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Interesting that Eurostar use the term 'classic line' in their communications - I would have thought the average traveller might not have heard the term before, and perhaps 'diverted via a slower route' might have been a better phrase to use...

I've never liked "plug socket" either... I call them "mains sockets" myself, but that aside, surely "socket" would suffice?

Just don't be one of those people who, seeing an empty luggage rack, just chucks their suitcase in it flat taking up the whole shelf, leaving people boarding later to have to hoick it up on its side or base to get their own luggage in (grrrr) :)

When abroad I don't keep anything of value in my pockets. Passport, cash and cards are kept in the side pocket of a laptop-sized shoulder bag, the side which rests against my body - strap over opposite shoulder so it can't easily be grabbed away. 'Phone in main part of bag. Bag always goes down...

Sorry to be a bit dim, but I'm not quite understanding how platform height can depend on the types of train passing. Surely nothing on a train can actually overhang a platform? I naïvely assumed you could build a brick wall the height of a train along a platform edge with no ill effects...

As we're now in the 'speculative discussion' area, I was mulling whether there might be any advantage to moving Totton station westward a little to the other side of the level crossing, where the yard is at the moment? It could offer a few advantages over the present cramped station: It would...

The following is from The Railway Magazine, March 2024:

In the local press again: Fears plan to reopen Totton to Hythe railway line has been 'shelved'

My 2019 edition is starting to fall apart - and the Elizabeth Line that I've hand-drawn onto it, isn't as clear as it might be...

Hunting for any news about this, all that came to light was this from last November: Scrapping part of HS2 mean trains to Hythe could come back Leaving aside the guff about HS2, most concerning was: "It would appear that the business case isn’t as strong as might be hoped." I had the...

Oh, is that the same Liz Crowther who was the Radio West receptionist in "Shoestring"? Always thought she had a nice voice. So it's fair to say you "couldn't give ATOS" about Anne...? :D

What makes you think anyone here cares about that? The purpose of the railway is not to get passengers from A to B, but to act as a large-scale cash-generator for the most ruthless of railway workers. They've presumably got hundreds of extra euros in their pockets now; the affected will have...

Might it be an idea for the "crisis control centre" in these situations to have the ability to make direct PA announcements on the train(s) affected? It strikes me that much of the problem is that the driver (or guard/OBS if applicable), even if they know some fraction of what's going on, are...

On a few recent trips to London I've found a lot of LU ticket gates don't seem to accept paper tickets any more... the slot is still there but it feels blocked. Is this just lack of maintenance or is the plan to phase out paper tickets entirely? (It's quite annoying when you have a queue behind...

A slight digression perhaps, but passing through the Gare du Nord yesterday, I was wondering why it is necessary to pass through two sets of automatic passport gates (French and English, I guess) when they presumably do exactly the same thing? Can't both customs systems be wired up to a single...

Eeek! I was on the Metro yesterday, Montparnasse to Gare du Nord... I was grumpy that I didn't get a seat for what's a fairly long journey, but perhaps in retrospect that was a blessing! Also noticed on the Eurostar the Japanese lady sitting next to me used wet wipes to wipe down her entire...

Just to "invert" the Why people don't travel by train thread if I may, and give some reasons why this person does travel by train. I'm a single person who's never learnt to drive. Pre Covid I commuted daily to work by train and would usually have a day trip by train on Saturday, and maybe...

Unfortunately there are also reports of an artillery shell shortage for Ukraine: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/17/europe/ukraine-shell-supplies-intl/index.html

Yes a great shame... managed to catch three of those in their final years. Planned to get the train to Dunston and was disappointed to find that in 2009 services were few and far between, so got the bus instead.

Coming back on the Eurostar that day, so will be stuck in London rather than completing my journey home... Had already anticipated this though and and last week booked a room in Slough Premier Inn (£84!) for the 30th just in case (I assume I'll have no problem getting there on the Elizabeth...