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Thought this would be better in a new thread than the generic football one given the scale and event-specific nature, but please move if not. The World Cup starts in two days and could well be a very chaotic and controversial one (on top of the long list of controversies so far). The latest...

Currently impacting Southeastern trains into and out of London Bridge as the Charing X lines are OOA through here, as well as the nearby Windrush line: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/london-bridge-20260608/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3rylvvdvvgo

The latest RAIL edition has an item on Network Rail warning there is only one spare path every 2 hours along this stretch of the mainline and that it's close to being declared "congested". What would be the best options for alleviating this? The article mentions they've tried to get more...

I read somewhere that one of the things helping drive populism is a yearning for the past/nostalgia. This, combined with a few other problem areas I've noticed, has got me wondering if a number of the problems the world is seeing today can be attributed to technological development and societal...

Taunton-Crayford is a semi-regular journey for me these days, and sometimes I take my bike as well. However, if the itinerary routes me via the Elizabeth Line across London, bike reservations are flagged as unavailable. However, if the routing is via the Underground and Charing X, the exact same...

While watching The Royal Duchy railtour pass through Taunton this evening, steam loco Eddystone's pressure valve went off, which of course is very noisy, and seems to be a common thing at Taunton as the double-headed Mayflower railtour last year had both locos doing it. But for all the bother...

Around the turn of the century I remember as a child there was a day/week where trains from London had to terminate at Crayford, then return to London wrong-sided as far as Sidcup, where point-work exists to allow a train to return to the up line. Does anyone recall this and what the cause of...

This week is Eurovision, starting on the 12th with the final on the 16th. And, two years on from the thread on the 2024 one, I'll be almost copying the opening text from it. Not only will it be controversial for Israel's participation, but I would not be surprised if this ends up going so badly...

There have been old discussions about specific crossings/areas here, but thought I'd ask this from a wider picture: what level crossing closures would bring the greatest improvements in service reliability (including line capacity), public safety and other benefits? I'd say any level crossing...

Apologies if this has been done before, it was hard to search for possible titles for this one. As per the title, what services arrive at a station and officially terminate, but then start another passenger service carrying on the same direction of travel (i.e. does not turn back/reverse) on a...

Taking inspiration from this thread title, I thought I'd try this particular experiment. Rail fares are a constant moaning topic in terms of cost (and to a lesser extent complexity), but at the same time many routes are overcrowded, and operators like XC have much higher fares for, among other...

The FT are running a piece about how Plymouth is set to see a revival thanks to increased defence spending in the coming decades: https://www.ft.com/content/e121e294-25bc-4ab1-98ff-b6f8de85bdc6 Among plans are seeking 5,500 new dock workers at Devonport and an increase the city population...

The next election is currently shaping up to be a right mess in terms of who gets what, with previously small parties potentially holding much larger seat numbers. Then of course Reform UK are currently in contention to be forming a government of some form if an election were imminent. However...

Looking at images of Newark crossing got me wondering about this; the ECML is obviously electrified here while the Nottingham-Lincoln line is not. While no proposal to electrify the latter exists AIUI, I imagine electrifying this bit is much harder than a typical diamond crossover, as two...

As per the title, what are the busiest stations where, either terminating or in each direction, an off peak service is no more than 1tph? The busiest I've found so far is Canterbury East, which had 1.1m passengers in the last report (it does well in the peaks, but all day Saturday and Sunday are...

The marathon organisers are considering having two different groups over two days to allow more participants, which could double participants count to over 100,000 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/articles/cqxl8yn4gxwo If this is approved, this will no doubt have a significant impact on...

Taking inspiration from the discussion about a new peak service terminating at Rochester instead of Gillingham, I got thinking about how train travel in the Medway Towns could be marketed better, especially as many roads like the A2 are very congested. Fares for certain journeys are already...

The latest RAIL edition includes a double-page spread about studies into upgrading this line to double the service, which includes the following: -ETCS (dependent on new fleet) -Another passing loop north of Eggesford -Changing level crossing at Eggesford to signaller control -Double track...

This route could do with its service frequency being doubled at least: XC or GWR need to provide an extra fast/semi-fast between Bristol and Exeter, plus an additional stopper between Bristol and Taunton. This could be: 2tph XC fast - Bristol TM, Taunton, Tiverton, Exeter (1tph to Plymouth...

As per the title, this week a 10-car Networker has been running ECS between Tonbridge and Ramsgate via Dover, then back, in between its normal Tunbridge Wells' passenger service diagrams. Apparently this is for driver knowledge and because 375s are in short supply at the moment. The setup though...