Class 180s return to the Cotswolds

[whole diary]

[Richard Fairhurst]

I'm told that the 05.48 from Paddington was an Adelante this morning.

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, that's the first part of the diagram that 180108 has been covering all week.

Current weekday passenger services are:
05:48 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-WOF
08:26 WOF-PAD
11:20 PAD-GMV
14:26 GMV-PAD
17:18 PAD-OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)
19:31 OXF-PAD
15:51 PAD-WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains) (Fridays only)
18:49 WOF-PAD (Fridays only)

More to follow in the coming weeks...

[Richard Fairhurst]

Ah, hadn't realised that - thanks.

[bobm]

Class 180s to get Wifi  - http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/About-Us/Media-centre/First-Great-Western-to-launch-Wifi-on-its-trains

First Great Western has announced it will trial free Wifi on trains running between Paddington and the Cotswolds, allowing passengers to check emails and browse the internet on their own Wifi-enabled devices.
 
The technology will be installed on five Class 180 trains, 25 vehicles, which will upgrade the current fleet running on the line, as part of a series of reliability and comfort modifications.
 
First Great Western Managing Director, Mark Hopwood said the company had been looking for an opportunity to introduce the technology for some time:

^The refresh of these trains has given us the opportunity to address modern work and entertainment needs. I am delighted that within the year customers will be able to read their emails, browse the web, or simply catch friends while on the move.
 
"As well as reliability improvements each of the trains has been extensively refurbished, allowing us to include the technology required to offer Wifi free of charge to passengers.^
 
Wifi is also available at a number of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) stations through the public provider The Cloud.

[ChrisB]

At last....its in the public domain.

[JayMac]

I bet they'll roll it out quicker than XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) have managed!!!

Hopefully it'll be a useful test bed for further roll outs on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) fleet.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

hopefully not straying too much as its about wifi on more trains in the area

Rail passengers to benefit from multi-million-pound investment in Wi-Fi technology at South West Trains

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/Rail%20passengers%20to%20benefit%20from%20multi-million%20pound%20investment%20in%20wi-fi%20technology.aspx

[EBrown]

I bet they'll roll it out quicker than XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) have managed!!!

Hopefully it'll be a useful test bed for further roll outs on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) fleet.

Well, XC have till the end of the year then.

[Btline]

Does anyone know how the 180 is coping with the shoulder peak services between Pad and Oxf?

Good news about Wifi - another thing that should have been added during the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) refurb!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Familiar face returns to Cotswold Line

Rail passengers will feel the benefit of efforts to cut overcrowding on trains between Oxfordshire and London from Monday, with five extra express trains entering service.

The distinctive-wedge-nosed 125mph Class 180 Adelante trains are returning to duty with operator First Great Western after a three-year break and will be dedicated to services between London, Oxford and the Cotswold Line to Worcester.

In autumn 2010, all of the 10 most overcrowded trains in the South East of England were FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services to or from London's Paddington station, but since then the firm has made progress on tackling the problem.

Department for Transport figures for last spring saw that figure halved. Statistics released earlier this month by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), showing the number of rush-hour passengers in excess of each train operator^s fleet^s designed capacity, said that while FGW had the highest level among rail firms in the South East last year, at 10.5 per cent across both daily peaks, this had been cut from 16.6 per cent in 2010.

From Monday, almost all weekday trains on the Cotswold Line will be operated by the 280-seat Class 180s, or FGW^s High Speed Trains, which have seats for 500 or 580 passengers, with just a handful of Thames Turbo services running west of Oxford.

Adelantes were used on the Cotswold Line from 2004-09 but were transferred to other duties after FGW acquired extra High Speed Trains. They will also operate a number of peak trains between Oxford and London, serving Radley, Culham, Appleford, Didcot Parkway, Cholsey and Goring & Streatley.

FGW managing director Mark Hopwood said: ^The trains are looking really good and a lot of people have said to me that they look like new trains.

^From Monday there will be a big change in the fleet of trains on the Cotswold Line but the Turbos currently in use will not be going anywhere, they will remain with us and will be used to lengthen Thames Valley services.

^In addition, a number of the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) in use on Oxford and Cotswold services will soon be extended from seven to eight coaches, giving an extra 80 seats.

^When you add all these changes together, that^s 4,500 extra seats on our services every weekday, a nine per cent increase in capacity in morning and evening rush-hours in and out of Paddington.

Lord Faulkner, the president of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, which represents passengers and campaigns for improvements to the route, said: ^The train looks wonderful and I^m sure they^re going to be adding to the popularity of the service between Worcester, Oxford and London.^

[IndustryInsider]

Three diagrams of the eventual four are in operation today.

180102 makes its return debut in passenger service (I think) working the following passenger service:

07:02 OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)
09:21 PAD-WOF
12:06 WOF-PAD
14:50 PAD-OXF
17:32 OXF-GMV ('Halts' train)
19:44 GMV-PAD


180106 is working:

05:48 PAD-WOF
08:26 WOF-PAD
11:20 PAD-GMV
14:26 GMV-PAD
17:18 PAD-OXF
19:31 OXF-PAD


180108 is working:

05:22 PAD-OXF
07:21 OXF-PAD
12:21 PAD-GMV
15:22 GMV-OXF
17:06 OXF-PAD
19:18 PAD-OXF

[Worcester_Passenger]

180102 makes its return debut in passenger service (I think) working the following passenger service:

07:02 OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)
09:21 PAD-WOF
12:06 WOF-PAD
14:50 PAD-OXF
17:32 OXF-GMV ('Halts' train)
19:44 GMV-PAD

But alas:

09:21 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 11:40
This train has been delayed at Maidenhead and is now 31 minutes late.
This train will be terminated at Oxford at 10:49.
This train will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Evesham, Pershore, Worcester Shrub Hill and Worcester Foregate Street.
This is due to a train fault.
Message Received :23/07/2012 10:38

12:06 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington due 14:29
This train will be started from Oxford at 13:31.
This train will no longer call at Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill, Pershore, Evesham, Honeybourne, Moreton-In-Marsh, Kingham, Charlbury and Hanborough.
This is due to an earlier train fault.
Message Received :23/07/2012 10:39

[Western Enterprise]

Cann't say I was impressed by the 180 forming the 08.34 from Maidenhead to Pad this morning. Turned up 10 minutes late, and although of five cars instead of 3 with the usual Turbo unit, there seemed alot less room and much more standing. The aisles were packed all the way down. I'm not sure of the comparison with the number of seats, but at least the seats were bigger and more comfortable!
I'll have to give this some time before I'd welcome these hydraulics back on the W.R

[IndustryInsider]

But alas:

09:21 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street due 11:40
This train has been delayed at Maidenhead and is now 31 minutes late.
This train will be terminated at Oxford at 10:49.
This train will no longer call at Hanborough, Charlbury, Kingham, Moreton-In-Marsh, Evesham, Pershore, Worcester Shrub Hill and Worcester Foregate Street.

Yes indeed!

Though partly down to problems with a HST^▸ (High Speed Train), it also was running on only three engines - probably not a good week to introduce more diagrams with the temperature set to reach nearly 30 degrees!  The other services have also been delayed, mostly by the morning halts Turbo hitting animals near Honeybourne which led to its failure at Moreton-In-Marsh - the lack of sidings at Moreton causing problems as it couldn't just be moved out of the way and was eventually assisted by the 06:48 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-WOF which terminated at Moreton.

[IndustryInsider]

Cann't say I was impressed by the 180 forming the 08.34 from Maidenhead to Pad this morning. Turned up 10 minutes late, and although of five cars instead of 3 with the usual Turbo unit, there seemed alot less room and much more standing. The aisles were packed all the way down. I'm not sure of the comparison with the number of seats, but at least the seats were bigger and more comfortable!
I'll have to give this some time before I'd welcome these hydraulics back on the W.R

Premuably with it running 10 minutes late there may have been more people than normal as people turning up for the next service early might also have tried their luck?  Any 3-car Turbo that was full and standing being replaced with an Adelante will continue to be packed as the number of seats is similar.  There is also less standing room in the vestibule areas than on a Turbo, and people are more reluctant to move down the end of carriages A and E to stand as it takes ages to get off.  Using them on those services is certainly not ideal!