Is part of this the fact that most traffic signals and signage has now been outsourced. I notice locally that quite often signage for road works appears possibly days before work start, and maybe after completion.

So GasCo, TeleCo, LeccyCo, WaterCo etc etc etc dig up your road and then add a bit to your bill to cover the cost that the council is imposing on them.  Great idea!

I have noticed around here a tendency for those working on highways to leave traffic light controls on roads out of hours (or even during the day) when no works are in progress or any holes or similar are in the carriageway.

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06

17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury due 20:06 will be cancelled.
This is due to a fault on this train.

https://www.facebook.com/atrebatia.uk/posts/1979636445640158

I still like the name "Atrebatia"

Killer who stabbed grandmother at bus stop detained

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Anita Mukhey died after being stabbed at a north London bus stop

A killer with paranoid schizophrenia who stabbed a woman at a bus stop 18 times before "casually" walking away has been detained indefinitely.

Jala Debella, 24, attacked grandmother Anita Mukhey in front of horrified passers-by in north London in May 2024 with a hunting knife that had been delivered to his home about an hour before.

Addressing his remarks to an empty Old Bailey dock as Debella had been too unwell to stand trial for murder, Judge Philip Katz KC described the 66-year-old victim "as the heart of the family".

Debella was sentenced to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act with an accompanying restriction order - meaning he can be detained for the rest of his life.

During the trial of issue, the court heard Debella was obsessed with gory online videos and had been able to buy the knife over the internet, despite living in a residential home supporting people with mental health problems.

The weapon was delivered to his home in Colindale, north London, before he used it to stab Mukhey to death, an act which mirrored violence he had watched.

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Jala Debella will continue to live at a secure hospital in Merseyside

Mukhey's husband Hari said the grandmother-of-two was the "centre of our home".

"Her absence has left silence that nothing can fill."

He thanked "brave members of the public" who went to his wife's aid, but said the trial had forced him to confront "deeply troubling" facts about the psychological assessments of her killer.

The judge added: "She was a wife, mother and grandmother, stabbed to death by a complete stranger on a busy main road in north London."

In a statement issued after the jury found Debella committed the act of killing Mukhey, her family said: "The court has heard a man with a severe mental illness was known to services and assessed by consultant psychiatrists as psychologically stable and safe for the community.

"At the same time, he was engaging in escalating behaviour outside those assessments, including acquiring weapons and researching extreme violence - behaviour that ultimately mirrored the violence he later carried out. That disconnect is hard to accept. It raises serious questions about how risk is assessed, and about whether current models are equipped to detect danger that develops beyond the spoken words of the consulting room."

The family also questioned why Debella was able to purchase weapons online while living in a staffed and registered mental health rehabilitation home.

An inquest into Mukhey's death has been opened and adjourned.

Judge Katz said he did not express an opinion on the "safety of the regime" at the residential home but added: "No doubt others will consider it, hopefully soon."

Debella's medical consultant confirmed he had been detained under the Mental Health Act on at least three occasions before the attack. Debella will continue to be held at Ashworth High Security Hospital in Merseyside.

21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:09
21:45 Penzance to London Paddington due 05:09 will be cancelled.
This is due to forecasted severe weather.

23:45 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:54
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:54 will be cancelled.
This is due to forecasted severe weather.

That will be a rough trip on a wheelskate.

Yes, I too originally thought that 'permanent resiliance' meant the line being able to stay open, but it has been made clear that it meant that it was to make it resiliant to major damage leading to lengthy closures like we saw in 2014.

Temporary closure, in extreme weather like today, will still happen from time to time although the better protection should mean it doesn't happen so often.  Though to counter that the IET/Voyager fleet's own resiliance is poor as we know due to the roof mounted resistors.

The 'permanent resiliance' is about much more than just the immediate sea wall around Dawlish, with cliff strengthening works and a rock fall shelter to reduce the risk of and danger from landslip/cliff collapse.

"Predicted heavy and persistent rain in the south west, combined with gusts of up to 60mph in coastal areas during high tide, represents a significant risk of sea water breaching the Dawlish sea wall, and debris on the railway," it said.

17:05 Didcot Parkway to Evesham due 18:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

18:51 Evesham to Oxford due 19:50 will be cancelled.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

Recovery of the train tomorrow?

Mark

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:V75364/2026-01-24/detailed

Pathed as Class 80x on diesel
Planned for 125mph max

Recovery of the train tomorrow?

Mark

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:V75364/2026-01-24/detailed

Reported as 175101