r/uktrains

I was on the train to Llandrindod Wells from Shrewsbury and for the period between Shrewsbury and the first stop after, the diver kept blaring the horn. iirc, there wasn't such an incident on the way to Shrewsbury from Llandrindod. Just curious

Going from Clapham Junction to Victoria on a Southern train. There was a lady sat on the aisle seat with her handbag on the seat next to her when another lady got on and politely asked her if she should sit down.

The lady sat down said it’s only a few minutes away can’t you stand? By the time we shuffle around it’ll be Victoria.

The lady standing didn’t want to argue so moved in to find another seat.

I kind of get why the lady sitting down said that as it’s such a short journey but she could never have her bag on the set during morning rush hour.

Two weeks running the Winchester train from Southampton Central has been stuck at the platform due to no crew. This means the London train gets diverted to another platform.

You only notice this when the train pulls in and doesn’t come to the expected platform, unless you watch the departure boards like a hawk, and the tannoys don’t extend down to the ends of the platforms.

After racing from the end of the platform to the new one, the train has already departed, with platform staff saying they are only authorised to hold it for one minute. That is not enough time for a fit young person to make it, let alone someone with more difficulty.

And no one wants to own the issue, it’s just passed around. No one cares.

/rant

Saw some rumours yesterday that SWR have wrapped a 701 into GBR Colours for an event tomorrow to mark one year of public owner. Anyone able to confirm if it's true and that it's due to go from Bournemouth depot to Wimbledon tonight?

I am absolutely fed up with the complete cancellation of phase 2, the value engineering, and the ever-ballooning costs of HS2 (with the burden falling on the taxpayer), not to mention the utter lack of urban rail projects going on in the UK. Even in London, notoriously favoured over the rest of the country when it comes to infrastructure, there will only be TWO new stations starting construction in the immediate future and only on the condition that passenger fares are raised (which doesn’t even fund the Piccadilly line signalling upgrades, only the new trains).

The government (regardless of party) seems short-sighted and is only focused on asking HS2 to address their cost issues without addressing the fundamental problems behind why all public transport infrastructure projects/programmes cost so much (which causes, or is used as justification to support, their reluctance to invest in infrastructure).

There is a sheer lack of ambition in this country, which is a shame since the UK used to be known the forerunner of the Industrial Revolution, and now even other Anglosphere countries (infamous for their high construction costs and bureaucracy) seem to be investing more into infrastructure than we are. I WANT to be optimistic but it’s hard when there’s not much to look forward to.

So my question is, what can we, as ordinary citizens, do about this? Is there more that we can do than sending emails to our MPs? What advocacy groups are worth joining? Thanks!

(Apologies if this comes across as a rant — it kind of is but I desperately want things to be better and to be actively involved in making things better)

I wanna ride on an HST, which route offers a great experience? Best way to get there cheap from Dover?