Great Western Coffee Shop

The following has been posted on the Tarka Rail website.  It's of interest not only because of the subject, but because it also refers to the strengthening of the peak commuter trains from December. Hopefully me reproducing it in full won't be a problem, as they clearly want it to be in the public domain.

Given that commuter traffic does tail off slightly during half term, if this is a particular issue for the line then I wonder whether a unit could have been reallocated for the week (and now they know, for subsequent half terms).

In view of the many problems faced by passengers and prospective passengers on the Tarka Line during the half term holiday (27th - 31st October) the Association have sent the following communication to the relevant people at First Great Western. So far, no response has been published.

Subject: HALF TERM PERFORMANCE ON THE TARKA LINE

Firstly can I say that the Tarka Rail Association (TRA) are fully aware of the shortage of rolling stock and we greatly appreciate the efforts that have gone into the SX strengthening of the 0700 and 1657 trains from December and for the rolling stock allocations at weekends in an effort to resolve some of the worst overcrowding problems.

However, the recent half term week was a catalogue of poor or non-existent service and we wish to raise this complaint on behalf of passengers.  There were a number of cancellations and short formations.  The main problems that have been brought to our notice by passengers have related to the 0843 and 0943 departures from Barnstaple.  Passengers have:
A)   Been diverted onto coaches or taxis
B)    Been standing all the way from Barnstaple to Exeter ^ ie for over an hour and on one occasion there were observed to be in excess of 80 persons standing from Crediton on a Class 143 Pacer
C)   Decided not to travel or travel by car instead.

Furthermore, people have expressed concern at the safety implications of the overcrowding as well as very strongly worded general dissatisfaction with such travelling conditions, especially on those occasions when not even an apology was given.  The fact that the conductor was not able to get through the train to issue tickets gave rise to even greater anger for those travelling to the City centre who were faced with queues at the barriers to purchase tickets.  Indeed on one occasion there was only one person present to do this.

Whilst 70% of journeys on the line are to and from Barnstaple, the remainder are from intermediate stations.  If a train leaves Barnstaple full and standing, it means that passengers from these stations stand little chance of boarding, let alone getting a seat.  This is a real problem for older or less mobile passengers.

We are also concerned for those passengers who have connections to make at St Davids, especially train specific reservations on SWT and XC services as well as FGW.

This situation generates bad publicity for the line and puts people off.  It arises to a greater or lesser degree in all school holidays.

As stated above, we are fully aware that at present there are no additional diesel multiple units available for FGW to lease, but we do consider that resources should be temporarily reallocated during school holiday periods to enable key trains to be strengthened.  After all Barnstaple Station is the railhead for the whole of rapidly growing North Devon where there is clear evidence of year round heavy demand during school holidays, whether from local people or from the very many visitors who come in what has become a year round tourist season.

We look forward to this matter being given careful consideration and look forward to, hopefully, a positive response.  In the meantime, we will be putting this representation on our website.

John Phillips
Chairman

No problem at all, John R.  In fact, purely for completeness, I'll add a link to their original item: http://www.tarkarail.org/page7.html  ;)

It's an issue on the entire DM these days, even outside of summer. I regularly get the 0913 (x2 143), which is is always rammed by the time it leaves Newton Abbot. I also get the shuttle at 0934 (x1 153) which is also rammed pretty quickly. The less said about any service out of Central between the hours of 1500 and 1800 the better! :-\

Only another two years and we'll have the Bristol 150s and 158's bouncing around the place!

If only...

A man can dream ;D. I honestly don't know when the Thames Valleys are meant to be meant to wired up. And then you get the 165's!

Always nice to get brand spanking new 30 year old stock, isn't it  ;)

I don't think the class 165s are 30 years old. I think they are about 21 to 22 years old.
The ride on a class 165 is very good. It is just the high density seating was intended for suburban journies out of PAD to a max of OXF and is not ideal for longer journeys. 165s were built to make best use of the  higher standard Brunel lines and although they are OK for Bristol area and some other lines (i.e. to Weymouth) there are a number of lines where they would have trouble. I remember in the days of Thames Trains that when they went to Eastleigh for maintenance, the door steps had to be removed as they would have otherwise fouled some platforms on route. I wonder how they would cope in the far west. Is that why the above blogs talk about class 150s & 158s in the far west as the 165s would displace the 150s etc in the Bristol area?

I was going by the wiki - first ones built in 1990, so 24 now! And when they turn up in a few years, they will indeed be closer to 30 than 20. Poor buggers.

According to the RUS for the West, once the TV's are leccified there will be a cascade, with the 165/6's headed to Bristol and the Brizzle units head down here (150's doing Paignton - Exmouth and the 158's on Barnstaple - Axminster). I have read elsewhere that NR were doing works throughout Devon and Cornwall that would give the Turbos route clearance down here as well.

The recent Western Route Study says (p 33):

But that is an assumption - it does look logical, but NR can't decide it, and the actual decision will not have been made yet. And they are clearing all these routes for class 165/166 anyway, as it say is the CP5 Enhancements Delivery Plan (p 101):

ATOC have worked through the numbers in much more detail in this year's Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy for the Rail Industry (http://www.raildeliverygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/file/Long%20Term%20Passenger%20Rolling%20Stock%20Strategy%20for%20the%20Rail%20Industry%20February%202014(1).pdf). This includes quite a bit about the impact of emission regulations (NRMM Stage IIIA and IIIB) and other factors that reduce the potential service life of DMUs. That pushes up lease costs (or amortisation) and reduces the willingness to buy new DMUs, so that they conclude that:

More specifically, they foresee:

Of course there are lots of uncertainties - not least that there will be two general elections (at least), even before 2023.

As the 165/6's would be based maintenance wise in Bristol, I was told by an appropriate manager that should one appear on something like a BRI-PNZ service, that chances are it would be set-swapped for a 15x en-route, probably by Exeter.  Traction knowledge of drivers and guards(?) could also be an issue the further west of Exeter they go.

From the Western Morning News letters page (http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/WMN-Letters-North-Devon-s-rail-link-updated/story-24588457-detail/story.html):

...NR are never going to spend money to automate this when the "delay" is probably a whopping 30 seconds going towards Barnstaple.  There is no delay going towards Exeter, as the token exchange is happening at the same time.

As a single change, you're probably right - but are we going to go tokenless at some stage in the future?  Even unlikely lines such a Dovey Junction to Pwheli no longer use tokens.  It then starts to make a difference.

Can I see a rough parallel? Extension of electrification from Newbury to Westbury as a stand alone option came up with a laughably low BCR; as could have been predicted seeing at it was premised on the existing train service pattern. However, I would expect that we'll see a much higher figure - and potentially electric trains - once it forms part of a further west scheme.

But the token exchange is just as, if not more antiquated, as the level crossing. It often takes over 5 minutes to sort them out, not including any time taken waiting for passing trains which itself is massively delayed by the same process.

Press release from the Tarka Rail Association:

RELIEF IN SIGHT ON ^FULL & STANDING^ TRAINS

Regular users of two of the most heavily used Tarka Line services between Exeter and Barnstaple can soon breath a sigh of relief.Starting on December 16, the 07:00 southbound departure from Barnstaple (dep. Umberleigh 07:09,Eggesford 07:30; Copplestone 07:43, Crediton 07:55) will carry an additional coach providing over 70 extra seats.

The notoriously overcrowded 16:57 northbound departure from Exeter St. David^s will
also be strengthened with additional rolling stock.

In making the announcement Tarka Rail Association (TRA) chairman, John Phillips, noted that several organisations have had a hand in addressing the problem. ^It^s not a simple matter of saying ^why don^t they just put on more coaches^ he explained. ^The fact of the matter is there are no more coaches! And there won^t be for another two or three years, when electification on other parts of the rail network frees up additional diesel rolling stock for the South-West.

First Great Western, the current franchise holder, has done wonders with the limited equipment that the Department for Transport makes available to them. Finding these additional coaches is no small achievement, but the result of innovative scheduling and the fine-tuning of complex service rotas.^

John also credited his Devon County Council and the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership colleagues for their ^polite persistence^ in insisting that some way had be found to provide a measure of relief to the Tarka Line^s fare-paying passengers, and for the Partnership in particular for negotiating the use of the extra coach on the morning train.

CONTACTS
Peter Craske, TRA Press Officer                    01837-849071
pcbcraske@gmail.com

John Phillips, TRA Chairman                        01363-84221
j.phillips142@btinternet.com

This thread has already been posted under heading "Overcrowding on the Tarka Line", the link:-

     www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php.topic=149

Topics now merged, for completeness.  ;)

I guess they are bunging a 153 on one end then?

Wonder where *that* came from? *goes off to check the Paignton - Newton Abbot shuttles* ;)

Yes, you're right - the morning 153 is the Paignton one, made possible by running the 08 23 EXD - PGN 19 mins later (and starting it from Central).  This train currently has 17 mins at Paignton so the retiming can be accommodated without compromising the aim of the shuttles.

The PM strengthening is made possible by reducing maintenance time for 1 x 153 in Exeter Depot.

Clever stock diagramming and timetabling by FGW. 

Unless there is a fault, each phone-call to the signaller (normally 2 in 1 direction 1 in other), should take maximum 1 minute.  As you say, the delay comes with one train being late and passing at these loops.  Unless the track is doubled ( ;)), these delays will always remain.

http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/COMMUTERS-SEATS/story-25716726-detail/story.html?


Have some people have only half-read the news - I understood the 16:57 back to being strengthened too.

Considering even the x2 143 services are full and standing, both to Paignton and Barnstaple....and thats with the stock being squeezed as much as possible! Unless someone wants to go and bribe SWT for a few spare 158/9's to cover the Bristol - Penzanzes and Plymouth/Paignton - Cardiffs then they won't be sufficient metro style DMU's for a fair few years, sadly.

It really is mental how busy the Metro is these days. With all the housing developments in Torbay/Exeter/Plymouth and further afield, it's only going to get busier!

Did nothing ever come of FirstGW's Invitation To Tender for additional stock (probably loco-hauled) to run Cardiff-Taunton services? The ITT is quoted in the first post of this topic (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12455.0)

Am I being way too simplistic here, but if the overcrowding is confined to certain journeys, might not a loco hauled set - top and tailed for reliability security - work, and indeed provide an added reason for people to use the line?

You've got stock and locos at Okehampton, with a TOC owning that line. Maybe it would give an additional revenue Stream to BARS providing a Thunderbird service from a well located base?

I am sure there are many reasons why not, but equally, sometimes I wonder if the easy options get drowned in the procedural 'this is the way we do it' thinking.

I apologise if I am using too rose coloured glasses on this one, and would be interested in your thoughts

Mark

PS I know I am not local to you guys, but when I was involved in trying to stop the Cambridge-St.Ives line being turned into a guided busway, one source of stock we looked at was Class 31s top and tailed with four coaches, and they seemed to offer to a realistic option at the time.

I despair at times at some comments.  Passengers were complaining this week "why do you put 3 coaches on (the 0700) now the college has broken up for xmas?  It's a slap in the face.."  ::)

Indeed, the 16:57 is diagrammed to have an attachment of a 153 added at EXD for what is now the 17:02 departure to Barnstaple.  ::)

The 153 additional in the morning is detached and then forms the additional Paignton shuttles that run through the day.  It doesn't sit around on the shed all day having a jolly! No doubt these same passengers would complain if we cancel a train because we have no spares sitting around!  ::)

Yes merry baaaaa humbug!  ;D

From the article:


Glad the rail user group understand at least, and having spoken to the performance manager, being able to rejig the schedules, planning and maintenance it really is an achievement.

I cannot speak specifically for the Tarka line, but sadly one of the things I've noticed in the stuff I've done in the past few years is the relatively small overlap between regular (i.e. frequent user) passengers and rail user group members.  And I can't help but feel that some better overlap / communication in that area, and with train operator support (which for most rail user groups would be forthcoming, I suspect) it could be mutually beneficial to all.

I'm personally very much aware that my criticism of this lack of connection effects a couple of the groups I'm a member of very badly indeed, and others to a lesser but never the less unfortunate extent ... something I could elaborate on and indeed float a few ideas.  We have made some progress in the community facilitated by electronic media, but there is so much more that could be done.

Good to see that passenger numbers continue to rise on the Tarka Line.

http://www.tarkarail.org/Tarka%20Line%202001-15%20210415.pdf

Bearing in mind that 2014 was somewhat depressed due to the flooding and engineering work that affected many lines in Devon, the first three months shows an increase of 22.5% over 2013. Some of this will have been down to the half price northbound fares, but I wonder whether the additional capacity on the peak commuter trains is also starting to have an impact.

I pay tribute to your sterling efforts, grahame, and to those of the many other groups at times fighting an uphill battle. (That doesn't include Weston super duper Mare, where it would be an Uphill battle). Maybe the trans-Wilts would have risen from the ashes without you. maybe the Severn Beach Line would have avoided being ripped up for a guided busway, as suggested by Atkins in 2005 without the fulsome protests by FOSBR et al.

I doubt it. The actions of the few have kept smaller rail routes available for what is becoming the many. Consider it a job well done when so many have no idea that it didn't all used to work like it does now.