🔥The 9th Round of Easy Loan, Earn $40 Reward is in progress❗️ ⏰ Promotion Period: January 15th - Feburary 15th, 2025 👉 Register now and check more details at gate.io/campaigns/358

Scrapping the Royal Train is stupid, defeatist, mean-minded and plain wrong.

I know I keep saying it, but I'm really looking forward to having these trains in the South West. I know they're replacing the HSTs, but those veterans' time is up. The 175s will feel like a real upgrade on them.

If you're in the Bridport area until 14 August, you MUST pop over to hear Richard Sims talk about this much missed railway as part of Railway200 and enjoy the other events. It will be absolutely fascinating stuff!

As a proud Salopian, the lack of direct London trains stings, but reading through ORR's reasoning, it has unquestionably made the right decision to reject the three WCML open access bids. Read the FULL story below.

In Virgin's response to the ORR WCML decision: “Anyone who remembers British Rail would rather forget it." I rather suspect a lot of people on here would disagree with that...

Andy Bowes-Roden = = ORR This is not the Virgin Rail that I worked for. A stupid thing to say. Virgin’s success in UK Rail was because it hired the best BR had to offer (Green ftaod) and turned them free to manage.

Our Railtalk in the current issue was rather prescient - click the link below or pick up your copy from all good newsagents today!

This is what proper journalism looks like. Non-sensationalist, focusing on the story and not treating readers like idiots. Good show, James and team.

Simon Wadsworth ( @[email protected] ) ORR No. And if more space comes available GBR should know how to use it

This from Simon Lightwood about SWR Help 701s...when discussing performance he may want to look at Roger Ford new train reliability figures for the EMUs in Modern Railways.

Back in May 2023, Newton Abbott MP Anne-Marie Morris warned of potential delays to completing #Dawlish works. She was rather prescient. modernrailways.com/article/major-…

Government pauses MML electrification, York and Peckham Rye upgrades and Dawlish resilience works - but provides £27m more for Portishead reopening: modernrailways.com/article/govern…

When Modern Railways Welsh correspondent asked Network Rail about this, they were told "they can't tell me anything about any of them because the schemes are funded for delivery next year and onwards."

Important to people of the South West? It's only our only railway to the outside world. We're not asking for 36tph between Plymouth and Exeter, or 125mph line speed or electrification. Just a reliable, resilient railway. Doesn't seem much to ask for. But apparently, it's too much

Andy Bowes-Roden = = Liam Heidi Alexander MP Remember the figure. £1bn for 50 days when the wall collapsed. Add inflation and that will increase. And a major cliff failure will cause untold delays and cancellations west of Exeter.

Great chatting to our friends at BBC Devon this morning about the bizarre decision to pause #Dawlish resilience works. Link here - at 07.10 in. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/li…