Sounds awful, screeching sound. I switched it off before they did the first test a couple of years ago.

 
I didn't receive it as I was out of the country at the time so have no idea what it sounds like

 
On my (Samsung/Android) tablet, in the settings for emergency alerts, there is an option to "speak alert messages" using text-to-speech. This was set to off, so the tablet made a lot of noise but said nothing yesterday. I imagine this is present in of most, if not all, Android phones.

I also wonder whether a phone might allow you to answer an alert as if it was a call. That might not be standardised, but depend on the specific user interface.

 
I heard it was signal failure at Ledbury

 

It's probably fair to say that - as we aim for zero accidents / casualties - any and every accident is caused by an error (which may be a systemic one) in every case.   Sometimes by the operational people there at the time, and at other times by those a little - or a lot removed.  Best to look at the evidence but leave conclusions until the experts have poured over the data they have which is far more than's available to us.

I'm looking at the IoW helicopter, the Lisbon funicular, the Lyndey heritage railway incident, and also the most-days toll of "person hit by train" which, sadly, seem so regular that they don't make the front page any longer.

 
Maybe they could take on (part of) the Royal train when it's decommissioned....
 

 
It was being used for pilot training - so may be student error or pilot error - but yes, human error of some kind

 
How do you do that then? You can turn off the alert completely, but not the audio unless you silence it - but I got the tone plus vibrate.

But


No verbal, at least on iPhones.

 

Seems fairly unlikely but surely it is incumbent upon TfL to inform the RMT that a wage reduction would be required to at least partially cover the cost of the additional staff.

 
I did not receive the alert on my 'phone; long may that continue.

 
I was in my car when it went off (I know, forgive me; I realise it's sacrilege mentioning cars on a public transport forum but I had heavy stuff to transport) - anyway, my iPhone is connected to the car when I'm driving, so I received the alert through the car's speakers, then used the touch screen on the dashboard to hear the spoken information (and get rid of the annoying display). That was read out in my car's usual speaking voice, not the American voice I've heard people complaining of. So, there's that at least.

 
Only audio (plus written stuff on the screen), no verbal.
Will look at our settings later as not aware there were alternatives.

 
From Bristol Live


Noting that the Christmas Market is considered, but the time the railway line is shut is not mentioned ...

 
Monday September 8


The problem looks as if it's on 'our' line - 1V17 0556 Worcester Shrub Hill to Hereford was cancelled after Great Malvern. But 1V18 0628 Worcester Shrub Hill to Hereford is currently waiting for the single line at Ledbury.

An update:
Arrived Shrub Hill 07:50 (+102).

And:

 
I have cut my driving from 30,000 a year to more like 300 miles a year these days and you could ask "why"?
a) I have no need to travel long distances with heavy equipment any more
b) I prefer to travel by public transport as it's more relaxed, more social and greener
c) The only car we have left on the road has a 150 mile range - electric car now 7 years old
d) Whist my eyesight has changed, it is still very easily legal (professionally checked a couple or months ago)
e) I do not feel as confident driving in the dark as I once did (is this the "fear" talked about??)
f) I know that at some point I won't be able to drive and don't want it to be a shattering life change when that happens
g) Too much hassle on many shorter journeys driving in traffic jams and parking; better to allow a few more minutes and walk or even cycle.
h) Cheaper to get the bus into Bath than pay for parking
i) Not travelling as much with multiple family members i.e. children, etc, where car is more efficient

 
My annoyance is drivers who sound their horns at other motorists who think they have been wronged by other drivers.

If drivers have got time to sound their horn,they have time to to avoid "the issue"

 
It may be premature and insensitive but it is a fact that most air incidents are due to human error. Upwards of 80%. Pilot error though is found to be the primary cause in around 50% of fatal incidents in commercial passenger aviation. Higher in general aviation.

Still a dangerous assumption for an aircraft manufacturer to make. Boeing executives blamed pilot error for the two 737 Max crashes. That insinuation came back and bit them hard on the butt. Those crashes were still human error though. Just not the humans in the cockpit.

 
Actually, ChrisB, it was verbal as well as textual. Unless you've blocked the audio setting?

 
No accessibility settings turned on on my phone. I got the verbal read out.

 
Huh? It wasn't verbal.

I'm guessing that you have accessibility settings turned on, and it read the alert message to you. But the alert was a tone, nothing verbal

 
In the meantime...

https://mpowerkernow.org.uk/

 
Appreciated Chris.  Know a lot about this, and aim to update when I can.  Thank you.

 
Recieved here during lunch.  Why an American voice???

 
In a former life, did 50k a year in and around the South East.  Came to the conclsion that the M25 in particular was going to be the death of me. Returned home to Cornwall, and now drive no more than 10k a year.

Rarely leave Cornwall in a car these days, would rather take the train...

 
From the BBC:

 
An update, from the BBC.

Unusually, I choose not to quote from any of it: you are welcome to read whichever parts of it you find relevant.

CfN.

 
Thank you, again, for your write-up about your adventures, eightonedee.

 
I may, again, find myself in Trowbridge for this event.

My previous visit was great - see https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=30284.msg362023#msg362023

I do commend WWRUG for arranging such friendly meetings - and for just £2 on the door it's got to be worth it.

CfN.

 
The Return Journey – and some reflections on the trip

My return journey started with an 08-16 departure from Lubeck on ICE 585, another long-distance service whose eventual destination would be Munich. However today I would be leaving the service at Hannover, where after about an hour and a half’s wait, I would be taking my second train of the day, to take me all the way back to Amsterdam Centraal.

Lubeck has quite a grand-looking station, with an imposing central entrance leading to a combined foyer and footbridge crossing over all the running lines and platforms. This has a steel-framed, arched roof which has been adopted by the local pigeon population as a high-density housing scheme – watch where you step. Perhaps DB should contact their colleagues at Network Rail to enquire where they might acquire some netting to deal with the problem.

I later found out that the service I was booked on has an even worse record for timekeeping than ICE 104, the one that let me down on the way out. However, I did not have to rely on the generous change time at Hannover, as it ran almost to time despite a short delay on departure. It was quite lightly loaded on departure at Lubeck, but filled quite a bit at Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Harburg. The only mild problem was the reservation system. There was an announcement apologising for problems with the signage above seats for it shortly before we started at Lubeck, and the seat I had chosen as unreserved changed to showing as reserved all the way to Munich. My instinct that this might be wrong proved correct, and I was not disturbed all the way to Hannover. As with all journeys, the ICE train itself was comfortable and spacious.

Hannover was a busy, well-kept station with a substantial retail area at underpass level, with a good choice of outlets, mostly eateries. The main problem if you have an hour and a half to pass is the lack of seating in most of the outlets. I did find a Starbucks with seating, so a coffee and a book helped pass the time, while one of the many bakeries provided a pleasant Camembert and salad roll for an early lunchtime snack.

The next train was similar to that which took me to Osnabruck on the way out, a Dutch NS locomotive and a rake of DB coaches of similar age and specification. It was busier than the outbound service, with more arrivals and departures from the train, but still not unduly busy, with most single passengers having a double seat to themselves.  Timekeeping was not so good, as there was a stretch of engineering work where one of the double tracks was being removed for replacement resulting in a stretch of single line working. The countryside we passed through was pleasant, river valleys and wooded hills through to Osnabruck. We were 16 minutes late into Amsterdam, the last part in the Netherlands being timetabled generously for a leisurely run.

This delay reduced slightly a two-and-a-half hour wait for the London Eurostar. This time my choice of canal-view dining was an outlet called Exki, which I used on my last visit just before lockdown in 2020. I recommend the Tomato and Mascarpone soup and their lemon meringue pie. It was my first time in the UK departure and passport control area in Amsterdam, which turned out to be efficiently run with plenty of seating - much better than its Brussels equivalent, where passengers can end up standing in a queue in what looks like an airport duty-free shop.

No window seat this time, but as it was growing dark (and there was a good alignment with a window) this was not a problem. Another good, comfortable and uneventful journey, but it was 5 minutes late into St. Pancras. My final leg, from Paddington back to Goring, ran to time. So GWR won the prize for best time-keeping for this trip, having achieved a punctual trip on the way out as well!   

What are my take-away impressions from what was my first substantial German rail journey? Clearly, DB has a timekeeping problem. Problems on preceding trains are often blamed. High-speed expresses share tracks with freight traffic, that seems much heavier than in the UK. The experience of travelling by rail as a passenger is adversely impacted by social factors too.

Germany does seem to have a drink problem. I am not qualified to diagnose why any one person looks inebriated, but when you see rough-looking unkempt folk drinking beer out of cans at 8am, it seems unsurprising that they are still there in the evening, begging or making a nuisance of themselves. There is also a problem with begging, and both beggars and drunks are attracted to German stations. I was surprised that this should be the case at Lubeck, but as a tourist spot no doubt the city attracts those looking to try their luck with begging. I cannot recall similar problems from earlier trips to Dusseldorf, Cologne or Hamburg, although these were not trips by train. I do though recall when attending a conference in Hamburg some years ago and using the underground to get from my hotel to the conference centre that some of my fellow travellers bore the physical marks of alcohol abuse, even if they were well-behaved travellers at the time – I never felt unsafe.

I know that this is a difficult problem (where will these people go if moved on away from railway stations?), but I only saw any security personnel at Osnabruck, where there were three DB Police patrolling the station, and no sign of trouble.

On the positive side, it was good to see large, manned information offices open to the public even late at night, and plenty of retail outlets that remained open well into the night at stations. DB’s staff were smart and helpful too. But my experience getting to, and at, Hamburg makes it unlikely that we’ll take the train when I go back to Lubeck with my wife. I have tried to see if there might have been an alternative itinerary via Hannover for the outward journey, but DB’s online timetables seem all to be for individual stations rather than for specific routes. I might though just check again on-line before the final decision is made.