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Could the Worcester trains continue to Birmingham Moor Street?

West Wight, despite being the shortest distance between the island and mainland, is the worst place to put a fixed link. As well as being the least populated areas of both landmasses within close proximity of each other, you’d also need serious infrastructure upgrades on both sides. This will be...

But linking Lydney and Chepstow to Bristol by rail might have economic benefits in itself. If not, then surely your best bet for a Second Severn Rail Crossing would be to build a tunnel between Avonmouth and Magor, utilising some of the Henbury Line on the eastern approach.

Not sure if this is what you mean, but looking at Open Infrastructure Map, there is an underground 132kv line from Fawley which runs a short distance to a substation at Langley, before heading south as overhead wires to Lepe then burrowing underground to head to the Isle of Wight. While...

If such a crossing were to be a bridge, it should ideally be located north of the M48 road bridge to reduce the cost and weather impact on it. In terms of the route taken, I’d look at reopening the Thornbury Branch Line and extending it past Oldbury to cross the Severn, before joining up with...

I agree. I would expect the Red Jet, Wightlink FastCat and Hovertravel would remain as they are due to being the fastest ways to travel from the island to Southampton and Portsmouth city centres respectively.

If a fixed link is to be built (preferably a tunnel), it should run from the M27 just of Junction 9, past Titchfield and under the Solent before emerging at an enhanced Racecourse Roundabout on the island. Such a link would also need associated road upgrades on the island, including a Medina...

If Bristol - Oxford doesn’t warrant 2tph, could the other 1tph run semi-fast to Reading instead? That way, you have a proper semi-fast which calls at all stations between Bath and Didcot Parkway, including those which are planned for reopening. The main driver is that it would give...

If Bristol - Bath - Oxford called at all stations, you could potentially speed up the “Via Bath” London trains by making Didcot and Swindon alternate 1tph calls. The same could then be done for the South Wales - London trains.

Another idea I have, which is perhaps more unconventional and may be completely impractical, is to reinstate both chords but keep the line single track and have Melksham served by a one-way loop service to/from Bristol/Bath. Would go Bath to Melksham via Bradford-on-Avon, then return to Bath via...

Would there be enough capacity for all of this between Bristol and Bradford-on-Avon, bearing in mind you would need to fit in Weymouth, Oxford and London trains too? Also can the single track Melksham line handle 2tph to Bristol in addition to the existing Swindon - Westbury service (which...

This would necessitate reconstruction of the missing chord at Staverton. If it existed however, running the Melksham service from Swindon/Chippenham through to Bath/Bristol would probably have a much better business case than running to Westbury as per now.

Another option for the 1tph Avonmouth would be to extend to Bristol Parkway via Henbury, providing an easier connection from Brabazon to Parkway for the London - Cardiff, Gloucester and Cross Country trains. 1774133947 I forgot about the additional Bristol - Salisbury trains in the opposite...

Not so much, as one would be fast and the other semi-fast. The idea is that the semi-fast Oxford service would depart Temple Meads shortly after the fast London via Bath service, to allow more time before the next fast catches up with it. Bristol - Cardiff may be an exception though, as you...

I have combined some, as mentioned in the opening post. The idea is that there are a set of defined corridors (Cardiff - Westbury, Portishead - Avonmouth etc) which have a 2tph even interval service, with extensions at a lower frequency to destinations beyond the core. 1774123826 Not really, as...

How about running one of the Paigntons to Honiton, retaining the direct Paignton - Exeter Central link.

Assuming that a full recast of the Bristol area services is on the cards, with more frequent services and clockface timetables implemented at some point in the future, how might the service pattern look, and what action might be taken regarding joining up cross-Bristol services. Looking at each...

Bristol Brabazon makes sense as a station name if it is intended to be served by Intercity and long-distance trains from outside Bristol, but as a local station served by trains which only serve stations within Bristol, then just “Brabazon” would make more sense.

I’d suggest London Waterloo to Basingstoke, with intermediate stops at the SWML stations with four or more platforms (Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, Wimbledon*, Surbiton, Woking). *would need the gates to the fast line platforms being unlocked.

Taking it to another extreme, people’s working hours might become so flexible that the “rush hour” ceases to exist, as commuter travel demand spreads out throughout the day. This would be much better as it avoids that peak surge in demand, and should be incentivised.