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    Swansea Speed Record

    This thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/fastest-time-record-between-london-and-newcatsle.249514/ tells of a 2½ hour journey from London to Newcastle. The fastest trains on the 165 mile Swansea - Paddington route are about 2¾, could that be shaved down to 2½ with the current...
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    Should Transport North East take over the Northern franchise in the North East?

    Northern Spirit TOC seemed to do pretty much what you want around the millenium, but with some long distance services thrown in. First North Western did the same on the other side of the pennines. The railway was a different place in the post privatisation days, but once the long distance...
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    Station Name-boards

    I think a line needs to be drawn between the romanticism of of a rail journey, with trains sweeping through stations and ideally pulled by something designed by Gresley or Stanier and the practical operation of the 21st century railway. The 'needs' listed by OP apply to a limited number of...
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    Overcrowding due to parsemonious rolling stock policy.

    I can understand why OP is fustrated but the fact that trains are running at 100% (100+?) capacity means that the TOC, and therefore taxpayer, are sweating the stock to best advantage.
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    Voyager Capacity

    It is widely commented that XC Voyagers do not have as good capacity as other similar trains. Living in part of the country that doesn't see 'em, why is this? Any why has nothing been done? With one or two AWC seets possibly going for scrap, could seats from them be transferred? I'm...
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    How is it decided which TOC manages a station and is there any benefit in it for them?

    I guess similar reasons apply to Swansea High St which was GWT but is now TfW GWT had drivers, guards and catering crew based at the station so must have had a much larger presence than (the then) Arriva.
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    Things you don't see in trains any longer

    On the GW HSTs it was FO and buffet car, but I can't remember if it was specific types of vehicle. I do remember the 'phonecards' were £4 each which got you next to no time - in the early 90s that was a lot of money!
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    Things you don't see in trains any longer

    I know some GW HSTs also had them at the 'standard' end of the buffet counter
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    Rail Network for the North

    With Northern already being in the OLR club, and Transpennine Express touted as it's latest member, would there be any benefits in TPE being absorbed into Northern? A sort of North British Rail ;0
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    Catering Crew accomodation - Bristol

    In the early 1990s the 1st floor premises between platforms 5 and 7 at Bristol Temple Meads were refurbished and split with Guards occupying one half and catering crew the other. I remember talk that these premises had been previously (originally?) used by (female?) catering staff overnight...
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    Examples of bad design

    By 'standardize', I assume you mean 'make all the same'? That was the idea, even Apple sort of agreed on USB, but USB has had to change as phones got thinner and our expectations got bigger. If USB stays where it is now, it will seem pathetic in 5 years time.
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    Bristol Temple Meads Fasts

    Would running trains Paddington - Reading - Swindon - Bath - Bristol, missing out Didcot and Chippenham make a significant difference to journey times into Bristol Temple Meads? Also, is Chippenham really an intercity station, or would it be better served by enhanced local services? I'm not...
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    Radical ideas to revolutionise a broken NHS. Your thoughts?

    I think medical students (nurses/doctors etc) should pay for their tuition via student loans, but: After X years qualified working in the NHS, their student loan is wiped; and Time spent 'in training' but actually providing NHS care should be paid at an appropriate rate Pro-rata, there are...
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    Bristol Parkway to be rebuilt.

    I worked occassionally in the Parkway Mk1 towards the end of my railway career, to have a PW3 makes me realise how much has changed since I left.
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    Creating cheap healthy meals.

    Just a personal thing, I don't have much freezer space and, being a fussy bu99er, don't like eating the same thing too often (which I would because I wouldn't have freezer space for much choice)
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    Mark Harper will be on Laura Kuenssberg's programme today (27/11/2022 BBC1 09:00)

    12 paychecks @ 4% over current, then 12 paychecks at 8.16 over current.
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    Mark Harper will be on Laura Kuenssberg's programme today (27/11/2022 BBC1 09:00)

    Which is equivalent over 2 years of 6.08% this year and no increase next year.
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    Creating cheap healthy meals.

    I've found a number of un-fussy cheap recipies on the BBC website but, they are 4 servings and a) theres only 1 of me and b) while I will freeze food, I don't like it. How viable is it to halve the quantities - is there a general rule for adjusting cooking times? Example...
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    Potential Grand Union stock?

    I'd go for meridians as XC already have 220 and 221 so it would make sense for them to have the AWC stock, not introduce set length confusion. If DfT doesn'y approve the AWC stock, theyre unlikely to approve 222s unless the rosco give them away. So, to me, it sounds like 222s for GU
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    Things the younger generation wouldn’t believe when you were a kid

    As a teen I worked in a travel agency selling rail tickets - that would have been mid 1980s

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