Radley Station - timetable changes, incidents and refurbishment (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

Will that manoevre at South Ruislip be possible once the Evergreen 3 works at that junction are complete?

[IndustryInsider]

can FGW^▸ (First Great Western) drivers drive Chiltern units (i.e. are the cab layouts identical?) & what about cab radio frequencies?

Just to confirm eightf48544's reply, that the cab layouts are sufficiently different between the two 165's following the Chiltern refurb, so there would need to be a pilot driver.  The 168's are considered a different type of traction from 165/6's, so there would definitely need to be a pilot driver if they were used.  No issues with the Cab Secure Radio or coupling equipment though - I guess it's just whether it's worth the effort given that half the Sunday Oxford-London trains are HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s and half Turbos, so unless all the HST's were taken off for the day it would be a patchy through service at best.

If there were no engineering works between Didcot and London (i.e. no 2-track sections) on a given Sunday, then there probably would be paths to squeeze them through on their own every hour, but then you might stretch the crew resources too far.  Not an easy solution sadly.

[ChrisB]

Chiltern passengers creating 'full & standing' from OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) is unfortunately not acceptable either on an ongoing basis either. I'm taking this up with Chiltern management. Chiltern need to do better.

[super tm]

I expect it will be full of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HST^▸ (High Speed Train) drivers just beofre Christmas lerningt the road for the Banbury diversions.

No pad drivers will not be learning this route.  Pad guards will be though.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Two killed at station in three days

Two people have died in three days in incidents involving high-speed trains at the same station.

British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) were called to Radley station on Friday following a report that a man had been struck by a train.

A woman also died at the station on Sunday after being struck by a train.

A spokesman for Oxford Coroner^s Office said the two people had not yet been formally identified.

The dead man was believed be a 51-year-old from Leamington Spa. The train involved was the 2.31pm Oxford to London Paddington service. The line reopened to trains at 4.30pm.

The woman is believed to be a 37-year-old from Radley, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Regarding the incident on Sunday, BTP spokesman Simon Letouze said: ^Officers from BTP and Thames Valley Police, and paramedics from the South Central Ambulance Service attended.^

Police are treating both incidents as non-suspicious.

[ChrisB]

I'm hearing from rail staff that these two are related in some way....really sad.

[willc]

Inquests into both deaths were held at the same sitting this week. Other than location, there was no connection.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/abingdon/8717192.Inquests_told_of_two_suicides_on_railway_at_Radley/

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the British Transport Police press release:

British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) officers investigating two bikes being stolen from Radley station are calling on the public^s help to identify those responsible.

Investigators have today released CCTV images of three men they would like to speak to in connection with the incidents, which took place in September.

PC Roddy Brown, the investigating officer, said: ^The first victim left his bike at the cycle shed at Radley station around 10.15am on Thursday, 13 September. When he returned to collect it at 5.40pm he realised it had been taken.^

^The second victim arrived at the station about 7am on Saturday, 15 September and locked her bike to the cycle racks. Around 1pm, she returned to the station to find that her bike and lock had been stolen.^

Officers have been carrying out a number of enquiries into the incidents, including viewing CCTV in and around the station and speaking to witnesses at the scene. Images of three men have now been released by officers in a bid to identify those responsible.



PC Brown added: ^Officers will continue to carry out high visible patrols in and around the station and bike racks, delivering crime prevention advice for owners who fail to properly lock and secure their cycles.

^We work closely with colleagues from Thames Valley Police and train operator First Great Western to tackle cycle crime at rail stations and ask passengers to report any suspicious behaviour to a member of staff or police.^

Anyone with information should call British Transport Police on freefone 0800 40 50 40 quoting B3/LNA of 24/10/12 or the independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

[IndustryInsider]

Hot on the heels of Pangbourne, it looks like workers have moved in to build the car park extension at Radley.  Not before time, as the car park is full every weekday by mid-morning, even though it wasn't that long ago when it was first expanded.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Perhaps that is why the start of the Hanborough car park construction that I was advised would start last October and be finished by the end of the year has not yet started by February 2013.

[Chris from Nailsea]

See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9639.msg126188#msg126188 for developments at Hanborough. 

[IndustryInsider]

Hot on the heels of Pangbourne, it looks like workers have moved in to build the car park extension at Radley.

Good to see Radley's car park expansion finished this week and open for business.  Difficult to be precise as the enlarged area is gravel without actual marked out spaces, but I would guess that there's now room for an extra 30 or so cars on top of the 50 or so that could already fit in the car park on weekdays - I'll be interested to see if these extra spaces gets taken up quickly as Radley becomes ever busier as a local community station and railhead for Abingdon.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Herald Series:

Scrap plans for yellow lines plead frustrated residents


The virtually deserted station car park

A rail company is set to pay for yellow lines throughout a village after its car park charges pushed commuters on to residential streets. But residents in Radley near Abingdon are fighting the plans.

First Great Western spent ^165,000 of Department for Transport cash extending the car park at Radley railway station earlier this year by 30 spaces, but also started charging ^3 a day. But villagers then complained to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) that the charge pushed up to 20 commuters every day on the area^s narrow roads.

Now, they say, fewer people are using the car park than before it was expanded.

Lower Radley resident Graham Steinsberg said: ^It is an accident waiting to happen. Sharp braking is already the order of the day in the village, which is a nuisance, but in icy conditions it will be only a matter of time until this nuisance turns into a serious accident.^

Now Oxfordshire County Council has pledged to create parking restrictions in the village, but villagers say they don^t want parking restrictions on residential roads. They want FGW to stop charging for use of its car park.

Mr Steinsberg, 57, a chartered accountant, said: ^We don^t want yellow lines appearing anywhere. If they were making tons of money out of the car park which allowed them to lower fares, it would be okay.^

But he said fewer people were now parking at the station than before charges were introduced: ^The economic argument doesn^t stack up.^

County councillor for Radley Bob Johnston said: ^There have been numerous meetings, and I have pushed as hard as I can but now it is down to FGW and officers at the county to decide what is to be done.^

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Martin Crabtree said: ^We will be looking at how parking restrictions could be effective in solving local parking issues and would expect to consult on proposals early in the new year. Depending on the outcome a scheme could be implemented in the spring. We would expect the cost of any scheme to be funded by the rail company.^

He said the solution would not involve parking permits.

First Great Western spokesman James Davis said the Department for Transport funding was for ^commercial projects only^, so the company was obliged to charge for use of the car park.

Mr Steinsberg has now started a pressure group, Stop Clogging Radley with Parking (SCRAP), calling on FGW to scrap its car park charges.

[ray951]

I wondered where all the cars had gone as since they have extended the car park and charged for parking.
Since the charging I have never seen the original car park full, never mind the extension.
If they had charged before they had extended the car park they could have saved ^165,000!
And ^3 a day is a lot cheaper than parking at Oxford or Didcot and I wonder how many of the people travelling to/from Radley travel for 'free'.

[IndustryInsider]

About 40 cars parked in there today, so by no means empty, but there is a sizeable number of vehicles that do indeed clog up the streets.  Can't see the charges being reduced or removed as the money spent will have to be recovered somehow.  I can understand how frustrating it is for local residents to have commuters cars parked there, but I reckon that residents permits is probably the best compromise?  If all the rail users parked in the station car park paying the modest daily charge then I reckon it would be nearing capacity usage after a short while.

As for Mr. Steinberg's comments in the article, the economic argument does stack up as the expansion cost is being met by those 30-40 cars that use the car park daily and pay for it when previously 50 or so cars were crammed in for free.  As for the cost of fares, interestingly the Radley to Oxford off-peak return rail fare is 60p cheaper than the bus fare (and at 7 minutes far quicker than the No. 35!).

If they had charged before they had extended the car park they could have saved ^165,000!

The problem of street parking would then have reared its head a lot earlier on.  The extension will allow the growth or Radley station to continue over time, just like Pangbourne where the recent extension is currently only about 50-75% used currently.