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France certainly did have a "Beeching Axe" - in 1938. In what was referred to as "co-ordination" a huge chunk of the network was closed to passengers, these services being replaced by buses. At the same time buses were withdrawn where in competition with surviving rail services. A number of...

Remember these trains had no toilets - so "uncomfortable" is a little inadequate to describe the situation. We're not used to being in circumstances where we are obliged to s**t ourselves.

But as pointed out, with current technology you're not asked to present a railcard when buying online. So why do you have to do it at a ticket office?

But there was NO lost revenue. The fare to Heath was the same as that to Cardiff.

But they have to employ the staff anyway.

Any reason why we can't have vending machines on trains as they do on some TGVs?

Thanks - I did suspect the shortest is via Liverpool South Parkway and Cheltenham - but that isn't the itinerary suggested by the redspottedhanky (which is Liverpool South Parkway/Bristol Parkway). Virgin does offer an Liverpool South Parkway/Cheltenham option but (1) this journey is 30...

I'm in possession of a return (off peak) from Sankey to Swindon and am trying to find a valid route. I don't want to have to transfer between stations, so Liverpool South Parkway is my preferred route. So:- 1. Nationalrail.co.uk This offers routes via Liverpool South Parkway, Birmingham and...

I wonder what effect there would be on timekeeping if drivers had to slow to 40 when passing each station.

Actually the characters lived in, and the murder took place in, Arpajon, which is south of Paris. This is currently on RER line C, so arriving at the Gare d'Orsay is correct.

I think it was more of a case that some lines were seen as past saving, so spending money on improving services, or investing to reduce operating costs (signalling, pay-trains) was seen as money wasted. But there were instances where BR tried to reduce costs or improve services, eg by...

In some cases lines were lifted very quickly. The Waverley route, despite being 100 miles long, had gone completely by mid 1971, 2 years after closing. Lossiemouth branch, 6 miles long, lifted within 2 years of closure to freight. Kelso branch, closed 1968, lifted 1970. On the other hand the...

All withdrawn services were replaced by buses at the time, but as happened in Britain the bus services were barely more viable than the trains and many have vanished over the intervening years. Rural transport is indeed poor in France - most services, buses or trains, run to take people to...

And a wrong one - there were several cases of closures not being approved (Manchester-Buxton, Inverness-Thurso, Inverness-Kyle, etc).

Yes indeed, and I'm a regular user! Usually full or nearly so. Not the most comfortable way of spending a night but saves on hotel bills.

In fact, the French "Beeching" occurred in 1938, immediately after nationalisation. A large number of passenger services were replaced by buses. There was also an extensive narrow-gauge network in France, most of which had disappeared by 1950.

Yes, the RMT has a duty to defend its members, and present their view of such incidents. But as lay people, who don't know the facts, we are entitled to think there may be another side to the story. Oh - and "even if the CSA did put the boot in a few more times than can be deemed "self...

I remember the 1st time I arrived at CDG, late at night, was a traumatic experience. Nobody about either in the airport or the RER station, took some time to find the ticket machines and work out what ticket type I needed. And that's an airport with 50 million passengers a year. Generally...

75, but do they go that fast on the Blackpool South line?

Waiting at Forres for a train to Aviemore..... must have been 1965 or earlier!