Great Western Coffee Shop

Today I travelled during from Tilehurst to Didcot and back, there having been a possibility that I might had a lift by car or used a bus for one leg of the journey.

National Rail offered me various options for the single journey to Didcot, including using the direct stopping service at £9.80, or travelling into Reading and catching a fast train back through Tilehurst to Didcot for £15.  So that's an extra £5.20 for the five minutes into Reading and five minutes back. A peak return from Tilehurst to Reading is only £4.

Not that using the Reading option would appeal to many. I caught the 0705 to Didcot, which took 21 minutes. Had I taken the 0707 into Reading and then caught a fast train to Didcot it would have taken 29 minutes.

Although this isn't one, there are a number of easements for circuitous routes in the Thames Valley from smaller stations, particularly to travel west of Didcot. These are long standing and to an extent reflect a time when fewer services of that kind stopped at Didcot and permit travel via Reading.

The strangest negative easement is: 'Customers travelling from Appleford to Didcot Parkway and beyond in possession of
tickets routed either "Any Permitted" or "Great Western Only" may not travel via Culham.' I doubt that would be something many would choose to do, but maybe it is just a negating of a previous positive easement.