15.51 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

One issue is the gap in service between 1520 and 1649.

That gap will hopefully be filled when the service frequency is increased and that would take some of the pressure off of a departure from Paddington at around 4pm.  Perhaps a Turbo stopping service or two could be slotted in at peak times between Oxford and Charlbury/Moreton to help relieve the through services?

Regarding the diagrams, Rhydgaled is right to print the caveat in his post as that pretty much says that what is contained within it should not be taken seriously.  I think I pointed out before that the timings on the Cotswold Line won't even work in practice, let alone the diagram allocations.

[didcotdean]

According to a twitter comment, the 10:42 from Paddington to Hereford this morning was only a 4 carriage turbo rather than a HST^▸ (High Speed Train). By Didcot it was so full that ~50 people were left on the platform.

[Busboy W1]

There are a few problems with Turbos at the moment still 166221 at Wolverton Works since early March and sets going to Ilford for bogie replacement exams taking place on depot and faults and failures across the fleet. HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have been ok recently and 180s in the past week have performed well under the heat.

[a-driver]

According to a twitter comment, the 10:42 from Paddington to Hereford this morning was only a 4 carriage turbo rather than a HST^▸ (High Speed Train). By Didcot it was so full that ~50 people were left on the platform.

It was operated by a 3-car Turbo in the end.

There were problems between Swindon and Bristol Parkway this morning so I'd imagine there were some set swaps.  Unfortunately, with crew knowledge, services to  Worcester, Hereford and Malvern are the only services you can really swap from an HST to a Turbo

[IndustryInsider]

It was operated by a 3-car Turbo in the end.

In circumstances like that, every effort should be made to strengthen it on its return working at Oxford as that will be one heaving 3-Car Turbo between there and Paddington.  It appears that every effort has not been made. 

[a-driver]

The set that worked the 1042 to Hereford would normally be the spare unit that sits in platform 13 at Paddington all day
To strengthen it on its return at Oxford would be pointless as it will only sit blocking the whole of platform 13 until 2315 tonight when it goes back to Reading.

[IndustryInsider]

It would not have been pointless as it would have provided passengers with a more comfortable journey.  Doesn't look as if anything much is booked to use Platform 13 in the meantime as most Turbo services are 5 or 6-Car on a Sunday so it doesn't matter what length of train is occupying it - so I don't buy that as an reason.  Sure, some set allocations might have had to change a little, but that happens all the time when there's disruption.

[a-driver]

It would not have been pointless as it would have provided passengers with a more comfortable journey.  Doesn't look as if anything much is booked to use Platform 13 in the meantime as most Turbo services are 5 or 6-Car on a Sunday so it doesn't matter what length of train is occupying it - so I don't buy that as an reason.  Sure, some set allocations might have had to change a little, but that happens all the time when there's disruption.

It does matter.  The 1830 from Hereford to Padd is a 3-car which attaches to the set stabled in platform 13 which makes the 2315 a 6-car.  Not only will you need a spare driver to mobilise the set at Oxford (and we were on a pub crawl yesterday!), you would also need another spare driver at Paddington to split the set and shunt it clear and possibly another driver to return the set to its correct location for Monday morning.   Again, this all depends on wether a set is available from Oxford.
You'd be better off advising passengers to travel on the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service and then change at Reading

[IndustryInsider]

It does matter.  The 1830 from Hereford to Padd is a 3-car which attaches to the set stabled in platform 13 which makes the 2315 a 6-car.  Not only will you need a spare driver to mobilise the set at Oxford (and we were on a pub crawl yesterday!), you would also need another spare driver at Paddington to split the set and shunt it clear and possibly another driver to return the set to its correct location for Monday morning.   Again, this all depends on wether a set is available from Oxford.
You'd be better off advising passengers to travel on the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service and then change at Reading

Ah, OK, understood about the coupling at PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) - I didn't realise that.  Still probably not an insurmountable challenge though.  I just hate to see passengers having an uncomfortable journey.  Perhaps it would be wise to have a 5/6-Car stabled at Paddington as a standby train on a Sunday, so that all you'd need would be a spare driver at Oxford to hook the set off on the way down and then back on when it comes the other way?  There's probably more Sundays than not when there are drivers available than not - even if there were a load of sick calls this morning if there was a depot pub crawl yesterday!

[Rhydgaled]

Regarding the diagrams, Rhydgaled is right to print the caveat in his post as that pretty much says that what is contained within it should not be taken seriously.  I think I pointed out before that the timings on the Cotswold Line won't even work in practice, let alone the diagram allocations.

It was however, if I'm reading it correctly, what DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) used to decide how many diagrams of each type to procure.

[Worcester_Passenger]

According to a twitter comment, the 10:42 from Paddington to Hereford this morning was only a 4 carriage turbo rather than a HST^▸ (High Speed Train). By Didcot it was so full that ~50 people were left on the platform.

In fact, the 3-coach Turbo was so full at Paddington that it left people behind. My other half was trying to get to Oxford, and decided that it was impossible to get on board this train.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Meanwhile, another substitution yesterday (Sunday Juy 6) meant that the 08:03 from Paddington to Great Malvern and the 11:15 return were operated by a 2-car Turbo.

Which was cosy by Moreton (first photo), standing after Kingham (second), worse still after Charlbury and difficult to photograph after Hanborough.
 

[IndustryInsider]

Not good enough, is it? 

[stebbo]

Luxury on Tuesday (8th June) - an Adelante that wasn't too crowded for once. Bliss, apart from the annoying underfloor buzz.

[ChrisB]

One issue is the gap in service between 1520 and 1649.

That gap will hopefully be filled when the service frequency is increased and that would take some of the pressure off of a departure from Paddington at around 4pm.  Perhaps a Turbo stopping service or two could be slotted in at peak times between Oxford and Charlbury/Moreton to help relieve the through services?

Frankly, I can't see the operator dropping to hourly in the peaks! They will retain the half-hourly services around 1722/1822, and that, together with the hourly services at the start of the peak, should alleviate the crowding on the 1551....