... there are occasional times where the worker has been too busy to accept connections from the receptionist - a new issue since December as we only a single server so no internal comms to go wrong before December. Our discussion on another thread about AI and crawler load rather points to the "culprit" issues and by telling or bashing certain of the crawlers we have an element of control.   Log files give me an insight as to the prooportion of theses we have;  as they "turn over" during the period the server was down, yesterday's and today's are obscured by those other things.  Come Monday morning I'll have further data.

As part of the analysis of last night, there is a possibility that I'll suggest / make a couple of server changes in the next couple of months to raise the roof and give us more headroom because of the 'bots.

On a much lighter front, Weston-super-Mare today hosted the national seagull screeching contest, where people mimic seagulls screeching, won by an 11 year old boy from Chesterfield known as 'Seagull Boy'. Apparently it is very popular.

Shortly before 7.15pm on Sunday, 31 August 2025 the 143-year life of Felletin railway station was brought to an end when railcar X73810 drew into the station with train TER 868716 from Limoges Bénédictins, setting off numerous detonators as it drew in, and became the last ever passenger train to serve this attractive small town in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Central France.

Despite an energetic local campaign, with demonstrations, an anti-closure petition attracting more than 30,000 signatures and a visit by local dignitaries to meet political leaders in Paris, the scenic 33km (21-mile) branch line from a junction at Busseau-sur-Creuse, around 60 miles east of the city of Limoges, has gone the way of so many similar rural lines across France.

Train passengers will be tracked by GPS as part of a trial that could cut down on fare dodging.

New digital ticketing technology is being rolled out on East Midlands Railway (EMR) that tracks when passengers enter and leave train stations and automatically works out their fares.

It works in a similar way to London’s Oyster Card system, where travellers tap in and tap out and trust computer systems to calculate how much they have to pay for their journeys.

Government officials have promised that the new GPS technology will give “the best-value fare on the day”, while a spokesman for Trainline – whose technology is powering the trial – added that “daily and weekly caps” would be available so commuters would not overpay for their travel.

GPS tracking of rail passengers could close a loophole exploited by fare-dodgers known as “doughnutting”, where dishonest passengers buy a ticket for the start and end of their journey to get through automatic barriers – leaving the middle empty, or unpaid.

“[This scheme] deters abuses like so-called ‘doughnutting’ and helps protect industry revenue while making rail travel simpler for everyone,” said the Trainline spokesman.............

Why the Channel Islands abandoned rail travel


Jersey had passenger trains for more than 65 years

A Jersey company is hoping to bring train travel back to the island for the first time in nearly 90 years.

It would be the first time either of the two largest Channel Islands has had a passenger railway since the 1930s, so why did rail travel fall out of favour?

Local historian Ken Baker said the islands' small size and hard granite rock made it difficult to run trains or trams economically, especially once motorised buses became available.

Mr Baker said buses "literally took over, took the passengers off the trains".

Jersey's first railway opened in 1870, from the island's capital in St Helier to St Aubin - a distance of 3.75 miles (6km), according to transport historian John Carman.

It offered hourly services, later increased to half-hourly, and its popularity was boosted by attractions at stations - such as concerts, acrobatic displays and fireworks.

A second railway - the Jersey Eastern Railway - opened three years later, while a freight railway was opened in 1884, Mr Carman said.

Despite promising passenger numbers - it carried 600,000 people in its first year - the Jersey Railway struggled financially and the company declared bankruptcy in 1874, passing through a series of owners after that.

Over on Guernsey, after several failed attempts to open a railway, the island launched a steam tramway in 1879 between its capital St Peter Port and the industrial area of St Sampson, according to Mr Carman.

As in Jersey, the service was popular initially, carrying about 2,000 passengers a day along the 2.5 mile (4km) route.

It was later electrified in the 1890s, one of the first in the British Isles to do so.


(BBC article continues)

Plans have been put forward to bring a regular train service back to Jersey for the first time in nearly 90 years.

Jersey Western Railway (JWR) said it wanted to set up an "affordable, comfortable and sustainable" service in the island, operating from Corbiere via St Aubin to St Helier, with a branch line to the airport.

Alexander Sparrow, founder of JWR, said if the plans were backed, trains would run every seven-and-a-half minutes with a journey costing £4.90.

Infrastructure Minister, Constable Andy Jehan said he was aware of the plan and was willing to listen to the ideas of islanders.

The last regular service in Jersey ran between St Helier and Corbiere in 1936, before being shut down due to fewer people using the trains.

Islanders have put forward other proposals since the last trains ran to bring services back including a plan for a train or tram from the west of Jersey to St Helier, but none has become a reality.

Mr Sparrow said JWR's plans would utilise some areas previously used for rail services on the island which had since become a walking and cycling route. He added traffic on the island had become a problem and having a consistent train service would bring many benefits. "I think the main benefits are going to be a rapid transit service that is reliable, on time and has a frequent service period that is segregated from the traffic," Mr Sparrow said.

The proposal has received some criticism, with Kate Huntington from the Better Journeys Project saying it could result in a "beautiful area" being lost. "The railway walk is very prized on the island, so I just can't imagine why we'd take that away from the huge number of people who use it now," Ms Huntington said. "If we can't get people out of their cars to use the fantastic bus service that serves St Aubin and the airport, what on earth would a train do?"

Mr Jehan confirmed he had agreed to meet with Mr Sparrow at the JWR founder's request, to discuss the proposals. Mr Jehan added: "This is not an infrastructure proposal, but I'm always willing to meet with islanders and listen to ideas."

suspected quick clay landslide

Your link to the BBC isn't working

New walkway 'key milestone' for Botley Road timeline



A new walkway has opened in Oxford as part of a £231m project to upgrade the city station.

Network Rail said the four-metre wide walkway, which links Botley Road to Frideswide Square, would offer improvements with existing access and more space for pedestrians and cyclists.

The operator said it was "another key milestone" in reopening the road by the end of August 2026, after it was closed at the railway bridge since April 2023.

The scheme has been through several delays, leaving communities frustrated and leading to long-standing businesses experiencing a drop in sales. Some, such as Courtney Pianos, closed down.

Network Rail said cyclists would be asked to dismount while using the shared surface until next year for safety reasons.



The work at Botley Road was "vital to creating a bigger, better station" and "an improved and safer road layout", Network Rail said.

Western route managing director Marcus Jones said "we're on track to the new timeline we committed to earlier this year".  Mr Jones said they were "pleased to have achieved this milestone" and thanked the local community and residents for their patience.

Anna Railton, deputy leader of Oxford City Council and cabinet member for a Zero Carbon Oxford, said the new path would "help to ease the flow of people in and around the area".

In June, rail minister Lord Hendy said some of the small businesses affected by the works would be eligible to receive one-off payments from an £850,000 government fund to "recognise the trouble the delays have caused".

Residents also said they were negatively affected by roads resurfacing works to transform Abbey Road, Cripley Road and Cripley Place into bus turning circles.

The next update session in Oxford will take place on 24 September at The King's Centre on Osney Mead.

Done! Split off and renamed. CfN. 

Solent Tunnel, between England and Isle of Wight

On the morning of 1 September 1905, a train left London Liverpool Street, bound for Cromer. As it approached Witham railway station, disaster struck.

Most of its 14 carriages left the tracks, sliding up the platform on their sides, even overturning completely.

Eleven people - including a 10-year-old girl - lost their lives in the crash, with more than 70 injured.

But further catastrophe was just moments away as another train approached at speed, heading for the wreckage.

The quick reactions of a signalman and his colleagues prevented even greater loss of life.

More than a century later, their brave actions - and the lives lost on that day - will be commemorated for the first time.

The 09:27 service de-railed as it reached Witham station around an hour into its journey, causing a scene of devastation.

One carriage hit the platform and slid on its side into a wooden hut - a second carriage caught fire when gas tanks underneath ruptured.

A third overturned completely - the weight of its heavy iron framework and wheels crushing the upper timber section, killing nine passengers inside.

A tenth passenger in another carriage was also killed, along with a porter. Some of the victims could only be partially identified by letters which they had in their pockets. Others remained unidentified.

Sixty-six passengers were also injured in the crash, along with five members of staff.

But the danger was not over.


One of the carriages slid along the platform on its side into a wooden hut


One of the carriages overturned, with the weight of the iron framework crushing the wooden upper structure

An oncoming train from Cromer to London was approaching Witham at speed, oblivious to what had happened.

Signalman Ben Sainty - along with his colleagues Fred Parrish and Thomas Bannister - leapt into action.

Ben quickly changed the signals from Clear to Danger, which the train driver thankfully saw in enough time to stop a few hundred yards away from the station. Its passengers - including the Norwich City football team and their manager - disembarked and helped the survivors.

An inquiry initially said the cause of the crash was due to plate layers removing a piece of track and not replacing it in time.

Local historian John Palombi told the BBC that the train driver said afterwards that he could see men working on the tracks until getting out of the way at the very last second.

"Those plate layers were later discharged as nothing was proven that they had done anything wrong," he said. "If it wasn't for the really rapid and quick reactions… from those signalmen, it would have been a much worse disaster," Mr Palombi added.


(BBC News article continues)

Luxury Japanese sleeper train cancels trip after crew help themselves to the wine in the name of quality control

TOKYO, Aug 23 — The operator of a Japanese luxury sleeper train said it has scrapped an upcoming journey after discovering its crew had been liberally helping themselves to alcohol in the name of “quality control” for years.

“Some of the crew were repeatedly drinking more than they were allowed to as part of their routine quality control testing,” said a subsidiary of the East Japan Railway Company, commonly known as JR East.

Barring a miracle, today (written 31.8.2025) is the last day of train service to Aubesson and Felletin in France.

[snip]

I think back to Melksham's train service and the period from 2006 to 2013 when we, too, had just 2 trains a day with the "too early, too late" 'joke' that was no joke. 3,000 passenger journeys a year sounded a lot - until you worked out that it was 1 or 2 people getting on or off each train - similar to I saw in Felletin.

[snip]

Since 2013, we have come so far forward, but we have faded back on unreliability (as I write, another of today's trains in cancelled through lack of staff) and we must ensure that for the future of our town we move forward - as Corby, or Ebbw Vale, or Tweedbank, Leven, Alloa or Ashington have done and that we don't fall back from our "halfway there" position and find ourselves loosing again as Felletin and Aubesson do today.

Last day of service today?

The Railway World article on the line to Felletin.

Mark

https://railwayworld.net/2025/03/28/death-of-a-french-branch-line/

07:36 London Paddington to Great Malvern due 10:15 will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Honeybourne, Evesham, Pershore and Worcestershire Parkway Hl.
It is being delayed at London Paddington.
This is due to this train being late from the depot.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.
Last Updated:31/08/2025 08:01

Looking forward to that article. It will certainly be a challenge providing that service.

I was one of the three who ticked 'Almost Certainly' in the poll, but that was before I had my cancer diagnosis, which scuppered any chance of interrailing. However, if the poll is run again later this year, I hope to be ticking the same box again.