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I can remember, many moons ago, using a UK debit card in an ATM in Washington DC. The receipt informed me that my balance was now $99,950. I assumed that there was no real time link to the ATM and numbers were just totalled daily/weekly or something. I didn't try the balance any further !!!

 
Unless the ticket machine has a signal it cannot validate the debit card.  I suspect that the machines are designed to work locally and the details are updated at the end of the day.  Procedures to pass a black list of bounced debit cards back to all the ticket machines would then prevent future use of the card for n days.

 
The plans were approved last Wednesday 23 September 2026 at a planning committee meeting just for this project.
There were a number of written objections mainly from residents in the flats in The Terrace which have mostly been converted back to residential from offices. They are very expensive. In the image above you can see them and the two new hotels recently built; Premier Inn on council land by the car park and the Hampton Hilton which the council kick started. The police recently closed a brothel next to the Hampton in The Terrace; they should not have advertised.
There were five speakers against and three for. It's all on youtube. The vote was in two parts. The first for the site as a whole which passed six for and two abstentions, none against.
The second for the listed bank building which has been empty for 8 years with no prospective user to be incorporated into the hotel was passed unanimously.

The council thinking was that this was in a core tourism area and not suitable for residential. A recent report on hotels stated in Devon and Cornwall accommodation is split 50/50 between low end high end rooms but in Torbay it was split 25/75. Torbay often cite this as the reason they can no longer attract conferences and the like. They recognise many of the lower grade hotels will go to the wall, but they will be brownfield sites for new build or conversion to residential to tackle the housing shortage in Torbay. Many hotels have already gone down this route. The latest being The Seascape which of late been used by other councils to house there homeless. It's the fate of many seaside towns with an over supply of substandard hotels and B&Bs.

There are three new hotels in Torquay and two in Paignton. Others have been upgrading their buildings.

 
Torbay council took the opportunity to buy the main Debenhams building and a smaller property in The Strand in spring 2020 to prevent the key site from falling out of use if the store closed. Debenhams closed in May 2021.

Torbay Council wanted to regenerate the site with a mixed development of flats and commercial use including restaurants at street level, but because of existing properties one empty shop (No 9) and a closed bank branch (No8 a listed building) and three flats accessed from the Terrace behind they did not own; the 16 flats first proposed in April 2022 on the site of the main Debenhams building did not prove viable.

A Torquay The Strand existing area under redevelopment by Robert, on Flickr
The whole area was looked at again and included the two empty properties and No7 which they owned and the tenant has since relocated to Fleet Walk around the corner. Taco Bell have since occupied No 9.

The new plan was for  a 144 bedroom 4* hotel with rooftop bar. The bigger higher priced rooms to the front and three/four retail units. The bulk of the hotel will be on the main Debenhams site. A central staircase (stepped street) will lead from The Strand to The Terrace.
Screenshot 2026-09-26 120621 by Robert, on Flickr

The hotel stretches across the whole of the site on three floors leaving only the listed building's frontage which will be restored. The new build will be raised up over the projected flood risk levels.
Screenshot 2025-07-04 200216 by Robert, on Flickr

 
I do not know the full answer to this. However, watching the current "Fare Dodger" programme on Ch 5 implies that on TfL a debit card with no credit will just keep on working the barriers and racking up thousands in unpaid fares. So this seems to mean that public transport systems do not always recognise a cancelled card.

Wiser heads may be able to comment with more certainty?

 

Historically, might it be because the central doors proved something of an incentive for fare dodgers in the past?  On a crowded bus and away from the eyes of the driver it would certainly present such opportunities especially in the days before onboard cameras were commonplace.

 
Delays to services between London Paddington and Reading

Following a fault with the signalling system between London Pad
dington and Reading all lines have now reopened.
Train services running to and from these stations are returning to normal. Disruption is expected until 13:00

 
Thanks for explaining that GBM! All sounds like a bit of a mess!

 
My experience in Bristol is that dwell times are a lot longer than they used to be - something that the Guardian article did not refer to, perhaps because it's less of a problem in London.

Passengers are now told not to get out of their seat until the bus comes to a stop. I can understand why this is - it's plainly safer - but coupled with the time taken to tap out, it can be quite a while before everyone who wants to get off has cleared, and only then can passengers start to board. The Metrobus vehicles have a central exit door, something which was common on city routes in the past. Can't help wondering why this is not a feature on other city buses?
 

 
Oh yes, Skytrain.
We were booked with them (via travel company Cosmos) for a two week tour of the far West (Coast of America) for our honeymoon.
Laker Airways went bust around a month before we were due to fly.
Subsequently booked both ways with Delta Airlines.
The film "On Golden Pond" was shown on the screen both ways (in the days when the film was projected on the front cabin wall).

 
The conclusion of the article touches on successful new bus routes that provide for changing travel needs, but what the answer is for people who will not consider a bus or are totally unfamiliar with the concept I don't know. Staying with friends in the suburbs I was shocked to find that despite living there for twenty years they didn't know where the nearest bus stop was to home, or where the buses ran to - and I recalled at one point that the school run had imposed on them a daily journey that was more than a little insane and could only realistically be done using a car - but that had been their choice. If people do experience the buses at morning or evening school run times, depending on the route, they'll more than likely get the message that fare evasion is endemic, something that lowers the sense of personal security.

 
Two hour service on Newquay. Saturday as well; when it should be busy.  175011+175114 supposed to be out but have not appeared.

 

"Wrong type of leaves"

 
Can't answer that, perhaps Richard would be more in the know.
I'm totally guessing that most of the First drivers were in the union.
Again, I believe the GoCornwall only wanted full time drivers - they didn't take on the part time/casual ones.
Again, that's only what I believe.

Possibly up to 100 full time RMT drivers went across.
No idea as to how many Unite members there were.

Several of my fellow drivers also left when First did.

 
So how many RMT members are there already at Go Cornwall if many/most belong to Unite? Will they have much effect?

 
Several branches seem to be taking a hammering again today -  crew shortages, "more trains than usual in need of repair" etc

 

I believe Unite were/are representing GoCornwall members up to now.
(I can find this Unite piece, albeit from two years ago https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2024/june/cornwall-facing-bus-chaos-as-drivers-ballot-for-strike-over-pay)
RMT represented First bus members.

There were a few RMT representatives who went well above and beyond to support their members, but also a few who were only in it for themselves - and were - allegedly, working with management for their own benefits.  Personal opinion only with being a member in different depots over 14 years.

Seems like a union battle as to who represents the membership.

 
One return trip on the Laker Skytrain DC-10 in late 1982 LGW > LAX. A work trip involving the testing of some new oil industry subsurface measurement equipment using the Wilmington Oilfield (Long Beach) artificial island boreholes.
My abiding memory of the (outbound) flight was the very unpleasant odour of atmospheric pollution in the cabin approaching Los Angeles.

 
Quite a long article here, detailing how cycle lanes, road works, traffic and many other factors are slowing down buses in London and elsewhere:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2026/sep/23/london-buses-in-terminal-decline-why-public-transport-in-global-cities-is-slowing-to-a-crawl-visualised

 

During the railway privatisation process in the 1990's the word "tension" was used a lot.  The DfT / Treasury /Government / John Major belief was that British Rail could not get to the (eutopia) subsidy free position that politically John Major's Conservative government wanted because it lacked commercial / competitive "tension".

By breaking BR up into 100 business this would create market forces tension which in turn would generate completion thereby driving costs down and improving efficiency and because of the competition between TOCs this would lead new train operators entering the UK rail market hence more train services all competition with each other ................ (what could possibly go wrong!)

The same model was used for maintenance and renewals multiple companies all bidding for the work, cost being driven down and efficiencies and performance improved by competitive tender process, Railtrack would be according to the Government at time be in the Fotsi 100 companies.

The contracts did have wonderful clause that included "collaborative working" "required to work collaboratively with" etc

All of the above was the essence of the internal propaganda being feed to the staff within BR at the time.

What actually happened within UK rail the tension changed to friction because the eutopia of a friendly collaborative environment was ultimately trumped the companies share holder dividend and the salaries of the Chairmen and CEO's etc.  So yes the railways has been running for many years with a lot of friction.

It will be interesting to see if the performance of GWR / NR GW Route improves in the months after GWR is taken into public ownership when the commercial / contractual friction has been removed

 

...........and when you emerge, blinking into the horror of the aftermath, what then?

 

"More trees than usual needing repair at the same time"