First Great Western rebrands to Great Western Railway and related department changes

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

I suppose the Southern platforms at Reading were used to green coloured stock ! 

Really - the old Reading South Station might have been, and also in Southern Region Green the same station when it was renamed Reading Southern, but was even the former platform 4a at Reading General ever used by green stock?

[BBM]

I suppose the Southern platforms at Reading were used to green coloured stock ! 

Really - the old Reading South Station might have been, and also in Southern Region Green the same station when it was renamed Reading Southern, but was even the former platform 4a at Reading General ever used by green stock?

Yes! 

http://www.semgonline.com/gallery/2bil_01.html

[Charles T]

Two members of staff at Weston-Super-Mare station have GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ID badges.

The launch will be on the 21st and one fully refurbished and one just repainted.

[centralman]

An auntie of mine posted a pic of herself in a rebranded GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) first class carriage this morning!

I'll check with her if I can post it later for you!

[Sixty3Closure]

Had one rebranded coach at Twyford on Wednesday but just seemed to annoy people going by the reactions of commuters stood next to me. I suspect many are still remembering last weeks delays and probably not in the mood for rebranding.

[Visoflex]

I think the 2 tone (matte and gloss) green livery on the Turbo is smart - while it's new and clean.  How it wears with time and the potential lack of exterior maintenance we shall have to see.  It would seem that there is further work to be done in terms of the application of branding and first class marking.  As a matter of (not much) interest, is the upholstery still blue and the seats grey with pink handles?  If so, green, blue, grey and pink is an "interesting" combination.

UPDATE.  I travelled on it this morning and can answer my own question.  At the moment, the interior is still the same.

[Fourbee]

I think the 2 tone (matte and gloss) green livery on the Turbo is smart - while it's new and clean.  How it wears with time and the potential lack of exterior maintenance we shall have to see.  It would seem that there is further work to be done in terms of the application of branding and first class marking.  As a matter of (not much) interest, is the upholstery still blue and the seats grey with pink handles?  If so, green, blue, grey and pink is an "interesting" combination.

UPDATE.  I travelled on it this morning and can answer my own question.  At the moment, the interior is still the same.

Did you notice if the standard class end by one of the cabs had first class antimacassars in? I think there are still some units floating around with this issue. I meant to look when I was on 166204 the other day.

[Visoflex]

Did you notice if the standard class end by one of the cabs had first class antimacassars in? I think there are still some units floating around with this issue. I meant to look when I was on 166204 the other day.

I was in the middle of the train, and didn't notice the first class interior.

[ChrisB]

The 165s are having their 1st class converted to Standard - "being given over to Standard" as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/FGW^▸ (First Great Western) puts it in a note to the Customer Panel overnight. As of 7th September. The 166s are retaining one 1st class area as now.

The 166s are being consigned to the faster longer journeys - Oxfords/North Cotswolds (except the stoppers)/Gatwick & Newbury's/Bedwyn's with the 165's consigned to the inner Thames Valley & branches. Some semi-fasts will also be 166s. Timetables are being issued to show which journeys are which stock by using the '1' at the top of columns to denote 1st class availability - no '1' will mean a 165.

Some Oxford late-night services will also be 165s owing to lack of servicing facilities at Oxford.

FGW are contacting 1st class season holders on affected routes to arrange refunds/exchanges to Standard.

1st Class fares on affected routes are being removed to avoid purchase & no seating being available.

[Timmer]

Thanks for the update Chris. Sort of going down the Chiltern railway route by removing First class from their 165 fleet. At least they will then be ready when they head West to operate services in the Bristol area.

[ChrisB]

With the fitting of the accessible toilet which removes some seats, doing this replaces those lost too.

[didcotdean]

As I have remarked before, these routes prior to the 165/166s were in general operated by single class accommodation - indeed right back to when that was called third class let alone second. The only exceptions tended to be in the peaks which may have been availability or revenue driven.

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (and for that matter TT) have always been poor in diagramming 165/166 only onto appropriate routes treating them very much as interchangeable. I suspect there may still be operational reasons to run the 'wrong' type.

[Oxonhutch]

The 166s are being consigned to the faster longer journeys - Oxfords/North Cotswolds (except the stoppers)/Gatwick & Newbury's/Bedwyn's with the 165's consigned to the inner Thames Valley & branches. Some semi-fasts will also be 166s. Timetables are being issued to show which journeys are which stock by using the '1' at the top of columns to denote 1st class availability - no '1' will mean a 165.

Does that mean just the Reading (+Branches) Paddington trains will be standard only and the Oxford stoppers still 166's? Or is it just the peak semi-fasts and thereafter, pot-luck? I await my letter.

I suspect it is also to harmonise with the forthcoming Crossrail service.

[BerkshireBugsy]

As I have remarked before, these routes prior to the 165/166s were in general operated by single class accommodation - indeed right back to when that was called third class let alone second. The only exceptions tended to be in the peaks which may have been availability or revenue driven.

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (and for that matter TT) have always been poor in diagramming 165/166 only onto appropriate routes treating them very much as interchangeable. I suspect there may still be operational reasons to run the 'wrong' type.

I'm not a first class traveler but don't begrudge those who are but from my experience the first class areas on the 165/166 services don't really offer much on the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) line as there a very few ticket checks and from observation they are used by a large number of standard class ticket holders. The other effect is that it also removes a preferred area where the TMs^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) can sit when they are present on those services but not dealing with the travelling public.

[Oxonhutch]

An interesting entry on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) looking as far into the future as I can (16 November). The first down service of the day between Reading and Didcot is 2L36 RDG^▸ (Rail Delivery Group, or Reading station, depending on context)-BAN.  RTT observes the following:

^Seating: standard only between Reading and Oxford, first & standard from Oxford

Interested to see how that pans out using the same train ...

I also noted that most of the Class 2 Oxfords are "Standard Only" and the peak time semi-fasts "First and Standard".