Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi

Here a nice article

http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/news/Second-platform-project-boosted-163-250k-grant/article-1760387-detail/article.html

 ;D fantastic news

Quote:It is hoped there will be a through-train from Okehampton to Exeter by May or June, and one to London by December. Yeoford is the only station that will get a new platform, because it is a junction.

Pigs and flying come to mind................... ::)

people used to say that about yeoford second platform

A through-train to Exeter maybe... it would have to be at the expense of a Barnstaple-Exeter service as the line between Cowley Bridge Junction and Crediton is maxed to capacity during the day.

If FGW will not run a through-train from Barnstaple-London, there is no chance of Okehampton-London!

That's not actually true - it's the two sections from Crediton to Eggesford and Eggesford to Barnstaple that are running at capacity.

The Cowley Bridge to Crediton section is occupied by northbound trains from approx xx:27 to xx37 each hour, and southbound from xx:37 to xx47, leaving roughly 40 minutes free between xx:47 to xx:27 to squeeze in an Okehampton train.

It might have to be at the expense of a Meldon stone train, though!

Great news - and an intriguing remark about a direct service to London.

i hadnt heard any ref to a london train before not sure where this came from

BARS seem to have similar ambitions in County Durham, with a five trains per day dmu service planned from May, running from Stanhope through Bishop Auckland and turning round at Shildon station, next to the NRM Locomotion site. Presumably the rolling stock will be the Class 141 they own.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/8485037.stm
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/4875570.Passenger_services_return_to_heritage_line___after_60_year_hiatus/?ref=mr

According to the company it is intended as a commuter service, and will be timetabled to connect with Northern's services to and from Darlington. See the news page at http://www.weardale-railway.org.uk/

My response was intended to be 'tongue in cheek'.  I thought the deadline for timetable consultation for May 2010 had passed.  Also I have not seen any reference to any such 'service' application on the ORR website.

So :D :D

No. Deadline is imminent but Chiltern are still inviting their passengers to comment on their proposed tweaks to timetables by Tuesday.

I suspect the mention of a London service can be put down to the fact that it appears in the Excess and Error - not renowned for its high quality reporting...

Certainly the idea that FGW would give a rural town in West Devon of under 10,000 people a direct London service when there's been no lobbying for it (that I know of), when you consider how many things are lobbied for on the FGW network without success - well need I say more?

Some lateral thinking for an improbable service

Would be intriguing to run an Okehampton - Waterloo service again, maybe that could be an interesting idea to float.

In the past I've seen SWT trains dwelling for a while at Exeter St Davids so this might fit in with a bit of timetable afjustment.

I am of course aware that under current franchising this would be out of area, but would seem to be an alternative to FGW running any future London service.

The trains may be dwelling, but remember the crews probably need that 'dwell' time as well... although i'm sure FGW crews would be happy to run through to Okehampton on a 159  ;)

Presumably after a refresh on the technicalities of the CIS system, otherwise I predict a riot from the unions ;)

Hence my 'improbable service' comment, together with 'timetable adjustment'.

However I would think the chances of a locohauled train running between Okehampton, Yeoford & London are probably on a par with my learning how to knit fog. I would have thought all the open access operators have looked into this long before now and concluded it to be a non viable waste of effort due to the levels of service provided by FGW & SWT. I also gather that these Open Access operators are coming into the spotlight due to the reduced levels of track access they pay and the amount of delay minutes they can be billed for if one of their trains stops the railway.

I would think the most likely option is going to be some sort of shuttle service between Yeoford & Okehampton. If Dartmoor Railway can sort out some sort of Saftey Case to run beyond the current Dartmoor Railway / Network Rail boundary at Coleford Jn. And assuming they have some operable coaching stock with CDL fitted or they will be running at 25mph top whack all the way between Yeoford & Okehampton. If they wish to run to Exeter they will need to fit TPWS, OTMR and all the other gubbins as well and their traincrews will require medicals, training and certification to full mainline standards. 

Surely if SWT were to run a service to Okehampton, they might aswell run that service to Plymouth  :-\

General comment - the case for a new / enhanced service to - say "Elmington", from the nearby city "Zedborough" could be much encouraged / helped by the availability of a train and crew sitting at Zedborough on a long layover from the city of "Shorundone".  Factors which might oil the wheels to getting such a service off the ground would include a county council covering "Abvon" (which includes both Elmington and Zedborough) who are very pro the service, the fact that Elmington, though small, could be a destination for long distance traffic, park and ride opportunities, etc, the fact that the stock which sits for a while at Zedborough would be very suitable indeed for the line on to Elmington.

There are / have been cases where the outer end of a service from London reaches some obscure places - if all of the pieces add up (including things like our good friends Orcats and Lenon predications) then why not?

Waterloo to Maesteg, anyone?

The loadings were pretty good up until the cessation of running SWT services to Plymouth.And Plymouth is certainly more of a revenue generator than Mid / West Devon.

I had to pop out to Bow yesterday. I swear blind the amount of Stagecoach & Turners Tours service buses going along the A377 & A3072 from North / Mid / West Devon has increased since I last went out that way. I seemed to be passing several of the blooming things. The Stationmasters Breakfast at Crediton station cafe was most excellent though!
 ;D

Im also sure SWT never had a conductor on there services to Plymouth, after Exeter St. Davids.

Uh, yes they did  ???

The only service SWT did not have a conductor on was the Saturday Penzance service which was operated by a FGW guard from EXD.

When I travelled a guard never came down to check tickets. This happened on all 3 occassions. Free First Class Ride's for all.

That doesn't mean there wasn't one on though... We don't just check tickets!!

Surely he/she wasn't doing their job correctly if he/she wasn't checking tickets?

Safety > Revenue.

Whether or not they were indeed performing safety critical duties is another question.

I doubt it. A bit lazy really. ^114 to London Waterloo  >:(

Hmm.  ::)

We seem to be straying somewhat off-topic from the original subject of Yeoford's current platform development here.

Whether SWT used to have a guard on their services between EXD and PLY, and whether any such guard (if there was one) checked tickets, is irrelevant to this particular topic.

May I suggest that, if Branch Line Connor is concerned over whether any SWT staff were doing their jobs correctly, he should take that up with SWT: see http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/contact-us.aspx

Chris.  :-X

The subject of the second platform at Yeoford has been rumbling on for the last year or so at least. It was you will recall proposed that Dartmoor Railway was going to have this up and running for last years Sunday Rover services complete with footbridge and refurbished second platform. In the end FGW were contracted to run the Okehampton services using Pacers instead.

In the meantime Network Rail have run out the cable for the GSM-R radio system on the Barnstaple line. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that this runs in concrete troughs along the the top of the platform face of the moribund platform at Yeoford which is next to the Meldon line. Coincidence or what?

It's the Fixed Telecom Network (FTN)  Radio, by its very nature, wouldn't need a cable. ;)

As to putting the trough route on the platform, more profit for the installation contractor if you don't 'dig it in' properly.

It would seem that the people who may be looking at the platform re-opening are probably not aware that FTN work is taking place (and vice versa), let alone it being routed over the platform (which I suspect it probably shouldn't be!). 

I can only really go on what the various line managers who ride up and down in the cabs tell me. I assume all these fancy new GSM-R towers are linked into the internal phone system and to one another by use of the aforementioned cable?
 ;D