18:33 London Paddington to Oxford - HST or Turbo - and alternative trains

[whole diary]

[johoare]

The 18.36 is scheduled to get to Maidenhead at 19.03 but the few times I've caught it it's been a lot later than that (it's not scheduled to leave Maidenhead until 19.14 so the fact it arrives late doesn't spoil any FGW^▸ (First Great Western) performance figures..) That is why I don't get it.. The 18.33 was scheduled to arrive in about 20 minutes..

I did find the rest of the 18.33 passengers tonight on the 18.18.. That was horrible and overcrowded too..

I just wish, as do a lot of other people, that we could have our 18.33 back...

There is now a 48 minute gap with no non stop service from Paddington to Maidenhead.. I've never known it be as bad as that and I've been commuting for many years..

Incidentally, a nice hot train again.. Being one of the (non) air conditioned ones.. It really isn't pleasant or fair that we should pay money to be treated worse than animals.. but still.. we pay..

[Ollie]

There is now a 48 minute gap with no non stop service from Paddington to Maidenhead.. I've never known it be as bad as that and I've been commuting for many years..

Better than what Slough has in the evening peak..

I must have got lucky when I got the 18:36 to Maidenhead last month, as it only got there one minute late, and surprisingly it wasn't that overcrowded, if I remember correctly it's a 5 car turbo, so it was fairly evenly spread.

The dwell time at Maidenhead is to take into account the rear turbo is detached at Maidenhead before the front portion continues to Bourne End,

[johoare]

Well I braved the 18.36 tonight as I had no other choice..

The bad news is that the heating was on or seemed to be (well in the front train of the two bits anyway).. The good news is that someone mentioned this to the train despatcher on the platform at Paddington.. The bad news is that either he did nothing, or nothing could be done.. he certainly didn't give us any feedback so we have to guess here..

When I got off (incidentally 7 minutes late on a train that already gets us home 11 minutes later than the 18.33 used to - so another 18 minutes FGW^▸ (First Great Western) has stole of my time  ) I bumped into a friend who was in a different carriage but she said it was so hot she felt very faint..I tended to agree with her on that one..

When I got back to my car the temperature was registering as 25 which felt cool compared to what we had just been through as it was between 5 and 10 degrees (my estimate) hotter than this on the train.. maybe more..

I will be asking FGW to take this train out of service or at least to turn the aircon/heating off until it is mended..

[ChrisB]

Question - would you have rather travelled as stated or had the train cancelled?

Because, unfortunately, that was probably the only other option. I would suggest that the heating would have ben off if it were possible to turn it off...

[johoare]

If I had known how hot it was going to be, I'd have waited half hour for the next train (so I wouldn't have minded if it were cancelled..It really was very unpleasant if not dangerous.. I am waiting to here back from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) in the hope that they sort that train out. Oh and all the other ones that are the same..

Now if only they'd not taken the 18.33 off the timetable and forced us all onto this very unpleasant and generally late train..

[IndustryInsider]

I think I've said this before, but it's better to speak to the driver rather than the dispatcher.  If it's the front carriage then the driver just needs to look back over his/her shoulder and flick a couple of switches to knock out the heating (on a 166 this will also switch off the air-con).  If it's another carriage then the driver will need to go back to that carriage to isolate the heating, but if there's a few minutes to go before departure, and it's not one of the lazy grumpy ones, then it should be OK! 

Remember though, that if it's really hot outside, even with the heating off it will still feel warmer than the outside world due to the greenhouse effect - especially when the train is stationary so there is no air flow through the windows.

[BBM]

Discussion of Turbo aircon (or rather the lack of it) is currently in full flow on this thread in Across the West:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=6176.60

[ChrisB]

The 1551 To the Cotswolds is a turbo today...again

[argg]

Why do we put up with and pay huge amounts for this (*expletive removed*) service?

Oh yes, because there's no alternative!

The 165/166 fleet and local service is in my opinion shameful - refreshed or not

How do FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have the nerve to use part of the name of a once great railway?

Rant over!

(before anyone gets upset - the comments relate to the trains, not staff)

[inspector_blakey]

How do FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have the nerve to use part of the name of a once great railway?

Simple - that's what they inherited from British Rail (you should have seen some of the scrap metal that used to operate local trains in the Thames Valley before the Turbos came along), they're only mid-way through their life expectancy and there isn't a whole lot of money sloshing around at the moment to replace train fleets en masse that have at least 10 years' use left in them. You can't really blame the Turbos on FGW - in fact under their stewardship there are now more HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) working shorter distance Thames Valley services than there were 6-7 years ago under the auspices of Thames Trains.

[johoare]

So where is all my money (and everyone elses) going then? The train fares are pretty extortionate and seeing how many hundreds of people who got off my train tonight (not the 18.36... I totally refuse to get that one anymore) even that one train was quite a money spinner no doubt..

And yes I agree with your point about more HSTS doing maybe not shorter distances but stopping at places like Maidenhead..

That is why it is SUCH a backward step to remove the 18.33 HST^▸ (High Speed Train) 20 minute to Maidenhead service and replace it with the 18.36, very hot, turbo, that is timetabled for 27 minutes but usually takes a lot longer...

Fortunately this is my last week of going into work late due to Junior school starting times so I will never ever have to get the 18.36 again hopefully as I can leave work earlier.. However it still doesn't make the situation right...

[inspector_blakey]

Sorry Jo but realistically most fares, especially season tickets, aren't extortionate. They actually represent a realistic proportion of the cost of your journey. You can't legitimately compare to other European railway systems since, for the most part, government policy there is to subsidize their railways to the hilt. Policy in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) is that they should pay their way as far as possible, which is an issue that can only be changed by the government, rather than the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company). But even now most TOCs still receive a goverment subsidy because fares do not cover the actual cost of their operation.

Now, I'll happily admit the structure of the industry as it is now does no-one any favour when it comes to keeping down costs and is long overdue for some streamlining. However, even if you took out the different layers of Network Rail/contractors/subcontractors/TOCs/rolling stock companies that we have at the moment, railways are still very expensive to run. You need to pay large numbers of staff (some of whom, including signallers and drivers, can command a relatively high wage due to the skilled nature of their jobs). You need to own and maintain a fleet of trains (which, bought bew at current prices come in well north of GBP 1 million a carriage), as well as dealing with ever-increasing energy costs, be they for coal or electricity. Then there is the vast task of maintaining and periodically upgrading thousands of miles of track and signalling. All the while you're operating in an environment where safety is the absolute priority, so there can be no corners cut when it comes to maintenance either of trains or infrastructure. There is nothing inherently safe about 500 tons of metal running at 125 mph: the reason the railways have such a good safety record is because a lot of money is spent on staff and equipment to keep them that way.

Getting back to the Maidenhead point, I know that it's been a huge pain for you personally, but looking at it in the context of the whole FGW^▸ (First Great Western) operation it's a fairly minor timetable amendment. The train planners did not make it thinking "here's a good idea, if we do this it'll completely screw over the commuters from Maidenhead who use this train every day" but will have done so for good reasons to allocate limited resources elsewhere where they may actually benefit more people than are inconvenienced by the change. The staff who make these decisions are professionals acting in the interests of the majority and not out of spite against the commuters of Maidenhead, although it may feel that way to you sometimes.

_{Edited to amend typos}

[johoare]

Thanks Inspector_blakey.. I can totally understand what you say.. I will just say though that it's not just me it's a pain for.. It's several hundred people who used to get that train to Maidenhead alone let alone the other stops en route.. I think they've replaced it with a 18.33 to Exeter as I'm sure that never used to be on the timetable.. It would be nice if it stopped off at Maidenhead en route..

Anyway as I say.. after this week it's not my problem.. But it is still a problem for several hundred people who used to get that train...

It still doesn't excuse FGW^▸ (First Great Western) for nearly making people pass out last night.. I was on the 18.18 tonight.. I'd walked for about half hour so yes the train felt hot when I got on in the usual air con carriage but not half as hot as last night when I'd not walked far before getting on the train.. But once we got moving it became much more cool and bearable.. Last night they were definitely blowing hot air on to us.. Does no one check the train before it leaves?

[Ollie]

18.33 to Exeter as I'm sure that never used to be on the timetable.. It would be nice if it stopped off at Maidenhead en route..

It isn't new. It used to depart at 18:36.

[johoare]

Aah thanks Ollie.. I still haven't found where the train that used to be the 18.33 has ended up then