Additional Trains to Weymouth during the Olympic Weeks

[whole diary]

[Southern Stag]

Interesting to see mention of 2Z49 as an extra HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) working. If  this really is/was a planned service how is the Great British Public supposed to know about it. No sign of any publicity that I can detect.

What are the inbound working arrangments??

It's a relief for the 2021(2009 SuO^▸ ((in timetables) Sunday only)) Weymouth-Bristol Temple Meads, the last advertised service to Bristol. It will only run in passenger service if the advertised service is too busy. There are additional services from London working in the same way. The TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) have advertised later service trains to a number of destinations and DBS^» (Deutsch Bahn Schenker - UK^▸ (United Kingdom) website) are providing rakes of MK2s with Class 67 or 90 locomotives as standbys to run if the service trains are too busy.

[JayMac]

Live Departures have shown it will be running for at least the last 90 minutes. I'd be disappointed if I'd check times on an app whilst enjoying the late evening sunshine in Weymouth and decided to catch the 2053 to Bristol from Weymouth rather than the 2009, only to get to the station and find it wasn't running.

[Louis94]

This HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) is programmed to arrive at Weymouth at 20.41 from St Philips Marsh Depot, but will only run at the discretion of the Operations Manager, who told me this morning he wasn't sure tonight, as numbers didn't seem to warrant it going into Weymouth this morning.

The HST arrives from the 1706 London Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads service on a weekday, which is terminating at Westbury during the Olympics and has a booked ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) from Westbury. The service does not need to run as it is unadvertised and will just run back empty if not required.

[bobm]

This is something I have come across before on other services and is very annoying.  There is no mention I can find on the printed timetable nor the website concerning this change with the 17:06.  It is all well and good putting it on journey planners but if someone has the printed timetable and then consults engineering notices etc and finds nothing they should expect the timetabled service to run as per the leaflet they have.

This happened last week to the last evening service from Taunton to London Paddington.  For one day only it terminated at Swindon - but again no mention anywhere except Journeyplanner.

I'm not saying Weymouth shouldn't have an extra service but other customers need to know so they can be prepared.

[grahame]

This is something I have come across before on other services and is very annoying.  There is no mention I can find on the printed timetable nor the website concerning this change with the 17:06.  It is all well and good putting it on journey planners but if someone has the printed timetable  ....

Not just the printed timetables ... the timetable (.pdf) on www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk (table 5, until 14th September) shows it as running throughout the timetable's validity.

So the next direct train from Paddington to Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon runs on 13th August?  .

I'm not critical of the decision to run it on to Westbury and Weymouth after its Pewsey call ... just sad that the change which I would imagine has been planned for a long time didn't make it to the printed timetable, and very surprised that even as I write the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website still shows (in the "authority" place) the 17:06 as running to Bristol all through the next weeks.

[dorsetbeachcomber]

The other side of the coin, as it were, is that if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are programming it, it is a shame that it's not advertised as running from Weymouth. It left Weymouth virtually empty. If passengers had known it was running they might have preferred to have left Weymouth later and travelled in greater comfort back to Bristol than on the 150/153 combination of the scheduled service which left some 40 minutes earlier. What a waste of resources!

[Southern Stag]

You could say that the 8 similar 12 coach trains sitting at London terminals every night are a waste of resources too. It isn't just FGW^▸ (First Great Western) who are doing something like this.

[phile]

XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise))'s token offering of the day, an 18:38 Weymouth to Birmingham New Street service has been provided by a 4-Car Voyager.  They couldn't even be bothered rostering a 5-Car on it, let alone an 8/9/10 car.  I'm not sure whether that's due to the number of people down there today, or just because XC are a pretty lethargic and shoddy TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)!

Where are XC extra resources meant to come from ?   A regular question.   XC are already having to provide additional resouces to cover the trains between Bournemouth and Weymouth.

[IndustryInsider]

Where are XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) extra resources meant to come from ?

Given that it was a Sunday, I'm sure that the resources for two 4-cars could have been found.  The weekday timetable is different of course, but it does appear that tonight's two return services have run as 9-car trains (after attaching to another unit in both cases at Bournemouth).  Assuming the whole lot were in service that is good work from XC.

[Southern Stag]

The Voyager fleet should have a bit of slack in it for the Summer, two extra HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) diagrams have been reinstated from June to September.

[Btline]

XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) should run an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) to Weymouth. Get all 5 out.

[JayMac]

The XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) stable every night at Leeds Neville Hill or Edinburgh Craigentinny. Care a share a diagram for Weymouth that XC could do that would get the set home every night? Four sets are used on regular timetabled services on a daily basis at the moment, with the necessary one in reserve to cover those four sets in case of failure.

They could use the 'spare', but what happens if one of the regular diagrammed sets fails? Cancel a regular timetabled service on NE-SW?

[Southern Stag]

They can't run them over third rail anyway as some of the coaches are fitted with Long Swing Link bogies which can't be used over third rail.

[Btline]

How likely is one to fail for two weeks of the Games? (or how ever long the sailing is on for)

If they can't run to Weymouth, get all 5 out and free a Voyager to go to Weymouth/make a Weymouth 8 car.

[Ollie]

People seem to be forgetting that Weymouth isn't normally served by XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)), so the fact they have provided what they have is a good thing surely...