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Memories! Back in May 1982 my young son got his first Lloyds Bank Cashpoint card just before we made a motor trip in mainland Europe. He made his first withdrawal in French Francs at an ATM in Verdun. I can't recall the year I stopped using travellers cheques but remember being caught out in...

That hits a raw nerve in Sheffield!! George Stephenson surveyed his route from Derby to Leeds and went via Rotherham to cut out Sheffield. HS2 came to a similar conclusion. Special services often pick up at Chesterfield and Swinton to avoid Sheffield congestion (unless running via the Hope...

Hearing tales that only 3 car Northern stopping trains have been getting through to Sheffield, very late, severely overcrowded with many baling out at Dore for family pick ups and taxis! Delayed, rescheduled 3 car TPE 1B92 2013 Piccadilly to Cleethorpes is now on its way.

And weren't they all supposed to have been refurbished by now? But the 360 situation needs it's own thread.

I'm not sure how well Magrar is acquainted with the geography of the area or is attuned to how the vast majority of commuters there view cycling. Having grown up with the Tyneside 3rd rail electrics I have to agree that any diesel traction is dirtier than them. That said the 158s are streets...

Nevertheless, much as the majority on here detests Reform and Restore Britain we would be negligent to ignore the logic that drives the desire to repel apparent invaders, especially when they appear to be successful in large numbers. It is curious, of course, to note that many of the most...

This morning I met a group travelling from Chesterfield to Glasgow. Should be by CrossCountry to Edinburgh with simple change in Edinburgh? 2 trains They'd chosen East Midlands to Warrington Central, taxi to Warrington Bank Quay then Avanti to Glasgow Central, also 2 trains. I didn't check...

Having previously met and spoken to the departed MD I too would call out Chriso's language. Delayed and defective 810s. Deteriorating 222s that should all have been given up by now. 360s that should all have been refurbished by now. A mixed bag of 170s that have been brought together from...

A good summary of the Sheffield- Manchester section. A 3rd fast train an hour to give a 20 minute service interval sounds brilliant - until you realise that when you've pathed them through the Hope Valley you have to squeeze them through Stockport into Piccadilly and from Dore into Sheffield...

I have attended annual EMR Stakeholder events and have been impressed by the full and frank discussions we have been able to have with a wide cross section of the EMR team from Will Rogers down. They listened and explained patiently in considerable detail how they were trying to give us what we...

According to a political commentator the services are reduced by 50%. The reality is probaly nearer 15%. However if these allocations are correct the reduction in units is nearer 30%?

Is there an implication there that one of these faults may have contributed to the stationary 810 at Bedford being left stranded, although protected by the red signal? Even if it wasn't any fears that it might have been need allaying.

That certainly is a big factor. A recent feasibility study for additional car parking at my local station took virtually no account of the numbers using taxis and family/friends drop off and pick up. Careful observation of users indicated that 19% of commuters were dropped off and 1% came by...

Early days for statistics but according to Railway Data (https://www.railwaydata.co.uk/ ) 59,956 travelled between Ashington and Newcastle in 2024/5, see; ']https://www.railwaydata.co.uk/odm/gbr/?dest=all&string_out=Ashington [7608] That was by far the most popular destination as you'd expect...

If you were suggesting a new station on the ECML where it meets Eastern Avenue it's over a mile north and south from there to the extremities of the open Team Valley Estate. In the first 50-100 years of railways such a hike was nothing, but nowadays it is. In the 1960s my non-car owning father...

Yup, the short straws have been broken even shorter! It's not so long ago that TPE seemed to be in a mess. A new man at the helm may have made it easier to do things previously seen as too hard. We don't seem to see so many grouses in recent months. Presumably Neil Grabham didn't agree to...

I seem to recall that the current operators of the East Midlands franchise were the only ones left after the others withdrew. They were left with the short straw - some might say that's become a whole box of short straws! The current situation has been brewing for months, years and probably...

There's optimism, but the trainees will be gaining transferable skils. I am reminded of an old Yes Minister episode where they have a well staffed new hospital - but no patients or medical staff! All expense with none of the planned for medical outcomes.

Bristol is less than half as far (118 miles) from London Paddington as Newcastle is from Kings Cross (268 miles), not really compensated for by the faster fully electrified ECML journey taking 3 hours compared with the bi-mode journey from Bristol in just over half the time. It makes a...

Newcastle and South East Northumberland has seen the total loss of coal mining and ship building, steel at Consett and heavy engineering with firms like Parsons and Armstrongs old factory that built ships and latterly tanks and Wills tobacco factory gone. All these were active in my youth but...