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Whatever traction works. There's a main-line cleared Deltic based at Crewe that would look cool on the front of the Sleeper at Edinburgh Waverley. Or (more sensibly) borrow a Class 70 between goods duties. The Crewe stop makes the Highland sleeper useful to a large part of the UK for which...

It's only 4-track for a relatively short distance until the DC Lines split off the Slow Lines. And much of the DC Line service can go down the Bakerloo Line at Queen's Park. It's a much better set-up than, say, the Great Western Main Line, where having only 4 tracks between Old Oak Common and...

I'm surprised Paddington wasn't advanced further. It would have removed the extra station at Old Oak Common and the tunnels from there to get over to Euston. Added to that. the government already owns a lot of the land adjacent to Paddington station (St Mary's Hospital and Paddington Canal Basin).

It's a shame that the Sleeper diversion is to use the ECML all the way and take out all the intermediate stops. It would be better to keep serving them as far as Crewe, then run via Stockport, Denton, Standedge, Wakefield Kirkgate, and Castleford to join the ECML south of York.

There are quite a few reasonably sized towns with no stations in Wales: Blackwood (24k) – could really do with the Rhymney Valley line bifurcating north of Ystrad Mynach, with some trains running over the Maesycwmmer Viaduct then up the Sirhowy Valley – I don't think anyone's ever proposed this...

The expectation should be that people from Slough should travel via Windsor to Waterloo. Likewise Maidenhead and Twyford via replacement coach services via their branch line stations so that they can reach High Wycombe for Marylebone. The relief lines service should be scrapped to allow main...

Could I chuck in the idea of quadrupling Fairwood Junction to Clink Road Junction? Would simplify patching.

I find it truly bizarre that SE HS doesn't have first class. I only noticed this when I wanted to go to Broadstairs and found I couldn't buy a first class ticket – really a bit rubbish to be stuck in a queue buying breakfast in Pret a Manger at St Pancras, rather than getting a GWR level of...

I'm surprised that more jurisdictions don't go for New York state's approach of genuinely binding arbitration as an alternative to strikes.

I'd sooner keep the afternoon peak restrictions, and indeed extend them to Sundays when InterCity trains can get unpleasantly overcrowded. The trains are actually busy at those times, and it's helpful to encourage leisure passengers to stay out for dinner and take later trains after the peak...

People would tend to drive to Neath (where the Milland Road car-park is just off the A465), rather than fighting through traffic light soup to Swansea High Street. That's actually what makes this proposal sub-optimal, as because Lon-las Junction to Skewen East Junction has been closed, the...

Thanks. I tend to regard it as a game. So long as I know what the rules are, I'll claim what's on offer (although I must admit I'm rubbish at bothering to claim the £1.55 I'm entitled to on a 15-minute delay). If it's unlikely to be forthcoming, I won't bother – 1/232 of an annual season isn't...

I'd add: Elimination of pointless suffixes: Filton Abbey Wood → Filton Shortening of very long station names with "and" in them: Energlyn and Churchill Park → Churchill Park Lisvane and Thornhill → Thornhill Acknowledging that the centre of Barry moved about 150 years ago: Barry → Barry...

Apologies if this is an FAQ, but does anyone know how the late starts on the days after strike days work from a Delay Repay perspective? If the first train of the day from my station is usually 0358, but is now planned to be 0731, is it possible to claim I've been delayed by 120 minutes or more...

I'd semi-seriously advocate abolishing the Cross-Country Franchise altogether. Its routes are far too long and can result in delays propagating across the country. Let's break it up at Birmingham: South Wales/South West to Birmingham – covered by ordering extra vehicles to strengthen GWR's...

That is absolutely fantastic. Thank you.

Yep, definitely an operator to avoid. GWR has its problems. Before the pandemic, GWR turning alternate trains at Cardiff during the afternoon peak (when Cardiff's commuter pattern trends heavily westward, thanks to housing being relatively overpriced east of Cardiff) and then putting 5-car half...

I think the wording is "would the Superintendent of the Line please return to the carriage depot?" There are a couple of other things that make it a dead giveaway: it's not preceded by a Welsh version, and it's in a very RP voice (proper "This is London" BBC announcer back in the day stuff)...

That really isn't a very appealing route at all, compared to a single change at Swindon and First Class all the way to Wales. I'll probably end up using a walk-up fare anyway for flexibility's sake anyway though. The advances aren't very good value in the other direction anyway (less than a...

Noticed something really strange. Normally Melksham to Bridgend can be bought as one ticket. The National Rail journey planner is refusing to do this for 27 and 28 December and is trying to sell separate tickets Melksham to Swindon and Swindon to Bridgend. The culprit seems to be Christmas...