One less HST stopping at Maidenhead from August 10th - pm?

[whole diary]

[johoare]

Indeed Grahame.. But made even worse when it came as a surprise to a lot of them these people this evening... Communication doesn't cost much (FGW^▸ (First Great Western) still needs to learn the art of communication)

[devon_metro]

The train that usually forms the 1948 Pad - Worcester is the 1P71 from Oxford. For the next three weeks this arrives at Paddington as usual, then runs as 5P71 1948 Paddington - Old Oak Common.

[johoare]

So I was right.. There IS a spare HST^▸ (High Speed Train) 

[ellendune]

So I was right.. There IS a spare HST^▸ (High Speed Train) 

Not necessarily. If another HST is being stabled at Cheltenham rather than coming back to Old Oak Common depot then that will not be maintained. The HSTs still all need to be maintained or they will become more unreliable.

[johoare]

I put something on twitter about this and a nice guy who works for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) apparently (but not one of the people working on twitter) e-mailed someone about this and apparently the communication was "overlooked".. Quite how it can be overlooked when I've told them about it more than once is beyond me. If I was that bad at my job I wouldn't have a job anymore...

He also said they are looking to see if there is another train that can be stopped at Maidenhead to replace it meanwhile so I'm quite hopeful now..

[NickB]

He also said they are looking to see if there is another train that can be stopped at Maidenhead to replace it meanwhile so I'm quite hopeful now..

Hope is a dangerous thing   

[lordgoata]

He also said they are looking to see if there is another train that can be stopped at Maidenhead to replace it meanwhile so I'm quite hopeful now..

Hope is a dangerous thing   

I bet they find one, in approx 3 weeks time 

[johoare]

He also said they are looking to see if there is another train that can be stopped at Maidenhead to replace it meanwhile so I'm quite hopeful now..

Hope is a dangerous thing   

I bet they find one, in approx 3 weeks time 

Me too..  I also anticipate/know that they won't reply to my e-mail on the subject till then either 

[TaplowGreen]

You have 6 direct train options from Paddington to Maidenhead between 1900-2000, some of which take around 20 minutes - those of us who use Taplow station have 2, which take far longer, and most weekdays no service at all (apart from a bus from Slough) after 9pm, and no Sunday service.

Notwithstanding higher levels of demand and the larger size of Maidenhead, I'd say count your blessings! 

[Busboy W1]

An interesting point about this timetable amendment is that no other users of the 19:48 that travel further than Maidenhead International have made any comment on here. As TaplowGreen states in their last post pax to Maidenhead ought to be lucky.

  I'm sure some of the users of the 19:48 that travel further down the line have a far more traumatic journey to undertake with these changes.

[IndustryInsider]

I'm sure some of the users of the 19:48 that travel further down the line have a far more traumatic journey to undertake with these changes.

Not unless they're travelling beyond Swindon - where no trains are running anyway of course.  The other stops (Reading, Didcot and Swindon) have a fast HST^▸ (High Speed Train) service within 12 minutes at 20:00 which arrives between 9-12 minutes later.  Reading also has the 19:50, though as we've discussed that's only a 3-car Turbo).  That might explain why the decision to run the 19:48 as far as Swindon wasn't made.

[grahame]

An interesting point about this timetable amendment is that no other users of the 19:48 that travel further than Maidenhead International have made any comment on here.

I'm sure it is, as II suggests, because other stations have alternatives.

You have 6 direct train options from Paddington to Maidenhead between 1900-2000, some of which take around 20 minutes - those of us who use Taplow station have 2, which take far longer, and most weekdays no service at all (apart from a bus from Slough) after 9pm, and no Sunday service.

Now you see I envy Taplow.   I'm working in London today, and the first train from my station was too late (09:20) for an 09:00 appointment .... and one of my delegates here is grumbling about the gap from 07:04 to 07:26 (I think he said) in services from Surbiton ... which the folks from Maidenhead might find acceptable if the trains were expresses

[James]

An interesting point about this timetable amendment is that no other users of the 19:48 that travel further than Maidenhead International have made any comment on here.

I'm sure it is, as II suggests, because other stations have alternatives.

You have 6 direct train options from Paddington to Maidenhead between 1900-2000, some of which take around 20 minutes - those of us who use Taplow station have 2, which take far longer, and most weekdays no service at all (apart from a bus from Slough) after 9pm, and no Sunday service.

Now you see I envy Taplow.   I'm working in London today, and the first train from my station was too late (09:20) for an 09:00 appointment .... and one of my delegates here is grumbling about the gap from 07:04 to 07:26 (I think he said) in services from Surbiton ... which the folks from Maidenhead might find acceptable if the trains were expresses

Well the folks at Maidenhead have a real choice of express trains between the hours of 0700 and 0800. The ones being 0703, 0718 and 0730. Then a big gap until 0800 then closely followed behind by a 0802 fast service. Then nothing until 0834 and again until 0903. My question is, why there is no 0818 or 0848 as the station around those times are very busy. After all the people from surbiton get a far more superior service of fast expresses (even if it takes 20 minutes from Surbiton, since its obviously closer to london than maidenhead is). to enjoy. I feel Maidenhead is on the list to have even less fast trains come IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) timetable introduction, and it will be more of very slow stopping crossrail services. You might as well send the crossrail services via Windsor and Heathrow to get to Central London if and its a big IF, Windsor RailLink gets built, whenever that may be...

Edited as there is a nice HST^▸ (High Speed Train) 0708 which also calls at Maidenhead, anymore nice trains out there which could stop at Maidenhead?

[grahame]

As a general point, rush hour trains fill up quickly.

A service that calls at each station on a 10 station line during the day (Off peak), picking up an average of 40 passengers at each of them, reaches London with 400 people.    A similar stopping pattern in the peak, where 100 people would joint at each station, would reach London with 1000 on board - a significant problem if there was only space for 600.   Each train is expensive to operate and people want fast journeys; sometimes the solution is to have some faster services with fewer stops to increase overall capacity.   You will note occasional trains which don't even call at Reading.

[James]

Thats true grahame, however if say the 0800 from Maidenhead starting from Didcot Parkway, which doesnt call at reading from what i recall is cancelled, it means that everyone has to crowd on to the 0802 2 car service which can get quite interesting with people basically standing right in front of each others faces or backs!. Not nice as you know
For off peak times if say the 0932 and 0947 were cancelled and there where 2 or even three car trains and with journeys over 46 minutes, then no wonder why people get fed up. I think some people wish there were at Surbiton at off peak times as there are trains every 20 minutes and fast as well. Also it gets better as people get 8/10 or even 12 car train desiros compared to what thames valley travellers get..

Something off topic... How can the 0935 from Maidenhead reach Taplow in 1 minute at 0936...
Other trains take 3 to 4 minutes between the two stations, so i am a bit confused about the 0935 service, unless the turbo train travels at lightning speed to reach Taplow without getting delayed en route.