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What it says on the tin, really. As a starter, I would assume that when Didcot Parkway - Radley - Oxford is a bus, it usually comes off the A34 at Abingdon and goes straight through its centre. A supplementary question: in practice, if a reasonable number of passengers on the bus wanted to...

If you could rewrite history so that Victorian landowners weren’t so reactionary and thus Abingdon had a mainline presence, what would the best configuration be? Deviate Didcot to Oxford to the west? Deviate Didcot to Swindon to the north? Or do both, making Abingdon a junction somewhat like...

Non-stop train from Reading to Paddington. Got a seat near one end of the carriage, but several didn’t and had to stand. This included a mother and her daughter of maybe five. The girl repeatedly and sadly asked mummy why she had to stand, and eventually began crying. Not obnoxiously or...

On a cold day, it’s always a relief to get into a deep-level Underground station and wait in the warm on the platform. However, I do wonder how expensive it is to keep all that air heated, particularly where the ceiling is high (e.g. Clapham Common with its retro-cool hanging radiators). Is...

I was pleased that Revenue Protection were on a GWR express out of London Paddington this afternoon. I haven’t noticed them on one of my trains for quite a while (though I may have overlooked their presence at some point). I was less pleased that the Train Manager announced that they were on...

This is an otherwise standard Sunday semi-fast service which additionally stops at Goring & Streatley, but no other intermediate stations between Didcot Parkway and Reading. No other such service stops at GOR, and every other service that stops there also stops at all the other intermediate...

“31 meters long”. For the avoidance of doubt, this was not in the US or Canada, but Croydon. First world problems and everything, but this lack of attention to detail troubles me when our safety is so often in TfL’s hands. I know the poster designers aren’t the same people who deal with the...

Posting here in the hope that more latitude will be permitted. Many of those who ask for help in the Disputes & Prosecutions forum, having been unable to produce a valid ticket for a journey, say they’re worried how it will affect them because they’re students (often, but not always, medical...

You’re a lone passenger who gets onto a fairly busy service. The only other passengers who get on are a couple behind you. Upon entering the seating area, you see that there’s only one “free double”, and the other free seats are all next to someone else. Do you: Take the free double for...

Just heard from the guard on my train: “Sorry we’ve been held here at Reading. I’ve been waiting for BTP to come and remove a passenger. I was expecting them at Exeter and they didn’t arrive; I was expecting them at Taunton and they didn’t arrive. They haven’t arrived here either but the...

I hope I can be clear what I mean here. Using the example of lines going into London, it’s not unusual for “outer” services to call at less busy (by number of passengers) stations further out, but to skip busier stations further in. However, this is usually compensated for, and then some, by a...

A long and interesting list of ticketless travel cases solved by a particular firm of solicitors (with whom I am not affiliated, and of whom I hadn’t heard until today): http://www.grayhooperholt.co.uk/default.asp?id=37 One example: And another: I’ve never heard of BTP agreeing to let a...

I would never leave my bank card, or even a fiver, sitting on the table in front of me for someone to snatch as they went past. Yet I do leave my ticket there so I don’t have to get it out if there’s an inspection. Indeed, I’m doing it right now. And it’s worth a lot more than a fiver (though...

From watching the many “cab view” videos on YouTube that my autistic family member enjoys, I note that quieter stations in some countries often have very short platforms (as short as one carriage length, or maybe even shorter). Are there any examples of same here, and would the savings over a...

I’ve just been on a train where the Train Manager came through inspecting all tickets. He explained to the lady opposite that, because she had a ticket which was split at a forthcoming station at which our train was not going to stop, she would have to get off at the next station and change for...

When reading this forum, I’m sometimes reminded of a conversation from my teens. I was with a friend and his father, and we got onto the subject of train travel. The father, completely unprompted, casually and happily related a recent incident where he had got onto a train and then realised...

I’ve lost count of the number of times when a train fails to leave a station on time, and we are told absolutely nothing for 15 minutes or more. For me, the lack of information makes it so much worse. I think most us accept that, in the real world, delays will inevitably happen. But when we...

After having completed my journey to a London terminal, I went to the Excess Fares window and asked for a Travelcard from my starting station. (Not that it’s really relevant to this thread, but I had a valid reason for not having bought a ticket before then.) I was charged the usual amount and...

I sit upon today’s 1415 off Penzance, due into Paddington at 1926. It has just left Reading at 1907, 9 minutes late. This, the Train Times app tells me, is due to train crew being delayed. An announcement has been made that there will be an additional call at Maidenhead, which of course is...

I recently saw someone getting PFed on a stopper from Reading to Paddington (no, it wasn't me!) From what I could make out, he held a ticket from PAD to RDG, had taken an express between the two, and was now doubling back to Twyford. He wasn't happy... I'm fairly sure that there is (or at least...