently at the adjacent Cam & Dursley...

It looks like some of the proposed stations in the Bristol area are about to take a small step towards actually being built. Stations at Ashley Down, Henbury, North Filton, Portishead, Pill, Portbury and Charfield are mentioned. Go Charfield...

While I'm delighted to see the Portishead branch scheme moving forward, I can't help thinking it's a lot of money. For example, nearby Charfield could have 23 new stations for that money, based on a finger-in-the-air cost of £5million for a small rural station. Looking at the map, there seem to...

I'm a towering 5'7" and I find them difficult to use. The non-functional buy/collect tickets "button" is confusing, and detection of contactless cards is hit-and-miss as well. Which such large screens I don't understand why the on-screen buttons need to be so small.

On the subject of new stations, does anyone feel like speculatiing on the probability of Charfield re-opening, and if so likely timescales? I think the facts are: - Charfield station closed in 1960s. - Current house-building plans could cause Charfield to expand from 1000 to 2000 homes in the...

My wish list is: Toilet GPS reception, so I know where the train is (Voyagers fail on this point) 4G reception (which I would use in preference to Wifi) Charging Points Buffet Trolley (run by Marks & Spencer, stocked with Cheddar and Celery sandwiches and good coffee) Overhead Luggage rack...

I think GWR are a bit too restrained and tasteful. It seems odd to spend loads of money on a fleet of brand new trains (which are very nice inside), and then paint them a dark shade of green that probably looked old fashioned in the 1950s. A bit of bling might encourage more people to get out of...

I've just had my first couple of longish journeys on 800s between Bristol Parkway and Paddington. I like the quicker acceleration compared to HSTs, particularly when powered by the overhead lines. I hope they will be better at recovering from delays than slow-accelerating HSTs, and coping with...

I've seen a few winters with substantial snow and ice in Bristol in the last 10 years, and the trains seem largely unaffected, even when road transport was severely impacted. The various HSTs, Pacers, 150s and 158 don't really seem to notice snow and ice, apart from the HSTs which sometimes...

GPS reception on Voyagers is pretty much non-existent, so I suspect they are pretty good Faraday cages. Mobile phone reception is probably affected by the same issue. I write smartphone navigation software as a hobby, and Voyagers are useless for conducting testing. Given the range of gadgets...

Slightly confusingly, it seems that distance alone can sometimes alter the perceived pitch of musical instruments, an effect that off-stage trumpeters are aware of: https://brendanball.com/2012/02/09/the-offstage-trumpeter/...

A blue HST power car on a low-loader passed westbound through the M4/M5 junction at Almondsbury at 11:39. I didn't have time to read the number.