In Bristol, we used to have the excellent Georges bookshops, on Park Street - there were three of them, on the left hand side walking up.

One of them was where I met Harold Wilson, who was there to sign copies of his book, 'The Governance of Britain'. I didn't buy one, I just offered him a sheet of paper - which he autographed: I remember saying to him, "Thank you, sir". I was with a group of fellow sixth-formers, who had all sneaked out of school simply to attend that book signing. [Image from here is not available to guests]

Might be very useful to you in terms of charting performance/timings over an extended period?

A year ago, yes, it was 07:34 departure from Chippenham in the public timetable, with the 07:31 departure to Worcester unchanged and I would assume (data no longer easily to hand) that the arrival from Salisbury was at 07:30.  So 4 minutes has indeed become 3.

Could the Northern line be split into two separate tube lines? Under proposals from TfL, it just might be. Transport for London has long-term goals to break up the line, saying that the split could increase the line’s capacity by 20,000.

At the moment, the Northern line has two central branches: trains run either via Bank or Charing Cross, before rejoining at Camden Town in the north and Oval in the south.

Anticipated closed for a couple of days. Noooooh idea what managed to catch fire.

Mark

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly5e5lj595o

Transport for London (TfL) has awarded Indra Group a major contract to operate, maintain, and develop the ticketing and access control systems across London’s public transport network, covering the Tube, buses, trams, ferries, and other services in the metropolitan area.

The contract, initially valued at £524m and potentially rising to £845m if extension options are exercised, runs until 2034 with possible extensions through 2039. Indra will manage turnstiles, ticket vending machines, validators, retail sales terminals, portable inspection equipment, and the central back-office, payment, and cybersecurity systems that support the network.

The award marks a transition from Cubic Transportation Systems, which has been the long-term operator of London’s Oyster card system and associated ticketing infrastructure. Following an almost two-year transition period, Indra will assume full responsibility, becoming TfL’s sole provider for ticketing and access systems. The company will also work with TfL on future upgrades, including the implementation of account-based ticketing.

TfL’s ticketing ecosystem handles approximately 8.6m journeys per day, totaling over 3.6bn journeys annually, making it one of the world’s most complex urban transport ticketing networks.

In a statement, Indra said the project would ensure the reliability and security of London’s ticketing systems while supporting the digital transformation of public transport services.

TfL director of technology strategy and revenue, Shashi Verma, said, “Millions of journeys are made on our public transport system every day, and it is vital that customers can trust the ticketing system to ensure they are charged the correct fare.

“We look forward to working with Indra group on the next evolution of our Oyster and contactless ticketing system.

“I also want to thank everyone at Cubic Transportation Systems for their work and innovation in delivering, maintaining and improving the Oyster and contactless system over the past decades. The hard work and innovation by Cubic helped make the system as instantly recognisable and successful as it is.”

The UK rail industry has announced both the expansion of the eligibility criteria and the simplification of the application process for the Disabled Persons Railcard (DPRC).

The card, which offers a third off rail travel for cardholders and one accompanying adult, will have its eligibility expanded across two phases in 2026 to better recognise and support both visible and non-visible disabilities.

Changes to the system have been made following a recent review of the DPRC undertaken by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), Department for Transport (DfT) and Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), which deemed the Railcard’s current eligibility criteria insufficient when reflecting the modern understanding of disability.

The two phases have been designed to bring benefits where evidence requirements are straightforward, as well as introduce robust assessment for more complex cases later in the year.

Phase 1 is set to begin from 01 March 2026, and will expand eligibility to a broader range of customers who are able to demonstrate their need for the card through any existing documentation (i.e. Blue Badge holders).

Phase 2, which will begin in September 2026, will extend eligibility further to include conditions requiring either clinical or professional evidence, including long-term or degenerative medical conditions, as well as neurodiversity where it may have a substantial impact on a person’s ability to travel by train.

Full details of evidentiary requirements and application guidance will be published ahead of each phase.

UK braces for severe wind and rain as Storm Chandra named

Severe weather warnings for wind and rain have been issued ahead of the expected arrival of Storm Chandra.

Chandra has been named by the UK Met Office and is due to hit the UK on Tuesday.

It is the third major storm to hit the UK this month after Goretti and Ingrid, which caused significant damage and disruption.

Chandra will be accompanied by multiple hazards, widely heavy and persistent rain, and gales or even severe gales in exposed areas.

The Met Office has issued an amber wind warning for Northern Ireland to accompany Storm Chandra, external.

The warning is in place for eastern parts of Northern Ireland, from 05:00 on Tuesday until 21:00.

Winds will escalate with coastal gales, even severe gales and damaging gusts of up to 75mph (120km/h).

These sort of wind speeds will lead to large coastal waves which are likely to overtop the sea walls and promenades.

[Image from here is not available to guests]

It has also issued an amber warning for heavy rain from 17:00 Monday until 09:00 Tuesday for south-west England.

30-50mm rainfall is likely widely, with 60-80mm across some higher ground, especially south Dartmoor.

These areas have already had a large amount of rain, so there is a risk of flooding as more rain falls on ground that is currently saturated.

Yellow warnings - the least severe level of warning - are more numerous:

    Northern Ireland, valid from 12:00 Monday until 18:00, for persistent rain and flood risk with 10 to 20mm widely, up to 40mm over the hills.

    South-west England and Wales, valid from 15:00 Monday until 12:00 Tuesday, for 20 to 30mm widely, but as much as 80mm over Dartmoor, Exmoor and Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons).

    South-east England, valid from midnight Tuesday until midday and mentions 15 to 25mm of rain widely, with twice as much over higher ground such as the Chilterns.

    Northern Ireland, valid Tuesday 02:00 until 21:00, for damaging winds, gusts in exposed parts up to 70mph (113km/h) accompanied by another 15 to 25mm of rain widely, 40 to 50mm over the hills.

Storm Chandra is hitting hot on the heels of Goretti and Ingrid, bringing more soaking rains with little time between for the water to flow away and the rivers fully recover.

This continuing rain really heightens the flood risk.

The wind will also be a threat, as strong winds from Goretti and Ingrid have already battered parts of the UK this month, notably in south-west England.

As a result, many structures may have been weakened, trees may have been left vulnerable as well as power lines.

0500 tomorrow till 1600 tomorrow

South to southwesterly winds, associated with Storm Chandra, will become very strong during Tuesday morning with peak gusts typically of 50-60 mph inland and 60-70 mph along exposed coasts. There is a small chance of gusts up to 80 mph for parts of the Isles of Scilly and Pembrokeshire. Winds should gradually ease later in the afternoon.

South West England
Cornwall
Devon
Isles of Scilly

... like Frome ...

Inquiry into fatal Stonehaven train derailment to begin

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Christopher Stuchbury, Donald Dinnie and Brett McCullough died in 2020

A fatal accident inquiry into a train derailment which killed three men in the north east of Scotland is due to begin.

The Aberdeen to Glasgow train came off the rails at Carmont in Aberdeenshire on 12 August 2020 after it hit a landslide following heavy rain.

Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died in the crash. Network Rail was later fined £6.7m in court for a series of failings.

The inquiry in Aberdeen - which is expected to last between three and four weeks - is due to get under way from 11:00.

During the court case in 2023, Network Rail admitted a number of maintenance and inspection failures before the crash.

It also admitted failing to warn the driver that part of the track was unsafe, or tell him to reduce his speed.

At the High Court in Aberdeen, Lord Matthews said no penalty could compensate for the loss suffered by the families of those who died and the people injured.

Law firm Digby Brown later said that a total of nearly £1m in civil actions against Network Rail had been settled.

(BBC article continues)

I wish you hadn't said that - I'm going to be testing it out later... [Image from here is not available to guests]

BTW the (unofficial) connection at Chippenham is even tighter than it used to be, isn't it? Has the Paddington Weston-super-Mare service crept forward a minute?

More torrential rain for Cornwall and Devon tomorrow and Tuesday, also into next week.
Less windy, that said.