re 319's

but nothing yet has been ordered?...

gosh it seems that in 2013 we really are running a mend and make do railway!

in the 21st century this is totally unacceptable and appalling the Govt allowed this to happen and there are no new build stock on order apart from the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) electrification units (from Hitachi in 2017/18)
local FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services will then get class 319 (old Thameslink units) to replace turbos...

HST^▸ (High Speed Train) power cars cannot pull sleeper or loco hauled mk3 coaches as they have 2 different electric systems,

half the Uk's fleet of trains cannot be coupled to other stock/loco's and such anomalies.

the class 57 loco's are as old as i am...(The HST's are old too but FGW have done a pretty good job in updating and they are the best trains to travel on but how long can they go on)

i know all of these points have been pontificated on here widely but i'm entitled to my rant lol

quote.
However my final point is Bournemouth. A big place fairly significant in Telecommunications and had been chosen to trial Dark Fibre Internet Connections and it is an absolute SOD of a place to get to by Train from places like Bristol Temple Meads etc...


yup tell me about it...i live here!

hideous road journey from anywhere in Dorset to Bath/Bristol yet it is a busy logical connection (er someone mention the Somerset & Dorset? LOL^▸ (laughing out loud))...that is why the Wessex line could/should be so improved,
sadly no connection at Dorchester to enable trains to run Bmth-Brs via Wareham/Dorch unless you reverse at Upwey or Weymouth...illogical...

me too,   just travelled last night on rickety old class 150 CLC^▸ (Castle Cary)-WEY and the train was like something that runs up to machu puchu...the 1837 CLC-BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)) arrived on one engine and half the lights out...not good enough in 2013...

this line could be so handy if better connections for London and the West were planned at CLC or WSB^» (Westbury - next trains)...

if the sleeper class 57 problems are getting more frequent then surely retire them and hire class 67's?
i do not know if class 66 could be used for sleeper coach hauling?

what do you need, 3 of them?

pity you cannot use HST^▸ (High Speed Train) power cars, something to do with 2 different voltages and electric wiring on HST mk3 coaches and normal mk3 coaches...totally incompatible..hmmm what a great way to build things

thanks guys,

looking forward to tomorrows journey,

early night tonight for the 0545 tomorrow!

Rog

after using FGW^▸ (First Great Western) from Paddington regularly from 2005 onwards to Bath, Worcester, Taunton, Devon and Cornwall i have no wish to see them lose their franchise as it seems they are doing a pretty good job.

I never have really had many problems on my travels and i like the 1st class services on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) ( i am not a commuter)

may i ask who else maybe in the running for renewal when it happens

thanks

cheers Paul   Thx VM!

hi there
i note there are significant alterations Mon-Thurs services 15/4 onwards on the that line plus any Reading knock-on problems still possibly hanging around.....

am due to travel 16 April 0545 Dorchester West to CC which arrives 0633
then the timetabled connection with 0638 HST^▸ (High Speed Train) CC to Paddington which arrv's 0838 (this train normally starts at EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) but will start at CC because of the line closure)

and then i catch the re-timed Cornish Riviera (was 1006) at 0930 now via Bristol!

i have to do it this way to join a friend in London and the line closure problems....

is this all do-able please?  Ta

ok cool we will look out for you, thanks.

we have been to your area a few times before recently and thanks for extra info!

last time i was down was with Britannia 70000 on the sort-of ill-fated Atlantic coast express rail tour.

 

read somewhere in past 2 days that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are running an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) excursion into Swanage this summer or late summer

am i deluded or is this the case lol

any info gratefully rec'vd thanks!

thank you for that PIC, most interesting...

the south side bay cannot be re-instated because the car park is there now.

so it may seem the re-statement of the north side bay will not be needed as the trains will run in on the up
platform  then cross over and departure will be from the down?

cheers Rog

yes in the near term the SR^‡(resolve) with PurbeckDC and DorsetCC funding intend to run the heritage DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)'s only as far as W'ham.
The SR has always wanted Wareham to be included and are right behind it.

sadly the costs involved for the track and more-so the signal upgrades are much higher than they needed to have been because the Bay platform the Swanage train will have to use is on the north side of the station which means now it will have to cross the Down and Up lines on arrival and departure into Wareham.
the south-side Bay platform is still there but sadly now flanks the station car park.

the councils down here really want this to be a viable alternative (they did fund a lot of this) to the car as for those of you who live or commute in this area (and know the roads) then you know that a train may be come an attractive alternative to some if not many in time.

The DCC^» (Devon County Council - website) now has very limited funds to assist supporting subs to rural transport; buses rail etc so this really needs to work.
the early bus in the morning peak (the X53) bus for commuters to go from Weymouth via Wareham to Poole to get to work has recently been shelved by First Bus so things here are a bit grim with no doubt more cuts to come.

The 2012 Olympics offered a shed-load of cash to upgrade transport infrastructure in this area and the Weymouth A354 new link road was built rather than upgrading any rail infrastructure between B'mth and Weymouth. (as you may know the 750 DC^▸ (Direct Current) third rail is woefully short of juice meaning longer or extra electric trains on many sections means blowing a large fuse lol)
Trials before the Olympics with 2 x class 444 joined together saw the train down to a crawl at Upwey.

Third rail to Swanage will never happen and from what appears on the cards is no more cash now for 3rd rail electricity power supply upgrades on B'mth-Weymouth.
Under the wires is mooted in the long term.


Going back to the thought of through trains into Swanage from London or the North is a very viable future option and like Newquay now, may be summer only.


we have seen the growth on the Heart of Wessex line from Weymouth.
But through trains to Weymouth from the North stopped years ago in Virgin XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) days and have not been re-instated.

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) never ran a through HST^▸ (High Speed Train) from Paddington to Weymouth but many of us would prefer that down here than to SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s offerings to Waterloo.
I am surprised they never have.  journey times would be little different.

anyway, it always great to chat on here!
Regards.

LOL^▸ (laughing out loud) hear hear!

I have been watching this thread with interest and I also posted yesterday on whether we will get improvements on the heart of Wessex line (thread) where i now live nr Dorchester.
I also have for 50 years used AXM-WAT and seen how things have evolved over that time.

Of course lines such as WEY-BRSTL, Portsmouth-CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) S'ton-BRSTL EXT-Barnstaple and the slower BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI))-Devon-PNZ slow services need decent trains with a class 158/159 quality...

why cannot more of these be built?
they fit the build completely and can be tweaked to comply with disabled regs.

all of our SW regional and branch lines almost without exception have become busier and busier.
Exmouth, Paignton, St Ives, Newquay Falmouth Weymouth and so on...
offer a more better frequency then the trains have historically become more crowded so we need more new trains.

it is offensive to think passengers will put up for much longer with second rate trains like a one car sprinter or a pacer 'rail bus' on 2 hour journeys or more...
have you tried PNZ to Taunton in a 2 car dirty sprinter?  mmm great
slower trains on the PNZ or WEY lines really need 159 type quality trains.

as someone mentioned Swindon-Padd pax for one hour get an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) but PLY-MAN or EDI pax get a 4 car voyager which takes all day.

If the old S&D^▸ (Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway) from BMTH to Bath & BRS^▸ (Business Rates Supplement) was still open now  it would be a very busy useful regional route.

good morning Rob, lovely station you have,
i walked down the long carriage drive and lane to you last year from a delightful visit to the NT house Llanhydrock
and got the bus back to Padstow.

we arrive 16 April on the 1347 arrival C-Riv and have booked a hire car from Enterprise.
a tad nuisance we are re-timed and rerouted via Bristol that day.
hope the travelling chef is still going to be on board!

we were coming the week before but i cannot,
will miss the Steam Gala at the Bodmin and Wenford sadly...

Rog