Great Western Coffee Shop

I borrowed a few of my dads old timetables, as I thought it's be interesting to compare how the daily service on certain routes has developed (for better or worse) over the years.  The earliest he has is 1975 (he used to have loads more, but sadly chucked them out when downsizing house!), and then I also borrowed 1983, 1990, 1995, 1998 and 2005.  Along with electronic versions of 2009 and 2012 that should give a nice spread of dates.

I've done a couple of smaller stations based on their services to where most people would want to go and compared the total number of daily weekday departures, with the total number of services a week (i.e. including Saturday and Sunday services).  Bearing in mind the timetables are unedited (he didn't keep the supplements!) then there may be the odd mistake, but hopefully the results are pretty accurate. 

The first two stations I've chosen are Melksham (to please Graham!) and Tackley.

Let me know if you'd like me to do YOUR local station - all I ask is that it's not a station with literally hundreds of trains a day, or I might get bored counting them!

Melksham is interesting because it shows what a rollercoaster of services have operated since the mid-70s, from no station, to the odd train, to a quite reasonable service, and back to the odd train.  Hopefully it will return to 'quite reasonable' in the very near future!

Tackley is interesting because despite being a fairly small village, it stayed open post-Beeching due to the lack of a suitable bus service when many larger stations/routes closed.  From a very skeleton service back in 1975, the service has slowly built up over the years and despite its size now boasts a pretty reasonable service.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8144993667_e847ffb78b_b.jpg)

Thanks very much for that fascinating comparison, II.  :)

Just one thing I'm a bit confused about: for Tackley in 2012, "Ten trains on Saturdays, three on Sundays (weekdays only)" ??  Do you mean 'summer only'?

Yes, sorry, my usual 'one typo per document' rule!  I've now corrected it.  :-\

Bracknell to London Waterloo might be interesting.  Unless my memory is playing tricks there was in the 80s four services an hour from Reading to London Waterloo - two ran fast Reading to Wokingham and two called all stations.  I assume the two fast trains were replaced by Gatwick/Guildford services - which meant the overall number stayed the same at Wokingham, but Bracknell lost out.

Fascinating!

Back to March 1967 to May 1968

Tackley to Oxford - 9 (M-F) 9 (Sat) 0 (Sun) - total 54
Melksham to Swindon - total 0

And July 1922

Tackley to Oxford - total 0 (no such station!)
Melksham to Swindon - 11 (Mon to Weds, Fri, Sat), 12 (Thurs), 2 (Sun) - total 69
Some - change at Chippenham

and December 1895

Tackley to Oxford - total 0 (no such station!)
Melksham to Swindon - 7 (Mon to Sat), 1 (Sun) - total 43

I would be VERY interesting in ...
... Chippenham to Swindon
... Warminster to Bath
... Pewsey to Paddington
and happy to help with the older stuff such as ...

Pewsey
1895 6 (weekday), 2 (sunday), total 38
1922 6 (weekday), 2 (sunday), total 38 (yes, identical numbers)
1967 2 (weekday), 1 (sunday), total 13
Current 9 (M-F), 5 (Sat), 5 (Sun), total 55

1922 ... Chippenham to(wards) Swindon

15 T, W, S
16 M, Th, F
4 Su

97 trains

1967 ... Chippenham to(wards) Swindon

14 (Monday)
12 (Tuesday to Friday)
11 (Winter Sat)
14 (Summer Sat)
9 (Winter Sun)
11 (Summer Sun)

82 in Winter
87 in Summer

Current ...

35 (Monday to Friday) ; 34 in summer
33 (Saturday)
25 (Some Sundays)
20 and 2 buses (some other Sundays)

233 (max)
223 (min)

I had better look at something else - I could get hooked on this ...

Furze Platt much the same, the up and down departure times have changed to suit the time table changes at Maidenhead, biggest change was in 1970 when the line closed between Bourne End and High Wycombe

I collated a few Barnstaple to Exeter timetables (including the first one from 1854) here: http://ndrailusers.wikispaces.com/History+Index

The Winter 1980 one was a bit depressing!

Here's the stats for Bracknell and Furze Platt.

The startling thing about Bracknell is the general slowing down of services, with some trains 20 minutes slower than they were in the early 70s.  As 'bobm' says, there was a time when there were 4 trains an hour (and also a period while there were 3), but you'd have to say that, Sunday's aside, the service in terms of frequency and journey time is probably the worst it's been since 1973!

Furze Platt on the other hand has seen a gradual increase in services over the years.  Growing from 18 to 24 trains each weekday, with Saturdays staying largely the same and Sundays improving dramatically from no trains in the 70s and 80s, to 15 today.  The number of through trains to and from Paddington has largely stayed the same, though they appear to have disappeared for a few years around 1990.

I'll get round to Chippenham, Warminster and Pewsey shortly...


(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8049/8147694557_cb113a9e57_b.jpg)

Thanks for that - I hadn't appreciated the slowing down of the service from Bracknell as well as the lower frequency.  I must admit I don't remember the three trains an hour - and it was only three years ago!!

According to the timetable they were at 02, 16, and 32 mins past the hour from 10am to 3pm.  Back to 2tph after 3pm.  Back in 1974 the 42 minute trains only stopped at Ascot and Staines, whereas now there are over ten stops!

Prior to the big re-write of the timetable in Dec 2004, IIRC two of the four Reading tph ran via the Hounslow loop.  These two were effectively cut back to Virginia Water and joined with what was previously a Weybridge to Staines 2 tph shuttle - so presumably there was no reduction of the service inbound from Staines, but a major rationalisation of conflicting services on the short stretch between Virginia Water and Staines was possible.

As was said at the time, the SWT timetable prior to Dec 2004 apparently didn't actually work, and the effect of the changes was supposedly to make the timetable more reliable than it had ever been.  Perhaps 4 tph to Reading was seen as overprovision - if it wasn't an evenly timed or spaced 4 tph (across the standard hour) it wouldn't really be considered a 4 tph service by end to end passengers anyway.

Paul

Here you go, Graham.  Again it's a story of steady increases in the number of trains, which in some cases is quite staggering.  Take Warminster to Bath Spa, when back in 1974 there were only 7 trains each weekday.  Just one train got to Bath and Bristol by 9am, now there are three direct options and a fourth early train if you change at Westbury.  The service on Sundays has virtually quadrupled, though even now there's only the one departure in the morning and not until 10:50am.  Still, that's better than the 1:16pm first departure offered back in 1974.  Miss that and you were waiting until gone 4pm for a second train!

Similar improvements in total number of direct trains on the other two routes.  Chippenham to Swindon is down slightly from the TransWilts heyday when additional trains boosted the total number of weekday services to 39, but are still double the number that ran up until the late 1980s.

Pewsey's service has also doubled in that time, and there are now sensible Sunday options which wasn't the case until the end of the 90s.

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7261/8155742185_6d0c9b9ae5_b.jpg)

Taplow has been up and down.

1972 2 years before becoming a regular commuter. still 117s thrashing their way up and down but Taplow served by the Reading semis. So around 40 minutes to Padd.

Then came the 165s of the X65s another of Chris Green's achievements, if you ignore the drafts, although 166s a bit of disaster with A/C.

I used to catch the 07:23 due Padd 07:53 stops at Burnham Slough Hayes Ealing Broadway timed 7 monutes from Ealing to Padd 07:46 to 07:53. just nice time to get teh 08:00 Hammersmith from 14.

Since then peak service has got considerably slower with most trains up and down being virtually all stations to Southall and Ealing making the run slower than the 117s. We now have back a regular 30 minute service off peak after a number of years of only hourly. In the down direction off peak and evenings (although watch engineering work later) it's worth catching the fast Oxfords and connecting at Slough into the stopper, unless there's disruption.
   
We've lost our Sunday service a long time ago and don't look like getting it back until Crossrail in 2019 when although it will be electric it will be an all stations servcie so not any faster to Padd. This is due to teh Sunday two track railway although with a bit more acceleration and heavier braking there's ample time for stop on the Burnham trains.

Reading direction slightly longer journey times.

I suppose the best sevice we had was with the Turbos before Ladboke Grove when they were driven briskley. SN 114 to Line 4 at 70 mph with a Grenford coming down Line 3 to Down Relief in parrallel.

That is fantastically useful ... helps me work things out for a couple of presentations that are coming up  :D

Here's another couple of journeys.

Bicester to Marylebone
If ever there was a route that's been transformed since the early 70s it's this one.  From a downgrade in the Beeching era from main line to/from Paddington and the Midlands, the service was terrible until the Chiltern Line Total Route Modernisation got rid of old signalboxes replaced by Marylebone IECC and also the clunky old Class 115 DMU's that worked most of the trains were replaced by modern Class 165 Turbos.  That had started to impact on the number and speed of trains from the early 90s. 

Post-privatisation, Chiltern Railways have steadily improved the infrastructure further, completing the redoubling of Princes Risborough to Bicester North in the late 90s, and Bicester North to Ayhno Junction in 2001.  New 100mph Class 168s helped reduce journey times.  A further infrastructure project completed late in 2011 improved linespeeds to 90-100mph for much of the route and with increases in speeds at various junctions on the route has paved the way to today's service, which, once again makes it a main line route.

Total number of trains has increased five-fold in the last 30 years and the fastest journey time has shrunk from 72 to 47 minutes.  Sundays have seen a total transformation with more than six times the number of trains.  Back in 1974 there was an 11:22 and 15:12 train and nothing else leaving before 7pm.  Instead of those two trains, there are now thirty-two in the same space of time!

Moreton-In-Marsh to Oxford
A less dramatic increase in services, but a steady one nonetheless.  From a low of ten trains back in 1974, there are now double that per day.  Eighteen of which are through trains to Paddington, the majority operated by HST or Class 180s.  Back in 1983 there were just two through trains to Paddington.  Sunday services on the route have tripled in those years too. 

Journey times have been stagnant and in some cases have been extended though so it's not all good news.

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7121/8157874932_2b5df98f3f_b.jpg)

I had forgotten the introduction of Sunday service, one of the upsides of privatisation there has been improved early morning service since its introduction too.  The weekday increase is due to the adding a late evening train 23:49.

The loss of through trains in 1990 might have tied in with the Padd Stn throat remodelling

How come Furze Platt can have Sunday trains and Taplow can't?

Ok I know  it's the two track railway but as I've said before there is ample time to stop a Burnham. Another reason might be that the TOc would  have to run a bus to Taplow if the Reliefs were closed on Sunday.

I'm sure that is the reason.  For the same reason there is no Sunday service at Hanwell, West Ealing or Acton Main line.  All of which, in my mind, would justify an hourly service on Sundays purely on a demand basis.

It's because we are a victim of Marlow having a Sunday service ............... the pain us locals have to endure just to keep a fellow Market Town happy  ;D

Pangbourne has faired pretty well.  We now have a half-hourly service of Padd - Oxford stoppers, instead of an hourly service which ran to/from Reading.  Only downside is that they now lay over in Didcot for up to 13 minutes for pathing reasons, so Oxford - Pangbourne journey times are probably worse than 40 years ago.

Heritage dmu's of course, but commuter services were loco-hauled Mark 1 sets.  40 years ago they were steam heated - I've happy memories of going into a compartment in a SK or FK and being hit by sauna-like conditions - water dripping down the windows, damp upholstery.  Much better than walking into a fridge if the boiler in the 47 or 31 wasn't working.  It always seemed to be one extreme or the other in winter.

The 1718 off Padd (my train home) ran ML to Rdg P4 (as it was then), then crossed over at Reading West J to RL to call all stations to Didcot and some to Oxford. It was followed out of Padd by the 1721 for Maidenhead and Twyford only.  I think that at Maidenhead it crossed over to the UR so that Bourne End passengers wouldn't have to exert themselves using the footbridge - maybe there's a Maidenhead commuter out there who can confirm. 

The 1718 and 1721 were both 10 -12 coaches.  No standing in those days.