1527 Exeter St D to Barnstaple

[whole diary]

[AMLAG]

Regular passengers (I refuse, like the Govt., to call them customers!) on the 1551 Paddington to Worcester luxuriously worked by a cl 180 Adelante unit recently experiencing 'severe overcrowding' may be interested to know that severe overcrowding is being suffered elsewhere; for example in deepest forgotten Devon on 25/10/13 on the 1527 Exeter St D to Barnstaple, worked by a 'veteran' basic bus type class 143 'Pacer' 2 coach 104 seats train,  over 60 passengers were stood on departure from Exeter; most stood for 70 mins. all the way to Barnstaple.

Franchise requirements are that  passengers should not have to stand continuously for more than 20 mins.?

The next train to Barnstaple at 1657 (2 coaches) was also full and standing with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) providing a Relief BUS from
St Davids!

Oh that some of the circa 50 standard gauge ex BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) coaches on Private lines in the South West,let alone the several hundred throughout the Country (plus the circa 150 main line certified for Charter/occasional use), now being mostly laid up for the Winter, could be put to good use!

[John R]

Regular passengers (I refuse, like the Govt., to call them customers!) on the 1551 Paddington to Worcester luxuriously worked by a cl 180 Adelante unit recently experiencing 'severe overcrowding' may be interested to know that severe overcrowding is being suffered elsewhere; for example in deepest forgotten Devon on 25/10/13 on the 1527 Exeter St D to Barnstaple, worked by a 'veteran' basic bus type class 143 'Pacer' 2 coach 104 seats train,  over 60 passengers were stood on departure from Exeter; most stood for 70 mins. all the way to Barnstaple.

Franchise requirements are that  passengers should not have to stand continuously for more than 20 mins.?

The next train to Barnstaple at 1657 (2 coaches) was also full and standing with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) providing a Relief BUS from
St Davids!

Oh that some of the circa 50 standard gauge ex BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) coaches on Private lines in the South West,let alone the several hundred throughout the Country (plus the circa 150 main line certified for Charter/occasional use), now being mostly laid up for the Winter, could be put to good use!

Is that a regular occurrence, or was there some reason why the traffic flows were heavier, eg start/end  of half term? There's an additional Cl 153 available in the area from the timetable change. Does anyone know if that is exclusively for the Paignton service, or will it be available to strengthen peak Barnstaple services?

[grahame]

There's an additional Cl 153 available in the area from the timetable change. Does anyone know if that is exclusively for the Paignton service, or will it be available to strengthen peak Barnstaple services?

Its planned diagram is at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225394/fgw-franchise-letter.pdf
(which I'm having trouble loading at the moment as I'm on Cross Country WiFi!)

[AMLAG]

The additional (EU^» (European Union - about) funded) cl 153 (Single car) from 9/12/13 starts off on a much needed 0823 (SX) Exeter St D to Paignton all stations then does some off peak additional services between N.Abbot & Paignton finally getting back to St D at about 1720.
It could thus be usefully used to strengthen the 0700 (SX) Barns/Exe St D (arr 0807) which has recently locally been strengthened with a cl 153 to make 3 cars.. IF a unit is available and nothing at Exeter has failed !.
I travelled on 0700 Barns on 2/10 (2 car cl 150)and there were about 60 passrs stood on arrival at St D ..this is now a typical daily loading of this train....lots of students for Exeter college and very few of the regular workers in Exeter are on hols. this time of year.
The 1527 & 1657 Exeter St D/Barnstaple are regularly full and standing and this has been the case for a few years and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) is aware.
On Saturdays (when there are some spare units) most Barnstaple line daytime trains are (in last year) booked to be 3 or 4 cars on account of regular heavy loadings.
It is a fact that the best advertisement is word of mouth/a personal recommendation and the likelihood of passengers on the Barnstaple line now being UNABLE to reliably get a seat on peak M-F trains to Exeter in the morning and returning in the afternoon is leading to loss of passengers,revenue/profits for FGW and its shareholders.
Unlike in the London commuter area there are no FGW trains in the Exeter area kept sitting around in sidings all day just for one commuter trip in the morning and evening !

[John R]

The additional (EU^» (European Union - about) funded) cl 153 (Single car) from 9/12/13 starts off on a much needed 0823 (SX) Exeter St D to Paignton all stations then does some off peak additional services between N.Abbot & Paignton finally getting back to St D at about 1720.
It could thus be usefully used to strengthen the 0700 (SX) Barns/Exe St D (arr 0807) which has recently locally been strengthened with a cl 153 to make 3 cars.. IF a unit is available and nothing at Exeter has failed !.
I travelled on 0700 Barns on 2/10 (2 car cl 150)and there were about 60 passrs stood on arrival at St D ..this is now a typical daily loading of this train....lots of students for Exeter college and very few of the regular workers in Exeter are on hols. this time of year.

Although if I understand you correctly, if the 0700 from Barnstaple is now usually 3 cars, then that would suffice, on the basis there were 60 standing when it was a 2 car. I guess one would need to understand loadings on other services into Exeter in the am peak to determine the optimal use of the unit, if indeed it is available. Wonder how all the passengers from the new stations around Exeter are going to be accommodated?

Mods - this discussion has strayed somewhat from the title. Perhaps it could be split off and rehomed?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Mods - this discussion has strayed somewhat from the title. Perhaps it could be split off and rehomed?

Thanks for your very valid suggestion, John R - I've now done so.  CfN. 

[vacman]

Hmmm bit of Daily Mail type reporting there, the 153 for the 08:23 Paignton can't be used for the simple reason that it can't be uncoupled at Exd due to the platform being occupied by PGN-EXM as well, it would mean effectively that 3 trains would be in the platform. As for the 07:00 from BNP^▸ (Barnstaple) having 60 standing, I've never seen anything like that many standing on that service in all the many times I've worked that service, usually around 15-20 standing after Crediton but that's it, the 15:27 is a problem simply because it usually chucks out a single 143 unit, it is though a pair of 153's whenever there is a spare available and quite often is the case, when it is formed of 2 153's there is ample seating on any normal day.