Mastodawn

@bovine3dom @DefinitelyNotRabbit @HaTetsu

Really appreciate the context from people who know the history and the engineering challenges, especially @anachrocomputer and @mgleadow. It sounds like this stretch of railway has been fighting the landscape for more than a century, and the landscape keeps winning.

I suppose the uncomfortable truth is that some of these problems are genuinely hard to fix, at least without the sort of investment and long-term national planning that we are nowhere near committing to. Until then, maybe the answer is a cultural shift rather than just an engineering one.

If the climate is becoming more volatile and parts of the network sit in places that want to flood, perhaps we need to work with nature rather than pretend we can always outrun it. Build more flexibility into how we travel. Slow down a bit. Accept that weather can disrupt rigid timetables in the same way that seasons shape what food is available.

It is not the answer any of us want when we are standing on a platform watching yet another cancellation board update. But the comments here have made it clear why "just improve the drainage" is not the simple fix it sounds like, and why our expectations might need to change along with the climate.

#RailUK #ClimateResilience #StormClaudia #GWR #PublicTransport #GWML #SlowTravel

Edward Betts Nov 15

Storm Claudia is causing huge disruption across the rail network again. There are no trains at all between Bristol and London on the Great Western Mainline because the tracks keep flooding. It is 2025, surely we can do better than this?

We rely on these routes, yet every spell of heavy rain brings the same story: tracks underwater, services cancelled, long detours, and no clear sense of when things will be back to normal. With extreme weather becoming more frequent, better drainage and proper climate resilience work on key routes should not be optional.

If we want people to choose trains over cars, the network needs to be reliable even when it is wet, which in the UK is most of the year.

#StormClaudia #UKWeather #GWR #RailUK #GreatWesternMainline #ClimateResilience #Flooding #Bristol #PublicTransport

Tree Hugger 🌳 🌍 💙 🇬🇧Feb 16, 2025

BBC News - Adventurous cat takes train into London
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce85xjnn7nko

Off Peak Single Cat Ticket

#railuk

Surrey: Adventurous cat takes train into London from Weybridge

Tilly's owner says she has also gone to a school and a pub in Weybridge in the past.

Ian Stronge Nov 27, 2023

#NorworkRail
More #engineering #selfharm #RailUK

Ian Stronge Sep 18, 2023

#railUK #SouthEasternRail
'Controversial #RailTicketOfficeClosures proposed elsewhere in England have in effect already happened across much of Southeastern. Yet staff haven’t been moved elsewhere as the Transport Minister claims will happen. At Southeastern there’s simply no staff at many stations all day...It costs revenue as it’s pretty much a free railway Why pay? Most stations have no staff and all Metro trains have no passenger-facing staff on board'
https://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk/2023/09/18/tory-mp-celebrates-almost-complete-failure-to-restore-southeastern-cuts-by-government/

Tory MP celebrates almost complete failure to restore Southeastern cuts by government - Murky Depths

The MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup Louie French has today celebrated an almost complete failure to restore rail services recently cut

Murky Depths

Erin PDX/Roma

Jan 2, 2023

#PhotoOfDay: Glenfinnan Viaduct, #ScottishHighlands. Riding the Jacobite¹ steamer from Ft William to Mallaig was a stunning, memorable experience. The days we rode was the last day of its 2018 season.

¹ the train made famous as the Hogwarts Express in the #harrypotter movies.

#Scotland #railuk #traintravel #railtravel #steamengine #trains #travelwithme #photography #photographoftheday #art #nature #photoamateurs #Europe #uk #travel #adventure
#travelphotography #glenfinnan #inverness #potd