Earlier Service to Cornwall - Jan 2018

[whole diary]

[Adelante_CCT]

It has been discussed on a few threads in the past on this forum (currently unable to find them) of a desire for an earlier service from Paddington to Devon/Cornwall with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) announcing they would be running a 06:37c in the franchise agreement.

Looking into a crystal ball* it would appear that this new service will start in January as follows:

Paddington 06:33
Reading 07:01
Taunton 08:18
Exeter arrives 08:41
Newton Abbot arrives 09:03
Plymouth arrives 09:41
Followed by stations to Penzance arriving at 11:37

As a result, the 07:06 to Penzance and 07:30 to Paignton will swap round back to how it was a few years ago forming the 07:03 to Paignton via Westbury and the 07:30 to Penzance via Bristol.


On a side note the 05:46 from Exeter to Paddington will start back from Plymouth at 04:51 calling at Newton Abbot 05:27 and departs Exeter at 05:52 running slightly later at the following stations but still arriving at Reading 08:07 and Paddington 08:37


In terms of later trains the 19:45 from Paddington to Plymouth becomes the 20:03 and the 20:35 becomes the 21:03

*Please note this crystal ball can malfunction from time to time and is to only be used as a guide to potential services from January

[Timmer]

The crystal ball is correct, the WoE timetable has quite a makeover from January with quite a number of changes the main ones being the ones you have listed.

[TaplowGreen]

Certainly a step in the right direction.

[bobm]

One of the other significant changes is the 10:00 Torbay Express from London Paddington will from January leave at 10:35 and go via the Berks & Hants rather than Bristol.

It will save some confusion at Reading where two trains to the West arrive within four minutes either side of 10:30 - with the first train being the slower one but only available to peak ticket holders, while the faster one accepts off peak tickets.

In the main from January trains for Plymouth and beyond will leave Paddington at XX:03 throughout the day rather than XX:05 or XX:06.

[SandTEngineer]

All very good, but have you noticed how some of the existing transit times have been stretched by up to 5 mins and in some cases there are extended stops at Plymouth.  This applies in both directions   Obviously getting ready for slower trains and dividing/combining sets at Plymouth

[ChrisB]

How on earth do you reach that conclusion?

Clock face timetable means a complete recast. No one yet knows the dwell times.

[SandTEngineer]

If you look at the all day service pattern in the RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) link posted above you will see what I mean.....

[JayMac]

1234 Paddington - Taunton 1435 apparently gets a restaurant, according to the draft timetable, from January 2018.

That must be an error.

[LiskeardRich]

All very good, but have you noticed how some of the existing transit times have been stretched by up to 5 mins and in some cases there are extended stops at Plymouth.  This applies in both directions   Obviously getting ready for slower trains and dividing/combining sets at Plymouth

Loads of trains get delay minutes at Plymouth, as the dwell times aren't long enough.

[SandTEngineer]

An example of the extended time is the 0505 Penzance to London Paddington which will have the same departure time at Penzance as now and will arrive into London Paddington one minute later than now.  However, its Plymouth call will be 0649 to 0653 (two minutes earler than now) so the Plymouth journey time has been extended by three minutes overall.  That is only one example, others have a much longer journey time extension from intermediate stations....

[ChrisB]

Isn't there going to be a new 2019 timetable, once all the IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) are in service? Dwell times with auto door closing will be much reduced then.

[bobm]

All very good, but have you noticed how some of the existing transit times have been stretched by up to 5 mins and in some cases there are extended stops at Plymouth.  This applies in both directions   Obviously getting ready for slower trains and dividing/combining sets at Plymouth

Loads of trains get delay minutes at Plymouth, as the dwell times aren't long enough.

One of the problems at Plymouth is many trains have catering stores loaded or unloaded there.  It would help if onboard staff could direct passengers wishing to alight to alternative doors.  At present Rail Gourmet have to wait for all the passengers wishing to leave from the door adjacent to the buffet coach to get off before they can get the ramp to the train and load the supplies.   It is a particular issue when putting on the modules for the Pullmans but also affects almost all HST^▸ (High Speed Train) services as they take on buffet stock at Plymouth.

[Zoe]

1234 Paddington - Taunton 1435 apparently gets a restaurant, according to the draft timetable, from January 2018.

I also note that the return working of this train which leaves Taunton at 1533 and called at Castle Cary, Westbury, Pewsey, Newbury, Reading and London Paddington is followed just 31 minutes later by the 1454 Paignton to Paddington which has the same stopping pattern except for Newbury.  Quite an intensive service for some of the stations on the Berks & Hants.

[DaveHarries]

The crystal ball is correct, the WoE timetable has quite a makeover from January with quite a number of changes the main ones being the ones you have listed.

Just looked on OpenTrainTimes and found this so the Crystal ball is certainly in good order.

1A71 0451 Plymouth - London Paddington
http://www.opentraintimes.com/schedule/C55276/2018-01-24

Dave

[RA]

It has been discussed on a few threads in the past on this forum (currently unable to find them) of a desire for an earlier service from Paddington to Devon/Cornwall with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) announcing they would be running a 06:37c in the franchise agreement.

Looking into a crystal ball* it would appear that this new service will start in January as follows:

Paddington 06:33
Reading 07:01
Taunton 08:18
Exeter arrives 08:41
Newton Abbot arrives 09:03
Plymouth arrives 09:41
Followed by stations to Penzance arriving at 11:37

As a result, the 07:06 to Penzance and 07:30 to Paignton will swap round back to how it was a few years ago forming the 07:03 to Paignton via Westbury and the 07:30 to Penzance via Bristol.

My personal views on the revised West of England services from January.

The earlier service is very welcome and useful, however for the good people of Somerset and West Wiltshire (or people changing trains there) it is a shame that a call at Westbury or Castle Cary (which would allow a change out of the 06:46 Westbury to Weymouth service if the time penalty of calling at Westbury is deemed too high) could not be made. As a West Wiltshire resident, if I want to travel to Plymouth and Cornwall early in the day the only option I currently have is to make my way to Bath Spa to catch the 06:09 Bath Spa to Glasgow Central service to Bristol Temple Meads (not sure on the long term future of this train starting at Bath after the Cross Country service consultation) to connect into either the 06:34 service to Plymouth or the 06:43 service to Penzance. The next train to Devon from Bristol is not until 08:10, and this goes to Paignton, with a further change required for Plymouth and Cornwall.

Unfortunately, there is no decent connection at Taunton from Bristol into the new earlier London to Penzance service. As an aside, the 05:54 service from Chippenham provides a 'connection' at Reading into the new earlier London to Penzance service, albeit most definitely not a permitted route and many miles in the wrong direction, let alone the fare implications!

The 08:26 service from Westbury will revert to running to Paignton again instead of Penzance. A change of train will be required at Newton Abbot for Plymouth. If you are heading to Cornwall you have to wait for the 07:30 London Paddington to Penzance (via Bath and Bristol) service, which has swapped destinations with the Paignton service.

Castle Cary does not see a westbound train until 10:27 (the same as the current timetable) requiring passengers from there and the Weymouth line to 'double back' via Westbury to catch the 08:26 Paignton service from Westbury. Some tickets permit this depending on the origin and destination, but there are plenty that do not.

The reinstatement of the 13:56 Westbury to Taunton (12:34 from London Paddington to Taunton) service is welcome, providing connections out of trains from Swindon, Southampton, Bath and West Wiltshire, with connections at Taunton for Plymouth. The introduction of the 13:01 service from Westbury to Exeter in the current timetable in lieu of the 13:56 service to Taunton was not well received as it is too close behind the preceding service, doesn't stop at Castle Cary and it increased the size of the gap in afternoon westbound services (the next service west from Westbury is not until 16:23). The train will also call at Castle Cary, as will the 10:35 London Paddington to Paignton service, although the 11:06 service from London Paddington will cease to call there (a connection is available into a Weymouth service at Westbury for Castle Cary but this also means that there is no longer a connection out of the 11:10 service from Weymouth).