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I must pay tribute to the staff at Scotrail for the way they handled the crowds following the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. They had a train arriving every three or four minutes at Mount Florida with plenty of helpful and cheerful staff to keep everyone happy. Must have taken massive...

I see that Michael Portilo is back in a new TV series, this time looking at the contribution railways made during the Great War. He looks at the role of railways here and on the Continent in moving men and supplies. Apparently more than 20,000 railway employees died between 1914 and...

I was interested to see this in a copy of the West Briton in 1858. The National Archives historical currency convector suggests that 30s in 1860 would be worth £64 today. I appreciate these sorts of calculations are not an exact science but it would suggest the cost of rail travel was pretty...

This is a purely hypothetical question as I don't have to buy my own ticket and forgive me if this has been discussed before. The 1630 VT service from Euston to Glasgow is classed as a peak service for anyone travelling to Preston. According to Trainline a single to Preston on tomorrow's...

Interesting experience on a Pendolino last night. We were about ten minutes out of Preston when a passenger was taken ill in my carriage It seemed to be some sort of fit. Everyone rallied round, one man went to inform the train manager who put out an appeal for any medical staff on board, In...

On my trip to London yesterday, 0656 Pendolino off Preston, an announcement was made about a technical fault in the kitchen so no cooked breakfast would be served. This is purely an academic question as I travel in cattle class but would the First Class travellers up front have any claim...

Some painted numbers have appeared on the surface of platforms at Preston station. Black numbers on a yellow roundel with a black arrow pointing at the platform edge. I'm sure they weren't there before Christmas. Can't be carriage stopping locations as they don't line up, at least with...

Why do Virgin have gateline staff checking tickets on some trains at Euston but not on others? I normally get the 1630 to Preston and tickets are always checked at the gates before boarding. This despite the fact that the service runs non-stop to Preston so you would have thought the TM...

While trundling down the 15in Ravenglass & Eskdale railway today I started thinking about gauges. (As you do) In what way would Britain's railways be better or worse today if Brunel had won the gauge war and 7ft had become the norm. I'm trying to imagine how the interior and exterior of a...

This may seem like a daft question and it may be on the wrong forum but here goes. Very occasionally on my regular trips between Preston and Euston, a Pendolino will arrive the "wrong way round" i.e. first class at the Glasgow end. Given the difficulty of achieving a three point turn with...

I've just travelled from Seattle to Chicago on the Empire Builder which was a fantastic experience. I see from the Amtrack map it is possible to go from Chicago via New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle and back to Chicago again. Has any forum member ever done this?

Why do so many TMs/Guards and gate staff scribble on tickets with a biro rather than using a proper stamper? Certainly on VT services and at Euston gates, the biro seems to be obligatory. Apart from being somewhat unprofessional, doesn't a stamper give a certain amount of information?

Anyone know if the 0533 Preston-Euston on a Friday is likely to be a Pendolino and would they serve breakfast in First that early?

Being held north of Wolverton on VT northbound service due to "incident on slow line" Anyone have any info?

Announcement at Euston just now. 1555 1623 VT service to Wolverhampton and 1633 to Preston both cancelled due to lack of rolling stock. What gives? --- old post above --- --- new post below --- Update. Tweet from VT says that the missing units "must be occupied elsewhere".

I travel on VT from Preston to Euston each week and, in about one trip out of five on the way back, trolley service appears in cattle class. Given that this is not a regular thing does it happen a) because they have a spare crew member and a trolley or b) because no one is bothering with the...

I'm sure I read somewhere that the Scottish government plans to apply a common livery to all trains running solely in Scotland. I think the justification was to avoid the cost of livery changes if a franchise changes hands. I can't put my hands on the piece at the moment but I wondered if it...

Was coming home on a VT service the other evening and we passed a Royal Mail train heading north near Warrington. Made me wonder how many dedicated mail trains are still running in the UK and is mail still sorted on these trains. "This is the night mail crossing the border...." :)

There seems to be increasing pressure to merge police forces in order to cut administrative costs. Scotland is the latest example of that. In 2006 Ken Livingston, when he was Mayor of London, proposed that the BTP in the capital should be merged with the Met to have one single police force...

Broken down freight somewhere near Lancaster is causing problems this morning. No trains going north of Preston and nothing coming south. 0656 VT Preston to Euston now a Voyager as Pendolino held up. To be fair VT has done well to get this service off on time.