Great Western Coffee Shop

Assuming no subs, which Cotswold trains are HSTs on Saturdays and Sundays?

Thanks!

Easy, look at the timetable. As with all FGW timetables, if it has a little H in a black blob at the top of the column above the train, it's booked for an HST (though an Adelante could appear if the HST breaks).

Ah, but the timetable puts H for both HSTs and 180s! ;)

I want to know where the HSTs are (i.e. avoid 180s). I know which trains are 180s during the week, but not at weekends.

Does anyone know?

It varies a little from week to week, but one of the morning services on a Saturday is usually a 180 - I think it's the 06:51 PAD-GMV and return 09:55 GMV-PAD, and on a Sunday the 15:48 PAD-WOS and return at 18:25 WOS-PAD are usually a 180 I think. There may be others.

Thanks, II.

If anyone knows of any other, please post. I want to avoid them, as they are more likely to be Thames Turboed!

The latest Saturday diagram I had for the 180's was a single unit (OC501) which worked

0851 Paddington to Great Malvern
1145 Great Malvern to Paddington
1551 Paddington to Great Malvern
1920 Great Malvern to Paddington

Obviously this may have changed due to fleet availability, and winter weekend engineering works are now beginning to start so this may also affect rolling stock.

Thanks, GWR. Any idea about Sunday?

Got to say that apart from a dodgy period in September, with Turbos turning up on the 17.51 from London several times when HST availability hit problems, that I haven't seen or heard of one appearing instead of an HST or an Adelante for many weeks now. Long may it continue.

The 1606 Wor - Padd has not been Turboed for ages. It is diagramed a 180, but is "h" in the timetable!

The 1606 (which is the 1519 from Hereford) was originally diagrammed to be an HST and was operated by one at the start of the year. However, the very tight turnaround time at Hereford (just 19 minutes including the need to shunt via the sidings) meant it was notorious for running late towards Oxford and this then affected all the down peak trains on the single line. This train arrives in Oxford at 1735 so the 1731 Oxford-Worcester can depart. FGW then managed to retain the 3 Adelantes and one was diagrammed to work this service as it can be turned around much quicker and ensure a right time departure.

I'm also rather mystified by the avoidance of 180s. When they work, they are much more comfortable than an HST

More vibrations, and more likely to break down/ be Thames Turboed.

When are the 180s going? Is it December?

Next JUNE is now being mentioned in certain circles!

Thames Trains died many moons ago...

What's the reason, are NXEC keeping a tight grip on their HSTs?

Very straightforward. The HST coming from NXEC (although it's an EMT set) needs a refresh and as a one-off job rather than one in a long run it has to take its turn in the queue among all the other jobs going through Brush (power cars) and Bombardier (if they are going to do the coaches), so no great surprise if spring completion is slipping to summer.

And until the ORR unpicks all the applications to run extra trains on the ECML, no-one can actually put down a firm claim for extra 180s, though Hull Trains is meant to have an option on the FGW trio, so no great rush for them to go elsewhere, as any new services probably wouldn't get going until next May/June at the earliest.

And Turbos are far more likely to appear as substitutes for HSTs than Adelantes, for the simple reason there are so few booked Adelante turns anyway.

Not to mention their DOO ability in certain areas meaning they are more flexible when there's Train Manager shortages.