Ha. forgotten about that aspect.
Think we certainly one (maybe two) vehicles that were not to be switched off whilst in service.
Left running for handovers and PNB!
Never stolen.  Mind you, who would want to steal a bus.....
There was a start (and another for stop) button in the engine bay, but we, as drivers, were told never to go into the engine bay. H&S.  Engineers trained in there, drivers not trained.
A few vehicles we had to start from the back mind.
We also on occasions had to top up the water lever (again, untrained).

 
That quote is from the BBC article, by the way - not from me. 

I, too, remember clambering on the stones as a youngster in a family visit - clearly before 1977. 

 
Personal Need Breaks for bus drivers - reminds me of just how joined up our "Information at the Station" project is, including a route end at Melksham Station with a layover while the train arrives and departs, and with a layover long enough for connections to still make even if there are delays of a handful of minutes.

Plan is to provide a public loo ... loo already there ... should be up and running from day 1.

 
Thanks for posting your detailed updates here, REVUpminster.  CfN. 

 

Yup - you need to et the hourly Cheltenham Spa service.....


Arrgh!! So Reading it would be & doubling back. Or BRI or Welsh services from the east.

 
Reminded me of when I took over a bus from another driver and he was very clear about not switching off the engine as it wouldn't restart. The call of nature came about 2 hours into a 3h30 run where the only option was to use Tesco's facilities (it shouldn't really be up to other companies to provide facilities without being compensated, but that's another matter). I couldn't go inside the supermarket with the engine running so had no choice but to risk switching it off.

Deed quickly done, it took me 5 attempts to restart the engine, but fortunately it did and got a cheer from those on board when we got away only about a minute late.

Levity aside, this thread also made me think of the occasion when a Southern driver was hit in West Worthing Middle Siding having exited the cab, potentially for a PNB; RAIB report: https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/report-02-slash-2023-train-driver-struck-by-a-train-near-west-worthing-middle-siding

Lack of PNBs have also been cited in SPAD incidents in the past, so companies should take toilet provision (more) seriously and make sure adequate facilities are available.

 


They could try but the lifts at Didcot (P2/3 and P4/5) are also out of order, seems to be connected to the heatwave as happens every time we get 'extreme heat'.

 
Only 175114 operated 2N02
175007 took up 2C05 from Plymouth to Penzance
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G15161/2026-07-30/detailed#allox_id=0

 

My memory tells me there used to be a Summer Saturday Falmouth - Paddington (& return) express.

 
Lifts and anything else will inevitable fail from time to time, or require to be out of service for maintenance work and servicing.    Where that is a single point of failure,  the rule appears to stipulate that it should have been thought through and a Plan B should be in place:

Based on the lack of direction / instruction / information we have seen on this one so far, there has not been a customer friendly "Plan B" in place, or if there has been, NR and GWR have failed to action it.    Of course - if "Plan B" were to be "keep as quiet as you can about it and hope it doesn't make the headlines so we don't have to spend on these passengers who are expensive to look after", it could be that they have implemented it  - their unfriendly Plan B.

There days, Lisa and I are travelling by train a lot and it's very hard for her to use straights.   At Osnabroek and at Beurs we have used the "three lift solution".  Where lines cross each other and there are four lifts linking the platforms, a single lift out of action can be replaced by using three.  Same would work at places like Berlin Hbf.  A lift out of action at Brescia lead to another three lifts being used - rather than rising to the main entrance from the main subway, we went back up to the platform, and along to the secondary subway also fitted with lifts and did a down, across, up there.

We'll be coming back London - Swindon - Melksham next week.  It will be interesting to see what advice if any we are offered at Paddington; Swansea or Cardiff trains will be an issue - we know the solution for Bristol and Cheltenham Spe services.

 

From English Heritage

From The Smithsonian Magazine

 
Similar, posted on my social media.  Questioner asks:

Answer (from me):

 

Not quite sure about the veracity of this statement. I've not been around for 125+ years and can certainly remember clambering over the stones as a youngster.

 
Yes I saw the different ISBN, but wondered whether the content might be pretty similar, or a superset?

 
Thanks, JohnM.

That's a different book - "Wilts & Berks Canal Revisited", by Doug Small: ISBN 978-0-7524-5146-6.

Doug Small wrote several books, as archivist for the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust.

 
At the station today just in time for the level crossing to fail up.
The platform no 2 has two temporary entrances in the car park which is closed and only being used by Chief Rentals. The portacabin never materialised and is expected today.

The platform in use is long enough for a five car train and the expected xcountry was terminated at Newton Abbot because of the level crossing failure.
Paignton station 30 July 2026 Two temporay entrances by Robert, on Flickr

Paignton station 30 July 2026 by Robert, on Flickr

Paignton station 30 July 2026 150 in platform by Robert, on Flickr

 

Indeed - it worked really well for the community and for them.  I love these partnership events.

The Melksham News comes out today ... and from the electronic version, here is the Carnival page banner.  A further worthwhile marketing publicity.

 

This is another area of divided responsibility between the TOC and NR. There is a short NR document called "Lifts and Escalators handbook for Franchised Stations" (dated March 2023). Here are a couple of quotes:

That second bullet point is the only explicit mention of the vital importance of lifts to passengers who can only travel through a station using them. And it is basically passing the buck to the TOCs!

 

Indeed / I can sympathise.    Newquay, Exeter, Bristol airports ... none has a rail connection.   I still fancy the idea - pink flying elephant time - of the Strawberry line re-opening to Wrington and then extending into an underground station at Lulsgate / Bristol Airport.   Four trains an hour - to Cornwall (Falmouth?), to Cardiff via Bristol, to Minehead via Taunton, and to Swindon via Bath Spa.

 
It's the Kennet and Avon whose water supply as built was a bit of a joke and whose summit level was very much a joke, but now has a substantial provision of solar powered electrified back-pumping and what a glorious contrast in terms of technology to the lovely but archaic beam engine installation at Crofton. When dry spells coincide with hours of sunshine, solar energy for lifting water via the canal itself must be about as good a fit as is possible, with not even the need for battery storage to bridge the gaps. Even the loss by evaporation will help with humidity, and loss via leakage will find its way into an aquifer.

Mark

 
At the risk of sounding facetious or cynical. may I suggest that the buses are being cleared out of the way, to allow for Helen and Andy's mass transit system ie trams to be  installed ?

 

Personal view

- "commuter" is misused / it should be (as it has been in the past) to signify a regular and frequent journey between home and place of work, learning, medical attention, personal business or perhaps between two such places.

- "passenger" is reasonable and logical for anyone using a train or bus

- "customer" is a subset of passenger - it excludes those who are not directly or indirectly paying for their travel.  I would include people travelling legitimately on their ENCTS card - indirectly paid and a registered journey that brings an income, but clearly (to me) it does not include fare evaders.

I prefer the term customer - as to me it reminds everyone that these people paying for their travel are the whole reason that the train or bus is running.    "Passenger" gives and aura of inconvenience - "I like running this train because it's quiet" is something I have heard said, but "we have very few customers on this train" gives a feeling of alert.

 
Second hand copies of that available from a few sellers online. Amazon has what might be an updated version of the same book, not sure, for £15 new:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wilts-Berks-Canal-Revisited-Small/dp/0752451464/

 
Living in the far West, unfortunately mostly it's a car.

 

 

So true.
Little provision for bus drivers, and no encouragement from management to do anything about it!
Generally runs of  up to 5 and a half hours before a 'meal break'. 5 and a half hours is the legal maximum, so our duties were timed for between 5 and 5 hours thirty!
Legally, if you were late, you must not drive further.  Try telling your passengers in the middle of nowhere you are stopping for a 15 minute break!
The problem was you arrived at your half way/return point very late (even more so in summer time), and invariably a large queue of passengers waiting for you. So, keep it in, load up passengers and return.
The quality of toilet provision provided varied between a well used portaloo and OK'ish........

 
A "spare" afternoon yesterday - based in Prague - and too hot to walk around the city.  I took the opportunity to travel on some random trains, keep cool, see the countryside, perhaps meet some of the people, and learn about what works and perhaps does not work here.

Praha Masaykovo n. - Poříčany
Poříčany - Nymburk hl.n
Nymburk hl.n - Usti Nad Labem hl.n
Usti Nad Labem hl.n - Praha hl.n

Pictured
- double deck train to Poříčany
- modern "railbus" on to Nymburk
- train to Usti advertises passenger comfort and low cost
- business-aware seating allowing good use of travel time
- smart branding for a GW train

So many lessons - fast, comfortable, electric trains.  A train that pulled out of Poříčany on time - then pulled up along the platform to allow people to connect into it from another train that was just arriving.  Passengers to and from Třebestovice - a small 'halt' just out from Poříčany, yet thriving in spite of its closeness to that main station, perhaps because of a reliable hourly service that really connects.  The use of really good pricing to encourage people to use the trains.  Open stations that are naturaly friendly without barriers, but with ticket checks on all legs. Display screen in trains telling me what the ongoing connections were at intermediate stations.  A train manager who let me know that a train was going to reverse at an intermediate station ... so I not be concerned.  On time arrival back into Prague, and a call in the supermarket actually located in the station, well stocked at sensible prices, and many, many outlets making the station very much a shopping mall for general use too. And walking / easy access back to the hotel with just one very local access road to cross.










 

 

Agreed. ‘Passenger’ is a much better word, covering every type of user. Perhaps it’s its ubiquity that makes journalists look for a different word, but it is a bit like calling every cat a mouser.

 
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G15387/2026-07-30/detailed#allox_id=0

2N02 0707 Par to Newquay
175007 coupled to 175114

 
It is perhaps encouraging to note that the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, has herself experienced some degree of overcrowding, on GWR trains between Swindon and London Paddington: