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Great Western Coffee Shop
Recent Public Posts - [guest]
Re: Southampton to Twickenham - fare advice sought
In "Fare's Fair" [373157/31725/4]
Posted by John D at 07:59, 8th March 2026
 
Best ticket advise sought - 2 adults, day return on 20th June 2026, Southampton to Twickenham to attend a major event (a rugby match between TBA and TBA according to Google) that starts at 3 p.m.  No age related railcards

Looks to me like "super off peak" only allows travel too late in the day.     

Not sure how direct or indirect will be acceptable - I would suspect that Southern fares via Gatwick are out.

Best I can find is the super off peak travelcard £73
10:50 changing Chichester and Clapham Junction, arriving 14:10

But advance tickets for 20th June have not yet been released,
And SWR don't yet seem to be offering tickets, as ought to be cheaper changing at Woking and New Malden (Twickenham via Kingston loop)

But then digging bit further, discovered there is a 52 hour engineering work planned in Surbiton area, so possibly trains will go via Addlestone and Twickenham

https://sacuksprodnrdigital0001.blob.core.windows.net/operational-rules/Operational%20Rules/EAS%20documents/EAS%20ARP%2025-26%20Sections%205%20&%207/V2/NAT%20MAPS%20EAS%20ARP%20FWLA%202627.pdf


Re: Junction Railwayana - Collectors' fairs 2026
In "Railway History and related topics" [373156/30999/55]
Posted by grahame at 07:51, 8th March 2026
 
Pictures and text suggest this was a great success - and that I was wise not to go for the sake of my wallet.  Did any Coffee Shop members go?

Southampton to Twickenham - fare advice sought
In "Fare's Fair" [373155/31725/4]
Posted by grahame at 07:31, 8th March 2026
 
Best ticket advise sought - 2 adults, day return on 20th June 2026, Southampton to Twickenham to attend a major event (a rugby match between TBA and TBA according to Google) that starts at 3 p.m.  No age related railcards

Looks to me like "super off peak" only allows travel too late in the day.     

Not sure how direct or indirect will be acceptable - I would suspect that Southern fares via Gatwick are out.

TfL museum auction, 12th to 17th March 2026
In "Railway History and related topics" [373154/31724/55]
Posted by grahame at 06:50, 8th March 2026
 
69 lots, 12th to 17th March 2026.

https://www.wilsonsauctions.com/auctions/tfl-museum-depot-auction-3223

I am not seeing any *I MUST have that* items ... but others just might.

Re: who recalls David de Costa?
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [373153/31722/28]
Posted by grahame at 05:58, 8th March 2026
 
A Google search (already!) comes up with this thread as its top hit  ...

Your other overnight question asks about long-standing members, and we use aliases here so it could well be that David is a member, and / or retains his interest in other ways. 

I would ask anyone who knows / reads this to be aware of GDPR, as we at the Coffee Shop are, and if they have current details not to publish them in the open forum without permission.  The most appropriate way would be to get in touch with David and ask him if either his details can be shared, or he can get in touch with infoman if he wishes.

Re: Early days of coffee shop
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [373152/31723/28]
Posted by grahame at 05:35, 8th March 2026
 
Posted in campaigns,

as I could not seem to find a more suitable location

I do recall dashing through the Reading over bridge going back a little while(2008?)

and seeing the early days of coffee shop members(four?) in a stall handing out the coffee leaflets

Just wondering if those original coffee shop members are still engaged in the coffee shop

15th May 2019.   See https://www.passenger.chat/r20407.html



We (Coffee Shop) have 69 members who registered over 15 years ago and have been logged in within the last year.

Early days of coffee shop
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [373151/31723/28]
Posted by infoman at 04:08, 8th March 2026
 
Posted in campaigns,

as I could not seem to find a more suitable location

I do recall dashing through the Reading over bridge going back a little while(2008?)

and seeing the early days of coffee shop members(four?) in a stall handing out the coffee leaflets

Just wondering if those original coffee shop members are still engaged in the coffee shop

who recalls David de Costa?
In "Campaigns for new and improved services" [373150/31722/28]
Posted by infoman at 04:03, 8th March 2026
 
Posted in campaigns,

as I could not seem to find a more suitable location

Not sure what years it was 2008?

Always remember seeing his e-mail address wegetyouhome@??.??

What ever did happen to him?

Re: Retiring on-train trolleys
In "Across the West" [373149/31709/26]
Posted by ChrisB at 21:11, 7th March 2026
 
I suspect that they are owned by the catering company (Rail Gourmet?), or Hitachi as in the post above for the IETs.

Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
In "Across the West" [373148/18719/26]
Posted by ChrisB at 21:08, 7th March 2026
Already liked by IndustryInsider
 
According to Mark Hopwood yesterday at Travelwatch Southwest, further cuts are being made to the Summer Sunday timetable at the May timetable change, as part of the management of this problem.

Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion
In "Across the West" [373147/18719/26]
Posted by IndustryInsider at 21:00, 7th March 2026
 
An update from the ASLEF regarding Sunday’s in the working week:

‘In a recent meeting, GWR informed DDC that progress is being made with our 7 day railway submission to the DfT, but these discussions currently need to be managed with a small team focusing on completing the deal. There are a number of stages still to go and meetings have been diaried with key stakeholders in the coming weeks which are important in taking this forward. We will keep you informed when firmer details are available.’

Expect this to drag on and on and don’t expect there to be enough drivers to crew the summer Sunday service again this year.

Re: Inside the 'chaotic' world of the UK Wife Carrying Race - Surrey, 8 March 2026
In "The Lighter Side" [373146/31716/30]
Posted by Surrey 455 at 20:16, 7th March 2026
 
No GWR trains to Dorking Deepdene on Sunday

From gwr.com
Sunday 8 March

Replacement transport is planned between Guildford and Gatwick Airport.
GWR will still operate trains between Reading and Guildford.
Other train services will still be operating for Gatwick Airport.

SWR and Southern seem to be running normally to Dorking Main.

Re: Closure of the Somerset and Dorset Railway - 60 years on
In "Railway History and related topics" [373143/31718/55]
Posted by grahame at 16:58, 7th March 2026
 
From the BBC

"The atmosphere it created was hard to explain. It was like one big family," said Paul Antell, describing the community of a railway that ran through his village.

It has been 60 years since Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway closed, along with the station at Shillingstone, Dorset, where Antell has lived his whole life.

As a boy, he would deliberately miss his bus to school so he could plead an excuse to ride the footplate to Sturminster Newton, arriving late for assembly with soot-covered hands.

But on 7 March 1966, the 136-mile line that had been woven into the fabric of life for more than a century closed permanently and the tracks were ripped up.

Re: Storing petrol
In "The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom" [373142/22213/51]
Posted by ChrisB at 16:53, 7th March 2026
 
Well the situation HAS now escalated. My personal view is that the present war in unlikely to have much direct influence on oil prices.

Hmmmmm. Barrel of oil already at us$93 - up almost $20.
If it carries on for more than another week, I think you're going to be wrong.

As a result numerous power cuts occurred as the distribution system was overloaded.

That's not right either. when was that - 2022? Oddly, no comment here ....

Re: TravelWatch SouthWest General Meeting, Friday 6 March 2026
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [373139/30742/34]
Posted by grahame at 15:29, 7th March 2026
Already liked by Mark A
 
I'll post my notes in "Frequest Posters" in a few minutes ... once I have taken out the grossest of spelling mistakes. 

Summary of the day from our chair, Nick Buckland

1. Delighted to see the heat / strength of discussions and energy - even after lunch

2. Okehampton is an interesting lesson in "live in interestning times", "reach important people" and "get what you wish for".  Although the rail link has been a huge success, the loss of the 6th form college in the town is noted, as is the degraded links from Bude - a less frequent bus service and a need to change with concern at need to change between bus and train on the way, and the breaking of connections - not so much at Okehampton itself but to and from ongoing buses into Cornwall at Bude

3. Customer Interest Groups - changing. TWSW?  *Their* 50 focus group, sample too small.  Risk of national decisions on small local group. So - energy never more required. Apparently a  "Passenger Council" to be appointed by the bill in Lords.  How get people in - no-one seems to know ...

Re: TravelWatch SouthWest General Meeting, Friday 6 March 2026
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [373138/30742/34]
Posted by grahame at 15:21, 7th March 2026
 
This was a very useful meeting.

sad news however reached me after the end as our group was approached on the station & informed that sadly, Dave Redgewell had been taken ill at the end of the meeting and had been taken to hospital by paramedics.

I'm sure that those that know him wish him a speedy recovery

Indeed.   Bryony called me a little later and I understand that David was conscious and in Musgrove Park.  I will keep members posted as I hear and can post.

Torbay - usage metrics
In "Shorter journeys in Devon - Central, North and South" [373137/31720/24]
Posted by grahame at 14:55, 7th March 2026
 
This is in answer to a request from a fellow campaigner for pointers to data on loadings and journeys of trains to and from Torbay (TLCs PGN TQY and TRR, to help provide data and inform him and his colleagues of when and where people are going. 

Source 1: https://www.railwaydata.co.uk/loadings/gbr/?TLC=PGN - covering an "average weekday during the summer of 2024" and show numbers of arrivals, departures and through passengers on each timetabled service. Change PGN to TQY and TRR to see the figures for Torquay and Torre to cover the the intermediate stations between Newton Abbott and Paignton. These come from a "no longer maintained" site, so I have member's mirror at
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/PGN_2024.pdf https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/TQY_2024.pdf and  https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/mirror/TRR_2024.pdf . Note that were "no source" is shown on the trains, I suspect it's Exeter St David's - a station in which the apostrophy often causes problems.

Source 2: Our own forum using https://raildata.org.uk - Rail Data Marketplace data.  This shows destinations - using URLs such as https://www.passenger.chat/PGN.html (and change to TQY and TRR, and thre is a link on each page to give you the top 50.

Neither source answers the complete question of "where are people going on which train?" but it sounded to me like these two sources together are a little more information that the Torbay team had looked at so far. Split tickets, ticketless travel, ranger and rover tickets, etc, will clearly skew the figures.

Source 1:







Sample from source 2 (full links above)


Image - most recent topics for use by TWSW
In "News, Help and Assistance" [373135/31719/29]
Posted by grahame at 13:15, 7th March 2026
 
I have provided a new (graphic) data / news feed for TravelWatch SouthWest to display as a "what's going on" feed on their web site - here's what it gives me just as I write this:



The image includes the title of the most recent public posts, and is further limited to exclude boards that do not cover the TWSW area - such as the North Downs Line, Thames Valley Branches, and The wider picture overseas.  It does not include "lighter side" either to help ensure that the feed is serious transport stuff.

At the moment, clicking onto the image on the TWSW site will take you to the Coffee Shop's most recent public posts, including those public but excluded from the graphic topics.

Re: Plymouth: River Plym railway bridge work - 21 Feb to 9 Mar 2026
In "Shorter journeys in Devon - Central, North and South" [373134/31637/24]
Posted by LiskeardRich at 11:58, 7th March 2026
Already liked by Chris from Nailsea, GBM
 
Always a very telling sign of the state of the U.K. coach industry and how difficult it is to source coaches for any rail replacement work, there’s coaches operating between Plymouth and Tiverton that are based as far away as Walsall!!



FTS put out their requirements on a portal. Any approved coach operator in the uk can sign up for a duty/ duties.

I’ve been working on this rail replacement for the last 2 weeks.
Other notable operators include
Stagecoach Devon from Plymouth Depot
Dartline/ go Southwest
Greenslades
Taw and Torridge
Zen of Walsall
Cymru coaches
Teulu Travel (Tonypandy)
Reading and Wokingham (R&W) coaches.
Xelacoach
Trafalgar coaches
Aldermaston coaches.
Probably others but I’ve interacted with drivers from the above companies throughout the fortnight .

Cymru and Teulu both have dedicated rail replacement coaches and drivers who just tour the country doing rail replacement.
As a driver I love rail replacement knowing I’ll get to meet a wide variety of drivers from around the country. There are so many entertaining stories to be heard.

FTS have coordinators at the stations from far flung exotic places such as Wolverhampton, Leeds and London as well as few local coordinators.

Re: TravelWatch SouthWest General Meeting, Friday 6 March 2026
In "Diary - what's happening when?" [373133/30742/34]
Posted by ChrisB at 11:45, 7th March 2026
 
This was a very useful meeting.

sad news however reached me after the end as our group was approached on the station & informed that sadly, Dave Redgewell had been taken ill at the end of the meeting and had been taken to hospital by paramedics.

I'm sure that those that know him wish him a speedy recovery

Re: Refund Rules for walk-up tickets are changing from April 1st
In "Fare's Fair" [373132/31662/4]
Posted by ChrisB at 11:36, 7th March 2026
 
Yes there is - reduced however from an hour to 15 minutes.

Re: Rumours of a new ferry service
In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373131/31717/5]
Posted by TonyN at 11:14, 7th March 2026
 
A new ferry service between Sandy Point (Sparkes Marina) on Hayling Island and East Head at West Wittering.

Due to start on 3rd April and will run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Road access seems ok on the Hayling side, not sure about the Wittering side, possibly restricted by the owners of the massive money-printing car park.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/ferry-route-one-sussexs-most-123900701.html

https://www.facebook.com/ChichesterObserver/posts/new-ferry-will-link-west-wittering-with-hayling-island/1344842544327093/

I will be interested to see further details.

Both sides have frequent bus services at least every half hour.

Re: Refund Rules for walk-up tickets are changing from April 1st
In "Fare's Fair" [373130/31662/4]
Posted by grahame at 11:13, 7th March 2026
Already liked by Mark A
 
From yesterday - at Westbury at 19:00



and I'm a bit shocked by this:



Of an evening, why are the "popular" top level tickets the anytime ones for London (and yet off peak for Weymouth?)

Other walk up return adult no-railcard no-split fares to Paddington from Westbury - are available at £53.20, £71.20, £71.70, £77.40, £78.00, £84.00, £94.00, £94.90, £104.70, £110.40, and £226.80.  As from April 1st, if someone accidentally click on the "Popular" front fare (popular with whom?) and buys that ticket, there's no "oops - bought the wrong one" option as I read it, even if they walk across to the (open?) ticket office and admit their error.

Re: Ticket Booking sites
In "Fare's Fair" [373129/31713/4]
Posted by Clan Line at 09:53, 7th March 2026
 
I might venture an opinion that websites using Mixing Deck will become even more useful than at present when the new rules on ticket refunds come into force. There will be more and more people buying tickets at the last minute - and, as I said above, it would be nice to know in advance (no pun intended !) what you are going to have to pay and what ticket you are going to get.

Re: Rumours of a new ferry service
In "Buses and other ways to travel" [373128/31717/5]
Posted by bradshaw at 09:17, 7th March 2026
Already liked by Mark A
 
Lyme Bay Rib, who do trips along Dorset’s  Jurassic Coast are starting a water taxi service between Lyme Regis and West Bay later this year. Starting with a Saturday service one return journey.

https://www.bridportnews.co.uk/news/25824618.west-bay-lyme-regis-water-taxi-start-easter/

 
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