Great Western Coffee Shop

Hello All,

this evening I caught the 16:45 from Paddington to Reading, normally Coach B door pulls in level with a quick dash to Platform 1 but instead Coach D draws level, so the engine was practically at the end of  platform.

This gave me a bit of a panic as I have only 2 minutes to make my connection on Platform 1.

Is this new stopping position? Due to the works on Platform 4?

Thanks
John

Yes that correct. Due to the narrow platform as a result of the construction works it has been decided that HST's will stop further down the platform.

Thanks for the info, I will adjust the door I launch from to get to platform 1.

Makes sense!

I can see why they are doing it, but with tight connections this will mean more people (me included) boarding in the First Class coaches and walking through, or lurking in the vestibules if they've got heavy luggage. So I hope this is treated reasonably by on train staff.

true, especially with the loss of the subway, the over bridge is the only way to change platforms. which must get really congested during the rush hour.

Please don't think this is an arsey comment...

but itsn't the minimum interchange time technically 15 minutes at Reading??[/size]

Official minimum connection time at Reading is 7 minutes.

A tight official connection off of a HST coach A on a busy platform 4 to, say a CrossCountry service over on Platforms 7 or 8 could be problematical.

the minimum connection time at ANY station is 6 mins...some busy/bigger stations have understandably a longer one

Not strictly true...it's 5 minutes unless advertised otherwise, some stations have longer (e.g. RDG 7 min, BRI 10 min) and a few shorter (e.g. TWY 3 min).

i always interpreted connection time as also including when you board your first train, would you recommend someone leaving only 3 mins at the first station to get the ticket? ... i know your correct by the way its just 3 mins seems rather silly to me 

3 mins is purely for the purposes of transferring from train to train - and is the default time used by the journey planners. 

Surely nothing whatsoever to do with connecting into your first train when arriving off the street.

Paul

If I only made of use of connections that complied with the minumum connection time then I'd greatly increase my average commuting time, so I'm willing to take that chance. In any case, as incoming services are frequently delayed by a few minutes then the minimum connection time is rather academic to this discussion. There will always be people rushing to catch trains, and they aren't going to willingly miss a train that they could board just becacuse doing so would involve walking through first class.

While this work goes on , I do feel sorry for the platform staff. However, I do wish they were a little more polite at times. Granted some people take no notice and walk the wrong side of the yellow line but watched a few of them being very rude to passengers.

All very odd now a section has no roof!