Call for faster, non-stop expresses from Wales to London

[whole diary]

[John R]

Is it just me, or am I seeing something of an outdated view being expressed in certain quarters in thinking that all commuters want to go to London, and that the counties to the west of London, once you get out of the suburbs, are green fields, moors, downs and farms all the way to Bristol?

I'm not disputing that, and as someone who commutes into Swindon am well aware of the various traffic flows that exist along the GW^▸ (Great Western) main line. However, as well as commuters, the railway serves longer distance travellers, such as business people who do pay a lot of attention to the journey times to London, and indeed that can be a key factor in deciding where to locate. (Key selling point of an empty office block in Swindon is "55 minutes to London".)

Can you imagine the uproar if Sheffield passengers were told that their services would all call at Market H, Kettering, Loughborough, Bedford and Luton in future. Or that every service from Leeds and Newcastle would be calling at Retford, Newark, Peterborough, and Huntingdon. Other lines have successfully provided a balance of services between intermediate point to point journeys and the longer distance need for competitive journey times. I'm suggesting that a combination of IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) and modern emu stock could do likewise on the Great Western.

[Btline]

Of course, HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) will open up more commuter flows for places such as Huntingdon, Stevenage, Bedford, Luton, St Albans, Milton Keynes, Watford, etc. More station calls will be inserted as InterCity trains will use HS2, with quick journey times.

Perhaps the west of the capital needs a London - Bristol Parkway HS3 line - taking the South Wales, Bristol and Devon/Cornwall traffic away, allowing the existing GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) to stop more - leaving expresses for Swindon, Didcot, Oxford, Maidenhead and Slough. This line would have one intermediate station - say at Reading or Heathrow. I am aware that this is unlikely to happen due to cost; I am simply demonstrating how an HS^▸ (High Speed (short for HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) High Speed Services)) line could help the region.

As for fast line calls at Slough and Maidenhead - absolutely not - especially in the peaks. Each call knocks off 1 tph from the 16 maximum, slows the service down and reduces reliability. These places can be served by Crossrail to London and Reading - and semi fasts will be provided. Journey times will be the same as today, as no Tube transfer.

I was left fuming when I found out that Maidenhead calls had been inserted on Oxford trains - no no no. Slippery slope. It needs nipping in the bud now.

[ellendune]

Of course, HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) will open up more commuter flows for places such as Huntingdon, Stevenage, Bedford, Luton, St Albans, Milton Keynes, Watford, etc. More station calls will be inserted as InterCity trains will use HS2, with quick journey times.

Perhaps the west of the capital needs a London - Bristol Parkway HS3 line - taking the South Wales, Bristol and Devon/Cornwall traffic away, allowing the existing GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) to stop more - leaving expresses for Swindon, Didcot, Oxford, Maidenhead and Slough. This line would have one intermediate station - say at Reading or Heathrow. I am aware that this is unlikely to happen due to cost; I am simply demonstrating how an HS^▸ (High Speed (short for HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) High Speed Services)) line could help the region.

As for fast line calls at Slough and Maidenhead - absolutely not - especially in the peaks. Each call knocks off 1 tph from the 16 maximum, slows the service down and reduces reliability. These places can be served by Crossrail to London and Reading - and semi fasts will be provided. Journey times will be the same as today, as no Tube transfer.

I was left fuming when I found out that Maidenhead calls had been inserted on Oxford trains - no no no. Slippery slope. It needs nipping in the bud now.

In the longer term I am inclined to agree, but at the moment it is squeezing every little bit of capacity out of the stock we have that matters.

[Electric train]

As for fast line calls at Slough and Maidenhead - absolutely not - especially in the peaks. Each call knocks off 1 tph from the 16 maximum, slows the service down and reduces reliability. These places can be served by Crossrail to London and Reading - and semi fasts will be provided. Journey times will be the same as today, as no Tube transfer.

I was left fuming when I found out that Maidenhead calls had been inserted on Oxford trains - no no no. Slippery slope. It needs nipping in the bud now.

Maidenhead with its current footfall of 3,000,000 plus a year and growing what will be needed is semifast Crossrail trains as well as the Oxford fasts stopping at Maidenhead.  Maidenhead has as many inbound commuters as there are outbound National and International companies want to be at Maidenhead

[Btline]

There is not going to be the capacity!

As ellendune says, we need to squeeze every ounce of capacity out of the London to Reading line - that means 16 tph on the fast lines, which cannot be done with unnecessary stops at Slough & Maidenhead.

Change at Reading for fast and frequent Crossrail services. Yes, plenty of people use Maidenhead, but most people are going to London. Crossrail will have more than enough capacity for these commuters.

As for stopping the Oxford fasts... they won't be fast anymore! The Cambridge Flyers are non stop! Why is it always the (often packed) Oxford services that have to stop more?

[ellendune]

Why is it always the (often packed) Oxford services that have to stop more?

Because they don't stop anywhere else except Reading.  All the other services already stop in a number of other places and are just as packed in the peak.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Rather topical, then - from the Reading Post:

Angry passenger blasts rail company over empty first-class seats

None of the standing passengers on a packed service were allowed to use empty first class seats without paying extra



An angry rail passenger has blasted a train company for making elderly people and parents with young children stand on a 95 minute journey.

Vic Steele, 72, said the First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) service between Cardiff and Reading was packed on a Saturday afternoon journey with no standard class seats available.

But none of the standing passengers, which included a woman in her 80s and parents with a toddler, were allowed to use the many empty first class seats without paying extra.

Mr Steele was promised vouchers after he complained to FGW, but he received nothing until the Reading Post contacted the rail company.

He said: ^The train was well overloaded. There were people lying in the aisles through the train, they were in the vestibules. Where I was standing there was a man and woman with a two- or three-year-old and they were trying to hold an 80-year-old woman.

^There were over 100 first class seats and I said to the guard, ^ve got arthritis and angina you should let me sit on one of the seats or should at least let this couple and elderly lady sit down^. But he said ^nobody will sit in those chairs unless they pay first class fares^

Mr Steele, who lives off Oxford Road, West Reading, had his journey from hell as he was travelling back home from Cardiff on November 2. An urgent business trip had meant he was not able to buy a ticket and reserve a seat in advance.

Mr Steele had been pursuing a complaint through FGW, but turned to the Reading Post after the vouchers promised as compensation did not materialise. He said: ^When you are paying that sort of money, if they haven^t got a seat for you they should tell you, then it^s your choice if you buy a ticket.^

FGW spokesman James Davis said the company would be sending vouchers after being contacted by the Post. Mr Steele confirmed later he received vouchers to the value of half the cost of the journey.

Mr Davis said he did not believe it was common to have to stand so long, but acknowledged there is a shortage of rolling stock. He said: ^We don^t own the rolling stock ourselves, we lease it and we can only lease rolling stock that is available to us. We^ve done significant work during the past franchise to improve the capacity available to us on that stretch.^ And he said the future electrification of the Great Western line and new intercity trains would help improve the service.

Mr Davis said Mr Steele had been offered an upgrade to a first class carriage for a modest fee, but he had declined the offer.

[grahame]

The Cambridge Flyers are non stop! Why is it always the (often packed) Oxford services that have to stop more?

I've always found it very interesting that those Cambridge trains are among the very few that go from their start to their end without any intermediate passenger stops.  I can only think of two others where regular / lots of trains do this - Cardiff Queen's Street to Cardiff Bay, and Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town. Even Grove Park to Bromley North stops at Sundridge Park ...

Perhaps a good question to ask is why these services have no intermediate stops, and I wonder if the answer is "because there's no logical place between to add in a stop".  Lots of stations between King's Cross and Cambridge for sure (and it's a line I do use) but there's nowhere there that stands out like Reading as being the place to add a stop.

[grahame]

Missed the obvious - Slough to Windsor and Eton Central!

[grahame]

He said: ^When you are paying that sort of money, if they haven^t got a seat for you they should tell you, then it^s your choice if you buy a ticket.^

I hope he hadn't paid more that 22.10 which is the fare for a super off peak single, with senior railcard.  "He" is 72. 113 miles, so under 20p per miles.

He said: ^We don^t own the rolling stock ourselves, we lease it

"He" being the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) spokesperson.  I thought they owned some of the stock - 5 HST^▸ (High Speed Train) sets - or am I out of date?

Sorry - in awkward mode tonight 

[JayMac]

My thought on reading the article was, if you want to sit in 1st Class you should pay for a 1st Class ticket. Being elderly or infirm doesn't automatically entitle you to a free upgrade.

Then my other thought was, if I saw someone elderly or infirm, who was standing, then I would give up my seat to them.

[Ollie]

"He" being the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) spokesperson.  I thought they owned some of the stock - 5 HST^▸ (High Speed Train) sets - or am I out of date?

Sorry - in awkward mode tonight 

You're in date, however they are owned by First Rail Holdings rather than First Great Western: http://www.125group.org.uk/fleetlist.pdf

[anthony215]

With electrification South wales is supposed to be getting a 1tph fast service to London which will run non stop between Newport & Reading with teh Cardiff terminators serving all stations to London as they do now.

Like many here I think the direct Bristol - Oxford services would bring many benefits and the use of emu such as the 115mph desiro city proposed by Seimens could easily slot between the iep services.

More paths should be free up because we have less coal trains serviving Didcot although I do think in many years time once hs2 is up and running that construction on hs3 should be started especially if it helps give Plymouth a much faster journey to London compared to teh fastest services it gets today

[Timmer]

My thought on reading the article was, if you want to sit in 1st Class you should pay for a 1st Class ticket. Being elderly or infirm doesn't automatically entitle you to a free upgrade.

Then my other thought was, if I saw someone elderly or infirm, who was standing, then I would give up my seat to them.

Indeed. The 2nd of November was a Saturday so Weekend First would have been available at ^15 for the journey in question. As services between Swansea and London are hourly on weekends, I would have also expected that First Class would have been fairly busy too, but we don't want that small fact to get in the way of a good 'empty first class carriages whilst standard is full' story.

It's okay, Dft and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have heard you and will be reducing capacity in First Class very soon.

[ellendune]

With electrification South wales is supposed to be getting a 1tph fast service to London which will run non stop between Newport & Reading with the Cardiff terminators serving all stations to London as they do now.

So if both the additional London - Bristol Parkway - Bristol TM^‡(resolve) trains run non-stop as well (Have I remembered this correctly?) Swindon gets a reduced service from electrification.