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

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, Graham - I see what you mean. Perhaps I should have added a 'It's been a Roller-coaster Ride' option in the poll just for you! 

[grahame]

Yes, Graham - I see what you mean. Perhaps I should have added a 'It's been a Roller-coaster Ride' option in the poll just for you! 

Ah - it's tough to specify options on things like this.   I have chosen an appropriately negative personal response, even though I know that our local degradation isn't matched all over the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) area (imagine the anger if Barnstaple was reduced to just two trains a day from Exeter - at 06:15 and 18:45!)

[devon_metro]

Yes, Graham - I see what you mean. Perhaps I should have added a 'It's been a Roller-coaster Ride' option in the poll just for you! 

Ah - it's tough to specify options on things like this.   I have chosen an appropriately negative personal response, even though I know that our local degradation isn't matched all over the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) area (imagine the anger if Barnstaple was reduced to just two trains a day from Exeter - at 06:15 and 18:45!)

Hardly a fair comparison is it?

[grahame]

imagine the anger if Barnstaple was reduced to just two trains a day from Exeter - at 06:15 and 18:45

Hardly a fair comparison is it?

Probably not ... here are some of the many differences.

Barnstaple has a population of 24,000 to 34,000 according to various Google searches I have done; I expect the difference rates to what is and isn't included.  If we look specifically at Melksham, you're looking at a smaller population - somewhere between 20,000 and 23,000. 

Then you have the intermediate traffic;  there are no extra intermediate stations served only by TransWilts trains, as they were shut in the 1960s, but those to Barnstaple survived;  I'm not an expert to know how much extra traffic they do / could bring. 

I believe Barnstaple has something of a railhead role;  Melksham doesn't, although it's one of the few stations around here that can be reached by road without having to fight your way into town (Chippenham and Bath are the other extremes!)

The shorter the journey, the more people want to make it.  Melksham to Chippenham is 6 miles, and to Swindon is 20 miles.  Barnstaple to Exeter is about 5040 miles.

When FGW^▸ (First Great Western) took over, there were (?) 8 or 9 trains a day from Exeter to Barnstaple and now there are 14. There were 5 trains a day from Swindon to Melksham, and now there are 2.

It probably IS very unfair of me to compare to the Tarka^▸ (Line from Barnstaple to Exeter) line - which with service improvements, and services at times that people want to travel, goes from strength to strength.  Yet at the same time, it's very  instructive to weigh up factors and to consider what is (and what is not) a fair comparison. 

[Andy]

I'd like to add my compliments to IndustryInsider for the contributions on this thread.

I find it difficult to vote as I can't help asking myself the question how many of the changes are due to the railway being privatised. Unless I'm grossly mistaken, improvements to infrastructure and rolling stock have been financed at least in part by local (councils), governmental and supranational (EU^» (European Union - about))bodies and improvements to the service have also been funded by local authorities at times - or imposed in others.

[tramway]

I would also like to add my thanks, especially your bit of extra work regarding the timings to Filton, I had been wondering how to obtain the info for a while, and has re-ignited my interest in the recommendations in the comprehensive RPC report from 2004 for the Portsmouth/Cardiff route.

an hourly regional express service from Cardiff to Portsmouth, as now, but with a standardised pattern of stops; we suggest the stops should concentrate on those stations which generate the most passengers, with a cut-off threshold of say around 3% of ticket sales on the route other than where a station has a significant flow of passengers connecting into other routes (such as Westbury)

Stopping pattern proposed was:

Cardiff, Newport, Filton, BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)), Bath, Trowbridge, Westbury, Warminster, Salisbury, Romsey (Peak), Southampton, Fareham, Cosham, Portsmouth Stations.

Current timings to North Bristol are not currently competitive with car journey times, and I am aware of many people who choose to drive because of this, and as noted by Graham, current  plans for housing in the West Wilts area are only going to add to road congestion unless improvements are made to public transport.

The stopping pattern is also strongly supported in the Draft South West RSS^▸ (Regional Spatial Strategy) which identified regional Strategically Significant Cities and Towns, with trains services developed to meet their needs. There are further regional studies also in support which I was going to get back to Lee with but didn^t get around to as I stalled when looking at detailed passenger figures and attempting to compare the route with other UK^▸ (United Kingdom) regions with a similar loadings. I must get back to the station comparator.

 Also from the RPC report in support of Melksham needs:

We suggest that the current irregular and infrequent service via Melksham to Swindon should become a regular, clock face shuttle from Westbury to Swindon (for which a single class 153 would be suitable), timed to connect at Trowbridge with Southampton trains, and at Swindon with London services. This would improve reliability and marketability. In the peak period, timings would also need to take account of commuter flows to and from Swindon.

For the next ten years I understood that the Temple Meads to Filton 4 tracking was currently in Network Rails small scheme plans.

I will now add my vote.

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks, tramway.

Let's get some more votes in people - I was hoping for 100 votes and we're only 25% of the way there!

[tramway]

Had a bit of a look around and came across this from the Notwork Rail Route plan for the area, unfortunately although it^s mentioned there are no specifics regarding funding in CP4^▸ (Control Period 4 - the five year period between 2009 and 2014) as far as I can see. Route Plan CP4

The reinstatement of the four track railway between Bristol Dr Days^ Junction and Filton Abbey Wood would increase capacity by better separation of traffic flows between Bristol and South Wales and Bristol and the north/London via Bristol Parkway. This would also further enhance cross-Bristol capacity.

I assume the voter for a ^transformed^ railway was being ironic.

[IndustryInsider]

Well, we seem to have ground to a halt on the voting front at just 27. Not enough to get an accurate picture, but it's interesting to see that two-thirds of voters think that the service has generally improved over the last 10 years, with just 26% thinking that it's got worse.

I wonder if the result would have been the same if I'd asked the same question a couple of years ago?

[eightf48544]

I've voted marginaly worse based on Taplow services and I'm basing it on comaprison with the NSE^▸ (Network South East) service.

Although we now have a regular 1/2 hourly offpeak service both peak and off peak services take considerable longer and stop more frequently. I'm not sure what year we dropped to hourly.

My usually peak service was 07:23 to 07:56 with stops at Burnham Slough Hayes and Ealing Broadway. Now it's at least 15 minutes longer with stops at Langley (Iver) West Drayton and Southall thrown in.

Off peak we now have an asymetrical service more stops on the down. Thus one catches the fast Oxford/Worcester to Slough and change. In the Up it now takes 39 minutes including the excessive padding from Ealing, instead of 33 in NSE days.

Admittedly this has enabled puctuality to increase but if you allow around 17/18 minutes to get from Ealing to Padd for a right time arrival (up to 5 minutes late, don't forget) it ought to be punctual.

But as they seem to lost NSE's punctuality figures, possibly through embarassment, it's only a subjective opinion but the full NSE Turbo service seemed to run pretty well to time most of the time, unless there were major incidents. 

We still don't have Sunday services. The fares are also considerably higher.

[IndustryInsider]

We still don't have Sunday services.

No doubt you would have a Sunday service at Taplow (and Burnham) by now, probably hourly, if there were suitable platforms in place on the main lines. The same goes for Hanwell and West Ealing. Sadly the extra cost of buses that would need to be provided when the relief lines are closed on a Sunday makes it a non-starter. Taplow's situation is frustrating - two full length (7-car) platforms on the main lines, but only available in emergencies as they are so low following successive track renewals.

Despite that the public can still wander around on them and it was interesting to note that the anti-trespass gates and rumble strips installed at all the Reading to Paddington stations for some reason didn't get installed on the down main platform.

[eightf48544]

Despite that the public can still wander around on them and it was interesting to note that the anti-trespass gates and rumble strips installed at all the Reading to Paddington stations for some reason didn't get installed on the down main platform.

Update, the gates and rumble strips have not been installed on the Down Main, too narrow?

However, a fence from the platform side of the end footbridge parrallel to the platform edge and a gate at right angles between the new fence and the old fence has been installed. Currently the gate is padlocked. So no more wandering up and the Down Main platform.

[The Grecian]

It varies from route to route I think, although there's generally been an improvement. At the moment, with more trains on most routes in the former FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/Wessex area and a generally reliable service things are fairly good. Although as an Exeter City fan living in Bristol I'm annoyed the last train back on a week night is now at 2111 (earlier than it was under Wessex), far too early if there's a game on, but there's a train from Taunton at 2245. Sort it out FGW!

Incidentally if you'd compared November 2000 and 2010, the answer would have to be much better - compared to post-Hatfield, even the fairly abysmal service in 2007 was great!

[IndustryInsider]

Over two years on since I started this topic and I thought I'd give it a bump so that the many new members on the forum since then can take a look and perhaps cast their vote so we get a bigger representative sample of what passengers/staff think.

[LiskeardRich]

my route has improved ten fold, but due to funding getting the passing loop at penryn, how much FGW^▸ (First Great Western) influenced this i dont know, but because of this i can comment on massive improvements in my normal route