Recent content by puffing billy

Last week I travelled from Portsmouth & Southsea to Littlehampton, changing at Barnham. Both Southern Railway and the National Rail journey planner suggested the following itinerary: PMS 12:57 to BAR 13:27 BAR 13:42 to LIT 13:52 On the day of my journey (12-Feb-2026) the train from...

Watching the new series of Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys, changing between Southern and Southeastern stations, reminded me of something that I have recently noticed. Why do most (all?) Southern station names (on the signs outside the station not those on the platforms) have the word...

Maybe not the furthest but possibly the longest time. In the early 70s on a Saturday night, caught the last train from Victoria to Canterbury only to be woken up by the guard at Dover Marine (as was). Very disconcerting to wake up that close to the sea. It was October when the clocks changed so...

If your character is travelling from Barnes then warn them not to go too far along the platform because they may have to make a last minute dash up the stairs to another platform when SWR announce a platform alteration just as the train is approaching the station!!!

There are special circumstances in both my "wrong" examples. The original (wooden) bridge between Fulham & Putney was called Fulham Bridge. It was replaced, at a slightly different location, by the current Putney Bridge. So we almost had Fulham Bridge station in Fulham. Although there have been...

Many stations are named after a nearby bridge but sometimes the station is on the "wrong" side of the bridge. For example, in SW London "Barnes Bridge" station is in Barnes (correct) but Kew Bridge station is at the north end of Kew Road Bridge and is actually in Brentford. Similarly, on the...

and the River Tyburn runs through a small aquaduct at the west end of the Circle line platforms at Baker Street station.

I've noticed that "Trespass & Welfare Officers" have appeared on the smaller stations in the SWR suburban area, some of which are normally unstaffed. A good friend of mine committed suicide by jumping in front of a train from a station platform (not in the UK). So, as well as avoiding the trauma...

I'm not sure if it's related but I've noticed a problem with the Network Rail Journey Planner with Firefox in the last few weeks. After specifying the From, To stations and the Date & Time then after clicking on the Go button the "Just working" message pops up and spins round for a bit, then...

Certainly Swiss Cottage. I didn't notice one at St. John's Wood but I'll be more observant the next time I go through. Weren't these stations both on the Bakerloo line before the Jubilee line opened?

I've noticed that a few platforms on the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines have the station name in the original tiling (e.g. Camden Town, Mornington Crescent). A few even display the original station name (e.g. Arsenal/Gillespie Road; Hampstead/Heath Street; Marylebone/Great...

There's a handy map here: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-overground-network-map.pdf and a full set of timetables here: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/london-overground/london-overground-timetables Not shown on the map, but in the timetable, is a connection between Wandsworth Road and Battersea Park...

Have the ticket machines at SWR stations been reprogrammed to restrict the destinations that can be purchased as a Z6B extension? At Putney station (after 09:30) I used the "ticket from other starting station" option to select Z6B; and specified Oxted as my destination station only to get the...

Don’t get me (re)started on this topic. A few months ago, I posted a new thread on this issue that was soon deleted because it was less than complimentary to the railways. I invite a representative from SW trains to try to change platforms at Barnes when there is a last minute platform change...

Unfortunately, the report of a fatality at Mortlake was correct. Sheen Lane, which crosses the railway at the level crossing next to Mortlake station, was closed to all traffic today because of this sad incident.