Class 387 coming to Thames Valley - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Adelante_CCT]

17:49 appears to be stuck at Reading....

Just departed 20 late

[Electric train]

What experiences have JaneS, TG and Nick had today?

I’m back on the 17.49 to Didcot tonight - again a 12 carriage mega-train.
Communications are vastly improved tonight with a message about Maidenhead and Twyford short platforms from the driver upon boarding with followup by automated message too. The onboard scrolling message boards say something similar. Top marks.

Due to Bakerloo Line rubbishness I fell victim to my own hypothetical scenario of having to frantically board carriage 12 at 17.48 and then make my way forwards.
I can report that the rear 4 carriages are utterly deserted. Maybe 5 passengers per carriage. The front 8 are full and standing - the reduction in seats relative to the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) very apparent.

May I enquire as to why this train is run as a 12 car format when it is apparent that Maidenhead to Reading are the stops needed for 98% of passengers rather than where the rear 4 coaches end up?

The moral of this is ................ when ever a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) lengthens a train they always put the additional carriages at the wrong end; the 17:48 is a prime example of this they should have put them at the front 

To be serious though  the main issue with Maidenhead station is the single entry / exit stair case off of the platforms, idealy Maidenhead needs another exit / entry subway / footbridge at the London end of the platforms; this would even out the loading.

[didcotdean]

I can report that the rear 4 carriages are utterly deserted. Maybe 5 passengers per carriage. The front 8 are full and standing -

So passengers would rather stand in coaches 1-8 for 20-30 minutes, instead of having a seat in coach 9 or 10 and walking through a minute before their destination? 

Apparently so.

Maybe they don't realise that they can walk through the units, after years of not being able to with 2 turbos coupled together.

[IndustryInsider]

Certainly you'd have thought coaches 9 and 10 would be not too much of an inconvenience for the reward of a seat.  As others have said I expect it will sink in to the regulars soon enough.  Glad to hear the announcements were much better tonight though, and funnily enough dwell times at Maidenhead and Twyford were much better. 

[johoare]

Apologies for the delay in posting this but I was also on the 17.49 pad to Mai yesterday evening. There were portable posters on platform 11 where the train departed from to tell us which carriages were platformed at which stations. I am pretty sure before we left the driver announced the back 4 coaches were for reading only but I was in the front 4 carriages so maybe the PA^▸ (Public Address) system wasn't working further back down the train...

Having said all that it was too busy for me especially as it was still relatively quiet time of year passenger wise.. So will get worse...so I avoided it this evening

As an aside.. Two days travelling and gwr have already taken 48 minutes of my time in delays.. Not a promising start

[ChrisB]

Mark Hopwood has written to those using Twyford & Henley Branch with full apology & a solution already put into operation tonight to alleviate the missed connections on Tuesday evening. I'll post it tomorrow when in front of a PC and my emails

[edit]Posted by Adenlante_CCT - thanks![/edit]

[grahame]

Reminds me of getting people into the right carriage at Weymouth during the 7 week trial / demonstration we did in the summer of 2011 ... ended up standing at the platform end ...

"The train on the right is for Bristol Temple Meads and Cheltenham Spa. Join any part of the train for Dorchester West, Maiden Newton, Yeovil Pen Mill, Castel Cary, Bruton, Frome and Westbury, where the train will divide. Join the front three carriages for Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Freshford, Bath Spa, Oldfield Park, Keynsham, and Bristol Temple Meads.  For Chippenham, Swindon, Kemble, Stroud, Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa joins the rear 3 carriages.  Passengers for Chetnole, Yetminster, Thornford and Avoncliff should join the front carriage and ask the conductor to arrange for the train to stop. Passengers for Melksham should join the fourth carriage. Passengers for Stonehouse should join the rear two carriages"

No actually we weren't doing that - we were asking each group where they were going and directing them.

[Adelante_CCT]

Dear Henley Branch Customer

I am sorry that there have been delays and cancellations on your new train services.

This is due in part to a fatality at Iver late on 1 January which impacted on our early morning service start up and meant we were three drivers down, and this morning Network Rail imposed speed restrictions due to the high winds from Storm Eleanor.

Not all the issues are outside our control. There has also been some teething issues with new crew diagrams which we are resolving, and too many connections were missed on the evening peak last night.

It is very clear that we need to allow a greater connection time between the mainline service and the branch shuttle.
I have therefore immediately instituted a five-minute hold on the branch service during the evening peak, which will take affect from today, Wednesday 3 January. Staff have been fully briefed on the new arrangements, and there will be managers and ambassadors at Twyford this evening to make sure connections are held.

I have also asked our timetable team to review the timetable with a view to retiming the branch train to leave six minutes after the mainline service arrives.  This will give customers the additional time they need to make the connection. We need to check the implications for other connections, but we are working on it now, and I will make sure you are updated.

We have invested in the service to improve your journeys. Electrification of the mainline from Didcot to Paddington, and the introduction of brand new Electrostar trains is a major step forward in comfort and capacity for our customers.  I am confident that the new trains and revised timetable will do that.

We also need to be quick to make changes where we can see things are not working.  We did not get it right at Twyford yesterday evening.  We will do in future.

Best wishes

Mark

[lordgoata]

17:49 appears to be stuck at Reading....

Just departed 20 late

Yep I was on that, was stuck trying to uncouple the 4 carriages so it could carry on as an 8 car 

[Birdie100]

What a lovely letter from Mr Hopwood. Any chance of one for the broken down train on the Marlow branch line on Tuesday too? I can't figure it out but couldn't help but feel had the 18.43 to Bourne End from Maidenhead been on time it would have been very tight given the 18.19 from Paddington only arrived at 18.39 officially. I'm sure in one of the old timetables the branch line was a much 'safer' connection at 18.45 or even 18.50?

[TaplowGreen]

What a lovely letter from Mr Hopwood. Any chance of one for the broken down train on the Marlow branch line on Tuesday too? I can't figure it out but couldn't help but feel had the 18.43 to Bourne End from Maidenhead been on time it would have been very tight given the 18.19 from Paddington only arrived at 18.39 officially. I'm sure in one of the old timetables the branch line was a much 'safer' connection at 18.45 or even 18.50?

It's a gesture I guess but I don't know too many MDs who would put their name to such a badly constructed communication - then again he probably didn't read it.

What would be refreshing would be an honest and open briefing on exactly what is going wrong and why across the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) piece at the moment, the train crew shortages, the appalling customer service, "more trains than usual requiring repairs" etc etc with honest explanations, not the usual disingenous/ambiguous crap, realistic timelines for resolution and details of lessons learned/systems being put in place to avoid customers being treated to this situation again.

.............a pig just flew by my window.

[NickB]

On top of today’s delays due to power supply problems the aforementioned 07.01 turbo from Maidenhead cape with 3 of 6 cars locked out of service. What a joke.

[martyjon]

Sorry for this late posting but I've been late home the past two nights and after a bite to eat have crashed into bed knackered.

Did any member listen to the Radio 4 Today programme on Tuesday 2nd which devoted a lot of minutes to the fare increases.

At one point in the broadcast the presenter was highlighting the bonuses paid to the directors of the private rail companies and mentioned GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) albeit, I think, as First Great Western and his bonus of a multiple of millions.

When I heard this I thought that if members of this forum heard that they'd be incensed but I haven't had time to 'listen again' to the iplayer version of the broadcast to confirm this.

Any member able to confirm this or able to listen to the broadcast via iplayer themselves.

I just might have time myself this coming weekend to 'listen again'.

[Timmer]

I think they were referring to stories ran in the press on Monday about the heads of Firstgroup, Stagecoach etc and the salaries/bonuses/shares they receive on the eve of the fare increases.

[lordgoata]

06:51 from Goring was shown as On Time and then suddenly vanished off the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) with no announcements or cancellation notices. The 07:03 then turned up 9 minutes late following an announcement about electricity supply issues.

Was full and standing when we left Twyford, and it looked like it was leaving passengers behind at Maidenhead as I was leaving the platform, as it was rammed solid.