10 years on - what improvements has a privatised railway brought to the west?

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

Hmm.  Some parts of that Reading rebuild now seem rather uncertain ... see http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/reading/articles/2009/04/23/37851-nervous-wait-for-station-funds/ 

Maybe, but there's specific mention that the investment in infrastructure in terms of track capacity is not under threat: "The project has won most of its funding from the Government, including all of the money for track works to massively increase capacity and get Reading ready for Crossrail, should its western terminus be extended from Maidenhead, plus a ^4.3m boost this month for improvement to nearby bus and taxi stops."

[autotank]

I'm a regular user of the Henley line and I'd have to disagree with the views on 45 minute frquency - I welcome more trains! I'd like to see it introduced at the weekend as well as it seems a waste of a unit to only get in one 5 mile round trip an hour. I'd really like to see a half hourly frequency on the line which I think is possible, but services couldn't wait for late connections at Twyford. On the flip side you wouldn't have to wait that long for the next service!

I'd also like to see a few of the connection reviewed - some of them in the evening are very loose.

With so many ways to access travel information these days I don't think it is a huge issue not having exact clockface departure if it means you can increase frequency.

The big question is what will the situation be like in 10 years time with Crossrail? Hopefully those journey times to London can be reduced with Twyford stoppers missing out a lot of stations after Maindenhead.

As an aside during the Reading works could an hourly Henley - Shiplake - Wargrave - Twyford - Maidenhead - Slough - Hayes & Harlington - Ealing Broadway - London service be introduced to help ease congestion at Reading?

[IndustryInsider]

I'm a regular user of the Henley line and I'd have to disagree with the views on 45 minute frquency - I welcome more trains! I'd like to see it introduced at the weekend as well as it seems a waste of a unit to only get in one 5 mile round trip an hour. I'd really like to see a half hourly frequency on the line which I think is possible, but services couldn't wait for late connections at Twyford. On the flip side you wouldn't have to wait that long for the next service!

With so many ways to access travel information these days I don't think it is a huge issue not having exact clockface departure if it means you can increase frequency.

The big question is what will the situation be like in 10 years time with Crossrail? Hopefully those journey times to London can be reduced with Twyford stoppers missing out a lot of stations after Maindenhead.

I agree that it's not as important to have clock-face timetables these days, but a 45-minute interval timetable still sits awkwardly to me. I would be interested to see what six months of that service has done to the overall passenger numbers. A 30-minute service is just about possible as you say, 'autotank' - indeed during the Regatta one is operated, though it really is on the absolute limit regarding service recovery, and even with some trains missing out Wargrave and Shiplake, I don't think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) would want to risk it.

As for Crossrail's impact - that really is a big question. If there are faster services from Twyford to London then I can't see them running at the current 4tph levels. Perhaps 2tph will run from there to Paddington, and two others will run as far as Maidenhead/Slough where you'd have to change? More likely I feel is that Crossrail will be extended to Reading and a similar service will run as now - albeit through central London to the east and maybe a couple of minutes quicker thanks to the superior acceleration of the new trains.

[John R]

[I agree that it's not as important to have clock-face timetables these days, but a 45-minute interval timetable still sits awkwardly to me. I would be interested to see what six months of that service has done to the overall passenger numbers. A 30-minute service is just about possible as you say, 'autotank' - indeed during the Regatta one is operated, though it really is on the absolute limit regarding service recovery, and even with some trains missing out Wargrave and Shiplake, I don't think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) would want to risk it.

How would it compare to the St Ives branch in summer? That's pretty tight, and with much greater volumes of pax I would speculate.

[vacman]

[I agree that it's not as important to have clock-face timetables these days, but a 45-minute interval timetable still sits awkwardly to me. I would be interested to see what six months of that service has done to the overall passenger numbers. A 30-minute service is just about possible as you say, 'autotank' - indeed during the Regatta one is operated, though it really is on the absolute limit regarding service recovery, and even with some trains missing out Wargrave and Shiplake, I don't think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) would want to risk it.

How would it compare to the St Ives branch in summer? That's pretty tight, and with much greater volumes of pax I would speculate.

St Ives has 3 mins turnaround at each end all day, plus every other trip runs fast from Lelant Saltings to St Ives.

[IndustryInsider]

Route 18: Oxford to Banbury and Bicester Town

Oxford-Banbury fast services

The Oxford-Banbury service has changed quite significantly over the last ten years. Back in 1999 there was a roughly hourly non-stop service operated by Virgin Trains, supplemented with a mix of fast and stopping Thames Trains services to/from Stratford-Upon-Avon, and a smattering of local services as well. Now the Stratford trains run on a different route, but the introduction of a half-hourly Virgin trains service has been continued by present operator Arriva.

Total number of weekday trains from Oxford-Banbury is now 44, which is a large increase on the 1999 total of 28. First trains of the day are later than they used to be, the 05:18 and 04:39 departures from Oxford and Banbury respectively are now later at 05:45 and 06:08.

The last train from Oxford is now at 00:20 following the introduction of a train by Chiltern Railways that used to run empty - though disappointingly, this is not shown in the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) timetable.

Oxford-Banbury local services

These stop at the intermediate stations of Tackley, Heyford and Kings Sutton and there are now 11 trains a day compared with 10 back in 1999. This isn't as positive as it sounds though as some of these trains used to run to/from London as fast services in the peak hours whereas now you have to change at Oxford unless you fancy a very long journey stopping at most stations en-route.

The commuting situation to Oxford is also not as easy as it was back in 1999. Commuter trains to Oxford aren't so bad with an extra morning train compared with 1999, although an 07:55 arrival isn't as good as the 08:09 arrival that used to be available for those working 9-5 in the City. Going home again the old departures ran roughly hourly at 16:27, 17:50, 18:59, and 19:46. Now they leave at 16:23, 17:44, 19:14 and 20:54, so things have worsened for those commuters.

Oxford-Bicester Town services

This route has seen a boost following the opening of Bicester Village shopping outlet which is a 4 minute walk from Bicester Town station. There are now 11 trains each weekday (12 on a Friday). Back in 1999 there were 12 each day of the week with a late service at 11pm which now only runs on a Friday. Over the last ten years services had slowly reduced to about 7 a day and so the recent increases are welcomed to bring the service nearly back up to that offered in 1999.

This timetable also sees the re-introduction of services on a Sunday which last operated in the mid-90's. There will nine trains a day, largely aimed at shoppers.

This route has a promising future with both Chiltern Railways and East-West Rail wanting to operate services on much enhanced infrastructure as discussed elsewhere on this forum.

[eightf48544]

I'm a regular user of the Henley line and I'd have to disagree with the views on 45 minute frquency - I welcome more trains! I'd like to see it introduced at the weekend as well as it seems a waste of a unit to only get in one 5 mile round trip an hour. I'd really like to see a half hourly frequency on the line which I think is possible, but services couldn't wait for late connections at Twyford. On the flip side you wouldn't have to wait that long for the next service!


With so many ways to access travel information these days I don't think it is a huge issue not having exact clockface departure if it means you can increase frequency.

The big question is what will the situation be like in 10 years time with Crossrail? Hopefully those journey times to London can be reduced with Twyford stoppers missing out a lot of stations after Maindenhead.

As an aside during the Reading works could an hourly Henley - Shiplake - Wargrave - Twyford - Maidenhead - Slough - Hayes & Harlington - Ealing Broadway - London service be introduced to help ease congestion at Reading?

On the first point a half hourly service is possible with three minute turnrounds at each end as per St Ives branch.

E.g  00  Twyford 12 Henley
      15  Henley   27 Twyford
      30  Twyford 42 Henley
      45  Henley   57 Twyford

With say a 5/6 minute connection from London then with current puctuality levels this ought to be achievable. If the branch does have to go then at least it's only a 30 minute or less wait.

As for Crossrail through Twyford I suggest it would be unlikely there will be semi fasts from Twyford with stops as you suggest as they won't fit in with the 10tph all stations from Hayes on the Relief lines.

I still advocate clockface departures whilst the extra trains on the branch are good 45 minutes seems a very akward interval to calculate especialy as it's not exact quarter hours. I would reckon that Murphy's law would probably  mean you still have to catch the train 45 minutes before, because the next train doesn't quite get you to where you want to be in time. If you want to be in Reading at around 12:00 you have to catch the 10:54 rather than the 11:39 whereas with a half hour service an 11:26 would get you there at around 12:00.

I suppose that's  OK you only have  a max of 45 minutes to waste, in the above case it's 38 minutes, rather than up to an hour.

[Btline]

...plus every other trip runs fast from Lelant Saltings to St Ives.

Fast?

[Oxman]

The Oxford Banbury local service was dealt a blow when at the last refranchising the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) decided to tidy up the franchise map by transferring the Stratford services from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to Chiltern. Interestingly, I understand that there is a desire in Stratford to see Paddington services reinstated. There is a substantial tourist market between Oxford and Stratford.

Also worth noting the three trains per day each way summer Sunday service, which runs specifically to promote access to the Cherwell valley and the delights of the canalside at Heyford and Tackley.

[Btline]

I can understand the desire for Oxford - Stratford trains, but I expect Stratford residents are grateful for having Chiltern Railways running their London trains!

Faster, more reliable and much more comfortable.

[cereal_basher]

I can understand the desire for Oxford - Stratford trains, but I expect Stratford residents are grateful for having Chiltern Railways running their London trains!

Faster, more reliable and much more comfortable.

Hardly, Chiltern Class 165s are very similar to FGWs^▸ (First Great Western). Not much difference in comfort.

[inspector_blakey]

Fast?

I'd have thought you'd approve of that, btline...! Fast is "correct", long-established railway terminology for non-stop, after all... 

[IndustryInsider]

I can understand the desire for Oxford - Stratford trains, but I expect Stratford residents are grateful for having Chiltern Railways running their London trains!

Faster, more reliable and much more comfortable.

Hardly, Chiltern Class 165s are very similar to FGWs^▸ (First Great Western). Not much difference in comfort.

That's right, cereal_basher - there's precious few Class 168's used on the Stratford route. And the journey time is generally slightly slower on the Chiltern route than it was under Thames Trains, so I think we can only give Btline 1 out of 3 for research/accuracy in his post this time. 

[cereal_basher]

I can understand the desire for Oxford - Stratford trains, but I expect Stratford residents are grateful for having Chiltern Railways running their London trains!

Faster, more reliable and much more comfortable.

Hardly, Chiltern Class 165s are very similar to FGWs^▸ (First Great Western). Not much difference in comfort.

That's right, cereal_basher - there's precious few Class 168's used on the Stratford route. And the journey time is generally slightly slower on the Chiltern route than it was under Thames Trains, so I think we can only give Btline 1 out of 3 for research/accuracy in his post this time. 

I am not sure of the reliable bit any more either, FGW are pretty reliable now.

[devon_metro]

I think as far as Btline is concerned, a Chiltern Train with a Super Off Peak walk up cheap fare and Phil announcing the next station would be verging on heaven

I should add - the train will run non stop to his required destination.