They treat a 14 day rover like a season ticket and divide the cost by 10 to give a daily figure - that is treated as a return ticket and then they halve that to give a single fare and that is what the 25% or 50% is based on.

Making a success of rail reform

The coming years will be transformative for Britain’s railway. The Government has started a process to renationalise train services, with half of the rail operators already under public ownership. It has also introduced a new Railways Bill, which will completely change how the railway is run. Track and train will be brought together under a new public body called Great British Railways, which will manage the whole network.

This level of change is likely to be a huge challenge – but it’s also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make rail travel better for everyone.

The aim of this survey is to find out how the public feels about the railways as they are, and what needs to change to make them better. We will share the survey results with key decision makers in government and industry, and through our public campaigning.

Rail reform: share your views

What do you think the priorities should be for improving rail? We would very much appreciate you filling in our survey. It has three pages and will take around 10 minutes. Thank you.

Alterations to services between Liskeard and Looe

Due to flooding between Liskeard and Looe the line is closed.

Train services running to and from these stations have been suspended. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 16/01/26.

What has happened?
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Heavy rainfall during December combined with high tides resulted in the water levels at several bridges along the branch line being above the level which allows us to safely run trains. This had caused some damage to structures along the line which will require repairs.
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What are we doing about it?
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The water levels dropped allowing Network Rail to inspect the bridges, and it has been found that repairs to the infrastructure are required before we are able to run trains again.
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Storm Goretti brought strong winds and rain to the area overnight Thursday into Friday which has caused the water levels to rise again, which is now delaying the start of the repair work.
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Once the water levels drop again, repair work will be able to begin, and we should then be able to give a more accurate date for the line reopening. Currently we do not expect to run trains until Saturday 17 January at the earliest.

Historic bridge demolished for £11m replacement

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The bridge was mostly demolished over Christmas while trains were not running

A historic 85-year-old bridge which played a big role in a town's World War Two efforts has been demolished.

Winterstoke Road Bridge, a key transport link through Weston-super-Mare, closed to traffic in November due to its age and condition, and was officially demolished and removed over Christmas.

North Somerset Council said the demolition of the bridge, which crossed a railway line between Bristol and Taunton, mostly took place when trains were not running on Christmas Day, and had paved the way for "a stronger and more reliable bridge that will ensure access on Winterstoke Road the next 120 years".

An £11m replacement bridge is due to open in spring 2027.

The bridge was built in 1941 to provide access to the RAF's aeroplane production factory in Oldmixon, and, at the time of its closure, was used by about 20,000 vehicles a day.

Demolition works included the complete removal of the structure, in addition to the levelling of its abutments and connecting road.

All debris was cleared from the tracks to allow trains to safely run after Boxing Day.

Contractors Octavius Infrastructure is due to begin several months of piling and foundation works in the coming weeks for the replacement bridge.

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A temporary footbridge will be in place while the replacement bridge is being constructed

Mike Bell, leader of North Somerset Council, thanked residents for their patience during the demolition.

"In replacing Winterstoke Road Bridge, we're making a key, long-term investment into local infrastructure - an investment that will maintain and expand current road capacity while also building the resilience and reliability needed to prepare for future growth," he said.

A temporary footbridge was in place over the railway line and would be open throughout the construction of the new bridge, project bosses said.

Dan Norris has made it clear that he doesn't like people calling the West of England Combined Authority 'WECA'. The trouble is that you can't stop people calling things what they want to call them - I'm sure Mr Dyson doesn't like people referring to his hoovers as - well, hoovers, and Google would really prefer you not to google things as that damages their right to the trademark.

Anyway, I can't help but notice that WECA is now referring to itself as the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority. So presumably, instead of not referring to it as WECA, we must not refer to it as WEMCA..?

GWR could help here as a Weymouth train leaves 2 minutes after this one arrives. Not exactly cross platform though.

Mark

'Plan ahead' for nine-day closure, rail boss says

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Network Rail said the £10m scheme was an "essential" track upgrade

A railway line will close for nine days over February half term for a £10m upgrade to the track, with passengers advised to plan ahead.

Network Rail said Dartford Junction was the busiest railway junction in Kent, with 650 trains passing through it each day, and work was taking place from 14 to 22 February to minimise disruption.

Replacement buses will be in operation and several stations will undergo work at the same time.

Chief operating officer for the South East David Davidson said: "We've deliberately chosen the half-term to minimise disruption as schools are on holiday and fewer people are commuting."

He added: "We will be making the most of the time available when trains are not running to carry out station refurbishments."

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Replacement buses will be operating while the work takes place

Davidson said the alternative to the nine-day closure would have been carrying out the work over 30 weekends, adding that would have been "much more disruptive".

Buses will replace services between Gravesend and Dartford towards Crayford, Barnehurst, and Slade Green.

Services will run as normal into London along the Sidcup, Bexleyheath and Woolwich routes.

Preparatory work will take place on 7 and 8 February, and follow-up work is scheduled for 1 March and 5 April, with closures also planned on those dates.

Junction improvements include renewing "points" - the moveable sections of track that allow trains to change direction - and laying new track.

Station improvements include new tactile paving at Dartford station, replacing damaged fencing at Stone Crossing and refurbishing the accessible toilet at Greenhithe.

Swanscombe station will be deep-cleaned, and Northfleet will have new LED lighting, with additional customer information screens.

South Western Railway has confirmed that the first major redesign of its timetable in more than 20 years is under way.

The last time that schedules into Waterloo were comprehensively upgraded was in December 2004, when Sir Andrew Haines (recently retired from his position as Network Rail Chief Executive) was in charge of Stagecoach’s South West Trains.

Then, the drivers of change were new Siemens Class 444/450 Desiro trains that had different point-to-point timings and door cycle times, along with growing passenger numbers which together caused station dwell times to increase.

Now, changed patterns of commuting and the replacement of the last Class 455s with new Class 701 Arterios are the major reasons.
....cont.