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There are no significantly attractive British designs. Manufacturing is increasingly de-skilled as a result of foreign control. Suppliers like Siemens are all there is for the medium term, make the best of it. All we British can do is to play (for example) the Germans and the French off against...

A better response would have been. "Yes. Thank you sir. And I would like to check your ticket again, please." (Lout reluctantly hands over the ticket) "Where and when did you buy this ticket? And how did you pay for it?" (Lout backs down or BTP is called)

I don't think the Passengers' Luggage in Advance service was ever free. You did have to hold a timely ticket though. I seem to recall that in the mid fifties the charge was 4/6d for a trunk if you handed it over at the station when you bought your ticket. AMTRAK still does a decent luggage...

Information. When no one comes to give information it appears to be an empirical fact that passengers will self-evacuate at somewhere between 2 and 6 hours. With regular (half hourly) information from a human it is likely to be much longer before they bail. A guard or driver walking...

Without information people on the train do not know that. For all they know the entire network could be stopped nationwide and no-one is coming. Ever. The has to come a time at which people say "to hell with it, direct action is needed". Just how long would you propose people wait without...

Up to 150 miles or so, and assuming the final mile of the journey has to be by road anyway, using one HGV all the way is cheaper and more flexible than rail (or barge). However, for Liverpool port this is not an option after significant expansion. The road system near the docks simply could...

People are not stupid, they know what a third rail is and to walk on the side of the track where the third rail isn't. How long are they supposed to wait without any information? 2 hours? 10 hours? 2 days? a week? At some point they have to say, "Perhaps we have simply been forgotten...

Another possibility further out would be reinstatement of the line from Mouldsworth to Ince. The mid-Cheshire line was historically important for bulk freight for good reason. As to Birkenhead, one complication is a desire to extend the historic tram lines if and when the Birkenhead side of the...

Are Travellers' Cheques still accepted? A number of Americans visiting Europe has been surprised to discover that American issued credit cards are nowhere near as widely accepted as they were, probably because theirs typically incorporate no "modern" features. Consequently they have been...

It has been tried before. These type of services were called Stanhopes. The government of the day decided to put an end to it and enacted the Railway Regulation Act 1844. Of course times change. What was seen as unacceptable misery in 1844 might be the norm nowadays under New Labour and Old...

There is a truly huge amount of scrap metal gets presently exported through Liverpool. Presumably this will increase as the shipbreaking industry gains momentum too. Ultimately the world will face trade wars. The way the American economy is going the only long term solution (short of default)...

If there is money can be spent (hah!) to improve links in that area it would be better to spend it creating (reinstating?) an Altrincham-Partington-Cadishead-Manchester semi-fast route. That would take pressure off Stockport and create additional capacity and useful diversion routes.

Is it in practice a problem if you set up your tripod and camera in a rural location clearly on railway land but also clearly a safe distance away from the tracks? I know it is trespassing, if they want to enforce it and turf you off, but would a driver actually report something harmless like...

Only once since 1968 has there been steam hauled heavy freight on (then) British Rail lines. In 1980 at open day at Northwich shed a preserved Stanier Black 5 that was in steam for the day was sent to rescue a stalled Class 25. There are a few details here...

The biggest issue is that where Hartford Station is presently sited (on a two track section) impairs the WCML capacity significantly every time a train is stopped there. This is probably the greatest impediment to the open access operators who wish to add Hartford to their services (notably...

A huge number of people don't do either of those though, they use car & ferry, driving from Holyhead or Merseyside. Because the price of liquid fuel is highly unpredictable in the long term it is important to keep a good train service going. Though change of trains at Chester looks...

One idea that had not occurred to me until this discussion would be to "move" (ie recreate) Hartford Station a mile to the North (placing it just North of Hartford Curve) and also move Acton Bridge station a mile and a half to the South. This would of course place the two stations adjoining each...

That would be two miles. And yes, a new station built on brownfields and/or greenfields would have to have a new approach road for pedestrians and vehicles. Moving a station isn't the same as closing a station.

But also an adjacent station on a same line as Greenbank, unlike today. Moreover, justifiably closing Acton Bridge station is where a little of the money to build a new station would come from. Yes, a new station would serve Weaverham as well as Hartford, that has to be good (except for the...

So much depends on the price of liquid fuel. Presently, worldwide, fuel is 30% of airlines' costs. It was just 13% ten years ago. (Source http://www.aviationnews.us/articles.php?art_id=14081 ) The system has much less slack which means much less resilience to overcome even minor...