Further information now provided at the wiki page: https://www.reddit.com/r/uktrains/wiki/railway-staff-verification/

Hi all,
I’ve been building Train Times Live as a side project. It’s a live view of the whole network, aimed at people who like knowing what’s actually going on rather than just when the next train is.

What it does:
Live departures for any station, showing where each train has got to

Fleet tracking. Search for a train or a unit, see which units are working which services, and check the vehicle list and vehicle changes

Charters & specials, plus a feed of late-added schedules (diversions, extras, freight and ECS paths that missed the nightly timetable)

Daily performance. On-time %, ran-as-planned %, and operator and station breakdowns

Cancellations and reasons. Unexpected cancellations are listed with the delay attribution code, so you can see what’s behind them (and how many are still “not yet investigated”)

Possible network problems. Sections of the network that are losing the most time over the last few hours, which I think is a nice way to spot a developing problem

My photo of Transport for Wales Class 197/0e unit 197029 at Criccieth with a field/sea/castle view on Mon 28/9/26, on crew training run 3C04 1214 Pwllheli Station Sidings to Machynlleth.

1B09 London Paddington to Swansea

Diverted via Vale of Glamorgan line due to engineering works on the mainline between Cardiff and Bridgend

Hoping someone can help me with a ticket validity question which I’m struggling to find a confirmed answer. I have an anytime return from St Austell to Paddington (via any permitted route). For the return, I have been offered a lift to Bristol - would I be able to use the ticket and start the return at Temple Meads? Temple Meads is not a stop on any of the Paddington to St Austell trains today - thank you so much!

390009 is seen here with only the front carriage past the gloomy roof of London Euston.

People look back on the reign of the IC 125 with reverence, and it makes me wonder what trains in service right now will make future me say “woah, I was alive when that was in service”.

66689 in GBRF green

Hello rail enthusiasts!

Sorry for the stupid newbie question, is there a website that lets you search routes that are applicable only to your ticket type? For example I have a one month super off-peak return from Swindon to Gatwick, and it took me a while to figure out which return journeys my ticket was eligible for (I am a little slow).

To the lay person, the difference between off peak, super off peak, other ticket types and their specific weekend and weekday restrictions aren't always immediately clear.

It would be good to say "I'm travelling from X to Y and my ticket type is Z" does that exist?

Could also be useful if you've missed a train on a restricted ticket.

Thanks!

Expanding Stansted to replace Heathrow as the country's major hub airport makes a lot of sense to me. It would affect far fewer people with noise, would cost far less than the crazy Heathrow project which requires putting the M25 underground. The issue is it's lack of connectivity. If you had to build out the rail network from Stansted how would you do it? (N.b. Gatwick expansion is also possible but I think it's too far South to be the best national hub).

When I moved to the Stainmore area in 2022, I was suddenly very interested in the Stainmore railway.
A bit on the railway:
Officially: South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway (SD&LUR).
Route: roughly Barnard Castle → Stainmore Summit → Kirkby Stephen → Tebay, linking the North Eastern railway system with the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway.
Opened: 1861.
Main purpose: transporting minerals—particularly coke and iron ore—between the Durham coalfield and the iron industry around Furness/Barrow.
Stainmore Summit: about 1,370 ft (420 m) above sea level, making it the highest point reached by a standard-gauge railway in England at the time.
Engineering: the route involved severe gradients and spectacular viaducts, including Belah, Smardale Gill, Podgill and Merrygill.
Passenger services: the western section to Tebay ended in 1952; the remaining route closed to passengers in January 1962.

It’s always buggered me why this wasn’t one of the few that stayed open, thinking about it today, it could be a game changer from getting from the North West to the North East and cross county travel in general. Never say never to re-opening.

Food for thought video on a committee to reopen the line:
1) https://youtu.be/UMsHMuDfq6s?is=aToU9daMpGtOPiJo

Any more suggestions?

Anything I should delete?

Hi all,

I am taking an Avanti West Coast train to and from London in a couple of months and have a quick question about luggage sizes.

So I'm looking at a suitcase I like but it is six cm above the limit of 70cm. Will this matter? Or do Avanti strictly enforce their luggage size restrictions?