Trip report - Potters Bar to Worcester Foregate Street, 22/2/10

[whole diary]

[Deltic]

I had reason to travel to Worcester on Monday and I thought I would share a few reflections with the forum.  These are a bit delayed because I managed to spill a large quantity of water onto my lap top cable on the way home...   I'm going to concentrate on the Paddington to Worcester and return sections of the journey.  Although there were some issues with overrunning engineering works at Hitchin in the morning, these did not materially affect my journey.

Outward Journey - 09.21 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street

• Was a turbo
• There were no announcements between Paddington and Oxford
• Was delayed by congestion between Paddington and Ealing Broadway and by overrunning engineering works at Oxford North Junction but managed to catch up all but 3 minutes by Foregate Street
• A trolley came round at Oxford and I was served courteously
• • A man came round with a bin bag shortly afterwards but the toilets were very grubby and it might be worthwhile having the toilets cleaned en route or at least before the start of each journey
  • Was fairly sparsely populated beyond Oxford - it would be hard to justify an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) for this journey.  It started me wondering about fitting a couple of cabs in the middle of rakes of Mk3s so the train could split at Oxford and the half-set continue towards Worcester.  A similar operation could be used at Swindon for Paddington to Cheltenham and so on.
  
  Return journey
  
  I arrived at Foregate Street at about 19.15 intending to catch the 19.27 to Oxford, then connecting for Paddington.  The screens showed that this train had been cancelled .  The ticket office was closed so I made my way up to the platform for the Shrub Hill line and sought out the staff, who were esconced in their office.  The member of staff whom I told I was trying to get back to Paddington immediately replied "Good luck!" - not great customer service.  However, I had noticed that the 18.51 Great Malvern to Weymouth had been delayed and I could pick this up to change at Cheltenham or even Bristol Parkway and thus get back to Paddington.  The man invited me into the office, interrogated the computer and advised me to travel via Cheltenham, Stroud and Swindon.  When I read the print-out carefully I realised I would be getting back to Paddington half-an-hour earlier than I had expected!
  
  After this the return journey was uneventful (apart from the water spillage).  My main remaining problem was how to get something to eat, there being no trolley or buffet car until at least Swindon and the cafes at Cheltenham and Gloucester were both closed.  Happily there is a Co-op store next to the back entrance to Cheltenham station where I was able to pick up some provisions for the journey.
  
  So it all worked all right in the end but I wonder what sort of return journey I might have had if I had not known the network well and been able to speak up for myself with the station staff at Worcester Foregate Street?
  
  

[ChrisB]

Strictly speaking, was your PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-WOF journey valid the way you came back?

[grahame]

Strictly speaking, was your PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-WOF journey valid the way you came back?

If Deltic was advised to travel this route / train by a member of staff from whom he had sought assistance, then it was valid (strictly speaking) on this occasion at least. 

[Deltic]

I did query this with the platform staff at Worcester and was told that, in the circumstances my ticket (route: Evesham) would be valid.  I believe they spoke to the guard of the Great Malvern to Weymouth.  My ticket was also checked on both the other trains but was not queried.

[ChrisB]

You answered my question - I wanted to know whether it was routinely valid. The answer was 'no'. Thanks.

[Deltic]

For example,  an off-peak single Paddington to Worcester is ^31 via Evesham or ^35.50 via Evesham or Stroud

[JayMac]

 

Not sure I think the idea of splitting HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s is anything more than pie in the sky. Far, far to many obstacles to overcome, conversion costs alone would be huge. Remote control cabling, auto-couplers, impact protection, lick of yellow paint, duplication of facilities in each half set (disabled, catering, TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) office) etc etc etc.

[Worcester_Passenger]

The 19:27 from Foregate St to Oxford is the return working of the 'halts train', the 17:31 from Oxford. This pair of trains was cancelled on Monday. The Charlbury Commuters' Blog at http://www.charlbury.info/cgi-bin/dtrains.cgi reports that this was due to staff being unavailable. But there were big problems with unfinished weekend engineering works as well.

Had it run, Deltic would have been able to eat well on this train - it stops at Evesham for 28 minutes. Probably long enough to get to several retail outlets (but normally worth avoiding)!

[Deltic]

Not sure I think the idea of splitting HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s is anything more than pie in the sky. Far, far to many obstacles to overcome, conversion costs alone would be huge. Remote control cabling, auto-couplers, impact protection, lick of yellow paint, duplication of facilities in each half set (disabled, catering, TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) office) etc etc etc.

I'm sure you're right, Mac, but we seem to be running relatively long heavy trains to parts of the network that are fairly rural often at off-peak times, mainly carting around fresh air.  To me, this is a waste of money and bad for the environment.  Looking at things simplistically, some of those carriages might be serving other parts of the network (such as the Trans Wilts) rather than running virtually empty to Hereford.  What is the splitability of the proposed new Super Express trains / IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project. This will offer more capacity on routes, save money, give a consistent and safe service and meet customer requirements. Intended to replace HSTs.)?

[JayMac]

We had a perfectly suitable fleet of 5 car Adelantes for just such services. Unfortunately FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got rid of them just as they started working properly!!

Off topic but Wikipedia says the name 'Adelante' was devised by FGW. However it is also the name of a Cuban and an Argentinian newspaper, a song by Sash! and and album and single tie-in from a Spanish 'Pop Idol' type reality show.

[inspector_blakey]

I recall from reading one of the stickers in the vestibules of a 180 that Adelante is an actual Spanish word (something to do with progress or moving forward, I think) which would explain why there are other things named the same. Presumably this is because they were (I think...) at least partially built by Alst(h)om in Spain.

[ChrisB]

but we seem to be running relatively long heavy trains to parts of the network that are fairly rural often at off-peak times, mainly carting around fresh air.  To me, this is a waste of money and bad for the environment.  Looking at things simplistically, some of those carriages might be serving other parts of the network (such as the Trans Wilts)

What? Likely moving more hot air around a different part of the network?.....yes, more coaches needed, but 7/8 per train is at least 3 too many.....try again, Sir!

[JayMac]

I recall from reading one of the stickers in the vestibules of a 180 that Adelante is an actual Spanish word (something to do with progress or moving forward, I think) which would explain why there are other things named the same. Presumably this is because they were (I think...) at least partially built by Alst(h)om in Spain.

a^de^lan^te (adv.): forward, ahead.

Idiom: ^adelante!: come in!*, come on ahead!

*but come in quickly before the automatic door shuts on your trailing leg!

[Richard Fairhurst]

If I remember rightly, splitting HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) was Great Western Holdings' (MBO with backing from FirstBus and 3i) original plan for the half-hourly Cardiff service on privatisation.

Then GWH got the North Western Trains franchise and ordered the 175s and 180s - the latter for new services such as Blackpool and Rochdale to Euston.

These WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) services were nobbled by Virgin with Railtrack's connivance, and I think were only ever operated by 158s with vast amounts of padding time. Unsurprisingly they failed.

Consequently the 180s were diverted to GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) as it had become clear that the plan to split HSTs was fraught with difficulties. I think this was around the time that FirstGroup took over GWH.

All this is from memory and it was a long time ago, so I may be wrong. I do miss the 180s though. The size of a Turbo with the comfort of an HST - just right for 3hr+ journeys on the Cotswold Line.

[willc]

Not sure I think the idea of splitting HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))'s is anything more than pie in the sky. Far, far to many obstacles to overcome, conversion costs alone would be huge. Remote control cabling, auto-couplers, impact protection, lick of yellow paint, duplication of facilities in each half set (disabled, catering, TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) office) etc etc etc.

And don't forget the brushes and hot water when the trains won't couple, due to snow, rainwater, etc. Sorry but had enough of that sort of nonsense with coupling and uncoupling Turbos at Oxford over the years, thanks very much.

If they were available, I'd get some Adelantes back - once modified to deal with their bad habits - as they were just the job for all but the busiest Cotswold Line and Oxford-London trains, but to suggest that they were working properly when FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got shot of them is a bit rich. Their myriad problems wrecked Hull Trains' hard-won reputation with a series of failures in a matter of weeks last year and cost the md his job. I believe HT^▸ (Hull Trains) and Grand Central are now trying to get to grips with the 180s' worst failings but with a small fleet now split among three operators, who knows whether they will all get sorted out properly.