Restriction on pre-announcement boarding at Paddington

[whole diary]

[Silver]

Last night (13 Nov) on the 18.06 Pad to Frome train boarding was delayed at Paddington to allow for preparation of the train before any passengers got on.  The main platform gates to plt 10 were set to exit only and the top of the stairs at the Hammersmith & City end of the platform was manned and cordoned off to stop passengers getting on to the platform until it was announced as ready for boarding.  The staff member at the top of the stairs said this was because too many passengers were using phone apps to find out the platforms before they were announced and it was making it difficult for staff to clean the train and put reserved seating cards out.  He also said there are plans to remove platforms from phone apps to stop this problem.  I'm not sure this would help them as most regular passengers know which incoming train makes up the outgoing service.

The 18.06 service is probably the most busy of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) commuter services out of Pad as it has the Twyford stop on it to coincide with the Henley service, I would estimate over half the passengers get off at Twyford.  Maybe FGW^▸ (First Great Western) should just add more fast capacity on this route......

I'm not sure if the managed boarding was a one-off or if it will become regular and used on other busy peak services out of Paddington.  It did seem to move the problem from on the train to the bridge over the platform as there was a lot of puzzled and disgruntled passengers waiting and a bit of chaotic scrum once boarding was allowed.  It is also going to require more platform staff if it is made a regular feature.

I watch with interest.....

[John R]

Phone apps can also inform passengers which platform their inbound service is coming into, which is information that less scrupulous passengers could take advantage of. Though given the operational issues in varying from day to day, I'm not sure what can be done about this.

[broadgage]

There are often a significant number of potential restaurant customers queueing for the Pullman on the 18-03, long before the platform is anounced.
Other passengers who are not intending to dine, have learnt that if there is a queue outside the restaurant then that must be the 18-03.

[Tim K]

There have been similar restrictions on some of the trains I usually get to Swindon, but only if the train is at platform 10.  I wonder if this is because the other platforms with barriers (2-5) share a set of barriers so it's not possible to restrict a single train?  Causes a mad scrum to get through the gates when the train is finally announced and there always seems to be someone with a bag which gets stuck in the gate or a ticket which doesn't work in front of me!

[Silver]

The same restrictions were in place again last night for the 18.06.  Many of the regular travellers, including me, got to the platform before the stairs were sealed-off so the train was almost as busy as usual pre-announcement.

I understand what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are trying to do but given the choice of getting early to the platform and guaranteeing a seat versus waiting at the top of the stairs with hundreds of others and then being in scrum to try and get a seat there is only one choice I will make.  Given the ^4K+ a year I give FGW for the privilege of travelling on this service I think a seat should be the least of my expectations, I already given up on assuming it will get to Twyford on time for the 18.31 Henley connection and see it as a bonus when it does.

[Busboy W1]

If I'm honest I think this should have been done a while ago. It makes it equal to all potential passengers to get a good seat. Not everybody has a smart phone or the internet with them and staff need time to prepare the train and ensure its ready to depart. But then that's my opinion.

[NickB]

I disagree - you can't have a level playing field for everyone so you shouldn't penalise everyone and cause potential crush/rush hazard in the process. 
What about those who walk slower or with bags?  If you leave them only 2mins to get to a train then is that fair?

[bobm]

Just a thought - might it encourage those for Henley to use the through train which leaves shortly afterwards?  The handful of times I have caught that it appears to have a lot of capacity.

I admit it is slower but avoids a change and is less of a crush.

If people feel they are less likely to get a seat on the 18:06 might they not head for the other one where they can board without a scrum?

[NickB]

Just a thought - might it encourage those for Henley to use the through train which leaves shortly afterwards?  The handful of times I have caught that it appears to have a lot of capacity.

I admit it is slower but avoids a change and is less of a crush.

If people feel they are less likely to get a seat on the 18:06 might they not head for the other one where they can board without a scrum?

But that train takes 1hr 1min vs 37mins for the 18.06.  Thats 65% longer, or 81% longer if the passenger is actually around and ready to start their journey at 18.06.

[bobm]

I agree it is longer - but as mentioned higher up the thread the connection at Twyford for the branch is not that robust on the 18:06 so they may well end up on the through train at Twyford anyway.

[Silver]

Personally I think it is a crazy system that would encourage me to get a train that leaves 6 minutes later and arrives at the destination some 30 minutes after the earlier train.  Granted, like last night, I often end up on the 18.12 when it gets to Twyford at 18.58 due to the 18.06 being delayed and missing the 18.31 Henley connection at Twyford.  However, I would rather try and spend the 30 minutes at home than on a train - that's 2.5 hours a week or over 100 hours in a year... 

The 18.12 (and 17.12) are only run so that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) can claim they run direct services to Henley.  No regular traveller would ever catch them when there is, on paper at least, a much faster alternative.

[Fourbee]

I already given up on assuming it will get to Twyford on time for the 18.31 Henley connection and see it as a bonus when it does.

Does not look like there will be/have been many bonuses when you look at individual trains 
http://raildar.co.uk/timetable/train?trainid=P00247

[BBM]

The reliability of the connection at Twyford off the 18.06 (and 17.06) seems to have been affected for some weeks due to a speed restriction on the DM at Southall. I've been on leave for the past 2 weeks but I've just done a check of performance this week on RealTimeTrains and it would seem that trains are still losing a couple of minutes in the area. Is there any information on how long this speed restriction will continue?

[bobm]

It isn't helped by the fact that everyone has to funnel onto the stairs for the footbridge at Twyford.

It can sometimes be quicker to walk to the lift, call it and wait for it to take you up to the footbridge.

[ChrisB]

When these apps were first launched, PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was one of the stations whose departing platforms were withheld - Euston still is tomy knowledge. So it would only be going back to the previous if they do.

One night the train pax want leaves from a different platform & pax will start waiting on the concourse again....