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When I worked at the Central Wagon Authority at BRBHQ our remit was to minimise the "fresh air traffic" by optimising the utilisation of common-user wagons through a system of movement instructions and control orders which were intended to eliminate the wasteful cross-haulage of empties. I...

I do wonder if a robust train plan can be compiled using the existing infrastructure. A train coming off the Cowley branch would need to cross over the Up line at Kennington Junction to access a spare slot on the Down Line before finding an empty Platform 4 or 5 at Oxford Station, then cross...

I wonder if someone can refresh my memory here? I believe there was a situation at the Swiss/Italian border at Chiasso (or was it Domodossola?) some years ago when the Italians unilaterally switched to Summer Time without advising the Swiss in advance. With no time to adjust the timetables...

With all the fuss this week when the ORR blocked 1R19 07:00 Manchester Picc to Euston because of performance issues on the WCML I'm concerned to note that Freightliner appear to have double-booked a path: 4M95 03:36 SoutHampton MCT to Tafford Park Colwich 08/03, Stafford 08/15, Basford Hall Jn...

I was recently in Montpellier and called at the booking office in the main Saint-Roch station to buy a ticket for the next morning's 09:33 through train to Zaragoza Delicias. The clerk carefully explained that she was SNCF and the 09:33 train was RENFE, so she couldn't issue a ticket and advised...

A VDA 2-axle van which for many years graced Hinksey Sidings here in Oxford has disappeared. It had been attached to a set of cable drum-carriers which were dispatched to Kingsbury some months ago, but the van was left behind. Can anyone advise what happened to it?

Today I noticed a rake of 13 YKA "Osprey" wagons at Hinksey Sidings here in Oxford marshalled ready for a weekend track relaying job. These are 1950s "Salmons" fitted with yellow track-securing frames at each end. I estimate their total age at 13 x 70 = over 900 years! We'd been told that the...

I can't find a thread for this, but it appears that New Street - Soho South Jn via Monument Lane is closed due to "attempted cable theft" with trains diverted via Perry Barr. I wonder if any readers can provide more information please and if possible an estimate for reopening?

For many years a rake of cable-drum carriers, converted from short-wheelbase bogie bolsters (BEVs), have been stored at Hinksey Sidings here in Oxford, slowly rusting away. After languishing in the main yard, they were finally shunted out of the way last year to occupy the down run-round loop...

I wonder if other readers are irritated by on-board catering staff constantly listing all the "junk" food they sell from trolleys and buffet counters? They seem to revel in their promotion of unhealthy crisps, fatty snacks, obesity-inducing confectionery and intoxicating drinks (except in...

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon I was pleased to see a northbound GBRf-hauled train pass through Oxford at about 15:15 but when I got home I could find no record of it on realtimetrains. I had thought that apart from local shunt moves trains can't run without a schedule. This train was a mixed...

Excellent new this week that 159 new electric buses have been ordered for Oxfordshire. They will have a range between charging of 260 miles. I understand they will be built by Alexander Dennis in Falkirk and delivered by road, starting in September. But Falkirk-Oxford is 310 miles, so will they...

I'm concerned that Avanti West Coast appear to be manipulating their performance statistics to make them appear less dreadful than they really are. For example: today's 1S78 15:30 Euston-Glasgow departed on time, but arrived at Rugby 98 minutes late at 17:55 and was then cancelled. The same...

Please forgive a personal indulgence, but I have a query about a journey I made in 1962 which has puzzled me ever since. My mother put me on a Blackpool Central-Euston train at Lytham which I think was Class 40-hauled and I travelled alone. Alighting at Crewe I spent about an hour awaiting the...

Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Secretary of State for Transport 6 September 2022 - 25 October 2022. I would ask readers to nominate if they can the highlights of her tenure and the outstanding contribution she achieved in the furtherance of UK transport policy initiatives. I can think of absolutely...

Working at Preston Station one evening in the 1970s I noticed, among a pile of mail-bags, one labelled "Caledonian TPO Day Down". For many years I've wondered about this mysterious train. Perhaps one of our readers can enlighten me? It clearly ran on the former Caledonian Railway, presumably...

The first 25 Wascosa JNA virtual-quarry ballast wagons are now at Eastleigh East Yard looking very smart* in all-yellow livery. I presume they'll soon be heading empty to Mountsorell and/or Cliffe Hill, though the existing wagons in those flows do look quite serviceable. Another 25 JNAs are to...

About 60 WIA 5-unit covered car-carriers were built in 1995 for international automotive traffic via the Channel Tunnel but were never used for their intended purpose. Most have been deployed on the Castle Bromwich (suspended) and Morris Cowley to Southampton Eastern/Western Docks flows, but...

Are we witnessing the end of the "golden age" of road haulage? For decades rail-freight traffic was lost to road haulage, which proved to be cheaper, more flexible and less hidebound by restrictive practices. The nationalised railway had little of the enterprise of privately-owned lorry...

Moderator note: Split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/east-west-rail-progress-and-updates.99892/post-4870455 I wonder if CrossCountry will consider diverting some Manchester-Bournemouth trains from Coventry via Milton Keynes Central to Oxford? At the expense of stops at Leamington...