The first Great Western Railway electric-only train runs to and from South Wales

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

I see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are advertising using the Famous Five again. I thought Enid Blyton had been ‘cancelled’.

On the contrary - it proved to be an extremely effective campaign for its target market, despite being laughed at by some. 

Now that leisure travel is being encouraged again it is being pushed once more.

[TonyK]

"Electric only" was no doubt to differentiate between IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) and Electrostars. There has been an effort to re-brand IETs as being electric. I have been criticised for referring to IETs as DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

Indeed. 

[Timmer]

I see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are advertising using the Famous Five again. I thought Enid Blyton had been ‘cancelled’.

On the contrary - it proved to be an extremely effective campaign for its target market, despite being laughed at by some. 

Now that leisure travel is being encouraged again it is being pushed once more.

No, I was just a little surprised following attempts by some to ‘cancel’ Enid Blyton as part of the cancel culture that we live in that GWR have continued with their marketing campaign using the Famous Five.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9695159/Enid-Blytons-work-racist-xenophobic-lacking-literary-merit-says-English-Heritage.html

Usually these days some companies can’t wait to run a mile if they suspect being associated with someone or something could be brand damaging.

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, I take your point.  Though I doubt you’ll see a statue of her appearing next to Brunel at Paddington any time soon.

[TaplowGreen]

I see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are advertising using the Famous Five again. I thought Enid Blyton had been ‘cancelled’.

On the contrary - it proved to be an extremely effective campaign for its target market, despite being laughed at by some. 

Now that leisure travel is being encouraged again it is being pushed once more.

I guess that having spent so much on the advertising campaign, we have to hope that none of the Famous Five have to isolate, and that they all have Sunday as part of the working week, in order to avoid further ridicule and parody................although I guess "Five go to the BBQ", "Five wait for the replacement bus" or "Five go surfing without surfboards" could be good storylines? 

[Lee]

I see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are advertising using the Famous Five again. I thought Enid Blyton had been ‘cancelled’.

On the contrary - it proved to be an extremely effective campaign for its target market, despite being laughed at by some. 

Now that leisure travel is being encouraged again it is being pushed once more.

I guess that having spent so much on the advertising campaign, we have to hope that none of the Famous Five have to isolate, and that they all have Sunday as part of the working week, in order to avoid further ridicule and parody................although I guess "Five go to the BBQ", "Five wait for the replacement bus" or "Five go surfing without surfboards" could be good storylines? 

Dont forget "Five miss out on a table again" 

[TonyK]

Yes, I take your point.  Though I doubt you’ll see a statue of her appearing next to Brunel at Paddington any time soon.

Maybe next to Colston in Bristol docks...

I guess that having spent so much on the advertising campaign, we have to hope that none of the Famous Five have to isolate, and that they all have Sunday as part of the working week, in order to avoid further ridicule and parody................although I guess "Five go to the BBQ", "Five wait for the replacement bus" or "Five go surfing without surfboards" could be good storylines? 

Maybe "Five Get Pinged Again", where they all go to a night club to celebrate Freedom Day with lashings of ginger beer, but someone spikes it with cider. Julian is poorly on the dance floor, George considers the effect of pronouns, Anne wakes up with chlamydia, and Dick gets beaten behind the MetroBust totem thingy.

[stuving]

From 11th December, some of the services between Paddington and Bristol Parkway that were shown in timetables BL and CL with the green flash for "Electrostar Train" have been shown extended to Cardiff Central.  And the first of these ran as a 387 in passenger service yesterday (there were no weekend 387 runs to BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains) before).

That was 9B14 12:13 departure arriving CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) at 14:17 (2L). It departs six minutes earlier than the usual for Cardiff trains, but arrives at a similar time (services vary quite a bit in overall timing). It is shown in RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) as "Operated with 387148+387167". It returned as 9L23, getting on time at 16:44.

Today's is timetabled later, 9B43 departing 14:13, and looks OK to Didcot (but has lost a few minutes there). It is shown, even now, as "Starts as Electric multiple unit, changes en route Starts planned at 110mph max". The return trip is 9L76 arriving 18:05, though today that is listed as an 80x.

On weekdays there is also one round trip, but much earlier: 9B04 at 7:12 and currently these are also shown as mythical 110 mph transformable EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit).

Even with some other services running PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)<>BPW, there don't seem to be enough to make round trips out of all of these. Incidentally, there does not seem to be any indication in these timetables that these trains are standard class only. Shouldn't there be?

[Electric train]

I find it fascinating that running a 387 on an 'Intercity' service as being a 'good to see' story!!!

If 387's had been proposed as the units to used on the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) for the on set there would have been screams of 'this is degrading the service'  although 387's are used on many other routes of services that could be classed 'Intercity'

[PhilWakely]

I find it fascinating that running a 387 on an 'Intercity' service as being a 'good to see' story!!!

If 387's had been proposed as the units to used on the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) for the on set there would have been screams of 'this is degrading the service'  although 387's are used on many other routes of services that could be classed 'Intercity'

The same can be said of running what is essentially a middle-distance commuter train in pairs on long distance leisure services [ (c) broadgage ] 

[didcotdean]

Even with some other services running PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)<>BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains), there don't seem to be enough to make round trips out of all of these. Incidentally, there does not seem to be any indication in these timetables that these trains are standard class only. Shouldn't there be?

It is the reverse in that the other services with the black squares have "First Class accommodation, seat reservations, Wi-Fi and power points are available", whereas the 387s are just "Wi-Fi and power points are available".

[grahame]

Even with some other services running PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)<>BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains), there don't seem to be enough to make round trips out of all of these. Incidentally, there does not seem to be any indication in these timetables that these trains are standard class only. Shouldn't there be?

It is the reverse in that the other services with the black squares have "First Class accommodation, seat reservations, Wi-Fi and power points are available", whereas the 387s are just "Wi-Fi and power points are available".

Example from http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/nrt/125.pdf - see 9B04, the 07:12 from Paddington

[didcotdean]

My description is that of the style of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) timetable rather than the NRT^▸ (Network Rail Telecoms). Of course that begs the question why there isn't a consistency of presentation.

[broadgage]

I find it fascinating that running a 387 on an 'Intercity' service as being a 'good to see' story!!!

If 387's had been proposed as the units to used on the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) for the on set there would have been screams of 'this is degrading the service'  although 387's are used on many other routes of services that could be classed 'Intercity'

The same can be said of running what is essentially a middle-distance commuter train in pairs on long distance leisure services [ (c) broadgage ] 

Broadgage would suggest that use of a 387 instead of an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) would have been a considerable downgrade.
IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) are however a considerable downgrade if compared to an HST, and a 387 is not much worse. Both are arguably middle distance commuter trains and not inter city.

[grahame]

I find it fascinating that running a 387 on an 'Intercity' service as being a 'good to see' story!!!

If 387's had been proposed as the units to used on the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) for the on set there would have been screams of 'this is degrading the service'  although 387's are used on many other routes of services that could be classed 'Intercity'

The same can be said of running what is essentially a middle-distance commuter train in pairs on long distance leisure services [ (c) broadgage ] 

Broadgage would suggest that use of a 387 instead of an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) would have been a considerable downgrade.
IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) are however a considerable downgrade if compared to an HST, and a 387 is not much worse. Both are arguably middle distance commuter trains and not inter city.

But ... how much of the traffic had become, is now, and will be in the future "middle distance" traffic and not inter-city?  I suspect that the product would benefit from change to relect the new market as it has become and where it could be further sustainably developed.