20/6/09

[whole diary]

[Jez]

1630 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Hbr ran short formed with 2 coaches (158)

1322 Portsmouth Hbr to Cardiff Central arrived at Cardiff approx 15 mins late.

1730 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Hbr was run by a 150

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

how busy is this service on a saturday

[Jez]

Looked fairly busy at Cardiff Central when I was waiting for my train but wasnt packed. It did say on the screen tho this train will run short formed with 2 coaches, they dont usually bother to say that!

[smithy]

i am led to believe 1322 ran with only 2 out of 3 engines running.

[Rogang]

Considering the stock problems this morning, have just one diagram on the Pompeys as 2v3 and 1 diagram on the Severn Beach as 1 v2 was quite remarkable. Even had a spare 143 to help out HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) between Paignton & Exeter!

[devon_metro]

Even had a spare 143 to help out HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) between Paignton & Exeter!

Lucky that didn't happen in summer, would have been truly packed, and with the busy summer season we are already experiencing, I dread to think.

[Steve44]

how busy is this service on a saturday

From past experience, both saturdays and sundays are busy on this line.  I was at Bath Spa 2 years ago waiting for one towards Cardiff and the screens read 'Please note; reported as full and standing from Southampton Central'  It was a 4 car 158 on a sunday if i remember rightly..

[moonrakerz]

From past experience, both saturdays and sundays are busy on this line.  I was at Bath Spa 2 years ago waiting for one towards Cardiff and the screens read 'Please note; reported as full and standing from Southampton Central'  It was a 4 car 158 on a sunday if i remember rightly..

This is a pretty busy route, most days and most of the day. It was not helped by FGW^▸ (First Great Western), when they took on the franchise, deciding they could manage with much less rolling stock than the previous incumbent.
We are now holding our breaths to see if the new 4 coach trains will actually appear in a couple of years.

I do find some of the timetabling on this route to be pretty bizarre at times. The basic hourly Cardiff/Portsmouth service is fine (if a bit too busy at times), it is all the odd trains that appear in between that leave me scratching my head:-
Why have a single coach train following a three coach train from Westbury to Southampton just a few minutes behind the first one ?
Why run a "service" from Westbury to Warminster - twice a day. One of which appears to just go back to Westbury ?
Why aren't the excellent SWT^▸ (South West Trains) services on this route integrated into the rest of the services ? - OK, I know the answer to that one ! (and the air-con works on the 159s)

[Tim]

I do find some of the timetabling on this route to be pretty bizarre at times.

I agree.  The timetable is complicated because the units are shared between lots of destinations in order to maximise their use. I suspect that if they had a spare set or two they could do better and dedicate units to particular routes and be a bit more regular out side the Pompy-cardiff core, but I think they do pretty well with what they have got.

[tramway]

I do find some of the timetabling on this route to be pretty bizarre at times. The basic hourly Cardiff/Portsmouth service is fine (if a bit too busy at times), it is all the odd trains that appear in between that leave me scratching my head:-
Why have a single coach train following a three coach train from Westbury to Southampton just a few minutes behind the first one ?
Why run a "service" from Westbury to Warminster - twice a day. One of which appears to just go back to Westbury ?
Why aren't the excellent SWT^▸ (South West Trains) services on this route integrated into the rest of the services ? - OK, I know the answer to that one ! (and the air-con works on the 159s)

I'm unsure if these anomolies are still about, does anyone know if the 'ghost train' still runs, as I can't see it in the old TT E. The stock itself had to get to Southampton and was formed from a previous service which terminated at Westbury and allowed the following Portsmouth service to pass. Why it was listed as a seperate service in the TT always confused me as well.

[grahame]

..... but I think they do pretty well with what they have got .....

Indeed they do, but let's not forget ...

This is a pretty busy route, most days and most of the day. It was not helped by FGW^▸ (First Great Western), when they took on the franchise, deciding they could manage with much less rolling stock than the previous incumbent.

Yes, First chose to bid high in price (for the franchise as a whole) and low in resources (for most of the ex-Wessex routes) in order to secure the franchise.  So whilst their operational staff do an excellent job, it could be argued that they have been placed in a position of having stretched resources to run an appropriate service by their own managers / ex-managers.   I AM fully aware that many of the current team weren't with First when the bid was won, and I exclude tehm from the direct criticism my comments may imply

Why have a single coach train following a three coach train from Westbury to Southampton just a few minutes behind the first one ?

To provide service for the smaller stations ... Dilton Marsh and (err) Dilton Marsh. Originally, this was for Dean and Mottisfont too, but they are now served by a far more frequent service from SWT^▸ (South West Trains)

I think there's also an "Orcats" issue into Southampton - because of the way that revenue is split between multiple operators on a line, additional trains that duplicate rather than enhance the main service can pull money in to the operting company's coffers quite out of proportion to the traffic actually carried.   It's not just First who do this (to Southampton) ... I suspect you'll find that the SWT trains into Bristol are doing it as well - grabbing a chunk of Bath -> Bristol money, for example.

The rail network would make MORE revenue, and carry MORE passengers, if the trains that were running duplicated services were diverted onto routes on which they would attract extra business to rail. But the system is run by accountants for shareholders, so it's very hard to make this happen - especially as 'knock for knock' arrangements bwetween operators could be looked on as a cartel

Why run a "service" from Westbury to Warminster - twice a day. One of which appears to just go back to Westbury ?

To meet the SLC^▸ (Service Level Commitment) requirements for Dilton Marsh.   Now the people of Westbury Leigh and Dilton Marsh (a growing urban area around that station) want to travel to (a) Salisbury, (b) Swindon / Bath / Bristol by train but the SLC says nothing about the trains having to go through.  By terminating the southbound service at Warminster, a train is saved ... (and pity the southbound folks having to wait 50 minutes for a Salisbury).  By starting the train from Westbury (really a continuation, after quite a wait, or a train from Bath and Beyond), it's ensured that the train will be able to be on time a Warminster - good for stats, and also good for a reversal on the main line there, as there is no siding in which to park a delayed train.   If it had been a through service all the way from Malvern, then it would be much less reliable on timing and cause knock-on delays to other services.

Why aren't the excellent SWT services on this route integrated into the rest of the services ?

Err

- OK, I know the answer to that one !

OK!

[moonrakerz]

To meet the SLC^▸ (Service Level Commitment) requirements for Dilton Marsh.   Now the people of Westbury Leigh and Dilton Marsh (a growing urban area around that station) want to travel to (a) Salisbury, (b) Swindon / Bath / Bristol by train but the SLC says nothing about the trains having to go through.  By terminating the southbound service at Warminster, a train is saved ... (and pity the southbound folks having to wait 50 minutes for a Salisbury).  By starting the train from Westbury (really a continuation, after quite a wait, or a train from Bath and Beyond), it's ensured that the train will be able to be on time a Warminster - good for stats, and also good for a reversal on the main line there, as there is no siding in which to park a delayed train.   If it had been a through service all the way from Malvern, then it would be much less reliable on timing and cause knock-on delays to other services.

This comes back to a comment I previously made in another thread, that a considerable number of "services" are run purely to enable the operator to tick off a few boxes and claim his subsidies.
If they need an "extra" stop at Dilton why not stop the Portsmouth train ? To be honest, I don't think I have ever seen anyone get off these trains when they terminate at Warminster anyway.

Only a 50 minute wait ? Try arriving at Westbury on the 2103 arrival from the West Country and finding that the next train to Warminster/Salisbury/Soton is at 2201 ! Or as I saw last week, I stepped down from the train, only 10 yards away across the platform, the doors on the Portsmouth train were just closing !
That is why I drove to Westbury - crazy !