Fast route Weymouth, Yeovil, Salisbury to Waterloo

[whole diary]

[stuving]

Couldn't they use the chord (I think that's the correct term) that runs roughly from Yeovil Penn Mill to Yeovil Junction? Sure, it would mean reversing twice and add unnecessary distance but I don't think those are serious problems as I don't think they're really going to do it.

I think the logic goes the other way. If it is never going to be more than an "unfunded aspiration", adding the cost of a new chord just makes it more unfundable - so what?

[grahame]

Replace "Fast route Weymouth, Yeovil, Salisbury to Waterloo" by "Route Weymouth, Yeovil, Salisbury and perhaps Waterloo" and you may just be surprised at some point.  The Wessex "territory" between Westbury / Salisbury / Yeovil / Weymouth is border country between First and Stagecoach franchises, and the current drift is to make innovative little changes that just might make a big difference.

[Southernman]

This proposal is a lever to put pressure on the franchising bidders. Miss Perry isn't asking Network Rail to prepare a report but rather put it into the consultation exercise for SWT^▸ (South West Trains) franchise.

There is no way Weymouth would justify 3 services an hour to/from Waterloo. Stand on Dorchester South and see the modest number of passengers travelling on the electric units. A vast amount of expenditure to save 20 or 30 minutes for how many passengers....Mmmm. Where is the new pathway into Waterloo - we are told that capacity has already been reached. Diesel units would be required - where would they be serviced? Salisbury already full.

Now if it was proposed that some through services Exeter to Yeovil Junction/Pen Mill and onto Weymouth might be introduced that would make more sense. Connections at Yeovil into Salisbury and Waterloo trains (may be combined with a through Oxford service?). The infrastructure is already there (but requires enhancement anyway).

[paul7575]

Doesn't it just boil to the same old argument - "I don't see why my personal journey from <random country terminus> all the way to London should have to be slowed down by other people  who want to make perfectly reasonable intermediate journeys?"

So what if trains used to run non-stop between Southampton and Waterloo.   They were different times, and in the real world they won't be coming back.    The whole point of Southampton Parkway was to remove car journeys into the City for passengers getting London trains, and Winchester has to have some sort of fast service.

Paul

[didcotdean]

I don't think there was anyone foreseeing  - or even advocating - the removal of the stops further in to London - but I can certainly remember when I lived there the loud trumpeting of the speed up of the end-to end service to be achieved by the electrification which has dwindled now nearly to nothing. As is common on today's railway though the frequency of service is more, as the former semi fast service never made it to Weymouth, terminating at Bournemouth or Poole.

[bradshaw]

An earlier thread indicates plans for a SWT^▸ (South West Trains) summer service Salisbury to Weymouth via Yeovil

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15428.0

[didcotdean]

Parliamentary discussion of the concept.

[Bmblbzzz]

An earlier thread indicates plans for a SWT^▸ (South West Trains) summer service Salisbury to Weymouth via Yeovil

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15428.0

Surely that is going to involve the double-reversal between the two Yeovil stations?

[John R]

I don't think there was anyone foreseeing  - or even advocating - the removal of the stops further in to London - but I can certainly remember when I lived there the loud trumpeting of the speed up of the end-to end service to be achieved by the electrification which has dwindled now nearly to nothing. As is common on today's railway though the frequency of service is more, as the former semi fast service never made it to Weymouth, terminating at Bournemouth or Poole.

Yes, back in the 70s/80s the "91"s did it non stop to Southampton every hour in 1 hr 7 mins with the rattling REP's living up to their name at their top speed of 90 mph. Usually 12 cars too, with the front four being the TC^▸ (Train Crew, or Travelling Chef, depending on context) that had the 33 attached at Bournemouth for the onward journey. The frequency to Southampton today is effectively the same though, with two TPH^▸ (trains per hour) (the journey time of the third service doesn't make it particularly attractive). Just 7 minutes slower though at 1 hr 14 mins for the fastest off peak journey.

A different world then...

[didcotdean]

I had memories of the ratting ride myself with the jolt on starting - and the 8 carriages or so to walk to the buffet car, although sometimes a pair of stewards walking down with the tea and coffee pots would save you the trouble.

[Southernman]

An earlier thread indicates plans for a SWT^▸ (South West Trains) summer service Salisbury to Weymouth via Yeovil

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15428.0

Surely that is going to involve the double-reversal between the two Yeovil stations?

That is correct - good to serve both Yeovil stations? Should services ever be introduced from Exeter-Weymouth then only one reversal at Yeovil Pen Mill is involved.

[ellendune]

An earlier thread indicates plans for a SWT^▸ (South West Trains) summer service Salisbury to Weymouth via Yeovil

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15428.0

Surely that is going to involve the double-reversal between the two Yeovil stations?

That is correct - good to serve both Yeovil stations? Should services ever be introduced from Exeter-Weymouth then only one reversal at Yeovil Pen Mill is involved.

There have been proposals for a West to South Curve at Yeovil which would mean only one reversal.

[SandTEngineer]

There have been proposals for a West to South Curve at Yeovil which would mean only one reversal.

Ha.  I drew out a signalling scheme sketch for that back in 1998.  Now I wonder what happened to that idea ..........

[bradshaw]

The formation for a west to south curve was made in the 1860s as part of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Clifton Maybank goods line. However it was never used but it can still be traced.

In the 1980s there was an idea to provide a halt near Two Bridges, where the lines cross. The idea grew in size and became unaffordable.

The current edition of The Railway Magazine has an article on the line from Exeter to Basingstoke mentioning possible future upgrades. The author John Heaton was the area manager at Exeter for a time.

[JayMac]

Surely that is going to involve the double-reversal between the two Yeovil stations?

Weymouth to Waterloo via Yeovil and Salisbury can of course be done with just one reversal.