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Back in the 1970s, on long distance routes we had Mark 2 carriages with generally comfy seats, often windows you could open, a decent size guards van for bikes and large luggage. Sure, services weren't generally as fast and frequent as they are now (at least in theory) but generally only by an...

Maybe it's just old age and grumpiness, but I'm finding it harder and harder to get useful work done on long distance trains these days. Firstly, the lack of tables in standard class on many trains. It is really hit and miss whether you get a proper table these days - I can remember a time when...

Just had a call from the wife. She's stuck at a station called Bondy en route to Chalons. The announcements say that there has been a power failure and that 22.00 is the earliest thing might start to move again (It's currently just before 19.00 French time). Does anyone have any further information?

I travelled from Paisley Gilmour Street to Glasgow Airport the other day. Someone had told me that you could travel free on the 757 bus if you presented your boarding pass, which I did. The driver accepted it after a cursory glance. I've never heard of such a concession before - does it exist at...

I spotted this advert pasted to the window of an airport shuttle bus at Stansted Airport on Thursday night. In case the picture isn't clear, the first panel says: It then goes on to say that: ...and there's a QR code to book tickets. The trains were absolutely fine that evening and...

Should more use be made of parallel existing bus services to take the place of rail replacement buses? Purley station forecourt becomes a hive of activity on Sundays, and often Saturdays, with buses and coaches hired in at no doubt great expense to substitute for train services that are not...

Not really a dispute, just a minor kerfuffle. Yesterday, I arrived at Liverpool South Parkway with the return half of an off-peak London Midland return from Liverpool Lime Lime Street to London Euston. The ticket gate refused to open when I put the ticket on the scanner. The two gate staff told...

How would train crew be expected to contact signallers or control in the days before radios? Obviously on most lines there would be signals with telephones, but what about long freight-only branch lines with no signalling, such as the Amlwch line, which was 17.5 miles and effectively just a...

Not seen this anywhere else, so forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere. Apparently, the Manx Electric Railway is running a strike timetable this week due to industrial action on the buses. Trams are timed mainly to get kids to and from school with a before-9am arrival into Derby Castle...

I'm writing a novel in which the main character gets a job at Old Oak Common depot in the mid-1990s, aged about 18-20. What would have been the entry-level jobs at that time and what sort of activities would they have carried out? What qualifications would they need? Also, would it have been...

Only an idea that's being floated, at the moment, but it's disturbing that it's even being considered. Where we live in South London, buses are a complete waste of time; it's an insult. Take five times as long as the train to central London, and there are no direct day routes. And I certainly...

A note from the new Southern Timetable: To make it easier for people to travel during the middle of the day, services between East Grinstead and London Victoria will now be half-hourly during the middle of the day on weekdays, rather than hourly. This change will apply Monday to Friday during...

I and a friend travelled from south London to Biggleswade on a weekday last week. We both have Over-60 Oystercards and I have a Senior Railcard. He doesn't. I bought a return ticket from Finsbury Park to Biggleswade on Trainsplit for £16.90 with Senior Railcard discount. He bought a ticket at...

I'm writing a novel set in the late 1990s. At that date, what 'priv' tickets would a fairly senior railwayman be entitled to and would they be able to obtain such tickets for family members, specifically a niece? This would be for a journey from London to Holyhead.

Apologies if there has already been a thread on this. I have done a search and haven't found anything. Are there any other examples, either in the UK or abroad, of running lines passing through depots, like Queens Park on the Bakerloo Line? The Volks Electric, possibly?

Don't know if anyone else has been getting GWR ads on their Internet feed but it looks as if at least one British train operator has seen the light and is reintroducing compartment stock on their daytime trains. Not sure about the four-a-side seating on the British loading gauge though...

I had the 'pleasure' of visiting Newhaven Harbour the other day. Does it win the title for Britain's most insalubrious station entrance? Along with the broken concrete, toppled crash barriers and car workshops, what did it for me was the BMW gradually being overwhelmed by ivy. On top of that...

I'm writing a short story about a football supporter on a day trip from London to Derby on 5 March 1988. What time would the last train from Derby back to London St Pancras have been on that date (it was a Saturday)? We can rule out very lengthy connecting services, or obscure routes; just the...

https://kesr.org.uk/museum/snailbeach-district-railway/ I read the other day on a couple of sites that the Snailbeach District Railway company was still in existence, even though the line itself had ceased all rail operation by 1959. However, according to the KESR site, Snailbeach District...

A friend of mine says he has spotted, from a train, what looks to be a track maintenance vehicle in the back garden of a house bordering the railway. He describes it as a 'pod with windscreen for driver and mate. Yellow livery looks genuine. Seems to be standard, not narrow-gauge.' No...