Great Western Coffee Shop

Noticed this is happening at Staines and some other places along this line. Understand this is for eventual longer trains. Any ideas when the longer platforms and/or longer trains are due to come into service?

Can I just say, I love the title of this thread?

The thought of a single platform stretching all the way from Waterloo to Windsor really appeals to my no doubt over-active imagination.

No date for longer rolling stock - SWT have made 2 submissions in the last 3 years and Daft are now considering a third.  Meanwhile NR continue to undertake the work promised to ORR in CP4.  This will lengthen platforms for 10 car  trains apart from some key locations (eg Feltham?) where the costs are very high.

By the way: welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, johngreg!  :)

The latest published dates for the SWT 10 car platform extensions are:

Waterloo to Windsor via Richmond - Dec 2011 (except Putney - May 2012)
Hounslow Loop and Staines to Weybridge - Dec 2012
All remaining suburban routes, i.e. the main line branches including Dorking, Guildford via Epsom and Cobham, Shepperton, and the Kingston Loop - Dec 2013

Virginia Water to Reading is not yet in the agreed plans, despite the obvious extensions at Reading.  Proposed for CP5 - so a possibility in 2014 or later...

Paul

The power supply upgrade on the Windsor line to run 10 car trains was energised over the weekend.  This might seem tight in timescale and it is however the project team only had the authority to proceed 9 months ago and there is a 26 week lead time on high voltage switchgear!

Wokingham has had it's platforms extended already too.

Was that to full 10 car length?  I thought on the down side at least it was to allow space for bidirectional signalling for reversing 8 car trains?

However once you have a contractor in it is sometimes more cost effective to provide the whole future capability at once - as has been explained previously that is why Reading's 'Southern' platforms are being made 12 car now.

Paul 

Edit to fix formatting

Think 10 car, but I was only passing through the station, I don't really use that line much anymore to give more info than that :)

wow.. ten car trains!! FGW seem to be stuck on 3 quite a lot for Maidenhead passengers (even in the peak).. even double that would be good.. ten would just be greedy  ::) ::)

Certainly the Reading bound platform could take 10 if not 12.  Trains currently stop well down the platform and the remainder is blocked off.  Not so sure about the Waterloo bound side - think that is still just eight.

Only 5 years to wait !!!!!!!!!!!! when the Dec 2016 timetable change introduces electric train services in the Thames Valley followed 2 years later with Crossrail

Yes, only the Reading platform was lengthened, as mentioned earlier this was to allow trains from Waterloo to terminate and then turn back to London. I doubt the unlengthened one can take much more than 8.