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

[whole diary]

[Btline]

Oh dear! Don't worry, I have comebacks....

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 am not sure of the reliable bit any more either, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are pretty reliable now.

Ah, but FGW being reliable does not make Chiltern unreliable. And as reliability on FGW was poorer when they ran to Stratford, my point still stands!

Hardly, Chiltern Class 165s are very similar to FGWs. 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...

Not sure about the journey time. But I doubt it was faster with FGW as it went the "Great Way Round".  And Chiltern do run 168s on Stratford trains. Even on services they use 165 Turbos - they are air conditioned! (and in better condition)

[Mookiemoo]

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.

Primarily because the time tables have more padding than a 13 year olds bra on a friday night

[IndustryInsider]

Oh dear! Don't worry, I have comebacks....

But I doubt it was faster with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) as it went the "Great Way Round".  And Chiltern do run 168s on Stratford trains. Even on services they use 165 Turbos - they are air conditioned! (and in better condition)

I never said they didn't run 168's to Stratford. But the majority are two car 165's (morning/evening peak services excepted), which air-conditioned or not, is hardly a great improvement on a 166.

I will concede that I was wrong to suggest that journey time to Paddington was quicker - a quick glance last night gave that impression, but having looked at it in a little more detail the timings are practically the same. The fastest Up service takes 2h 04 minutes, just as it did back in 1999, and others seem to take a similar amount of time. Below are the timings for the Up services now with their equivalent from 1999 when they ran to Paddington in brackets. There are three more direct trains a day now to give a service every two hours which is a definite improvement on the Thames Trains schedules.

2h 06m,   2h 04m,   2h 19m,   2h 15m,   2h 15m,   2h 13m,   2h 16m,   2h 16m,   2h 14m
(2h 16m), (2h 19m), (2h 04m), (2h 12m), (2h 16m), (2h 10m)


However I'll still only give you 1 out of 3, Btline - based on your previous record... 

[IndustryInsider]

Route 19: London Paddington and Oxford to Worcester and Hereford - 'The Cotswold Line'

On a route that was struggling already to accommodate the number of trains on it back in 1999, changes since have seen extra trains squeezed in and changes in traction on many services from Turbos to more comfortable, faster, but less flexible HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s. The result has seen many journey times being increased with lots of 'slack' built in to allow delays to be recovered.

Good news is on the horizon - as you will probably know, a six week blockade over this summer, together with lots of other less noticable work throughout the remainder of this year and next will mean the route has added flexibility with re-installed double track between Charlbury and Ascott and Moreton and Evesham. This has been badly needed for over a decade now.

Below is a breakdown of the number of through trains running on the various sections of the route, together with the figure (in brackets) for 1999:

Paddington - Hereford: 5 (5)
Paddington - Worcester: 14 (13)
Moreton-In-Marsh - Worcester: 16 (14)
Evesham - Oxford: 16 (14)
Great Malvern - Paddington: 10 (9)

So, as you can see, most sections of the route have had a modest increase in the number of trains running. It's a totally different story with regard to journey times though, as with the majority of trains now worked by HST's, extra allowances have been built into the timetable to cope with the lack of flexibility they bring. Although their top speed is far greater than a Turbo, they compare badly with regard to low speed acceleration and station dwell times (a passenger with a bike waiting at the wrong end of the platform can easily put 3 minutes delay into the train). Their turnaround time (the time it takes for the Driver to immobilise one cab and walk down the train and mobilise the other end) is also far greater meaning that extra allowances have had to be built into the timetable at places like Worcester and Malvern.

The net result is that some services that have been worked by HST's have now reverted to Turbo's - though the choice of trains from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) is questionable to say the least.

As far as journey times are concerned, the following list the journey times on the section from Worcester Shrub Hill to Oxford which is where most of the slack has had to be built in. The 1999 journey times are in brackets.

 83 mins, 78, 80, 80, 74, 73, 79, 76, 78, 91, 97, 93, 111, 84, 76.
(69 mins, 66, 77, 65, 68, 71, 71, 58, 70, 67, 72, 76, 70, 75).

That works out at an average of over 1hr 23m for the 57 mile journey which compares very poorly with other InterCity type routes. The 1999 average was a much more respectable 1h 05mins.

Although most routes I have covered so far have seen journey times slip slightly over the last ten years, an average increase of nearly 20 minutes on a comparatively short section is hard to believe and you know something is wrong when the all stations 'Halts' train in the morning (all stations that is, except Honeybourne) completes the journey three minutes quicker than the average of the days trains!

Peak trains are taking much longer too, the three main services to London from Great Malvern in the morning now take 2h 42m, 2h 48m and 2h 33m (in 1999 it was 2h 29m, 2h 20m and 2h 15m). The return two main services take 2h 40m and 2h 37m (in 1999 it was 2h 17m and 2h 12m - the latter is 25 minutes slower now!). These increases will obviously have had an effect on the number of business travellers - though opinion varies as to what extent potential custom has been lost.

On the plus side, Hanborough, Honeybourne and Pershore all see a slightly more regular service, and late evening and early morning services all now offer better choices - the extension of what was the 20:18 Paddington to Moreton-In-Marsh through to Great Malvern is an excellent example of this.

It will be very interesting to see what happens to the timetable when the partial re-doubling has taken place!

[Steve Bray]

Thanks Insider, for this and all the other routes.

One slight correction, I believe, is the duration of the 1821 ex Padd takes 2hrs 37 (not 47) as you mention to Great Malvern, though 2h 47 is the time taken by the 1922. 

Ironically, the fastest evening journey from London to Great Malvern is the 1923 Virgin service from Euston to New Street, arrive 2045, change and depart at 2059, arriving Gt Malvern at 2154.

Also, although the number of Hereford/Paddington trains is still 5, one of these is the really useful (not!) 2153 service.

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks for the correction, Steve. And the fact you can get from Euston via Brum to Malvern quicker is an even more glaring example of how slow the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains are now!

[IndustryInsider]

Route 20: Reading to Guildford, Redhill and Gatwick Airport

This route has traditionally had a limited stops service running between Reading and Gatwick Airport at hourly intervals, with an all stations service also running at hourly intervals from Reading. Back in 1999 most of the stopping trains terminated at Shalford (an operationally convenient station just the other side of Guildford). There were some stopping trains running from Guildford to Redhill. Now these stopping services virtually all run on to Redhill which gives more trains on the route, but selective stopping patterns see the quieter stations of Gomshall, Chilworth, Dorking West and Betchworth seeing a train every two hours off-peak (every hour in the peak).

The journey time through from Reading to Gatwick Airport is virtually unchanged at 76 mins for the 52 miles. This includes seven intermediate stops and a reversal at Redhill, so isn't too bad.

Total number of trains are as follows (1999 figures in brackets):

Reading-Gatwick Airport: 20 (23)
Guildford-Reading: 39 (45)
Redhill-Guildford: 34 (31)

The decrease in the number of trains above is mainly due to the removal of a few XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) trains that used to run from/to Brighton on the route.

First and last services of the day are virtually identical ten years on, though one interesting change is that the last train from Reading to Gatwick Airport (23:34) now ceases to stop at Wokingham on Friday and Saturday nights, following years of trouble caused by drunks heading home. SouthWest Trains now bravely provide the last train at 23:12!

[Steve Bray]

This is now my adopted route as I live in Dorking.

For several years, Thames Trains used to run 2 buses (Goldline?) through the night from Reading to Gatwick. Stopping points were Guildford, Dorking, Reigate and maybe Redhill. I remember catching these on occasions from Guildford after a night out at I think 2.31am, and 4.01am to Dorking. Some nights these buses would be quite well used, and I was disappointed when these were withdrawn (date anyone?). From Gatwick, I think they left at 0030 and 0400? I doubt if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) would have the courage to re-introduce these.

Dorking West lost out on several westbound evening commuter services in the December 2006 timetable, when the 1703 and 1803 ex Gatwicks used to stop. I am still annoyed that the stop in the 1803 hasn't been re-instated, as this now runs fast from Deepdene to Guikldford, only to stand at Guildford for 7 minutes. Dorking Business Park where several hundred people work, is located very close to this station, and it is a shame that FGW don't experiment by stopping a few more peak hour services here. (No self-interest here at all!!)

On Sundays, the hourly Reading/Gatwick service was supplemented by a 2 hourly stopping service. Since Dec 06, the 2 hourly stopping service was withdrawn and the hourly fast services had additional stops added.

[IndustryInsider]

I'll skip Route 21 as it's the bus link to Heathrow Airport, and that's not a train service! I'd also like to point out that as we head further west, my knowledge of the route lessens, so please shout out anything I may have missed...

Routes 22 & 23: Great Malvern, Worcester, Cheltenham Spa and Gloucester to Bristol

There have been several changes to the structure of the service on this route since 1999, some for the better, some for the worse.

The basic pattern of trains is:

1) Two trains per hour serving Cheltenham Spa, Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads on the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) network, these are longer distance trains serving Birmingham and the North West as well as sometimes continuing on to Plymouth and Penzance. These trains used to run in a haphazard manner equating to roughly one per hour, but served Gloucester on a roughly two-hourly basis and went to a more varied number of destinations north of Birmingham. Now, Gloucester has been all but wiped off the longer distance XC network, though it still gets an hourly service on the XC route from Nottingham, via Birmingham and Cheltenham to Cardiff Central. These changes have resulted in a 33% increase in the number of trains running between Birmingham and Cheltenham, and almost twice as many now run between Birmingham and Bristol.

2) One train per hour from Nottingham to Cardiff going via Birmingham, Cheltenham and Gloucester (as mentioned above). This used to be provided by either a roughly two hourly Central Trains service from Nottingham to Cardiff or a roughly two hourly service operated by Wales & West from Birmingham. Some of these trains used to go the slower route via Worcester and so took much longer.

3) A roughly two hourly service from Great Malvern via Worcester, Cheltenham and Gloucester to Bristol and on to either Brighton, Weymouth or Westbury. These are supplemented with an extra train starting at Gloucester, to give an hourly service south of Gloucester. This opens up many more through journeys that were previously possible in 1999, and it's nice to see Great Malvern seeing a long distance service, but at over 30 stops and well over 4 hours journey time, it's not all that appealing for anyone wanting to go all the way to Weymouth!

4) To fill some of the gaps in the Gt.Malvern-Worcester-Gloucester-Cheltenham service, London Midland run five train each way per day between Worcester and Gloucester.

What overall impact these changes have on the service is difficult to judge. There are some distinct winners and some losers. For example, whilst the total number of trains between Birmingham and Gloucester has reduced, the trains that do operate run to a much more defined clockface pattern and generally take less time. Also, between Gloucester and Bristol TM^‡(resolve) the total number of trains has remained the same, though the service off-peak is now hourly when there were huge gaps from 10:57-13:28-16:02 - this has come at the cost of are several less peak hour trains to choose from though. Here are a couple of examples on how the number of daily direct trains has changed since 1999 (as usual 1999 totals are in brackets):

Worcester-Gloucester: 13 or 14 on Fridays (12)
Cheltenham-Birmingham N. St.: 47 (33)
Birmingham N. St.-Gloucester: 17 or 18 on Fridays (23)
Gloucester-Bristol Temple Meads: 18 (18)

A difficult route to assess and any regular users of the route are more than welcome to make any specific comments of their own of course!

[Btline]

I never said they didn't run 168's to Stratford. But the majority are two car 165's (morning/evening peak services excepted), which air-conditioned or not, is hardly a great improvement on a 166.

Just checked the timetable. It is not just the commuter trains that have Clubmans. The "days out" trains (arriving in London 9 - 11am; leaving 4 - 6 pm) are all Clubmans. Only contra peak, and other non "days out" off peak trains are Turbos. (i.e. majority of people will travel on a Clubman) Two out of three....

[Btline]

The FGW^▸ (First Great Western) and LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) services should both be axed, and a new hourly Great Malvern to Bristol Temple Meads service operate.

The loss of the direct trains would make few suffer - most people alight/ change at Bristol anyway. It would give more efficient stock utilisation and reliability.

It would plug the current two hour gaps northbound (which are still there due to the bad times of the LM service) and the morning two hour gap in getting from Worcester to Bristol (where the LM shuttle doesn't operate, depite it being a key time).

I believe the rolling stock would be available - preferably 170s (for the 100 mph speed), but 158s would do - because LM terminate at Gloucester every two hours, as do FGW.

[moonrakerz]

I certainly do not claim to know a great deal about the railways, just classing myself as another "poor b****y passenger" (customer ?).

There may be some historical reasons, but I must confess to being at a complete loss as to why anyone should have the bright idea of running a through train service linking Gt Malvern with Weymouth, Warminster, Westbury or Brighton.
Great Malvern may be a delightful place, but not to put too fine a point on it, it is in the "middle of nowhere", the best description is - "halfway between Worcester and Hereford" ! Why start and terminate a service there ? The afternoon service from Warminster to Great Malvern actually comes out from Westbury, then reverses at Warminster; it invariable has more crew than passengers. I could understand a service from Brighton or Southampton to Worcester or Gloucester - but Warminster to Great Malvern 
I must confess that I do use this service, it provides a very cheap way to get to Birmingham, by "split ticketing" - much cheaper than changing at BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)). Of course, I change at Worcester or Gloucester, not Great Malvern ! In fact there seem to be very few passengers between Worcester and Great Malvern.

I presume that this is just some method of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) being able to tick a box somewhere saying that they have provided another "service" to/from Warminster/Dilton Marsh/Westbury/Great Malvern.
If anyone has any more sensible ideas .......................

[Btline]

Usage of trains between Worcester and Malvern is relatively high. No more trains (currently hourly + 4 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) + extra peak trains) can get to Hereford due to the single track.

An hourly service from Great Malvern to Bristol, all stops to Filton Abby Wood, then fast to Bristol, would be well used at all points. (IMO^▸ (in my opinion))

[moonrakerz]

Usage of trains between Worcester and Malvern is relatively high. No more trains (currently hourly + 4 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) + extra peak trains) can get to Hereford due to the single track.

Usage of trains between Gt Malvern and Worcester may be relatively high - for trains heading to Birmingham. In my experience the FGW "cross country" services are not heavily used and if they weren't running there would be no great loss of service.
The more you look at this route the more bizarre it becomes: as you say, an hourly service by LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise), plus some FGW HSTs - why throw in the "cross country" services ? In the middle of the afternoon, slotted in between the hourly LM services there are TWO FGW services from Great Malvern to Worcester 17 minutes apart. In the two hours from 1345 to 1545 there are no fewer than 8 trains from Great Malvern to Worcester. No wonder the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are calling for more subsidy !

[Btline]

No I mean there is high demand between Malvern and Worcester - as in, people travel from one to the other due to the fast journey time (which could still be a lot better - but that's another story). There are also a lot of commuters and school children.

There are even more trains per hour to Malvern than to Hereford (at least 2 tph). This frequency is justified.