Recent content by smilerish

Has anyone worked out exactly which set of points are damaged? Looking at the photos, it looks to me like the train and wagons passed successfully over the first set from DS (Platform 2) to DM, and it might 'only' be the set of points between the DS, DF and Platform 3 that are damaged...

SWR operate the 'You must buy a ticket before you board one of our trains' policy, and yet: if you speak to a guard prior to boarding their train, in all liklihood they will sell you the ticket you want including any appropriate discount. It's often worth asking. Another option for the Op if...

Two in Southampton (Sfamp'tun if you're local ;)): Bevois Valley is pronounced Beevus Valley, even though it is named after a frenchman. And nearby St Denys is pronounced by the locals as St Dennies (Deny's), despite it being an Old English spelling of Dennis. I've got to the point now where...

Hi all, Apologies if this is the wrong forum! I've noticed the 0823 Southampton to Great Malvern GWR service is being worked by a SWR 158 now. I'm sure this is a great relief to the poor commuters who had to bear a 150 on this route until recently, but does anyone know the background to this...

Hello all, I've struggled to find an answer to this query via search - not sure of the correct terms to search for. What are the regulations (if any) regarding the power for trains stopped on mainline sidings for extended periods e.g. several hours overnight? Are they required to maintain full...

If anyone's interested, I was surprised to catch a reliveried 158 this morning working the Salisbury 6 (although I'm now caught up on the earlier discussion about this). Here's a photo taken while standing at Southampton Central.

Two thoughts on this (because I don't think this is confirmation bias - I think SWT does crop up more in TV dramas/films): Doesn't SWT have one of the biggest/busiest commuter networks in London? I think that lends it to being a "natural choice" for dramas about commuters. So there could be...

I have a similar query to this... Are there any website that let you find the cheapest advance fares to any destination? I'm thinking of taking a holiday and thought I'd see where's the cheapest place to get to within a date range. You can do something like this with SkyScanner for flights...

Why bother with "line" at all? Most status boards don't.

And yet, I'm 90% certain that I've been on GWR 159s that don't have this door locked out...

There's lots 'in situ' in Southampton Docks, though I'm not sure that they're still used. Being in the docks, they're not publicly accessible (not that the guards on the gate ever stop pedestrians from entering!): https://goo.gl/maps/TEfzCREota52 There's also some still in place on Town Quay...

Interestingly, this service seems to have been exclusively 3-car 159's since the start of the Waterloo blockade. Maybe the stock was spare from reduced West Country services? While there's plenty of space on the 158s for everyone that uses it, at peak times the dwell at stations is excessive...

Out of curiosity, I have a related question... Are guards trained to watch out of the window as the train departs to check that the train has cleared the platform without any issues? I've noticed that sometimes when I board a train where the guard stands they will do this - they won't lock...

That's what I imagine they would do. If they're replacing the PIS with a real-time system, why use two different systems if they don't have to? Whether the City PIS can interact with the passenger loading sensors on the 444/450s is another question, though. Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Now the website is back up, I've been able to check this and I think I may have taken 2 + 2 and made 5! Sorry about that. From https://www.southwesternrailway.com/other/about-us/our-plan/customer-experience: The first point suggests (to me) that all their trains will get real-time PIS...