If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been
on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was
made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
In message <117j012$24ao0$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:08:33 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> remarked:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-c
auses-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been
on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was
made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
In general, this sort of thing is why I avoid Heathrow unless there's absolutely no alternative.
As for the flippant advice to "allow more time" or in some cases "do not travel, tickets will be valid the following day", this is becoming far
more common when there's rail disruption. I wonder if it's a symptom of pre-GBR changes to the way the industry wishes to treat passengers.
I know I have a "thing" about station lifts, which arises from a couple
of years of pushing a wheelchair around, but they seem to go weeks and
weeks without being repaired, and the advice is often to travel to the
next station with a working lift, and double back.
Fine if it's a couple of miles, not if it's half an hour each way and typically only 2tph.
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117j012$24ao0$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:08:33 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> remarked:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-c >>> auses-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been
on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was
made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
In general, this sort of thing is why I avoid Heathrow unless there's
absolutely no alternative.
As for the flippant advice to "allow more time" or in some cases "do not
travel, tickets will be valid the following day", this is becoming far
more common when there's rail disruption. I wonder if it's a symptom of
pre-GBR changes to the way the industry wishes to treat passengers.
I know I have a "thing" about station lifts, which arises from a couple
of years of pushing a wheelchair around, but they seem to go weeks and
weeks without being repaired, and the advice is often to travel to the
next station with a working lift, and double back.
Fine if it's a couple of miles, not if it's half an hour each way and
typically only 2tph.
You are the one that apparently objects to the level of public subsidy to
the rail network.
You get what you pay for. Don?t pay enough don?t get enough routine >proactive maintenance. That together with renewals that get delayed to
save money.
See also potholes and the crumbling road network.
In message <117j3ef$259h8$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:06:55 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117j012$24ao0$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:08:33 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> remarked:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-c >>>> auses-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been >>>> on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was >>>> made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
In general, this sort of thing is why I avoid Heathrow unless there's
absolutely no alternative.
As for the flippant advice to "allow more time" or in some cases "do not >>> travel, tickets will be valid the following day", this is becoming far
more common when there's rail disruption. I wonder if it's a symptom of
pre-GBR changes to the way the industry wishes to treat passengers.
I know I have a "thing" about station lifts, which arises from a couple
of years of pushing a wheelchair around, but they seem to go weeks and
weeks without being repaired, and the advice is often to travel to the
next station with a working lift, and double back.
Fine if it's a couple of miles, not if it's half an hour each way and
typically only 2tph.
You are the one that apparently objects to the level of public subsidy to
the rail network.
I don't object to the overall amount of subsidy, simply the way it's so skewed towards overcharging passengers in the South East to give cheap tickets elsewhere.
You get what you pay for. Don?t pay enough don?t get enough routine
proactive maintenance. That together with renewals that get delayed to
save money.
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't
save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares
box).
See also potholes and the crumbling road network.
At least two of the lifts at the prestige central Cambridge shopping
mall are currently broken. Once again, that could be preventing people visiting and paying to use the car park.
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117j3ef$259h8$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:06:55 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117j012$24ao0$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:08:33 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> remarked:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-c >>>>> auses-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been >>>>> on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was >>>>> made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
In general, this sort of thing is why I avoid Heathrow unless there's
absolutely no alternative.
As for the flippant advice to "allow more time" or in some cases "do not >>>> travel, tickets will be valid the following day", this is becoming far >>>> more common when there's rail disruption. I wonder if it's a symptom of >>>> pre-GBR changes to the way the industry wishes to treat passengers.
I know I have a "thing" about station lifts, which arises from a couple >>>> of years of pushing a wheelchair around, but they seem to go weeks and >>>> weeks without being repaired, and the advice is often to travel to the >>>> next station with a working lift, and double back.
Fine if it's a couple of miles, not if it's half an hour each way and
typically only 2tph.
You are the one that apparently objects to the level of public subsidy to >>> the rail network.
I don't object to the overall amount of subsidy, simply the way it's so
skewed towards overcharging passengers in the South East to give cheap
tickets elsewhere.
You get what you pay for. Don?t pay enough don?t get enough routine
proactive maintenance. That together with renewals that get delayed to
save money.
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't
save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares
box).
See also potholes and the crumbling road network.
At least two of the lifts at the prestige central Cambridge shopping
mall are currently broken. Once again, that could be preventing people
visiting and paying to use the car park.
Lift repair time is exactly down to cost. Lift repair by its nature comes >with peaks and troughs. For a fast response you need to accept having
people hanging around idle for some of the time.
That?s clearly unacceptable to modern cost accounting. You also need
to keep a large stock of spare parts, there being a huge variety given
the bespoke nature of many installations.
Again modern accounting hates having stock. So when your
lift fails you have to wait for a technician to travel in, once he?s
finished whatever current job he?s on. He will diagnose the fault and >possibly have to order in a part that might take weeks to arrive. If you
are prepared to throw money at the problem you can have far more staff and
a deep reserve of parts. Lift maintenance contracts are negotiated on the >lowest bid, not the highest quality of service. Things could change if
there was a financial penalty regime on the station operator for the number >of hours a lift is out of operation, but there isn?t.
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't
save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares
box).
On 06/09/2026 09:28, Roland Perry wrote:
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't
save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares
It does save money.
If you want a faster response then you have to have of lots of people
ready to go out and fix the fault or pay staff for being on standby and
that is not cheap.
In message <117jeik$292e2$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:16:50 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> remarked:
On 06/09/2026 09:28, Roland Perry wrote:
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't
save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares
It does save money.
If you want a faster response then you have to have of lots of people
ready to go out and fix the fault or pay staff for being on standby and
that is not cheap.
I don't believe lifts break down so infrequently there are engineers
sitting around eating donuts, waiting to get called out. And if there
were, they'd be on site within a couple of hours, not a couple of weeks.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-causes-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been
on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was
made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire- >>causes-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been
on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was
made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
That raises a question. Once upon a time the Reading-Heathrow bus was >operated by British Rail. I expect in such circumstances it could have been
a valid alternative route to Heathrow if Paddington was closed.
I assume that's no longer the case now it's been farmed out to National >Express? Or is there some legacy agreement, eg like the ability to buy a >ticket on it from rail stations?
(at least, that's how the Woking one worked. I've never been on the Reading >one)
They don?t just fix railway lifts. And every customer wants it at the >cheapest contract price. That?s achieved by minimal staffing. And if those >staff are off doing a major fix elsewhere they are out of the pool for some >while. Remember lifts remain in service for many years. If some ancient >critical part of the electrical/electronic control system fails it can take >weeks to obtain a spare. Don?t make that anymore guv. And lifts need >certified parts for safety critical items. So you can?t take the failed >controller down to your mate who knows a bit about electronics. Everything
is doable at a price, but few customers are willing to pay that price.
On Sun, 6 Sep 2026 11:31:52 -0000 (UTC), Tweed
<usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
They don?t just fix railway lifts. And every customer wants it at the
cheapest contract price. That?s achieved by minimal staffing. And if those >> staff are off doing a major fix elsewhere they are out of the pool for some >> while. Remember lifts remain in service for many years. If some ancient
critical part of the electrical/electronic control system fails it can take >> weeks to obtain a spare. Don?t make that anymore guv. And lifts need
certified parts for safety critical items. So you can?t take the failed
controller down to your mate who knows a bit about electronics. Everything >> is doable at a price, but few customers are willing to pay that price.
Having recently spent some time researching cliff railways, which
mostly these days use lift technology, it seems that the only spare
parts available are those in production for new installations. So when
your ten-year-old, for example, lift breaks down and needs replacement components they might have to be made to order, even, sometimes, to
the extent of having them reverse engineered.
On 06/09/2026 13:40, Peter Johnson wrote:
On Sun, 6 Sep 2026 11:31:52 -0000 (UTC), Tweed
<usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
They don?t just fix railway lifts. And every customer wants it at the
cheapest contract price. That?s achieved by minimal staffing. And if those >>> staff are off doing a major fix elsewhere they are out of the pool for some >>> while. Remember lifts remain in service for many years. If some ancient
critical part of the electrical/electronic control system fails it can take >>> weeks to obtain a spare. Don?t make that anymore guv. And lifts need
certified parts for safety critical items. So you can?t take the failed
controller down to your mate who knows a bit about electronics. Everything >>> is doable at a price, but few customers are willing to pay that price.
Having recently spent some time researching cliff railways, which
mostly these days use lift technology, it seems that the only spare
parts available are those in production for new installations. So when
your ten-year-old, for example, lift breaks down and needs replacement
components they might have to be made to order, even, sometimes, to
the extent of having them reverse engineered.
Using Roland's logic spares for everything made by Amstrad in the past should still be available for next day delivery.
On 06/09/2026 13:40, Peter Johnson wrote:
On Sun, 6 Sep 2026 11:31:52 -0000 (UTC), Tweed
<usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Having recently spent some time researching cliff railways, which
They don?t just fix railway lifts. And every customer wants it at the
cheapest contract price. That?s achieved by minimal staffing. And if those >>> staff are off doing a major fix elsewhere they are out of the pool for some >>> while. Remember lifts remain in service for many years. If some ancient
critical part of the electrical/electronic control system fails it can take >>> weeks to obtain a spare. Don?t make that anymore guv. And lifts need
certified parts for safety critical items. So you can?t take the failed
controller down to your mate who knows a bit about electronics. Everything >>> is doable at a price, but few customers are willing to pay that price.
mostly these days use lift technology, it seems that the only spare
parts available are those in production for new installations. So when
your ten-year-old, for example, lift breaks down and needs replacement
components they might have to be made to order, even, sometimes, to
the extent of having them reverse engineered.
Using Roland's logic spares for everything made by Amstrad in the past >should still be available for next day delivery.
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jeik$292e2$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:16:50 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> remarked:
On 06/09/2026 09:28, Roland Perry wrote:
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't
save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares >>>>
It does save money.
If you want a faster response then you have to have of lots of people
ready to go out and fix the fault or pay staff for being on standby and
that is not cheap.
I don't believe lifts break down so infrequently there are engineers
sitting around eating donuts, waiting to get called out. And if there
were, they'd be on site within a couple of hours, not a couple of weeks.
They don?t just fix railway lifts.
In message <117jiv8$2ahko$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:31:52 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jeik$292e2$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:16:50 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> remarked:
On 06/09/2026 09:28, Roland Perry wrote:
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't >>>>> save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares >>>>>
It does save money.
If you want a faster response then you have to have of lots of people
ready to go out and fix the fault or pay staff for being on standby and >>>> that is not cheap.
I don't believe lifts break down so infrequently there are engineers
sitting around eating donuts, waiting to get called out. And if there
were, they'd be on site within a couple of hours, not a couple of weeks.
They don?t just fix railway lifts.
Oh, so we have Schrodinger lift engineers, who sit around expensively
all day waiting for railway station lifts to fail, but get called out
to other failing lifts elsewhere.
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jiv8$2ahko$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:31:52 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jeik$292e2$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:16:50 on Sun, 6 SepThey don?t just fix railway lifts.
2026, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> remarked:
On 06/09/2026 09:28, Roland Perry wrote:
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get
repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't >>>>>> save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares >>>>>>
It does save money.
If you want a faster response then you have to have of lots of people >>>>> ready to go out and fix the fault or pay staff for being on standby and >>>>> that is not cheap.
I don't believe lifts break down so infrequently there are engineers
sitting around eating donuts, waiting to get called out. And if there
were, they'd be on site within a couple of hours, not a couple of weeks. >>>
Oh, so we have Schrodinger lift engineers, who sit around expensively
all day waiting for railway station lifts to fail, but get called out
to other failing lifts elsewhere.
The point being that lift technicians are busy elsewhere and don?t drop >everything when a station lift fails. If you want fast service you do have
to pay for people hanging around.
In message <117m6p0$36sgv$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:22:08 on Mon, 7 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jiv8$2ahko$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:31:52 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jeik$292e2$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:16:50 on Sun, 6 Sep >>>>> 2026, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> remarked:They don?t just fix railway lifts.
On 06/09/2026 09:28, Roland Perry wrote:
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get >>>>>>> repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't >>>>>>> save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares >>>>>>>
It does save money.
If you want a faster response then you have to have of lots of people >>>>>> ready to go out and fix the fault or pay staff for being on standby and >>>>>> that is not cheap.
I don't believe lifts break down so infrequently there are engineers >>>>> sitting around eating donuts, waiting to get called out. And if there >>>>> were, they'd be on site within a couple of hours, not a couple of weeks. >>>>
Oh, so we have Schrodinger lift engineers, who sit around expensively
all day waiting for railway station lifts to fail, but get called out
to other failing lifts elsewhere.
The point being that lift technicians are busy elsewhere and don?t drop
everything when a station lift fails. If you want fast service you do have >> to pay for people hanging around.
No, you just have to negotiate a contract which gets lift engineers to stations sooner than office blocks and shopping malls.
Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> wrote:
On 06/09/2026 13:40, Peter Johnson wrote:
On Sun, 6 Sep 2026 11:31:52 -0000 (UTC), Tweed
<usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
They don?t just fix railway lifts. And every customer wants it at the
cheapest contract price. That?s achieved by minimal staffing. And if those >>>> staff are off doing a major fix elsewhere they are out of the pool for some
while. Remember lifts remain in service for many years. If some ancient >>>> critical part of the electrical/electronic control system fails it can take
weeks to obtain a spare. Don?t make that anymore guv. And lifts need
certified parts for safety critical items. So you can?t take the failed >>>> controller down to your mate who knows a bit about electronics. Everything >>>> is doable at a price, but few customers are willing to pay that price.
Having recently spent some time researching cliff railways, which
mostly these days use lift technology, it seems that the only spare
parts available are those in production for new installations. So when
your ten-year-old, for example, lift breaks down and needs replacement
components they might have to be made to order, even, sometimes, to
the extent of having them reverse engineered.
Using Roland's logic spares for everything made by Amstrad in the past
should still be available for next day delivery.
Perhaps things might improve under GBR. At the moment the majority of stations are managed by TOCs. I imagine that they contract out lift maintenance for the cheapest fee they can get away with. GBR ought to be large enough to either do the work in house or at least have a large enough national/regional contract to have a dedicated workforce and spares pool.
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117m6p0$36sgv$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:22:08 on Mon, 7 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jiv8$2ahko$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:31:52 on Sun, 6 Sep
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <117jeik$292e2$1@dont-email.me>, at 11:16:50 on Sun, 6 Sep >>>>>> 2026, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> remarked:They don?t just fix railway lifts.
On 06/09/2026 09:28, Roland Perry wrote:
The issue with broken lifts is the length of time it takes to get >>>>>>>> repairs done. They have to be done eventually, so delaying it doesn't >>>>>>>> save any money, it just puts people off travelling (so a smaller fares >>>>>>>>
It does save money.
If you want a faster response then you have to have of lots of people >>>>>>> ready to go out and fix the fault or pay staff for being on standby and >>>>>>> that is not cheap.
I don't believe lifts break down so infrequently there are engineers >>>>>> sitting around eating donuts, waiting to get called out. And if there >>>>>> were, they'd be on site within a couple of hours, not a couple of weeks. >>>>>
Oh, so we have Schrodinger lift engineers, who sit around expensively
all day waiting for railway station lifts to fail, but get called out
to other failing lifts elsewhere.
The point being that lift technicians are busy elsewhere and don?t drop
everything when a station lift fails. If you want fast service you do have >>> to pay for people hanging around.
No, you just have to negotiate a contract which gets lift engineers to
stations sooner than office blocks and shopping malls.
So, all your lift technicians are out working on non railway lifts, either >attending to faults or performing routine maintenance. You would like them
to abandon their work and go to the station lift? The non railway customers >would be unhappy. If you want fast response to something that has an >unpredictable demand you have to increase capacity, and over provision to >meet the peaks. That costs money.
Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-causes-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been
on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was
made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
That raises a question. Once upon a time the Reading-Heathrow bus was operated by British Rail. I expect in such circumstances it could have been
a valid alternative route to Heathrow if Paddington was closed.
I assume that's no longer the case now it's been farmed out to National Express? Or is there some legacy agreement, eg like the ability to buy a ticket on it from rail stations?
(at least, that's how the Woking one worked. I've never been on the Reading one)
On 06/09/2026 13:22, Theo wrote:
Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-causes-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been
on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was
made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
That raises a question. Once upon a time the Reading-Heathrow bus was operated by British Rail. I expect in such circumstances it could have been a valid alternative route to Heathrow if Paddington was closed.
I assume that's no longer the case now it's been farmed out to National Express? Or is there some legacy agreement, eg like the ability to buy a ticket on it from rail stations?
(at least, that's how the Woking one worked. I've never been on the Reading one)
AFAIK the Railair services are treated as proper rail services, they
appear on the departure boards at Reading, Woking and Guildford. tickets
are available at said stations if you haven't booked in advance.
Graeme Wall <rail@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
On 06/09/2026 13:22, Theo wrote:
Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-causes-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been >>>> on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was >>>> made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
That raises a question. Once upon a time the Reading-Heathrow bus was
operated by British Rail. I expect in such circumstances it could have been >>> a valid alternative route to Heathrow if Paddington was closed.
I assume that's no longer the case now it's been farmed out to National
Express? Or is there some legacy agreement, eg like the ability to buy a >>> ticket on it from rail stations?
(at least, that's how the Woking one worked. I've never been on the Reading >>> one)
AFAIK the Railair services are treated as proper rail services, they
appear on the departure boards at Reading, Woking and Guildford. tickets
are available at said stations if you haven't booked in advance.
They are and they aren't. For example there's no railcard discount on them, which used to tie ticket offices up in knots (is it cheaper to issue a non-railcard through ticket, or to split and railcard the train but issue a separate ticket for the bus?)
On 12/09/2026 20:48, Theo wrote:
Graeme Wall <rail@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
On 06/09/2026 13:22, Theo wrote:
Martin <martin.coffee@round-midnight.org.uk> wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/london-paddington-fire-causes-rail-chaos-heathrow-trains-cancelled
If I'd been traveling to Thiefrow from Wales I would already have been >>>> on my way, probably with an advance ticket. I presume this comment was >>>> made by a fossil fuel head.
What bloody use is it to advise me to travel early?
That raises a question. Once upon a time the Reading-Heathrow bus was >>> operated by British Rail. I expect in such circumstances it could have been
a valid alternative route to Heathrow if Paddington was closed.
I assume that's no longer the case now it's been farmed out to National >>> Express? Or is there some legacy agreement, eg like the ability to buy a >>> ticket on it from rail stations?
(at least, that's how the Woking one worked. I've never been on the Reading
one)
AFAIK the Railair services are treated as proper rail services, they
appear on the departure boards at Reading, Woking and Guildford. tickets >> are available at said stations if you haven't booked in advance.
They are and they aren't. For example there's no railcard discount on them,
which used to tie ticket offices up in knots (is it cheaper to issue a non-railcard through ticket, or to split and railcard the train but issue a separate ticket for the bus?)
Well I got a railcard discount yesterday, RA2 T5 to Guildford.
AFAIK the Railair services are treated as proper rail services, they
appear on the departure boards at Reading, Woking and Guildford.
tickets are available at said stations if you haven't booked in advance.
| Sysop: | Jacob Catayoc |
|---|---|
| Location: | Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines |
| Users: | 4 |
| Nodes: | 4 (0 / 4) |
| Uptime: | 497101:02:12 |
| Calls: | 182 |
| Files: | 744 |
| D/L today: |
41 files (6,007K bytes) |
| Messages: | 73,594 |