paul7575
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« on: September 01, 2009, 10:32:58 » |
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The latest GWML▸ RUS▸ (draft for consultation stage) has been published today: http://tinyurl.com/mlndokI won't attempt to summarise it here... Paul
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grahame
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« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2009, 14:33:32 » |
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192 pages !
Some very interesting stuff in there ... I have (naturally) been having a look at it from the viewpoint of the part of the South West in which I live - just scanning the diagrams and charts ... and no doubt will be posting further in due course.
Consultation closes, mid November, by the way.
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Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
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FlyingDutchman
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« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2009, 17:32:09 » |
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I am not impressed with this report at all.
It doesn't mention about tackling rail issues in South West.
The Time it takes to travel from Large City such as Penzance, Plymouth, Exeter and Taunton to London.
Alternative to Route between Exeter and Plymouth to increase the number of people be able to have access to the rail network.
Re-opening some of the old Station Closed by Beaching.
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willc
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« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2009, 18:09:22 » |
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I am not impressed with this report at all.
It doesn't mention about tackling rail issues in South West.
The Time it takes to travel from Large City such as Penzance, Plymouth, Exeter and Taunton to London.
Alternative to Route between Exeter and Plymouth to increase the number of people be able to have access to the rail network.
Re-opening some of the old Station Closed by Beaching.
Sorry, but much of what you mention simply isn't within the remit of Network Rail or the RUS▸ - that's why it's not in the document - reopenings are the job of local authorities and government - Network Rail's is to run and enhance the existing network, which is what the document addresses, pretty thoroughly, from a rough skim read of it all. And any alternative route between Plymouth and Exeter would be about avoiding the problem of the sea wall - nothing else. Going inland via Heathfield would cut off people from rail services at the likes of Dawlish and Teignmouth, while going round Dartmoor on the old Southern route doesn't exactly touch upon Devon's most heavily populated areas. Electrification, the IEP▸ and, perhaps most important of all, the capacity enhancements proposed throughout the GWML▸ area all offer the prospect of cutting journey times - but the report makes it clear that they looked at the journey time issue and in many cases, the small time gains could not justify the level of expenditure that would be needed. Speeding up West Country services by providing another set of trains to cover the stations between Reading and Taunton is also suggested as a long-term strategy. It also makes clear they have looked at other things, such as changing stopping patterns, eg taking out some Didcot stops by South Wales expresses - presumably with the proposed third Oxford-London IEP fast service nipping in and out of Didcot to keep up the service frequency there. They have also looked at the calling pattern west of Plymouth.
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« Last Edit: September 01, 2009, 18:56:22 by willc »
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XPT
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« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2009, 18:28:36 » |
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Mmmm... I've only had time to have a brief look through those 192 pages.
A few interesting things that caught my attention though:
* Of the two services per hour between London and Cardiff/Swansea, one will be running non-stop between Reading and Bristol Parkway. Good call!
* an additional service per hour between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads, via Bristol Parkway.
Doesn't say if the stopping pattern of the normal services to London Paddington-Bristol Temple Meads will change. Maybe the additional service per hour via Parkway will be limited stop(non-stop through Reading rather than Swindon would be the better option) to create true London-Bristol Temple Meads express services.
I was just watching the report on HTV West(sorry West Country Tonight) News. And one of the passengers commented "I heard that years back trains were faster than they are now. So that should be something that needs looking into.".
Also spotted in that report:
* An hourly Bristol-Bath shuttle service, calling all stations. With some services departing/termination Clifton Down.
* some peak morning and evening Cardiff-Portsmouth running limited stop between Bristol Temple Meads and Westbury.
Anyway in the meantime, bit of a (very) long wait till any of these interesting changes takes place.
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The Grecian
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« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2009, 19:09:15 » |
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I am not impressed with this report at all.
It doesn't mention about tackling rail issues in South West.
The Time it takes to travel from Large City such as Penzance, Plymouth, Exeter and Taunton to London.
Alternative to Route between Exeter and Plymouth to increase the number of people be able to have access to the rail network.
Re-opening some of the old Station Closed by Beaching.
Sorry, but much of what you mention simply isn't within the remit of Network Rail or the RUS▸ - that's why it's not in the document - reopenings are the job of local authorities and government - Network Rail's is to run and enhance the existing network, which is what the document addresses, pretty thoroughly, from a rough skim read of it all. And any alternative route between Plymouth and Exeter would be about avoiding the problem of the sea wall - nothing else. Going inland via Heathfield would cut off people from rail services at the likes of Dawlish and Teignmouth, while going round Dartmoor on the old Southern route doesn't exactly touch upon Devon's most heavily populated areas. Electrification, the IEP▸ and, perhaps most important of all, the capacity enhancements proposed throughout the GWML▸ area all offer the prospect of cutting journey times - but the report makes it clear that they looked at the journey time issue and in many cases, the small time gains could not justify the level of expenditure that would be needed. Speeding up West Country services by providing another set of trains to cover the stations between Reading and Taunton is also suggested as a long-term strategy. It also makes clear they have looked at other things, such as changing stopping patterns, eg taking out some Didcot stops by South Wales expresses - presumably with the proposed third Oxford-London IEP fast service nipping in and out of Didcot to keep up the service frequency there. They have also looked at the calling pattern west of Plymouth. I can't really see that Exeter or Taunton need a faster service to London - 2h5 or 1h40 seem reasonable to me. Any additional work to raise line speeds would be very expensive and probably knock off about 10 minutes at the very most. BR▸ also used to managed Paddington-Exeter in 1h55 (back in the 80s when speed limits were more liberally interpreted). It does get a lot slower west of Newton Abbot though. The main route from Exeter to Plymouth will always swing south of the moor given that Newton Abbot and Torbay are that side along with other towns, compared to Okehampton and Tavvy to the north. It would be nice if the whole route ever reopened as it would be a useful diversionary route, particularly for freight when the seawall is blocked but that's not the remit of the RUS and it would only ever be a very long-term goal.
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« Last Edit: September 01, 2009, 19:24:38 by The Grecian »
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devon_metro
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« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2009, 19:12:28 » |
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1006/1206 Paddington - Exeter often do the journey in sub 2 hours.
1006 did it in 1hr56 mins today 1206 did it in 1h58
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willc
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« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2009, 19:15:49 » |
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I may have missed it, but I can't see any suggestion that there will be non-stop running from Reading to Bristol Parkway.
Reading to Swindon non-stop, yes, by taking out the Didcot stops on South Wales services and presumably transferring them to a third Oxford-London fast train that is included in the draft IEP▸ timetable, but this is a few years off, although one peak train to London and one back in the evening will miss Didcot from this December, to just creep under the 3-hour timing for Swansea-London.
As for skipping Reading... we're in 2009, not autumn 1976 and the first HST▸ timetable. You are not going to miss one of the key interchange stations on the national network and a major employment centre. Remember, electrification is coming, with quicker journeys by those means.
I am referring to Page 143, section 6.9.13.2, Change in calling patterns Reading to Swindon.
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devon_metro
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« Reply #8 on: September 01, 2009, 19:29:07 » |
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They must be cutting some slack then, as currently the 1745 Paddington - Carmarthen does London - Swansea in 3h4 and doesn't call Didcot.
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XPT
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« Reply #9 on: September 01, 2009, 19:45:01 » |
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Well I'm sure I read that some South Wales services will run non-stop between Reading and Bristol Parkway. But I can't seem to find it now. It certainly says that they are considering reducing the calling points anyway.
As for the service that does NOT stop at Reading. I was suggesting that the best service this could be would be the additional London Paddington-Bristol Temple Meads via Bristol Parkway services. London Paddington>Swindon>Bristol Parkway>Bristol Temple Meads. To enable a proper fast express service again between London and Bristol(Temple Meads). Any passengers wanting to travel between Reading and Swindon or the two Bristol stops would be able to travel on one of the other regular services anyway. It would certainly make sense if these additional services were the ONLY services which dont call at Reading. These services would be primarily aimed at passengers travelling between London and Bristol, rather than the intermediate stops in between as well.
Anyway, just have to wait and see. Someone wake me up when it's time.....
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willc
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« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2009, 19:53:25 » |
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They must be cutting some slack then, as currently the 1745 Paddington - Carmarthen does London - Swansea in 3h4 and doesn't call Didcot.
The planned December change, pages 82-83 in the RUS▸ , is for the 05.59 from Swansea to reach paddington at 8.55 and the 16.45 from London will skip Didcot.
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Electric train
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« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2009, 20:46:49 » |
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It is a chewie document to digest, but it does make it clear that there are some major bottle necks along the GWML▸ , nothing we all didn't know already but this document list them along with some solutions like 14 full length platforms at Paddington this fascinates me as all the years I have been associated with Paddington the platforms have been shortened. The RUS▸ also alludes to what else will need to be done much further into the future to increase capacity. I can see the day that 4 tracking between Didcot and Swindon will be included in a RUS.
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Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent,”
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XPT
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« Reply #12 on: September 01, 2009, 21:46:52 » |
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I may have missed it, but I can't see any suggestion that there will be non-stop running from Reading to Bristol Parkway.
I have now found it. It's on page 84.... 4.3.5.3 Main Line Services (Interurban) On the core London Paddington/Bristol/South Wales corridor IEP▸ trains will continue to provide half hourly services, with some South Wales services accelerated to run non-stop between Reading and Bristol Parkway. A fifth train per hour is currently proposed between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads via Bristol Parkway to cater for more growth generally. Swindon and Didcot Parkway will be served by alternate high speed services which will include some services starting from these stations. The existing two hourly through service from London Paddington to Cheltenham will potentially increase to hourly.
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willc
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« Reply #13 on: September 01, 2009, 22:03:34 » |
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Hmm. 'Some' doesn't exactly sound like a lot and reading between the lines, it would depend heavily on that beefing-up of the Cheltenham service and provision of services running London-Swindon only to ensure you have the right capacity on offer from Swindon to be able do it.
As for quad-tracking Didcot-Swindon, expect a rapid rethink if RWE npower decides to cough up for flue gas desulphurisation at Didcot power station, as the strategy seems to assume the pesky coal trains won't be in the way after 2015. If they still are running, you won't be fitting in any extra Bristol-London trains any time soon.
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FlyingDutchman
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« Reply #14 on: September 01, 2009, 22:39:03 » |
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It was nice to see some interest point like Page 141, 6.9.12
Hourly Service from Exeter St James Park to Barnstable Half Hourly Service from Exmouth to Paignton Aspirational Half Hourly Service from Exeter to Axminster
Three possible Options for extending long distant services to Exeter or Plymouth Via Bristol Temple Meads
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