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Not that I can see. They look just as they've done for many years.

Nothing visibly wrong with it: it's exactly the same as all the rest of the platform, no barrier or demarcation of any kind. Anyone waiting there to board a train would have no clue they couldn't board there.

Of course, it's not the platforms which are short but the trains which are longer, but I get ahead of myself. Here are two similar things which puzzled me today. The first occurred on an 8-coach class 450 up train from Bracknell. Approaching Longcross the guard announced that anyone wishing to...

I'm reminded of the time thirty years or so ago when I worked for a major telecommunications company. We had a break in several 565Mb/s optical fibre cables (the cutting edge technology at the time) at Bescot. It transpired that they'd obviously been cut with the intention of doing the same...

I can't speak for the "late at night" part but I can assure you that it will happen again because it's happened many times before. I've lost count of the times I've had to drive to collect someone whom SWT had dumped at a station when there was a problem with the trains. And the lack of...

Other people are better qualified than I to comment on the technical aspects of this issue but I can say what I would do in the circumstances described by the OP, and that may help him decide what to do. Firstly I place myself in the OP's shoes. I was planning to travel to Oldfield Park so I...

Depends what you mean by "this", I guess. I was observing that in one thread a customer recounts his experience of being berated for not waiting for the guard to come to him, and in another thread a customer is being prosecuted for waiting for the guard to come to him. As I said, the customer -...

The railway needs to make up its mind. This thread is from someone who did exactly that and is being prosecuted for it. The customer is in a no-win situation.

It certainly does; in fact it requires it. The first step in the flowchart is "Is the route the shortest distance from the origin to the destination?", and "The shortest route is calculated by reference to the mileages shown in the National Rail Timetable...". It would certainly be odd if a...

Like it or not, electronic devices are a fact of modern life and while people should use them respectfully near others it's unrealistic to expect quiet on a transport system. Personally on a crowded railway I'd prefer more coaches that everyone can use (yes, this does mean removing first...

Which is why I put it in the forum subtitled "Discussion of any UK railway topic not covered elsewhere.". The reason why this matters is because it's likely - and I believe this thread amply proves - that a specialist forum about allocations and diagrams - whatever they are - is read by fewer...

I disagree: presenting false or misleading information to customers is a customer service issue, as is the disinterested member of staff and the fact that the problem has been there for at least two weeks. I'd mail SWT but I know from past experience that they don't even bother to reply to most...

That's exactly why I don't think my post should have been moved here. This is clearly a technical forum for discussions of timetabling and things I don't understand. I was making the point that a scheduled train, obviously running normally, did not appear on the screens at at least one of its...

This morning I planned to catch the 10:20 from Bracknell to Reading so I walked down to the station, checking RTT on the way, and watched the train making its way towards me. At Bracknell station I looked at the screens and was concerned that they said the next train to Reading was 10:50 :o. I...

While on the train to Oxford this morning I was thinking some more about this and the more I thought the more convinced I became that the customer is being ripped off in circumstances like this. Had I not taken advice from the experts on here I would simply have purchased two singles. As an...

Wow :). Who'd have thought that such a simple journey could result in so much discussion. Thanks, all. For my legs, I calculate a bit over four hours walk Oxford-Radley. Add in the train and walk to/from home each way and you get seven or eght hours. Then there's starting after 09:00 to get the...

Personally I find the loud, frequent, unnecessary automated announcements - which on SWT are also broadcast in the so-called quiet coach - and the equally unnecessary and near-interminable announcements of the guard much more annoying than the chatter of my fellow passengers. This seems to be...

That is very useful though as the endeavour of a private individual it doesn't negate the fact that the railway industry expects the customer to work it out for himself. It also interesting that in the example of BCE-MKC used above this tool gives the shortest route as via Richmond, Willesden...

The X39/40? Yes, I expect to make use of that. Thanks for the tips.

My apologies for adding to the confusion. Yes, That should be Radley-RDG-BCE. Different days, and more than two. I'm planning walking the Thames Path between Oxford and Reading and there are stations conveniently located along the way. I haven't yet finalised each section - hence the questions...