Theale station - services, facilities / improvements, incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[RA]

During the line closures through Thatcham I have been driving to Theale and catching the train there. An added bonus that because the services are starting from there you can normally be guaranteed a seat. But I digress.

There are lots of helpful staff there - don't get me wrong - but there doesn't seem to be anybody with overall responsibility which I don't think helps matters. Some passengers were confused by the service arrangements this morning and when they excoriated staff  they got replies such as "I don't know I'm just here to <insert job function here>"

As a relatively frequent passenger I tend to know where I am going but not sure how clear things are for the more ad-hoc travellers.

It seems to be the case that with these blockades, Network Rail are paying for additional agency staff to be at stations affected by the blockade. Trowbridge and Westbury have at least three additional agency people at each station to supervise one bus every couple of hours! Although wearing GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) uniform, they are agency staff with (understandably) a limited amount of operational knowledge.

[grahame]

It seems to be the case that with these blockades, Network Rail are paying for additional agency staff to be at stations affected by the blockade. Trowbridge and Westbury have at least three additional agency people at each station to supervise one bus every couple of hours! Although wearing GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) uniform, they are agency staff with (understandably) a limited amount of operational knowledge.

I have been astonished at the level at Trowbridge - perhaps I caught them on a protracted shift change, as I counted six of them.  Yes, for one bus every couple of hours.

Personally, I feel they would be more useful if split between the stations they're at and Melksham, which is normally unstaffed, but where there is no alternative timetable on display.  The normal 18 trains a day are cut to a reduced schedule of 7 (some at different times to when there are normally trains), plus 9 bus calls (yes, less services in total), and the seven trains have proven to be very unreliable indeed - cancellations even from that reduced schedule on most days.   Having a member of staff there, even with limited knowledge but knowing who to phone up and how to find out what's going on, help with alternative plans, and re-assure would be a far better investment than clumping staff where there are GWR staff anyway.

[grahame]

Social media feed:

Got on the train at reading to go theale ticket man said train to Newbury got on the train and guess what it only stop at Newbury NOT theale !!

We were very concerned at people getting onto any eastbound train from Chippenham and from Bristol Parkway and expecting it to stop at Swindon after the timetable changes in December, but I have not heard of stories of overcarrys.  Mind you, I expect people would be rather embarrassed to post.

Above is one that as far as I was aware hadn't been flagged up - getting on a destination Newbury train at Reading on an assumption it would stop at Theale.  Are there others?

[Thatcham Crossing]

Maybe one of the hourly Electrostars running PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)>>RDG^‡(resolve)>>NBY^» (Newbury - next trains) only (and return) during weekdays since the Dec TT change?

[Electric train]

Or getting on a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) train at Ealing Broadway expecting it to stop at Southall, finding out next stop Hayes.

This has happened to quite a few people, despite all the announcements

[stuving]

Or getting on a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) train at Ealing Broadway expecting it to stop at Southall, finding out next stop Hayes.

This has happened to quite a few people, despite all the announcements

That's not new, is it? There has "always" been a variety of stopping patterns. At least for Southall you can now be told "you want a purple train" - at least until TfL^» (Transport for London - about) Rail start playing with their stopping patterns. But for Acton, Hanwell, or West Ealing it's go to be the right kind of purple train.

By the way, does anyone else think it's bad practice for GWR to leave out of their relevant timetable (T10) all TfL trains that serve Heathrow, and all stations served only by TfL Rail trains? It looks especially odd that West Ealing, obviously part of the Greenford timetable in the same book, isn't mentioned in the main line tables.

[Reading General]

Yes, it seems a little ridiculous, and that both are trying to directly compete. I noticed that the Crossrail timetable at Maidenhead on the platform doesn't include any GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains too. I thought public transport was to be encouraged, not stifled by individual companies.

[grahame]

Yes, it seems a little ridiculous, and that both are trying to directly compete. I noticed that the Crossrail timetable at Maidenhead on the platform doesn't include any GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains too. I thought public transport was to be encouraged, not stifled by individual companies.

The nightmare absurdity of different businesses competing on the same corridor which ends up doing neither / none of them any good.   Don't get me going in this thread ...

[Ollie]

Or getting on a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) train at Ealing Broadway expecting it to stop at Southall, finding out next stop Hayes.

This has happened to quite a few people, despite all the announcements

One of the reasons I wait a bit at Ealing on the down and Hayes on the up and if dwell time, replay announcement or make a manual one. Often at least 1 person that darts back to the platform again.

[Robin Summerhill]

... but I have not heard of stories of overcarrys.  Mind you, I expect people would be rather embarrassed to post.

I've never been embarrased about my overcarrys, even the time when I was travelling from Reading to Bristol on what we used to know as the "Down Waker." I just dozed off for a few seconds, and woke up at Cowley Bridge... I may have had a few that night though...

But my luckiest overcarry, so to speak, was this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/93122458@N08/8473502393/

[JayMac]

My one and only overcarry saw me in Birmingham New St instead of Bristol Temple Meads.

It was the last fast (XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise))) train from Taunton after a rather long day of, er, conviviality with an old school friend.

Woken by cleaners at New St, fortunately before the set went off to Central Rivers. Nothing back southbound until the morning. No choice but to go find a hotel.

CrossCountry staff at New St were very understanding, allowing me to travel back to Bristol free of charge.

[PhilWakely]

I've been 'overcarried' three times...........
- once as a 9-year old (in 1965) going train spotting at Exeter St Davids. I caught the 07:51 from Pinhoe with the expectation of a change at Central to go down the hill as the 07:51 normally pulled into the bay platform at Central. On this occasion it came into the through platform and your truly got excited thinking I could stay on board and go on to St Davids. No on board announcement in those days. We ended up in the [now long gone] carriage sidings at Central and I had to stay there until the 10:05 Up local was brought back into the platform!

- going back to Bath University in the mid-70s with my moped, my train was late arriving into Bristol Temple Meads. I knew my train to Bath would be on Platform 3, so I made my way, quickly over to the platform, loaded my moped into the guards compartment and boarded the train. Only when we started going up the hill out of TM^‡(resolve) did I realise we were going via Badminton and next stop Swindon. Sheepishly approaching the guard, he gave me a pass back to Bath.

- only last year, boarding a train for Pinhoe at Central, I took up my usual seat in the rearmost vestibule of the six-coach train, which would be in line with the rear exit at Pinhoe. We arrived at Pinhoe only to discover the door would not open!, So onwards to Cranbrook and wait for the next train back. This was in the week following the decision by SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) to consider Pinhoe to be a short platform and only open the front three coaches. The guard had made an announcement, but the speakers in the rear coach were not working.

[Reading General]

A friend of mine was overcarried in a railway connected situation. Several of us went to Fulham away with the Royals a few years back and after the game had a few pints around Hammersmith. The rest of us decided to leave the capital and head back to town while he saw some other lads he knew and stayed behind. That evening it was rail replacement from London to Reading after a particular time and he boarded a bus at Paddington heading home and dozed off, waking up in a yard, in the dark many hours later with absolutely no idea where he was! It turns out that this bus had been to Reading and back, passing the end of his road twice within metres of his front door, and unchecked parked up for the night. He had to scale a ten foot high fence onto a canal towpath with still no idea where in the country he was. Eventually he found a road sign and discovered he was in Acton in West London. He had to walk back to Paddington, wait for the first train and start the whole journey again, this time determined to stay awake. 

[Marlburian]

In my years of commuting I was relatively lucky, only once nodding off and not getting off at Tilehurst. Ended up at Choseley, so was on a train back within 15 minutes. A Polish friend was not so fortunate when she was visiting me; she fell asleep, so didn't change trains at Reading and ended up in Taunton

[PhilWakely]

Oh, Mr Porter, what shall I do?
I want to go to Birmingham...
but they're taking me on to Crewe.
Take me back to London
as quickly as you can.
Oh, Mr Porter, what a silly *@!* I am!

George Le Brunn 1892