15.51 Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

That would be a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul, though I suppose that train would only be absolute carnage as far as Maidenhead if they did that.  I'm sure Jo and the other Maidenhead commuters would have something to say about that... 

[ChrisB]

Only as far as Maidenhead, rather than beyond Oxford.

[Busboy W1]

If the proposed plans do happen, I'm sure the Maidenhead population will be 1st to complain !?

[Steve Bray]

I believe that CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) suggested to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) a while ago, that with the projected improved reliability of the re-doubling of the Cotswold Line, then it should be possible to turnaround the Off-Peak Hereford services in half an hour and not the current 90 minutes or so.

So if the 1143 arrival at Hereford from Paddington then returned at 1214 or so (as it does on Saturdays), it would arrive Paddington at about 1530hrs and could then form the 1551. I haven't delved into what repercussions this would have to other services on the Cotswold Line or other knock-on effects.

[grahame]

So if the 1143 arrival at Hereford from Paddington then returned at 1214 or so (as it does on Saturdays), it would arrive Paddington at about 1530hrs and could then form the 1551. I haven't delved into what repercussions this would have to other services on the Cotswold Line or other knock-on effects.

One of the knock on effects would be that there would be one less HST^▸ (High Speed Train) arriving into Paddington at about 16:30, which might mean that there would be a few disappointed commuters if - say - the 17:00 to Bristol became a turbo ;-)

[johoare]

That would be a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul, though I suppose that train would only be absolute carnage as far as Maidenhead if they did that.  I'm sure Jo and the other Maidenhead commuters would have something to say about that... 

Aah but if they do that then we might get the 7.18 back as an Adelante?    To be fair.. I've now changed my travelling pattern to go in really early (I won't say which train so they won't take it away) and to come home really late (ditto to my previous comment).. to avoid all the overcrowding..

[charles_uk]

The gross overcrowding on this service seems to have got significantly worse this week. I understand why First Great Western has redeployed this HST^▸ (High Speed Train), but surely for long-term maintenance projects like this there has to be a smarter way of managing its fleet?

[Southern Stag]

Well the plan was that this overhaul would not have needed to take place, at least not for the majority of the fleet. But because of the continued delays in the replacements for the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) it's now necessary to carry out the overhaul to keep them going longer.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Just fell to flicking through the diagrams (HST^▸ (High Speed Train), 180) and one other possibility comes to mind.

Taking Steve Bray and the CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about)'s point that HSTs could now be turned around faster at Hereford, if the 15.14 HFD^» (Hereford - next trains)-18.28 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) were moved earlier (perhaps swapping with one of the 180s or Turbos plying the line in mid-afternoon), this could happen:


Current diagrams:

HST IW033 1L58 1220 CNM^» (Cheltenham Spa - next trains)-PAD, 1D45 1522 PAD-OXF^» (Oxford - next trains), 1P63 1701 OXF-PAD, 1W08 1822 PAD-HFD, 5W08 2142 HFD-PM.
HST IW036 1K71 0518 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-PAD, 1W02 1022 PAD-HFD, 1P65 1514 HFD-PAD, 1D67 1850 PAD-OXF, 1P81 2101 OXF-PAD.
180 OOC503 1P47 1206 WOF-PAD, 1W47 1552 PAD-WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains), 1P79 1849 WOF-PAD.

Change to:

HST IW033 1L58 1220 CNM-PAD, 1W47 1552 PAD-WOS, 1P79 1849 WOF-PAD.
HST IW036 1K71 0518 BRI-PAD, 1W02 1022 PAD-HFD, 1P65 (earlier) HFD-PAD, 1W08 1822 PAD-HFD, 5W08 2142 HFD-PM.
180 OOC503 1P47 1206 WOF-PAD, 1D45 1522 PAD-OXF, 1P63 1701 OXF-PAD, 1D67 1850 PAD-OXF, 1P81 2101 OXF-PAD.


It would require some adjustment to the Cotswold Line afternoon timetable, which I've not looked into. That probably needs to happen anyway given the odd spacing of up trains in the afternoon - currently a 2hr gap, then a half-hourly service for two hours, then a 1.5hr gap.

But overall it seems, to me, to be a better solution than the crush at present. (Please be gentle on me, I'm only a bumbling amateur in these things!)

[ChrisB]

There are adjustments coming to the May14 timetable, which the CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) are pleased with. Not sure I can say more just yet.

[IndustryInsider]

Change to:

HST^▸ (High Speed Train) IW033 1L58 1220 CNM^» (Cheltenham Spa - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains), 1W47 1552 PAD-WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains), 1P79 1849 WOF-PAD.
HST IW036 1K71 0518 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-PAD, 1W02 1022 PAD-HFD^» (Hereford - next trains), 1P65 (earlier) HFD-PAD, 1W08 1822 PAD-HFD, 5W08 2142 HFD-PM.
180 OOC503 1P47 1206 WOF-PAD, 1D45 1522 PAD-OXF^» (Oxford - next trains), 1P63 1701 OXF-PAD, 1D67 1850 PAD-OXF, 1P81 2101 OXF-PAD.

(Please be gentle on me, I'm only a bumbling amateur in these things!)

An interesting proposal, though the 17:01 OXF-PAD gets mighty busy from Slough, so reducing that to an Adelante wouldn't go down very well, though it's for a much shorter stretch than the 15:51 PAD-WOS has to struggle through.

[Southern Stag]

The 1701 OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) no longer calls at Slough. The 1523 TAU^» (Taunton - next trains)-PAD calls instead now. However the 1701 OXF-PAD calls at Maidenhead instead. When the 1523 TAU-PAD used to call at Maidenhead it got very busy there too, I don't think you'd get everyone on a 180.

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks for the correction.  I should've remembered given that I got it from Oxford to Maidenhead the other week!   

[ChrisB]

There are adjustments coming to the May14 timetable, which the CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) are pleased with. Not sure I can say more just yet.

...to the TT generally, not specifically to the 1551....yet

[charles_uk]

And today, the 180 was so full at Oxford that the train manager evicted all the Hanborough passengers and decided to run the train straight through to Charlbury. This did seem to take the staff at Oxford by surprise as well as causing considerable annoyance to the 50 or so who were travelling to Hanborough. Amongst those turfed off was a mother with her four month old child.

I can only assume the train manager in question doesn't normally handle this service as it was no more grossly over-crowded than usual for a Friday. My worry is that First Great Western will use this option to manage this regular over-crowding from time to time in the future rather than address the real cause of the problem.