Oldfield Park station - incidents, awards, timetable changes - merged topic

[whole diary]

[tramway]

Stopping the Portsmouth services at Bradford on Avon has added several hundred passengers a day to the railway. I suppose you could argue it's added to overcrowding  , but otherwise seems to be a good decision.

Sorry but a bit of a hobby horse of mine, and will never happen of course especially with the power of the WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about).

But I'm sure with the footfall figures for BoA^» (Bradford-on-Avon - next trains) and using the very useful station comparator link at the top of the site here, there are not many stations that fall into BoA territory that have 5 trains an hour in the peak.

And I'm sure for quite a lot of BoA residents that Trowbridge isn't that much farther to travel (1/2 mile) if you wanted a fast service if that was where it stopped.

[Timmer]

From Bath Chronicle Website:
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Commuters-fume-changes/article-3009440-detail/article.html

As expected Oldfield Park commuters are none too pleased by the removal of the stop of the 1630 Cardiff-Portsmouth train.

Rail firm First Great Western is facing a backlash over a decision to stop a commuter train calling at Oldfield Park station in Bath.

City MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Don Foster is leading the concern over changes to the 17.33 service through the suburban station which FGW^▸ (First Great Western) says are aimed at reducing overcrowding. Since Monday the service, which leaves Filton Abbey Wood at 17.09 and is popular with civil servants from Bath whose jobs have been moved to the nearby defence complex, has gone straight through Oldfield Park.

The train leaves Bristol Temple Meads at 17.23 ^ a time convenient for many other people who commute between the two cities. Passengers wanting to get out at Oldfield Park will now have to catch trains leaving Filton Abbey Wood at 16.55 or 17.23, or from Temple Meads at 17.05, 17.14 or 17.49.

Mr Foster said: "I wrote to First Great Western in mid-November asking them why they have decided to stop this service from calling at Oldfield Park. I have also made inquiries to see what First Great Western estimates the number of customers currently using the service are and what alternative services they expect them to use."

The firm told Mr Foster that other trains were less crowded, but the MP said passengers told him they were already  overcrowded.

Wonder how long it will be before FGW reinstate the stop? Didn't either Wales & West or Wessex Trains remove thisstop only for them to reinstate it after protests or was it FGW in the early days of the franchise?

[inspector_blakey]

Maybe I'm just heartless, but it seems to me that either having to catch a train 9 minutes earlier or 26 minutes later is hardly an intolerable imposition, especially if it helps take some of the load of what I don't doubt is a busy CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-PMH service.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Erm ... at the risk of also seeming heartless, I've just merged a couple of topics here - purely for 'continuity and clarity' reasons!

CfN. 

[Toiletdriver]

Maybe I'm just heartless, but it seems to me that either having to catch a train 9 minutes earlier or 26 minutes later is hardly an intolerable imposition, especially if it helps take some of the load of what I don't doubt is a busy CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)-PMH service.

No, you are not being heartless! It's some of the snobby FAW commuters who seem to think they should have 4 trains an hour on all axis because of their own self importance. Don't ask them to stagger journies, please 

[super tm]

I would just like to add that there is a notice up at Bristol in the staff messroom.  Apparantly this is the WORSE performing train (time wise) on the WHOLE network so I guess part of the reason for the change is to try and get it to run more reliably on time.

There was also a note at the bottom asking for ideas to try and help it run on time so if any regulars have some suggestions then note them on here and I will pass them on.

[Ollie]

They could remove the train - problem solved

[JayMac]

One possible solution is to try this method once adopted in Staffordshire (it relates to buses, but I'm sure the same can be applied to trains):

Extract from: Pile, Stephen (1979). Book of Heroic Failures: Official Handbook of the Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain. Futura. ISBN 0-7088-1908-7.

Can any bus service rival the fine Hanley to Bagnall route in Staffordshire? In 1976 it was reported that the buses no longer stopped for passengers. This came to light when one of them, Mr Bill Hancock, complained that buses on the outward journey regularly sailed past queues of up to thirty people. Councillor Arthur Cholerton then made transport history by stating that if these buses stopped to pick up passengers, they would disrupt the time-table.

 

[John R]

One possible solution is to try this method once adopted in Staffordshire (it relates to buses, but I'm sure the same can be applied to trains):

It has been. Just ask the residents of Norton Bridge, Wedgwood and Barlaston. Ironically, they are all in Staffordshire, and have stations that have never been closed, they just don't have any trains.

[tramway]

There was also a note at the bottom asking for ideas to try and help it run on time so if any regulars have some suggestions then note them on here and I will pass them on.

Quite a few factors can prevent this one from getting away from Bristol on time especially Fridays.

Principally I think it's down to the PAX numbers and the huge quantity getting off and on, I would guess at anything up to 2/3 of the train can change here, which on a 158 can take an awful lot of time especially with the amount of luggage that also gets moved as well.

This is then exacerbated with the less than ideal dwell time that seems to be quite a frequent occurence. I'm unsure of the scheduled arrival time but it's not uncommon for it to arrive with about a minute to spare.

The consequence of only a small delay here, say given an arrival of 17.23/4/5 and 3 or 4 minutes to swap a train load of PAX and the 17.30 HST^▸ (High Speed Train) gets the nod ahead. Credit to the BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) announcers because as soon as it becomes apparent that is going to happen all Bath bound passengers are informed and there is a mad rush for Plat 13.

It can therefore be 10-15 down by the time it reaches Trowbridge, but at least it hasn't caught up with the earlier services and sat just outside Freshford whilst BoA^» (Bradford-on-Avon - next trains) clears.

So getting the train in as early as possible on a regular basis would help, as would ensuring the punctuality of the earlier running services on what is a pretty tight timetable.

Possibly a bit too early to say what improvements have been made by the change, will have to see how things pan out in the New Year.

[Timmer]

The 1630 ex Cardiff will be stopping at Oldfield Park this evening owing to the 1655 ex Filton being canned at Bristol. Keynsham passengers have the luxury of an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) calling there this evening. Great if you were connecting at Bath for stations to London:

16:55 Filton Abbey Wood to Westbury due 17:57
This train will be terminated at Bristol Temple Meads.It will no longer call at: Oldfield Park, Bath Spa, Freshford, Avoncliff, Trowbridge and Westbury.This is due to a train fault.

16:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour due 19:54
This train has been revised.It will call additionally at: Oldfield Park.This is due to an earlier train fault.

17:10 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington due 19:14
This train has been revised.It will call additionally at: Keynsham.This is due to an earlier train fault.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bath Chronicle:

The community of Oldfield Park has been divided by the prospect of a residents' parking scheme in the area.

A formal survey is due to take place in the area asking whether people would like a parking scheme, although previous exercises have revealed a 50/50 split on the issue.
​
Some residents living near existing parking schemes have welcomed the idea of permits in their streets, while others resent having to pay out for the scheme.

Councillor Will Sandry (Lib Dem, Oldfield Park) said some sort of solution needed to be found to commuter parking on residential streets. He said: "It's a national problem and there isn't enough parking in Oldfield Park. We need to find a solution which is going to keep the majority of people happy."

Councillor Dave Dixon (Lib Dem, Oldfield Park) said: "Some people want it but are not prepared to pay for it."

Mr Sandry said there was generally three reasons why people were opposed to such schemes: they did not see a problem with off-road parking in their street, they did not have a car or they did not want to pay for a permit at a current annual cost of ^93 for the first car and ^140 for the second.

He said: "People who live closer to existing resident parking schemes in Lower Oldfield Park are more in favour."

As well as rail commuters putting a strain on parking in Oldfield Park, Mr Sandry said the Western Riverside development would also have an impact as there was less than one parking space per household.

He said: "There is a risk that people living in the Western Riverside could park in Oldfield Park and walk to their home."

He said Ministry of Defence closures could also have an effect as more people transferred from offices in Bath to Abbey Wood in Bristol and parked around Oldfield Park Station to commute to work.

[TonyK]

Twitter reports:
First Great Western @FGW^▸ (First Great Western)

 Disruption: A person has been hit by a train at Oldfield Park. Due to this services between Bath and Bristol disrupted. http://www.jcheck.com/fgw

[Brucey]

Hearing reports that a person has been hit by a train at Oldfield Park this evening.  Buses currently on order to run between Temple Meads and Bath Spa.

[Timmer]

Just been mentioned at the end of Point's West that there is an incident at Oldfield Park with buses replacing trains in the area.