Twyford to Henley branch line - services, timetables, incidents and improvements

[whole diary]

[eightf48544]

It would cost too much for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to run 6 cars as you pay per vehicle.

[grahame]

It would cost too much for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to run 6 cars as you pay per vehicle.

Off Peak Day Return, Twyford / Paddington, for a group of four adults an 4 children travelling on groupsave.
28 pounds fare, 36 miles, fare 4.8p per mile per person.

Regular single, Swindon / Salisbury for 4 adults and 4 children on the 06:15 direct TransWilts train.
300 pound fare, 40 miles, fare 93p per mile per person.

Curiously enough, I've not heard of overcrowding problems on the 06:15 when it leaves Swindon, but off peak fares are not valid.

Is it just me, or do I feel like we have George Orwell's double speak here from 1984.  My simpleton mind would expect off peak fares not to be offered on trains that are pretty darned busy, and where we're discussing how / if they can be longer for passenger's comfort.  And then my mind would expect that the use of less busy services would be encouraged by having off peak fares that felt more like they were good value.  Can anyone explain the fault in my logic 

Sorry about the aside - it just goes to show how some fares are so absurdly worked out that they'll not cover costs even if a train is full;  I've had discussions on our line, and with trip organisers on another, along the lines of "is it fair to ask FGW to strengthen a train, when we know that although we'll fill all the seats, we'll also do so on tickets that will mean they'll be running at a loss"

[inspector_blakey]

Of course I realize that six-car trains cost more in fuel, but are the track access charges also increased for a 6-car vice 3-car train?

[IndustryInsider]

It would cost too much for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to run 6 cars as you pay per vehicle.

I'm sorry, but I simply don't buy that argument.  Had the train I was on been a 6-car there would probably still have been people standing, but the majority of people would have had a seat and the impression given to those passengers who don't use the service often would have been much better and they might just use the train to go next year - some of those on my train yesterday had the look that said 'never again'!  Also, the more regular travellers innocently travelling into London from places like Slough, West Drayton, and Hayes may well have been put off travelling in the future.

Sure, the cost of running a 6-car train is more, track access fees are higher but it's nowhere near twice as expensive and there was a clear and largely predictable demand for it - far more of a demand than certain 5 and 6-car off-peak weekday services I could mention!  From a customer service point of view (and a commercial point of view to a lesser extent) I hope FGW take my comments on board for next year.  When it'll probably rain cats and dogs all weekend!  

[argg]

On the subject of Henley Regatta (I'm sure it's related), does anyone have any idea why there was a massive BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) presence/operation at Twyford station last Friday evening?

The area in front of the station was cordoned off with an "incident unit tent", at least 6 police transits, two dog units etc. This was several days after the suicide so unlikely to be related to that.

Nothing of interest happening when I arrived from PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) however I guess they were waiting for the next Henley shuttle.

Perhaps random searches for drugs, drunk & disorderly, possession of offensive blazers?

[IndustryInsider]

What time was it?  The crowds get rowdier the later the it gets, so it might just have been the standard evening response force!

[BBM]

I noticed the massive Police presence too, I've never seen so many at Twyford before. (I was at the station at around 19:00 last Friday.)

[Electric train]

My guess was drug screening the police can not discriminate between a pop concert and a lar d dah posh frock event, also there is the risk of other crime like pick pockets targeting the crowds especially as the crowd may have got well oiled  during the day

[grahame]

Can't help thinking it's going to be interesting seeing what fast trains and additional services are laid on for Melksham's carnival and Party in the Park on Saturday 17th July. We usually get around 5,000 people through the gates ....

Phil - it appears that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have been getting more people originating from Melksham than they have been able to handle on the bustitution recently and have had to scramble to provide more.  I'll follow up in more detail on a "TransWilts" thread.

Edit to add ... new thread is at
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=7074.0

[autotank]

On the front page of The Henley Standard this week there is an article proposing the shortening of the Henley branch by quarter of a mile to improve access to the River and Rowing Museum amd Mill Meadows.

Unfortunately I don't think they have loaded the story on the website yet, but when this was last proposed 10 years ago the residents of Henley vehementlyy opposed this - I hope they will again. The station is far enough away from the town centre already - moving it further would be a retrograde step. Whilst the station car park is under utilised at the moment, this could be improved by a better walking route to the RRM or even a footbridge, which has previously been suggested.

[autotank]

Here is the article: http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/news.php?tabp=y&id=869311

[autotank]

Just seen the special Henley line timetable for HRR. Although I won't be using the line that week I feel sorry for the people that are - compared to previous offerings it is very disappointing. There are no extra through services from London of use and journey times with a change at Twyford are a ridiculous 1 hour 15 minutes + on Saturday morning, which is the busiest day.

I appreciate that stock probably isn't available on Wednesday-Friday, but surely an effort could be made on the Saturday and Sunday to run some extra through services or make some extra HST^▸ (High Speed Train) stops at Twyford as the stoppers will be rammed! Running through sevices also means 6 car trains (or more?) can be run onto the branch. Shuttling between Twyford and Henley limits trains to 4 cars because of the Twyford bay.

The Saturday evening sevice is a bit of a curiosity with the last train leaving Henley at 2332 which seems ridiculously early (on a usual weekend the last service is 0008). What confuses me most is that there are specials from Twyford - Henley at 0019 and 0124 (through service from London!) which it appear run from Henley ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) - just when lots of people want to head home after the fireworks! Is this a error?

[bobm]

It does seem poor compared to recent years.

Indeed the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website provides the evidence!

Services in 2006 
Services in 2007 

I do know from experience that HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have made special unadvertised calls at Twyford in past years largely based on conditions "on the ground" at the time. However this doesn't help those planning in advance.

[autotank]

In case you are interested here is a link to the 2011 timetable - can't find it on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website! http://www.hrr.co.uk/fs/downloads/HRR_Rail_Timetable_2011.pdf



Edit note: Fixed link. bignosemac

[grahame]

Interesting to see that the London day return has gone up from 11.40 to 13.50 in five years, and the Reading ticket from 3.80 to 4.20 .  That's 18% and 10.5% which doesn't strike me as too bad ...