The BBC gets it wrong again!!

[whole diary]

[coachflyer]

According to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) there is going to be a direct link between Maidenhead and Windsor for the Olympics!!

Maidenhead railway station to serve Olympic visitors


About 30,000 spectators per day are expected to arrive in Eton Dorney
Maidenhead railway station is to become one of the key access points for visitors to boating events at Eton Dorney Lake during the 2012 Olympics.
The station has rail links with Windsor and Eton Riverside and also Slough - which is to receive a ^2.5m upgrade to give disabled people better access.

Full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8592889.stm

[Phil]

To be fair, nowhere do they actually mention people travelling by train.

All they say is "Maidenhead railway station is to become one of the key access points for visitors to boating events" - which might for all we know be true.

And "stations have been designated as key arrival and departure points by the Olympic Delivery Authority" which again, may be true. Just not by train.

Call me cynical, but I can see planners even now thinking "hmm, what central point with a large car park would make a great place for turning around fleets of coaches? I know - railway stations!"

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) says that  "The station [ie Maidenhead] has rail links with Windsor and Eton Riverside".  Well it does I suppose, via Reading and Staines, or Acton Wells and Clapham Junction, but in reality the BBC has got a simple fact wrong. It makes you wonder how much else they get wrong that we don't know about.

[Electric train]

To be fair to the Beeb it is a slight misunderstanding or interpretation from the ODA.

The original plans were to use Taplow station with a bus link on a temporary road across the fields this plan was not in favour with the locals.  Now I believe the plan is to bus spectators from Maidenhead station (now that'll be carnage for us locals on the A308 and town center) and the Windsor stations (where walking will be the main option) to Windsor Race course where a temporary bridge will be built over the Thames into the event.  Like most of the Olympics public transport is the preferred transport method there is unlikely to be any extra car parking spaces provided. 

The access to the platforms at Maidenhead station is going to be a challenge unless platform 1 is used with its ramp into Shoppenhangers Road and may be a temporary bridge from Shoppenhagers Rd Car park to the island platforms.

Me thinks the TV trains are going to be busy in during those weeks in 2012

[IndustryInsider]

Me thinks the TV trains are going to be busy in during those weeks in 2012

I hope FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are taking it seriously and not just hoping they can get by with the usual service and the odd extra carriage here and there.  A total cancellation of any engineering works at or near London (or the other major venues) during the Olympics and all local services between Reading and Paddington (as far as is possible) running as 6-car trains off-peak as a bare minimum.

[Electric train]

Me thinks the TV trains are going to be busy in during those weeks in 2012

I hope FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are taking it seriously and not just hoping they can get by with the usual service and the odd extra carriage here and there.  A total cancellation of any engineering works at or near London (or the other major venues) during the Olympics and all local services between Reading and Paddington (as far as is possible) running as 6-car trains off-peak as a bare minimum.

As far as I know there will be a total embargo on all disruptive maintenance on all routes in the southeast during the Olympics and para Olympics.  The 165's will be the best sets to use because embarkation and disembarkation is quicker than Mk3's 6 car sets might cope just, the main service ort to be London, Slough, Maidenhead, Reading 15 every min shuttle on the Mains leaving the local services for the locals to get to the rowing if they so wish

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Maidenhead Advertiser:

Taplow 'most convenient' station for 2012 Rowing, says campaigner

A rail campaigner for Taplow is hailing its station as the 'most convenient and sustainable' transport solution for the Olympics at Dorney Lake.
Maidenhead was named as an official 2012 venue station last week - joining Slough - but Jon Willmore, chairman of Taplow Rail Users' Group (TRUG), said that using the village station would help prevent the A4 snarling up. It is less than two miles away from the rowing lake.
"We have always felt that purely in transport terms Taplow is the most convenient train station," he said. "There are some obvious advantages in that it is a lot closer. It mitigates a number of traffic issues particularly along the A4 which is very fragile to traffic."