lift the trains and carriages

Is Melksham Station actually in the right position for the town and a potential for integrated transport, buses etc.? A better possible location is south of the current site between Asda and Pets' Corner replacing the shopping block that parallels the railway. There the platforms could be lengthened to accommodate all trains - nay, even doubled !

Sunday 21 June 2026
Media statement: Bedford train crash – essential travel only as passengers warned to expect disruption for the majority of next week

Rail passengers planning to travel through Bedford next week are being warned by the rail industry to expect disruption to train services until the end of next week (28 June) and to only travel on this route if their journey is essential.

Following an incident on Friday (19 June) involving a collision between two East Midlands Railway (EMR) trains in the Bedford area, in which an EMR driver sadly died and many passengers were injured, the railway is expected to remain closed between Bedford and Luton for the rest of the week.

As a result, there will be no GTR services north of Luton and no EMR services south of Bedford, with a limited rail replacement bus service in operation between Luton and Bedford.

Journey planning apps and websites are being updated to reflect these changes and may take a few hours to do so. Customers are advised to check live travel updates before they travel.

For as long as the Midland Mainline is closed at Bedford, train operators are accepting tickets for EMR customers. For customers whose journey is affected, tickets will be accepted on any alternative route. If customers decide to travel on EMR once the line is reopened, their connecting ticket on other operators also will be valid on that other day too.

East Midlands Railways (EMR)

No EMR services will run between Bedford and London St Pancras. Trains that usually start and terminate at London St Pancras will start and terminate at Bedford instead. From Monday, EMR will operate a reduced service on our Intercity and Connect routes, although Regional services will remain unaffected.

EMR Intercity and Connect services will operate one train per hour in each direction:

- One train per hour between Sheffield and Bedford, calling at Chesterfield, Derby, Long Eaton, East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough,
   Leicester, Market Harborough, Kettering and Bedford.                                                                                       
- One train per hour between Nottingham and Bedford, calling at Beeston, East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough, Leicester, Market
  Harborough, Kettering, Wellingborough and Bedford.
- One train per hour between Corby and Kettering.

Rail Replacement buses will be provided in each direction as follows:

- One direct bus per hour between Kettering and Luton (departing on the hour).
- One bus per hour between Kettering and Luton Airport Parkway, calling at Wellingborough, Bedford and Luton (departing on the hour).

EMR Luton Airport Express services will not run whilst the recovery operation continues. Passengers travelling between Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras in either direction may use their ticket at no extra cost on Thameslink services. For passengers travelling between Luton Airport Parkway and stations to or from the North, Rail Replacement Buses will operate between Luton Airport Parkway and Luton/Bedford/Kettering. Connections are available at Bedford and Kettering for services towards Sheffield or Nottingham.

For the latest EMR travel information please visit https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/service-updates

Greater Thameslink Railway (GTR)

From Monday, north of London St Pancras, Thameslink will run a limited service as far as Luton only. Thameslink and Great Northern will have in place ticket acceptance for EMR customers.

People should travel only if absolutely necessary. There will be no trains between Bedford and Luton, and only limited rail replacement buses. Elsewhere, north of London St Pancras on Thameslink, there will be:

- Four trains an hour to and from Luton during peak hours.
- Two trains an hour to and from Luton outside of peak hours.
- Eight trains an hour from London to St Albans during peak hours.
- Six trains an hour from London to St Albans outside of peak hours.

The following limited rail replacement buses will run from Monday:

- Bedford to Luton Airport Parkway and back, calling at Luton only (shuttle every 30 mins).
- Bedford to Luton and back, calling at Flitwick, Harlington and Leagrave (shuttle every 15 mins in the peak and every 30 mins in the off-
  peak).
- GTR will also have extra staff on hand at key stations along the route to help and support customers with their journeys.

For more information on Thameslink services, please visit https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/service-updates/service-updates

Recovery operation

A complex recovery operation has begun to remove the damaged trains and carriages from the railway before engineers assess any damage and complete necessary repairs. The Overhead Line Equipment – the electrical wires that provide power to the electric trains – must be removed while a temporary access road and concrete foundation is constructed to support the operation of a crane.

Two 110 tonne rail-mounted Kirow Cranes will then lift the trains and carriages from the site before a road-mounted crane moves them onto a low loader – a heavy-duty, specialised trailer designed to carry extremely heavy equipment – to be transported away by road. Following this, engineers will then assess the track and make any repairs before reinstating the overhead lines and completing final safety checks ahead of reopening the railway.

Will Rogers, Managing Director for East Midlands Railway, said: "First and foremost, our thoughts and heartfelt condolences remain with the family, friends and colleagues of our driver who tragically lost their life. We are also thinking of those who were injured, their loved ones, and all colleagues and customers affected by this incident. I would also like to thank our teams on the ground and the emergency services again for all their efforts.

"We are working closely with Network Rail and Thameslink to support those involved and assist with the ongoing recovery. Whilst this complex operation is underway, we ask that customers only travel on EMR’s Intercity and Connect services if essential. Please check before you travel.

"As the recovery progresses, we will continue to provide updates and encourage customers to check our dedicated webpage for details. EMR will not be able to operate any rail services between Bedford and London St Pancras this week. Our Regional routes remain unaffected. We appreciate our customers' patience as we work with our industry partners to restore services."

Louis Rambaud, Chief Customer Officer for GTR, which operates Thameslink, said: "It has been an incredibly difficult time for the whole railway family, and our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this tragic incident, particularly the family, friends and colleagues of the person who has tragically died, and all those who have been injured.

"We recognise the impact this tragic incident will have on our customers' journeys in the days ahead, and we're working closely with East Midlands Railway and Network Rail to reopen the line as soon as it’s safe to do so. We're asking anyone planning to travel on the Midland Main Line on Monday to only make essential journeys while this work continues.

"For customers who do need to make journeys, we’re boosting the number of our colleagues at stations to help them, and customers should check before they travel and allow extra time. We're grateful for our customers' patience as we and our industry partners do everything we can to get services back to normal."

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail Eastern regional managing director, said: "The past two days have been incredibly tough for everyone involved in this incident and our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to the friends, family and colleagues of the train driver who tragically lost their life as well as the passengers who have been impacted by this incident.

"Colleagues from across the rail industry are working together at pace to remove the trains and carriages from the railway and complete the repairs to the tracks. This is a complex and challenging task and our teams will be working tirelessly to reopen the railway so we can resume services between Bedford and London.

"While investigations are still at an early stage, current indications are that this was a tragic, isolated incident.  We are focused on the safe reopening of the railway and getting services running as quickly as possible.

"During this time, our message to passengers is clear – please expect disruption to services through this area for the majority of next week and only travel if absolutely necessary."

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail Eastern regional managing director, added: "This is a complex and challenging task, and our teams will be working tirelessly to reopen the railway so we can resume services between Bedford and London.

"While investigations are still at an early stage, current indications are that this was a tragic, isolated incident."

Yes, Antibes. The one before is at La Bastide-St. Laurent-les-Bains while we waited to pass the train going the other way.

Antibes turned out to be a real gem - see my Facebook post

The previous highest temperature for June is 35.6 degrees. It seems likely that this record will be broken in the next few days,with 36 forecast for London.

Train manager, 84, still loves life on railway

A passionate 84-year-old train manager who was "born into the sound of trains" has said his job gives him "a reason to get up in the morning".

Bob Carpenter works for Avanti West Coast, based at London Euston station, operating services to and from the West Midlands and the north west of England.

He is believed to be one of the oldest train managers in the UK, according to the rail company.

Carpenter said: "I have many interests at home; however, we've all got to have something which we love doing, and working in this job is what I love doing."

(BBC article continues)

The previous highest temperature for June is 35.6 degrees. It seems likely that this record will be broken in the next few days,with 36 forecast for London.

Not everybody starts from Plymouth. There are a significant number of journeys from the southwest to Derby and north thereof which cross Birmingham. A change at Birmingham is not easy and passengers prefer through trains. My last 2 journeys on Cross Country were Bristol Parkway to York and Edinburgh to Bristol Parkway. I would not have welcomed a change at Birmingham

Of the ones in between, "yesterday"'s train says "Zou!" so (given the OLE) that must be the Riviera line. I'm sure it's Antibes. The one before appears to belong to Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, but they have several minor lines in the mountains and loads of stations along them it might be.

You can't get a Cross Country train from Plymouth to Essex and East Anglia. You are expected to change in London (Crossrail has made that easier); so for Plymouth trains, why go further than Birmingham which could be the hub for the north. Maybe on a Saturday there is a justification for Penzance-Scotland but I doubt it.

Passengers across Wiltshire and the South West could face fewer train services under Labour’s rail nationalisation plans, according to the head of Great Western Railway’s parent company.

Graham Sutherland, chief executive of FirstGroup, which owns Great Western Railway (GWR), said cuts already being introduced on other parts of the rail network could become more widespread as the Government brings train operators under public ownership.

GWR, which serves Wiltshire, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Herefordshire and South Wales, is due to be nationalised on December 13 as part of the Government’s plans to create Great British Railways.

Mr Sutherland said timetable reductions being introduced by operators including Avanti West Coast and Thameslink were an early indication of how ministers may seek to reduce costs by matching train services more closely to passenger demand.

He said: “There are a lot of services running that really don’t have very much demand for them, so I think over the long term it’s right to begin to match supply and demand.”

Smoking, Vaping, Drinking, Sunning, Sweating, Sheltering, Socialising. Living in apartment blocks surround by randomly parked vehicles wherever they fit, busy roads with vehicles perhaps cruising to find spaces.  They may be nice inside, but the external aesthetics shout functionallity. Local culture - there may be some but the bar names and menus are in English.

Alghero is at the end of a narrow gauge railway that's not on my pass, but I visited for and extra £5 as it's one of the few remaining parts of the narrow network on Sardinia.  Even this has been cut back to the top of the town - you can see where the tracks used to go. 

Finding out the train times was a challenge.  The line starts in Sassari, where the station has three working platforms and a ticket office labelled "We do not sell tickets for Alghero".  The standard European departure sheets don't show these trains either.  The "Sardinian Green Train" website tells us about the weekly special excursions on some of the otherwise abandoned lines where they are still passable. The ARST website (they run the narrow gauge trains) proudly concentrated on their buses, but I *had* actually found a timetable.  Trains differ totally on Sundays from the rest of the week, but they are all in one table there than needs very careful reading.  When I reached Sassari, I bought my ticket at the station newsagent and tobacconist kiosk - where the gent checked my timings an reassured me I was correct in my reading, and I could make a round trip before the next main line train, some 4 and a half hours later.

A modern 2 carriage train, and it would seem that while I had some problems knowing when it ran, others did not.  Before we set off, it was full (almost) and some standing.  Made me feel old - VERY old - young people off for a day on the beach, well behaved and laughing and joking between themselves.   No-one got off at intermediate stations; more joined at Olmedo where we passed a train going the other way. 

The station at Alghero has clearly seen better / busier days.  Apart from the platform we arrived at, two others are rusted and there's other track work that hasn't seen a train, I suspect, this millenium. A crossover to allow run-rounds, and a turntable - redundant too now that the trains are current generation diesel units.  An hourly service is possible with the loop half way, and that's probably more than enough. And I note that trains can be coupled and run in pairs.

I bought myself a can of cold Sprite in the station cafe.  Two big fridges full of beer, blokes sat at tables drinking been, smoking, talking back and forth.  I eased my way through to the smaller fridge of soft drinks that was tucked behind. I really have no desire to dull my senses in the middle of the day which I know a beer would do in this heat.  The return train was much quieter - still a goodly number of passengers through to Sassari.  The countryside here is interesting.  Low but steep hills with patches of trees between tree grown, and rocky limestone (?) outcrops.  Some sections of the railway have been rebuilt to eliminate some twists and turns, but other sections are still torturous.

I'm glad I took a look at Alghero, but it's not on my list to return.  Seen enough. Sassari may warrant a return visit; I had an hour to look around but felt there was still more to see; had to rush back to the station.

There have been a couple of "abnormal loads" on the worker server today.   I *am* aware and will look through the logs overnight.  The server emails me when it's in trouble and typical recovers over a few minutes when these things happen.

As an administrator on this Coffee Shop forum, may I thank all of our members here for your restrained, non-speculative, posts about this sad incident.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch will indeed discover all of the facts, and provide us with a definitive report, in due course.

CfN.  -X

The aspect displayed by 358 upon the departure of the 360 will be interesting to discover.

Here in Nailsea, we have the benefit of a latter-day Steptoe & Son, who drive along our road every week in their pickup truck with a loudhailer asking for 'any old iron?'
They aren't choosy - any scrap metal will do (I noticed that the only thing they didn't want was a neighbour's old fridge/freezer).
We don't have to do anything, other than put our unwanted metal items out on the drive, where they can be seen from the road.  Even if we don't hear the loudhailer (unlikely), they will come to the front door, just to confirm, "Is that to go?".
Recently, we updated our cooker and removed a redundant overhead extractor fan unit. My daughter and I will put those out on the drive and see how long it takes Steptoe & Son to snap them up.