Great Western Coffee Shop

Thought it might be worth noting that any passengers using high speed services between Paddington and Reading should not board the xx06 to the West of England, so you will be required to buy a ticket to as far as Exeter St Davids (on the 1006 and 1206) as they are pick up only at Reading, and rightly so.

Alternatives at xx00 and xx15.

Why? Surely it is better for boarding Reading passengers that the train empties slightly... ???

And how will the barrier staff know to charge a fare to Exeter (I'm assuming tickets won't be checked onboard)

Why? Because they are extremely busy - I caught the 12:06 to Reading a week ago today and jeez was it packed- I eventually found some sanctuary in a first class vestibule. There are plenty of other quieter trains to Reading at that time of day. And surely if those passengers leaving at Reading weren't on the train then it would be that much emptier anyway (though still probably full and standing). People clambering over suitcases and bodies in the doorways trying to leave the train leads to huge delays at busy places like Reading.

12:00, 12:15, 12:18 and 12:21 departures are all HST's and much quieter at that time of day as they are not heading to holiday destinations.

I think that most West of England services should be pick up only at Reading whatever day or time of the week/season it is.

They all are now - thats the point  :D

I pity anybody travelling on them today.

Why would the barrier staff be charging anybody tickets to Exeter?

Clearly you don't understand how pick up works. On the boards at Paddington, the 1206 to Penzance for example would now be:
1206 PENZANCE
Exeter St David's
Newton Abbot
Plymouth

etc

Its only if you are caught on board by on train staff that you will be excessed to Exeter, as that is the first official station that the service stops at (as far as passengers at Paddington are concerned! )

So they are. Until now I hadn't really looked at the new London-West of England timetable. Good move by FGW.

D/M, as I said in my post, I am assuming there will be no ticket check onboard. (esp if the train is as full and standing as is being described)

If the train does not set down at Reading, it will be full. If it does, then it will still be full, but will let passengers off, thus freeing up space for Reading passengers.

It's like having set down only stops at Watford Junction on VT. If people are going to get off, why not have people to get on to keep the train full? (NB: At peak times VT don't call at Watford, so the "The train will be swamped by commuters" argument does not apply)

They are only set down towards the WOE.

Your logic is flawed. Not setting down at Reading means from Paddington there will be no passengers for Reading, so the train will be less busy. Therefore there will still be the same room for people from Reading.
And as the train will not be advertised as calling at Reading I doubt people will board it. The system doesn't announce set-down only stops. In summer the 1136 Paddington-Newquay service will announce as calling at Lostwithiel, Par and Newquay.

in otherwords if your going from paddington to reading...... DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE...use the dedicated service boarding this service is only adding to overcrowding and slowing the service down at reading as im guessing that it is timetabled for a shorter stop as it should only be picking up

You obviously don't understand....

It calls at Reading to pick up passengers for the West of England. BY having it pu only at Reading it avoids pax travelling to the WOE having to stand (and maybe not even being able to get on) because of pax travelling to Reading who have alternatives a few minutes either side. That's very sensible, particularly for peak departures, which would otherwise be crowded with commuters. 

It's not displayed on the departure boards, but that won't necessarily stop regular travellers who realise that it will actually call at Reading. So, if you get on the train when it wasn't advertised to stop at Reading, the TM is entirely justified to charge you to the first stop, and this is what will happen.

I would have though it is quite likely that there will be a ticket check before Reading, specifically to enforce the rule.   

Well put, I was struggling to understand what Btline was on about myself.

But if the train is that full and standing then the chances of a ticket check before Reading are?


Pointless idea

i think its just an attempt to get people onto local services and off the already busy service... if you thought that you were going to have to pay to exeter to use this service wouldnt you get on the dedicated service insted?

Hardly, it means people who deserve the seats get them. Picture it like this (lets take the 1803 which is notoriously busy):
Reading Passenger takes seat;
Penzance passenger forgets to make reservation and cannot sit;
Reading passenger gets off at Reading, and a passengers joining at Reading nabs Penzance passengers seat;
Has to stand to at least Exeter;
Not happy about their journey;
Next time they drive.

Simple.

Not really a pointless idea, it will stop non-regular travellers boarding it, reducing overcrowding. And hopefully RPIs will catch people using it and Penalty Fare them.

In reality, how often do you have a ticket check between Paddington and Reading? It has already been said that the xx06 trains leave Paddington 'full and standing', leaving the TM or RPI no chance of getting through the train. The best hope is to make no mention of Reading on the departure screen at Paddington. Most regular travellers to Reading though know that every down HST stops there and will just take the next available train (including xx06).
High visible advertising about the cost to the customer of getting caught on an xx06 when travelling to Reading is what is needed as a deterent.

That's part of my point. This can't be enforced: Your "London - Reading" ticket will let you through the barriers both ends. Even if you have to show your ticket to barrier staff - they won't be able to prove you were on a "illegal" service.

And as Reading is such an important interchange, people (from Oxford, Banbury, all over etc.) will be changing to board trains to the South West. So I think it is important to have space onboard, esp if the train is full and standing.

If people can't get on, they'll definitely drive next time. So if people are getting off, that'll create more space. Having no people getting off will just make the train even more crowded.

I do see that it would add extra time to the station dwell though...

i dont think we should be arguing about this the only benifit is less station dwell but now that i think about it the people being on the train isnt going to affect the people gettin on at reading as there space will come from people getting off there, as for the paddington-plymouth or further with no seat... thats a problem but only way of solving it would be to have designated seats reserved for journeys going past exeter or taunton ....not going to happen and it wouldnt work even if it did

i think were losing sight of the fact that there is not enough rolling stock and not enough services

this penalty fair is stupid it wont work as it is not enforcable and has no real benifits

(yes i have mis-spelt alot...i really dont care tonight)

But that's the whole problem. There won't be any people getting off at Reading, so no extra space for Reading (and further afield) passengers.

Are FGW forcing people to have to travel via London to guarantee being able to board? Why don't they just take out the Reading call!

What the hell? I'm sorry btline but you are talking a load of absolute garbage.

Upon departing paddington:
Previously : Reading + West of England passengers
Now : just west of England passengers.

It's quite simple really, dwell to times will be less as nobody will be getting off the train at Reading, not that it makes any difference to the to timings, it simply gives the long distance passengers more room.

yeh sorry mate think about it... if the reading passengers dont get on then what is going to take up the space that the passengers getting off at reading would create?

Exactly...!

No, the purpose is to make sure there is as much space as possible for long distance pax joining at Paddington by excluding pax travelling to Reading who have plenty of alternatives. It makes no difference to pax joining at Reading whatsoever.

How would you feel if you couldn't get on a Penzance train at Paddington at 6pm on a Friday night and you knew that 200 people would get off at Reading, who could have caught a train 9 minutes later. Pretty gutted I suspect. 

red cats threw the cat flap on the left blue cats threw the cat flap on the right

Now if FGW control at Swindon, ever found they needed to move an HST from Old Oak to Penzance, wound't it be nice if they Laid on a relief service from Reading to Penzance, and on that day issued for the London Padd- penzance a NOT TO STOP order for the Reading "pick up only".

It can be done.

I see that this is a good idea...! However as Btline says, I don't see how an RPI or TM can check an entire HST service between London Padd - Reading...

I had a lengthy discussion with a TM a couple of weeks back, They told me that the majority of TM's will only check tickets in First Class between London Padd - Reading and visa versa as they are all gated stations, and to make sure that some pax aren't getting more than they've paid for ::) ;) ;D

You can guarantee the Reading commuters would only do it once  ;D

A couple of posters have used the word "idea" as if to suggest that this is a new concept and a wicked dastardly wheeze by FGW.

In fact it's been used for many years (I can track back at least to 1974) with Reading stops, the only difference being that in the seventies most commuter time departures were pu only at Reading for South Wales and Bristol as well as the South West. In other words, Reading pax were completely excluded thus keeping the long distance trains free of commuters. If this were still the case, maybe the seats would not be crammed in as much as they are.

Up services were also set down only in the morning rush hour, although this should be less of a problem, as the long distance pax are already on the train, and thus cannot miss their train in the same way that they could on country bound services.

Stevenage, Luton and Watford have had similar constraints in the past (and may still do), dating back to BR days, and Motherwell is similarly controlled. I can't think of any others, but no doubt somebody will!     

For VT: Miltion Keynes (peak) and Watford Junction (all day).

For SN: Wembley Central (all day) Southbound only

For SWT: Clapham Junction and Woking

Ah yes - but VT operate a long distance IC service - FGW are trying to be all things to all men

The Cornish Riviera used to be non-stop Paddingon to Exeter.  The up Golden Hind used to be non-stop Taunton to Paddington.

There wouldn't be any point now, as it would only catch up the 1000 Paddington - Paignton at Reading!

I actually think the merger of wessex and thames trains with FGW was a mistake. 

As one company - if there are problems with one area of the franchise, there is incentive to patch it from a different area.  They are three different modes of operation - and FGW are becoming a jack of all trades and master of none.

1. The local commuter services are over crowded and the stopping patters are some what bizarre - e.g. Maidenhead gets fast PAD services in the peak but slough doesnt?

2. The long distance services are running at a detriment due to supporting the commuter and local services

3. The local services are timed more to fit into the overall network than serving local needs.

Yes they run to time - but then the 1922 to hereford has 12 minutes make up time at great malvern - because they cant guarantee it running to time.

Some SWT services are Pick Up Only or Set Down Only at Clapham Junction...! I boarded a service to go from London Waterloo - Salisbury where exactly that happened. I must admit, when your not expecting it to happen... It does confuse you ;) ;D :P

Does this rule apply for the 17:06 train as well?

Reason I ask is that sometimes I buy the odd Off-Peak ticket between Reading and Paddington and last Friday I caught this train with my friends from Paddington to Reading specifically for two reasons:

• The "Which train from Paddington" boards near the gates that say what Off-Peak services back show that this is one of the few semi-fast (stops at Twyford) trains that you can get back to Reading Off-Peak
• I checked with a member of staff at the station and they stated we should catch this train back to Reading

I guess maybe after what has been stated here I shouldn't get this train anymore to Reading  :o - if that's the case does someone need to update those Off-Peak notice boards near the gates?

1706 is valid as Penzance trains go at 03 during the peak.

Not a bad idea.  I think a few people on this board are getting bogged down in arguments about the policability and enforceability of  punative fares.  Regardless of that issue, it will not be advertised (at Paddington or online) as stopping at Reading, so fewer people will board it and more seats will be available for longer distance passengers.

I can't get too excited if a few people make illegal journeys on the train and fail to get caught (it is not as if they are getting away without buying a ticket), and I suspect FGW isn't too woried about this point either. 

Ask yourself, even if there was no issue about ticket validity (imagine you had an all line rover in your pocket), would you feel happy about getting on a train to Reading when the platform indicators did not include "Reading" as a destination and where the train only a few minutes behind did show "Reading"? I suspect that more people will be scared off boarding by the peceived possibility that the train will not stop at Reading at all and they will have a long detour than they will about a penalty fare issue (which most people will not understand). 

but so long as it only applies to journeys where there is genuine overcrowding, it is a pretty good idea.

I quite agree, Tim. Though I would add that it should only apply on trains where there is severe overcrowding and there's plenty of capacity on neighbouring services that depart at very similar times. The Penzance services are probably unique in that respect as departures on a summer Friday are busy all day.

Just had another look, and it appears its only on Fridays that they are pick up only at Reading or Bank Holidays.

Are they, my full timetable suggest pick up only all the time.

Easy solution, don't stop at Reading at all! Whats the point on the 1206 as it's usually full at Padd, same goes for the 1000 Pnz-Padd, it may as well go fast from Plymouth to Padd as it's usually full by Camborne, if you can't fit anyone else on then why stop???

To let people off? Reading is a large connection station.

Many people will have seat reservations.

Despite my clear views on having faster InterCity trains, I believe all trains should stop at Reading.

Reading is large enough to merit a stop.  I follow vacman's logic but taken to its obvious extreme, no trains would stop anywhere and there would then always be plenty of spare seats.

making it "pick up only" is fine. It removes a service from London-Reading commuters, but they already have a great service so the change has minimum impact.  Removing the Reading call completely would be a mistake because you are seriously damaging the customer servcie and undermining the connectivity of the Network.  Folk from Reading have just as much right to a direct fast Cornish service as Londoners.