Great Western Coffee Shop

This sounds like it might have been fun....

From the FGW website :

17:51 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill due 20:22

This train will be started from Reading.It will no longer call at: London Paddington.This train will run short formed with 3 carriages.This is due to a train fault. No catering service available.

Already had one pop at this in Mookiemoo's thread - and in Broken HSTs? in Across the West previously, but I hadn't realised it was started at Reading as well tonight.

The 17.51 is fast turning into the peak train FGW couldn't give a damn about.

Apart from the halts trains - and balancing workings - and the morning out and back from London to Worcester when a Turbo is the only thing available, the entire service is supposed to be high-speed stock.

There is clearly a view at FGW control that because this train is lightly loaded beyond Oxford that it is a waste of an HST - and maybe it is, but when you have such a yawning gap in quality between an HST and a Turbo, this substitution isn't acceptable. I can tolerate it on an occasional basis but over the past three weeks it seems to have become accepted practice for the 17.51 set to get pinched. Maybe the idea is to drive off all the Oxford passengers, then it won't matter if they provide a Turbo on a permanent basis.

And no sign of an Adelante any more either. What's the point of keeping them if they are not available for duty in these circumstances? As far as I'm aware, there should be two at Old Oak Common at this time of day and when the Friday afternoon extra to Devon was running in July and August, using this duty's HST, we got a 180 every Friday afternoon on the 17.51, so what's changed since the bank holiday?

To be fair IS there any point in it

Its gets into WOS about 15 minutes after the 1821 (I go from RDG so my timings are from there)

I NEVER leave the office for it knowing its normally an adelante

As I get the 0732 from WOS I can normally tell you what it is - we pass the morning working at evesham

Ironically - the sub to turbo is made later in the day - I havnt passed a turbo at evesham for ages - always HST

I know this because the 0732 from WOS passes what would be the 0841 from WOS at evesham and it is on the same diagram as the 1751 off PAd - the train between the two herefords

Soemthing is not working

Although I do wonder why they bother running this train, given their current treatment of it, as far as I'm concerned, there is some point to it. I don't finish work in Oxford until 6.30pm, so it beats waiting for the 19.20 departure. That something runs between the 17.21 and 18.21 from Paddington is long-established practice, even if it was the halts train for some years. And as far as Oxford it is well loaded - unless it starts at Reading, of course! It loses 15 minutes on the following train because of having to pass two trains heading towards Oxford.

That FGW has painted itself into a corner over the types of trains it has available doesn't help matters. As I said, the contrast between refurbished HSTs and the increasingly grubby, tatty Turbos, is stark. When you are promised an HST but get a Turbo, it isn't going to make you feel kindly about FGW.

The booked set for this duty is meant to be an HST and still is more often than an Adelante. I travel into Oxford on the morning working out of Worcester, so know full well what is on the diagram every morning and the last four days I used it, before taking some time off, it was an HST in the morning and a Turbo in the evening. FGW admitted it was down to HST problems, but that was 10 days ago now and things don't seem to be be getting any better.

On the contrary, a Turbo substitute rather than an Adelante seems to have become accepted practice. If they can't provide one 180 out of two that should be spare at that time of day (the other is on its way back from Hereford), what will happen from next spring when there will be one extra HST arriving and the three 180s departing?

At the time the extra HST was secured, it was described as being intended for use as a 'hot spare' which would allow some flexibility in the fleet, but it would appear the current fleet is already at full stretch. Don't forget that the use of a 180 on the 11.51 to Hereford and its return working wasn't in the train plan for last December. The change back to a 180 earlier this year should have freed up a 125 to give some breathing space, so does anyone know what has happened to this set?

What else do you suggest FGW do, magic a train out of thin air  ???

As you say, its lightly loaded past Oxf!

From what I can gather - if the 0841 from WOS is an adelante it stays that way all day

If the 0841 is a HST it gets turbo subbed later in the day

At least set the passengers expectations correctly

Why they have a 180 booked on a Hereford run....!

They should keep the 180s close to London to deal with any problems!

It was felt that the added operational flexibilty of a 180 would keep the return working more punctual, which is a key train in that it arrives Oxford off the Cotswold Line just as all the peak down trains are trying to squeeze through the single line sections. It isn't ideal though, as crowding is an issue after Oxford - especially on Fridays.

Sorry if I'm starting to sound like a stuck record but...

What I'd like them to do is magic a 180 out of a siding at Old Oak Common, like they did every Friday during August, when it took over the diagram mid-afternoon in order to release the HST to operate the 15.35 relief train to Plymouth - and just about every other time from about May when the HST was diverted elsewhere at some point during the day.

Do any of the staff contributors know what's going on with the HST fleet's availability - has there been a recent rise in failures/faults - and why isn't a 180 being turned out, when they were apparently kept on to help in these situations?

Pleased to report that for my return to work the HST stayed on the duty all day.

Only glitch was a 10-minute delay in the morning due to the train being held for some unspecified reason at Worcester, with leisurely stops meaning we didn't regain any time, even though there's several minutes' slack in the timing into Oxford. The guard seemed to have a compulsion to blow a whistle every time before locking the doors, which I can understand at Oxford, but on the Cotswold Line?