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Network SouthEast
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« Reply #15 on: October 05, 2013, 03:12:43 » |
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It is understood that train crews on the Bristol, South Wales or South West routes have not been trained operate class 180s.
Only Paddington and Oxford LTV▸ drivers and guards (along with Reading guards) sign class 180s these days, so no chance of them operating on the routes your list any time soon, I'm afraid. |
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Andrew1939 from West Oxon
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« Reply #16 on: October 05, 2013, 12:07:42 » |
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Charles comments that this train is worse on Fridays. This has been the case for many years now. The cause is believed to be the high number of wealthy city types that can afford a home in London to sleep in Monday to Thursday and then return to their hoiday home in the Cotswolds on Friday afternoon/evening. Traffic flows back to London from the Cotswold Line are higher on Sunday afternoons/evenings and again on Monday mornings as they go back for work in London.
A more recent factor increasing traffic flows has been the relocation of many city workers from homes in the home counties to less expensive homes in West Oxon. I know of one such person who lived in Wokingham and explained to me that as his family had grown and he needed a larger home, he found it economically viable to relocate from Wokingham to Witney with the bonus of living in a pleasant Cotswolds area. Property prices in Wokingham had been rising because people living in London were relocating outwards because of the increasing number of immigrants in London able to pay high rents because of high deensity living. He now has a season ticket from Hanborough to London and the commuting time of just over an hour to Paddington compares very well with the slow multi-station South West Trains journey from Wokingham to Waterloo and the savings on his mortgage more than offset his higher season ticket cost. He is just one of many that has resulted in an enormous growth in early morning commuting from Hanborough to London
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CLPGMS
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« Reply #17 on: October 05, 2013, 19:57:52 » |
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Only Paddington and Oxford LTV▸ drivers and guards (along with Reading guards) sign class 180s these days, so no chance of them operating on the routes your list any time soon, I'm afraid. Actually, there are no Train Managers (Guards) based at Oxford. I believe that at least some of the Train Managers based at Worcester (who do sign Class 180s) now also work between Worcester and London via Stroud/Swindon. I do not know what is the situation regarding drivers on that route, however. No drivers are based in Worcester. |
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bobm
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« Reply #18 on: October 05, 2013, 21:33:06 » |
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Times have moved on but when the 180s came to FGW▸ the first time they saw a lot of work on the line from Swindon to Gloucester/Cheltenham.
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JayMac
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« Reply #19 on: October 05, 2013, 22:09:40 » |
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And my first ever journey on a Class 180 was on an afternoon service from Taunton, to Paddington via Frome, in 2003.
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« Last Edit: October 06, 2013, 02:17:41 by bignosemac »
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"A clear conscience laughs at a false accusation."
"Treat everyone the same until you find out they're an idiot."
"Moral indignation is a technique used to endow the idiot with dignity."
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ChrisB
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« Reply #20 on: October 06, 2013, 12:12:17 » |
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Are the 180s cleared for South Cotswold use?
If so, I suspect it's driver knowledge....Cheltenham's will/could use Bristol drivers? Are they trained on 180s? I doubt it.
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Network SouthEast
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« Reply #21 on: October 06, 2013, 13:49:23 » |
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As I've already said, the only drivers that sign 180s are Paddington and Oxford LTV▸ drivers.
Paddington LTV drivers sign Paddington to Oxford, Paddington to Bedwyn, the Greenford branch, and the Windsor branch. Senior LTV drivers also sign to Worcester Foregate Street.
Oxford LTV drivers sign Banbury to Paddington and the Greenford branch, a fair few sign as far as Great Malvern, and senior drivers also sign as far as Hereford.
Further more, even though only Oxford and Paddington LTV drivers sign 180s, there is a training backlog and some LTV drivers do not even sign them yet. With only four 180s diagrammed for service during the week, it is unlikely other depots or HSS▸ drivers will learn them because there wouldn't be enough duties to enable the drivers that do sign them to retain their competency in them.
That's why it's unlikely you'll see them on Cheltenham services any time soon.
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #22 on: October 07, 2013, 22:26:51 » |
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Network SouthEast's summary is correct, and to add that guard/TM‡/Conductor wise Paddington, Reading, and Worcester depots sign the 180s with most of the Worcester ones signing the route via Stroud, so it's the drivers that prohibit 180 working on that route.
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To view my GWML▸ Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/ |
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stebbo
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« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2013, 21:25:47 » |
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The class 180 yesterday (Tuesday) on the 1551 ex Paddington was packed to the rafters as far as Oxford and had loads of seat reservations (to answer an earlier comment).
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charles_uk
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« Reply #24 on: October 09, 2013, 22:20:25 » |
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The class 180 yesterday (Tuesday) on the 1551 ex Paddington was packed to the rafters as far as Oxford
And from my experience, far more tend to get on at Oxford than get off - certainly coaches D & E. |
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stebbo
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« Reply #25 on: October 12, 2013, 16:58:22 » |
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Not on this occasion; it got a bit easier after Oxford. Still I have to use the same service next week, so we'll see what happens.
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charles_uk
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« Reply #26 on: October 14, 2013, 13:01:23 » |
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Friday's 1552 PAD» :WOS» service was appallingly over-crowded, to the extent that the automated announcement at Oxford suggested passengers wait for the following service.
What's frustrating is that whenever FGW▸ is short of an HST▸ , it always gets taken from this service. I understand that it is the least heavily used HST diagram and that the Cotswold Line is the only long-distance route that Turbos and 180s can operate on; I don't doubt it is the simplest solution in terms of stock utilisation but is it really the only option, especially if it's going to be a long-term issue? I find it hard to believe that FGW gives any serious consideration to passenger numbers when making such decisions.
[edited for a small grammatical correction]
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« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 17:50:57 by charles_uk »
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CLPGMS
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« Reply #27 on: October 14, 2013, 16:53:04 » |
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Friday's 1552 PAD» :WOS» service was appallingly over-crowded, to the extent that the automated announcement at Oxford suggested passengers wait for the following service.
I think that some may well have taken up this suggestion. The number alighting from the 1552 PAD-WOS train at Charlbury was much lower than usual for a Friday. |
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Worcester_Passenger
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« Reply #28 on: November 13, 2013, 08:14:43 » |
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Travelled from Paddington to Shrub Hill on this on Mon Nov 11.
I was in the middle coach. Full from Paddington to Oxford. Standing in the vestibules, luggage spaces and ends of aisle from Oxford to Charlbury. Merely full from there to Moreton. 60% load through to Worcester.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #29 on: November 13, 2013, 11:27:14 » |
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Worcester guard on Monday told a few of us that they've heard of plans to swap the HST▸ on the 1750 with the Adelante on the 1551.....wait to see if this actually happens
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