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    What should the numbering layout of Edinburgh Waverley station be?

    I like the circular numbering, but they have started in a silly place! If the current platform 8 was 1 then all of the platforms would be adjacent to their logical partners: 1-3: South side, accessed via the footbridge (current 8-10) 4-12: West side, accessed from the main concourse (current...
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    Class 175s to GWR

    But there's still the issue that it needs to fit! 24m carriages in multiple don't work on those two branches. I suspect a 3 carriage 755 might, or a 230, but otherwise you're limited to 150s or a single 153
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    Class 175s to GWR

    185s wouldn't fit on Looe or Gunnislake branches as I understand it. The 150s will probably need replacing by a new build train
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    Round UK ‘circumnavigation’ by train

    You could add in a bit more coast (and some nice scenery) in Devon by going Exeter St Davids - Starcross, ferry to Exmouth, Exmouth - Exeter Central, then onwards towards Yeovil. The ferry doesn't run year-round.
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    Lewes derailment - Thursday 13th August

    There was a lot of that crane that wasn't painted with stripes that was clearly hugely out of gauge in the video. I would have thought it would need an assessment whenever it was moving with the crane deployed.
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    New Open Access Application: London - Southampton - Marchwood

    But only to Bournemouth, not to Southampton. And if these stations would be profitable with 2tph, surely SWR would provide additional services.
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    Are the recent derailments indicative of poor performance from Network Rail?

    Not necessarily. It has been quoted above that in a typical day 81 people are killed or seriously injured on the roads each day, with around a billion miles driven per day (337 billion per year). With around 115 million rail passenger miles per day, that equates to an equivalent of 10 killed or...
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    Are the recent derailments indicative of poor performance from Network Rail?

    In a situation with an absence of hard evidence, a good prudent position would be to assume the worst case scenario, until the evidence shows it to be something lesser. Based on that position, it could be considered sensible for people to avoid using railways in heat waves, because of the risk...
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    Are the recent derailments indicative of poor performance from Network Rail?

    I can't imagine that there are many people who have an interest in the incident who haven't speculated at least in their own heads about potential causes. It is simply human nature. Equally, it doesn't seem at all unreasonable for media outlets to provide somewhat more informed speculation...
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    New Open Access Application: London - Southampton - Marchwood

    Why would a private company be interested in running that service which would clearly be very loss making though? For example, I can't see why they would have a single passenger on the Redbridge to Bournemouth part of the journey.
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    Are the recent derailments indicative of poor performance from Network Rail?

    I don't think that official advice 'not to speculate until the RAIB has made their report' is very helpful. The RAIB are renowned for being thorough and comprehensive, but not for being fast. At the moment a lot of people will quite reasonably be speculating if these two incidents might both be...
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    Avanti take needless announcements to a new level

    Extremely well said. Most announcements on trains and stations fulfil little or no need for those with a visual impairment, and are just drivel, generally masquerading as health and safety, but achieving nothing, especially as no one actually listens to them any more. No other business would...
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    Which heritage lines do and don't have steam bans currently?

    Top and tail in the morning, the ones I saw in the afternoon were just class 37
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    Which heritage lines do and don't have steam bans currently?

    Running today with a steam engine on one end and diesel on the other.
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    Which heritage lines do and don't have steam bans currently?

    Dartmouth Steam Railway switched to diesels yesterday in the middle of the day, possibly as a result of a fire near Broadsands. Will be interesting to see if they are back to steam today
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    GBR Anglia

    What a terrible map. If GBR is the brand, why are there 'other operators' - surely XC, LNER and EMR will also be GBR services within the lifetime of the map. And if GBR: Anglia is the brand, why isn't it mentioned, and why are there separate colours for C2C and greater Anglia services, which...
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    Reopenings - the positive narrative the railway industry needs !

    It also doesn't have the ambition to achieve London or even Manchester levels of frequency and coverage. To get there, Portishead and the other branches need at least 4tph frequency, ideally 6tph. Bristol city centre needs more lines and stations, as Temple Meads is rather on the outskirts for...
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    Reopenings - the positive narrative the railway industry needs !

    I'm finding this discussion really interesting. I think the point I most agree on is that cities are not great places for cars, and that a great aim should be to bring the modal share of other cities up towards London levels. As Bald Rick said, driving in Birmingham is easier than in London, but...
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    Avanti take needless announcements to a new level

    I do sometimes wonder if a moderate level of organised civil disobedience (work to rule style) could be the only way to kill pointless announcements. If every passenger immediately texted BTP with the nearest defect (the possibility of there not being a defect with train, station or service in...
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    Reopenings - the positive narrative the railway industry needs !

    I'm not entirely convinced that running mediocre train services and taxing people off the road to fill them (as several people on here are seeming to suggest) is real progress. A good train service should be frequent, reliable, comfortable and cheap enough that it can compete with driving on...

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