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1  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: Warnings of snow, wind and rain across the UK for New Year on: January 07, 2025, 08:18:31

One has to ask how did the drivers even manage to get to the depot if it was unsafe?
Are the union going to ask each council/company to clear all paths/roads of snow before drivers can leave their house?
2  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Shortage of train crews on Great Western Railway - ongoing discussion on: December 20, 2024, 11:01:53
According to the Oxford Clarion: https://bsky.app/profile/oxfordclarion.bsky.social/post/3ldq7suc7hc2n
"A last-minute pay deal has averted collapse of GWR (Great Western Railway)’s service this Sunday (22nd) and next (29th), but widespread cancellations are still expected.
GWR has agreed to pay drivers and guards double rate.
The company does not have enough staff to run a full Sunday service without overtime."
3  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: AQ15 - Shredded timetables on: December 15, 2024, 21:52:58
I thought this was going to be a quiz about current GWR (Great Western Railway) Sunday timetables Smiley
4  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: AQ11 - trivia questions in our region on: December 11, 2024, 11:55:53
**Three GWR (Great Western Railway) stations which - though not terminii - you can only leave in one direction on a passenger train:

Banbury, Basingstoke and Gatwick Airport. - Although I guess technically they are not GWR stations but stations GWR use and you can leave them in other directions with other TOC (Train Operating Company)'s. Maybe need to think again Wink

Ah, shows the great danger of trying to write quiz questions.   All three of these you can leave from either end of the station having got on to a passenger train / agreed that the dark green GWR things only go from one end, but there are other train operators around ;-)

Reading the question back, I was looking in our region - to avoid answers such as "Fort William".

2nd attempt - Coombe Junction Halt, Bere Alston, Okehampton. Is Okehampton a terminus and if it isn't what about Carmarthen? Maybe i am thinking to hard  Smiley
5  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: AQ11 - trivia questions in our region on: December 11, 2024, 08:36:17
**Three GWR (Great Western Railway) stations which - though not terminii - you can only leave in one direction on a passenger train:

Banbury, Basingstoke and Gatwick Airport. - Although I guess technically they are not GWR stations but stations GWR use and you can leave them in other directions with other TOC (Train Operating Company)'s. Maybe need to think again Wink
6  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: First Group has acquired Union Trains GWML Holdings Ltd. on: December 06, 2024, 14:06:06
First Group has signed a 10 year lease for 14 5-car trains from Hitachi, these are a mixture of electric, battery electric and bi-mode.

These are for London - Carmarthen, Hull Trains and Lumo.

No 7 or 9 car trains, so unless these are running as 2 x 5 car trains; more short trains taking up valuable paths.
7  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: First Group has acquired Union Trains GWML Holdings Ltd. on: December 06, 2024, 09:26:07
I am not yet convinced that Open Access operators are beneficial:
1)   They do not cover the full costs of their services; their track access charges are lower than those of a Train Operating Company (TOC (Train Operating Company)).

2)   They cherry-pick routes. If that is not the case, why do all Open Access (OA) operators only run fast services to London?
There are no commuter or cross-country services (e.g., Liverpool – Newcastle, Leicester - Manchester, Birmingham – Portsmouth).

3)   Open Access reminds me of the early days of bus deregulation, where multiple operators offered cheap fares on the busiest routes.
It was great at the time but disastrous in the long term.

4)   The purpose of Great British Railways (GBR (Great British Railways)) is to simplify the railway structure and reunite train and track operations. Open Access separates them out again.

5)   Another reason for GBR is fare simplification, but Open Access complicates the fare structure.

6)   The presence of Open Access operators with contracted paths makes changing timetables difficult, as the East Coast Main Line (ECML (East Coast Main Line)) is currently experiencing, and they occupy valuable paths with short trains.

7)   Are there enough paths between Reading and London for all these services? If not, which services will be cut?

8 )   Passengers from intermediate stations, where these trains won’t stop, will receive a poorer service.

9)   Will non-Open Access fares (and especially those on routes where OA doesn’t run services) have to increase to cover the revenue loss to Open Access?

10)   It would be ironic that GWR (Great Western Railway) would have drivers working on a Sunday with Lumo that they have single-handedly failed to manage over the last 20+ years with GWR.
8  Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: AQ06 - Not where, but when? on: December 06, 2024, 08:15:05
3. 1840.
9  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Shortage of 165 stock - 5/12/2024 on: December 05, 2024, 15:07:25
And not surprisingly more cancellations this evening:
1534 Oxford  - Didcot
1635 Oxford - Didcot
1607 Didcot - Oxford
1704 Didcot - Moreton in Marsh



10  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Shortage of 165 stock - 5/12/2024 on: December 05, 2024, 11:35:23
Looks like there as a shortage of suitable stock this morning as the following trains were cancelled:

0758 Oxford Didcot (from Banbury)
0834 Didcot Banbury
0700 Worcester to Didcot
0910 Didcot Oxford
0904 Oxford Didcot (from Banbury)
0938 Didcot Oxford
0934 Oxford Didcot

These are all 165 worked, hopefully the introduction of class 175 to the west will allow more 165/166 to move back to Reading.
Failing that can Chiltern loan GWR (Great Western Railway) a 165 (or take over the Didcot - Oxford service  Smiley) maybe this will be possible once GBR (Great British Railways) is up and running Grin
11  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / First Group has acquired Union Trains GWML Holdings Ltd. on: December 05, 2024, 09:52:01
First Group has acquired Union Trains GWML (Great Western Main Line) Holdings Ltd.

The planned Paddington - Carmarthen trains will run from Dec 2027 under the Lumo brand.

They have also requested 5 Paddington - Paignton paths and 1 Paddington - Highbridge and Burnham paths.

I am not sure that Open Access operators can easily co-exist with GBR (Great British Railways), and are they just cherry picking?
12  Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Oxford station - facilities, improvements, parking, incidents and events - merged posts on: November 29, 2024, 15:30:08
The footbridge across Botley Road that links the car park to the station is being removed over the weekend of 7th and 8th December.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/24759905.botley-road-footbridge-will-removed-weekend/

Do we know whether there is a replacement in the plans?

13  All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: De-icer and empty trains to tackle snow disruption, North West England - November 2024 on: November 21, 2024, 08:52:27
Talking of snow, but in the South West:

Due to heavy snow between Crediton and Okehampton the line is blocked. Disruption is expected until 10:45 21/11.
Impact:
Train services between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton via Crediton will be cancelled.
Customer Advice:
-
We are sorry for the disruption to your journey this morning.
-
Heavy snow fall in the area between Crediton and Okehampton means we are currently unable to run trains along the line to Okehampton.
-
You are advised not to attempt to travel along this route at this time. The snow is also affecting the roads in the area and we are currently unable to provide replacement road transport.
-
We will update this message with more information when we have it.
14  Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Extra trains between Bristol and Bath for Bath Christmas Market this year? on: November 20, 2024, 13:04:24
I will be very inserted to see how the Westbury - Swindon service fares

You *really* need to turn your predictive text off you know! Cool Roll Eyes
Surely the predictive text on Grahame's phone would be saying 'Not very well'  Smiley
15  All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: How would you like GWR to handle their inability to crew all trains timetabled? on: November 17, 2024, 16:48:26
The concern is is that they don't appear to be doing anything, the management need to do some managing.

The following was a conversation I had today: my other half planned to catch a train to Oxford (from Didcot) tonight. Her friend had checked the train schedules earlier in the week and found no issues. Aware of the notoriously poor Sunday service, I suggested she check the current schedule, and, unsurprisingly, she had not. Upon checking, we found that there are no trains returning from Oxford after 21:30, with only replacement bus services at 23:05 and 00:05. The last train is too early and the bus services are too late (and take too long). Had I not prompted her to check, she would likely have been stranded in Oxford for an extended period (or more likely, she would have called me to pick her up). As a result, she opted to travel by car, representing a loss of revenue for the railway.

<Rant on>
Given the above why would anybody choose to travel by train, if the management and employees don't seem to sort out this issue?
Why don't the management, staff, and unions come together to at least reach a temporary agreement?
Is the railway industry the most inept industry at undermining itself?
<Rant off>
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