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I may be using the evening rail replacement service from Worcester Foregate Street to Moreton In Marsh later this week. What sort of replacement service is laid on, bus? double decker bus? coach? Also what are the loadings like for this service?

Thanks for any answers that can be given

Coach - and they're quiet....

When you say evening, I assume you mean the 20.40 from Foregate Street? The late-night coach starts in Shrub Hill Road, outside the station, at 23.00, not at Foregate Street, though there is a connecting train from Foregate Street at 22.53. I suspect you will be rather lonely beyond Evesham if the couple of times I have seen the coaches in Moreton is anything to go by - though no surprise given the interminable timings.

Yes, they're a lot busier leaving Oxford in the evening, but I think a high percentage of those don't travel beyond Charlbury - anywhere else involves sitting on the bus for over an hour!

Had an unexpected ride on the 21.31 bus from Oxford tonight. Was using the car today but had got about 10 yards in the car park at work when something in the front suspension cracked very loudly. As this happened at 8.15pm, no chance of getting to the station for the last train.

Twenty on board leaving Oxford, couple off at Hanborough and two on the way to Charlbury, where 10 were dropped in the town and at the station, one got off at Kingham and the last five of us at Moreton-in-Marsh. We met the coach from Worcester (empty, as far as I could see) just outside Stow-on-the-Wold, with a brief halt for the drivers to exchange greetings.

So, nobody on board beyond Moreton?  How would you say that compares, both in loadings from Oxford and also beyond Moreton, with when the 21:17 used to run?

And was it an HST?

I suppose there could be a cause/effect argument... There's surely a good chance that passengers have (temporarily?) forsaken the "train" whilst it's a rail replacement bus and made other arrangements.

Yes.  Primarily as a stock positioning move for the following mornings 05:17 ex Great Malvern.


I'm sure there is - there would certainly have been people on beyond Moreton on a typical weekday, but I'd be interested to hear an estimate from Will as to how many, so we can say just how off-putting the awfully slow replacement bus is (2h 20m just from Oxford to Evesham remember!).

Also worth noting that anyone from Paddington through Didcot would go via Swindon to get a train to Worcester.

(the 21:54 from Swindon extended from Cheltenham to Worcester)

Indeed, so chances are you can't tell how many might have been put off?

Good point about the Swindon service, Ollie.  I keep forgetting about that!

Not sure I'm ideally qualified to comment, as a very infrequent user of the last couple of trains/buses of the day but there certainly are a fair number of people (depends on what day it is, time of year, the usual stuff) going beyond Moreton-in-Marsh when the service leaving Oxford after 9.15pm has steel wheels.

The odd time i have travelled from Oxford on the 20.20 departure this year, it has certainly felt busier than previously, which I'm sure is a case of people travelling back earlier than they might otherwise have done, because of it being the last train of the day. And for people going to the Vale of Evesham in particular, the coaches are pretty much a no-no and the extended train to Worcester is not a lot of help either.

I don't really see what's going on as people being put off, just adapting their journeys to fit with the circumstances. And the booking clerks have all been doing a good job of making sure people are aware that if they miss the 19.22 from Paddington, then it's the bus and a long last leg to the journey home.

Some comparative timings...

The coach that currently forms the continuation of the last Mon-Fri train from Paddington departs Oxford at 23:02 and arrives at Shrub Hill at 02:16, having taken an excruciating 3:14 for the journey.

Looking up the 1910 Bradshaw, the slowest train, stopping at all the intermediate stations, then took 2:28 from Oxford (dep. 15:44) to Shrub Hill. The fastest took 1:25, stopping at Kingham, Moreton and Evesham only.

The very fastest didn't bother with Oxford. 16:45 from Paddington, non-stop to Shrub Hill in 2:10, with a slip-coach for Moreton (and Cheltenham).

Not really sure there's much of comparison to be made. Just look at a map and see what roads have to be used to get between the stations along the line. From Oxford to Moreton-in-Marsh, the routes the coaches are forced to use mean it takes getting on for twice as long as driving along the A44, especially if the coach has to serve Shipton.

Regret to say that "coaches" here means "coach".

If we were talking about "coaches" then there'd be one to the difficult-to-serve places like Shipton and another which ran directly to Moreton and beyond.

3:14 for a journey from Oxford to Worcester can only be described as excruciating. The time involved is designed to ensure that there are no passengers.

Thanks, I do know how many vehicles are involved, as someone who has actually used A coach. Which had precisely no-one on board for anywhere west of Moreton-in-Marsh.

And among the most difficult places to serve is Honeybourne - ie, past Moreton-in-Marsh. Which is why, during blockades, it is usually served by a coach of its own, shuttling to either Moreton or Evesham as required, so as not to take passengers travelling to or from Evesham, Pershore and Worcester all the way out there. Honeybourne-Evesham is a nice straight run by train - it is anything but that on the roads. And the most direct road route to and from Moreton is unsuitable for coaches.

Worcester passengers are spared the road journey in mid-evening by changing at Swindon and even when the trains are running, the numbers on the last train west of Moreton-in-Marsh are tiny.

Another comparative timing in today's Worcester News - see http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/beforethe1900s/8966709.April_11_to_April_18__2011/ (http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/beforethe1900s/8966709.April_11_to_April_18__2011/).

Which reports that, in 1751, the stage-coach to London ran twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) and took two days on its journey. We also have an exact departure time (03:00) from "the Crown in Broad Street, Worcester" and "the George and Blue Boar in Holborn, London". Not surprisingly, arrival times are not quoted.