Recent content by weeklycommuter

Reading the following in the BBC news report dated today, while it is understandable that Government ministers may be exasperated over the failures in the Ministry of Defence it is clearly not helpful for the Government to make commitments that require resources that the armed forces do have...

I assume the reason is an attempt to reduce the overall cost of local government prompted by the dire state of local government finances at a time when the country is not overflowing with cash. Some councils, notably Woking and Thurrock, were in effect bankrupt, the former prompting the fast...

They have reduced overseas aid from 0.7% to 0.3% of Gross National Income in 2027 to fund the increase in defence spending. Clearly this change will have to be permanent and I have come to the conclusion that it should be permanent. I am no longer persuaded that spending all this money on...

I wish the railway industry would refer to this as driver controlled operation as the term driver only operation has become ambiguous.

I meant there are two Avanti trains each hour each way taking paths on the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and Scotland.

Driver only operation meaning no second onboard staff. I added this in brackets as the term has acquired more than one meaning. The issue is the absence of second onboard staff checking tickets. Passengers must have certainty that the train will have second onboard staff and those second onboard...

The rule should be and should always have been that all driver only operation trains (no second onboard staff) must be standard class only. It clearly does not work to have a first class section on trains which are driver only operation. All train services which operate with first class must...

There are two long distance trains each way each hour between Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly, the Avanti train to/from London Euston and the Transport for Wales train to/from Cardiff Central. There are two Avanti trains each way each hour between London Euston and Liverpool via Crewe. There are...

The final service specification for 2035 on page 133 of the business case was 17tph from London Euston including 3tph to Birmingham, 6tph to Eastern leg destinations and 8tph to Western leg destinations. Excluding the dropped Eastern leg this was 11tph from London Euston which was 3x400m...

The London to Chester train will still be one of the eight passenger trains an hour each way passing through Colwich but it will continue to use the West Coast Main Line not HS2. It will continue to terminate at the West Coast Main Line Euston Station not HS2 Euston so the number of HS2 trains...

It has been stated that 6 platforms at HS2 Euston support up to 10 trains per hour and it was previously stated that 10 platforms at HS2 Euston would support up to 16 trains per hour. It is stated anywhere how many trains per hour could terminate at HS2 Euston with 7, 8 or 9 platforms? If they...

I note there was disruption on the Elizabeth Line yesterday which must have worsened the overall disruption. When operating normally this now provides a better high capacity alternative for many East West journeys through London including to and from Heathrow Airport.

They are still called GTR - Greater Thameslink Railway.

It is a matter for each country whether to impose such a minimum residence requirement. The point is the EU allows member states to do this as long as it applies equally to all EU citizens.

The minimum residence requirements for benefits in EU countries apply to both citizens and non-citizens. 1780221152 I note Reform UK on Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex County Councils have promised to overturn the Government's decisions on local government reorganisation by applying for a judicial...