Firefighters are tackling a major fire at Paignton railway station, with train services cancelled and roads closed across the town centre.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service was called to the station at about 05:45 BST, and seven fire crews are currently tackling the blaze.

Great Western Railway said the line was blocked due to the fire, and passengers should expect disruption to services.
The operator said trains had been cancelled or suspended between Newton Abbot and Paignton. It added Torre, Torquay and Paignton stations would not be served and that the disruption was expected to continue until at least 14:00 BST.

A marmoset monkey has been rescued by animal welfare officers after being found abandoned inside a laundry bag on a bus in north-west London.

The female primate was discovered by a driver on the route 302 bus when it arrived at Kensal Rise on Friday morning, the RSPCA said.

Saturday to Friday:
No trains will run between Bedwyn and Pewsey / Westbury.
Long distance trains between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids / Paignton / Plymouth / Penzance will be diverted, and will either run via:
Bristol Temple Meads (calling to drop off only when running towards London Paddington, and picking up only when running from London Paddington)
Chippenham (some trains will additionally call at Swindon, Westbury and Castle Cary)
No trains will run to / from Pewsey. Replacement buses will run direct between Swindon and Pewsey.
Trains will continue to run between Reading and Bedwyn.
Some trains between Swindon and Westbury will be retimed to run up to 23 minutes earlier or later than usual, in order to accommodate the diverted services.
Monday to Friday:
An amended train service will run during morning / evening peak times between London Paddington and Newbury / Bedwyn.
Due to diversions, the vast majority of local trains between Swindon and Westbury will not run and will be replaced by road transport between Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury.
However, the 17:36 Swindon to Westbury and 07:45 (amended to depart at 07:52) Westbury to Swindon trains will run.
At Trowbridge, buses towards Westbury will drop off only, and buses from Westbury will pick up only.

Saturday to Friday:
No trains will run between Bedwyn and Pewsey / Westbury.
Long distance trains between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids / Paignton / Plymouth / Penzance will be diverted, and will either run via:
Bristol Temple Meads (calling to drop off only when running towards London Paddington, and picking up only when running from London Paddington)
Chippenham (some trains will additionally call at Swindon, Westbury and Castle Cary)
No trains will run to / from Pewsey. Replacement buses will run direct between Swindon and Pewsey.
Trains will continue to run between Reading and Bedwyn.
Some trains between Swindon and Westbury will be retimed to run up to 23 minutes earlier or later than usual, in order to accommodate the diverted services.

Monday to Friday:
An amended train service will run during morning / evening peak times between London Paddington and Newbury / Bedwyn.
Due to diversions, the vast majority of local trains between Swindon and Westbury will not run and will be replaced by road transport between Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury.
However, the 17:36 Swindon to Westbury and 07:45 (amended to depart at 07:52) Westbury to Swindon trains will run.
At Trowbridge, buses towards Westbury will drop off only, and buses from Westbury will pick up only.

Swindon and Cricklade Railway has said its Diesel Service to Farfield Lane could not go ahead on Sunday.

The company has said the “reduced service” took place, due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

"The Diesel Service to Farfield lane has been cancelled.

“A replacement Wickham Trolley service will be departing from Blunsdon and making regular trips to Swindon Mouldon Hill only. The TASC will also be available for rides."

We are sorry about this train being delayed.  This is because the train is late

But it is dark, so pictures from our base for the next couple of days will have to wait until the morning.

I asked Ministers why so many trains due to reach Cheltenham are instead terminating at Gloucester. After hearing concerns from local people, I’d already found out the facts from Ministers, which reveal a significant number of trains bound for our town don’t make it as far as Cheltenham Spa station.

Regular travellers on this route are all too aware of the frustrating turnaround time at Gloucester, but being ejected from the train entirely and told to wait for the next service or take a taxi is even worse.

While the Minister could not give me an immediate answer, I will be following up with the Department to find out what is going wrong and how it can be fixed.

Security guard, 26, falls from 75mph train in Germany after 'brutal' attack by passenger during ticket check

A security guard has suffered serious injuries after he was allegedly "brutally" attacked by a passenger on a train during a ticket check.

The incident involved a 26-year-old man who fell from a train travelling at 120km/h (75mph), resulting in severe head injuries. The attack took place when the rail worker fell against a train door during a physical altercation with a 36-year-old passenger, Bild reports.

The incident took place near Ettlingen-Bruchhausen in the west of Germany on a regional train operated by Deutsche Bahn, the country's national rail company. The train was travelling between Offenburg to Karlsruhe when the fight occurred on Friday evening.

The altercation reportedly started after the passenger, a German national, was asked for his ticket. A verbal argument then started, which resulted in two security guards being called to assist the ticket inspectors.

A physical fight then occurred between the passenger, who was allegedly drunk, and the 26-year-old Bulgarian security guard, who fell through a door which opened when he was pushed into it. The security guard was pushed with such force against the door that a section of the entrance steps allegedly broke off.

It is understood that train drivers are normally notified when a door has opened while the train is running, immediately triggering an emergency stop. This is not believed to have happened on Friday.

An investigation has now been launched into the incident, which is being treated as high priority. The 36-year-old suspect was arrested onboard and charged, but it is unclear on suspicion of what offences.

The security worker was found by emergency services near the tracks, about 1.25miles from where the train eventually stopped. A similar incident took place in February, when a train conductor died after an attack by a fare evading passenger in Rhineland-Palatinate, also in western Germany.

The 26-year-old perpetrator was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter.

Intercity rail travellers face potential disruption this summer across Great Britain’s three north-south mainlines, with drivers voting on strike action on two lines and timetables slashed on the other owing to malfunctioning trains.

East Midlands Railway announced it will cancel hundreds of services in the coming weeks from its intercity timetable on the Midland mainline, because of continued problems with its fleet of Hitachi trains.

The train drivers’ union Aslef has called a strike ballot on LNER, which runs trains between London and Scotland, after a pay deal fell through. Drivers are already voting whether to strike over pay at Avanti West Coast.

EMR is cancelling about 20 fast trains a day between London, Sheffield and Nottingham, while others will also be short-formed and are likely to be crowded. Its new class 810 fleet, previously labelled Auroras when their launch was heralded less than a year ago, have suffered from what EMR has called “performance and reliability issues”.

The operator also criticised Hitachi’s maintenance of the existing fleet that the Auroras were due to replace, the class 222 trains, which it said had “significantly impacted upon EMR’s ability to run a consistent intercity service”.

Will Rogers, the managing director of EMR, said: “The performance of the class 810 fleet has fallen below the levels we and our customers expect, and it is necessary to introduce a temporary reduced timetable while we work with the manufacturer, Hitachi Rail, to improve consistency in service.

“We are sorry for the significant disruption and inconvenience these issues have caused our customers, and we are committed to restoring the reliable service they rightly expect.”

A Hitachi Rail spokesperson said it continued to “work closely with all industry partners ... implementing improvements and supporting the transition”.

The bi-mode trains, which run on diesel and electricity, have been introduced into service this year after a three-year delay.

Investigations into the fatal Bedford rail crash last month are still trying to ascertain what caused one of EMR’s new Aurora trains to stop on the mainline, apparently due to a fault with the automatic warning system, before being struck by another EMR train that had passed a red light.

Train drivers on the two other intercity mainlines running north from London could all be on strike by late August, after Aslef called a ballot on LNER on Friday.

Dave Calfe, the union’s general secretary, said: “The company’s failure to make a suitable offer is unacceptable and that’s why we are balloting our members for industrial action.”

The union said the Department for Transport had refused to sign off a pay deal agreed at the state-owned East Coast operator.

A DfT spokesperson said: “We have given LNER approval for a fair and affordable deal. We know how frustrating disruption can be for passengers and strongly encourage the union to continue engaging constructively with LNER to reach a solution.”

Two weeks ago Aslef announced a similar vote at Avanti West Coast over frustrated pay negotiations. The union has not renewed a rest-day working agreement, leading to some cancellations.

There is a large gap on school day afternoons from Truro though.
This should help out while the trains are unreliable.

Ryanair profits drop as Iran war puts off passengers and lifts fuel costs

Ryanair's profits have fallen sharply as war in the Middle East sent jet fuel prices soaring and customers reluctant to book flights.

The Irish airline's pre-tax profits dropped 34% to €593m (£503m) between April and June while sales were flat as the company was forced to cut fares to stimulate demand.

Ryanair also said it expects summer fares to be slightly lower than last year due to "consumer hesitancy" around air travel.

The price of fuelling a plane has jumped since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February and while Ryanair said it had "hedged" or struck deals for the most future fuel costs, those not included in these arrangements had more than doubled.

Crude oil prices hit $90 (£67) a barrel for the first time in a month on Monday, before falling back slightly, after a weekend of intense exchanges of fire between the US and Iran.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — an essential route for global oil and gas supplies — has ground to a halt.

An interim peace deal last month brought some respite to oil and energy prices, but they spiked again as negotiations broke down and fighting resumed.

The airline warned that its results for the year will be "highly sensitive" to external factors such as conflict escalation in the Middle East and Ukraine as well as the price of unhedged jet fuel.

Fares for for the key summer period between July and September are on track to be "modestly" lower than last year, with many passengers booking closer to departure than normal.

The firm's finance chief, Neil Sorahan, said flights on its popular Mediterranean routes were still full. "People [are] as keen to get away as ever, albeit booking just a little bit later," he said.

Between April and June, Ryanair's revenue ticked up 1% to €4.4bn.

While passenger numbers rose 6% to 6.1 million- helped by the Easter holiday in April - fares fell by 6% as the airline reduced fares to entice flyers concerned about the Iran war.

Ryanair's share price fell 5% on Monday.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Ryanair was in a better position than many of its rivals, but nonetheless "visibility is worse than San Francisco airport when the fog sets in".

"The renewed escalation in hostilities in the Middle East is unhelpful and without a lasting resolution, challenging times for the airline and travel space look set to continue."

That's a fair point, perhaps everyone should get more than one chance to reach their full potential when it comes to a political career, irrespective of previous dishonest behaviour.

Take Peter Mandelson for example.

Had problems on Saturday, wonderful new tickets didn't scan at Reading, didn't scan at Southampton, didn't scan at any of the checks. Helpful train manger on Cross Country said to tell Reading these tickets don't work if you are trying to save printer ink, stick a new cartridge in.

Not entirely sure of the benefit of the new tickets, the ticket checking device just shows a picture of the old style ticket for checking!

Loved the O gauge layout for signal training in the Longmoor box.
(Was it the Longmoor box, or was there another box at Longmoor station as well)?

There are some easements (Section E) that specifically mention Tackley and a Routing Point easement which came into force last month;