Berks & Hants poorly served?

[TheWalrus]

Hi all

Reading all your interesting posts on my other thread many of you have an interesting idea on how the B&H should be served.

My idea would be a fast London-Plymouth service and a semi-fast London-Exeter service as part of extending the Bedwyns.

What ideas does everyone else have?

Cheers

Ryan

 

[Ivo]

Fast service to Plymouth once an hour, with a second service every hour running to either Paignton or Penzance. Penzance trains call at a few "larger" stations, e.g. Newbury, Hungerford, Westbury and Castle Cary, and Paignton services stop at all HST stations (i.e. the majority of them). If Paignton passngers have an issue with this slow service they can always get the fast train - and a Pacer.

 

[Going South]

Could some sort of pattern like this be worked:
Fast trains Plymouth to London: Newton A, Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Reading, London
Two different semi fasts:
1. Exeter, Tiverton P, Taunton, Castle Cary, Bruton possibly?, Frome, Westbury, Newbury, Reading, London
2. Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Pewsey, Bedwyn, Newbury, Thatcham, Theale, reading, London.

Some of the posters in the other thread seemed keen for Castle Cary to lose out altogether

The above would allow Westbury as a midway point to change form one level of service to the other.

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

No Westbury calls unless absolutely necessary, it adds nearly 10 minutes to the journey time as the approaches & departures to Westbury are quite slow; Extending the Bedwyn service to Westbury or Exeter would be better, if it were to cause congestion within the Westbury station area then you could always pop it down to Frome.

As I stated in a different thread this is how really should be:

Penzance services: Reading, Taunton*, Exeter, Nabbot*, Totnes*, Plymouth & principal stations to Penzance. (*Not on Cornish Riviera & Golden Hind services)

Plymouth/Paignton services: Reading, Westbury, Taunton, Tivvy Parkway, Exeter, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Nabbot, (Torquay, Paignton), Totnes, Ivy & Plymo.

Exeter services: Reading, Newbury, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tivvy Parkway, Exeter St D & Exeter Ctl. Why it can go there to get out of the way & serve the city centre.

The further you go from the origin then the fewer stops there should be nearer to the originating point, so Penzance should form a fast service, if you wanted to maintain the hourly fast service then you could always use the ones originating at Plymouth to do it on the hour that the Penzance service doesn't run (which I believe is the current situation and it works quite well), perhaps with careful planning the Paignton service could fill the void.

Besides the route down to my neck of the woods, it's slow enough, we don't want to call at all these little wayside halts, it is bad enough being routed via Brizzol in the mornings with one or two services. :roll:

 

[moonrakerz]

As I stated in a different thread

"Will you lot stop it; You're making my sides ache with laughter!"

Sorry - but yours is even funnier :roll::roll:

Your suggestion appears to boil down to: everything stops at Taunton and nothing stops at Westbury.
You obviously failed to notice that the reason for the slow approach to Westbury is that there are several other rail lines that converge there (that's why they built the avoiding line, back in the 30s ??) Lots of people also want to change trains there as well - some of them might even be trying to get to Taunton !

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

So they get on a Plymouth/Paignton or Exeter service which will call as both of them then; Problem solved!
If you did some nifty diagramming then you could actually get the "fast" service to overtake the stopping one at Exeter, now you'd say change at Tivvy Parkway for stations beyond Taunton, because that way you won't need to worry about climbing any stairs, as trains depart from the same platform.

 

[tbtc]

a semi-fast London-Exeter service as part of extending the Bedwyns

...don't we have this idea posted here pretty regularly?

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

Yes. Too frequently.
(Sorry!)

Where's "The Planner" when you need him/her?

 

[Metroland]

The main problem with the B&H is the very heavy aggregate trains that run up and down the line (including Savernake bank), these are the heaviest trains on the Network, usually 3-4,000 tonnes plus. You also have commuter services at one end that get in the way.

The line has always been considered less important than the 'Great Way round' via Swindon, and most of the HSTs have been diverted to Bristol and S Wales services, although there is extra services over the basically hourly HST service in the peak. Having said that there are large gaps for some of the intermediate stops, which the named HSTs (Cornish Riveria, Mayflower, Golden Hind, Royal Dutchy) tend to miss out.

On a personal note, I'd like to add I found Westbury town itself the most disappointing place, possibly in the country. There's nothing there, the town centre consists of a row of quite naff shops! Westbury *is* the railway junction it seems, little else! And Castle Cary station of course is out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[thefab444]

Westbury is a dump, granted, but it provides links to/from Trowbridge, Salisbury and Yeovil.

 

[paul1609]

It also provides the only link between the West Country and a large area of the south coast from Bourenmouth through to Brighton. Personally I think all FGW services should call. If necessary remove the stops from stations like Tiverton Parkway which rarely seem to offer much in the way of passengers.

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

I try not to get a train that calls there if at all possible, Westbury looks quite nice at 90-100mph; However we're not here to discuss the merits of a place.

So just to even the "status-quo" Mr444.
Ashurst (New Forest), nothing there is there? A few houses & a camp-site, but it seems It's quite a way from anywhere, perhaps it should be known by its former name Lyndhurst Road!

PS.If you're wondering how I know I just looked on Google maps.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

It also provides the only link between the West Country and a large area of the south coast from Bourenmouth through to Brighton. Personally I think all FGW services should call. If necessary remove the stops from stations like Tiverton Parkway which rarely seem to offer much in the way of passengers.

Tiverton Parkway not only serves Tiverton, but it also serves a larger area of Devon, it also takes quite a bit of unnecessary traffic out of both Taunton & Exeter too, as it is right next to the M5. It might suffer a loss of trade though if some of the locals get their way and Cullompton and Wellington get their stations back.

As for the suggestion from Bournemouth and South Coast, maybe if you use a through train from Brighton or Portsmouth, however its quicker for people travelling to the West Country to travel to Salisbury & change there, as previously stated, there is a serious time penalty for the Westbury call and when on the odd occasion I have been there on a HST to/from London, the take-up is quite low outside of the peaks, that is probably why so few HSTs call there.

 

[devon_metro]

Where is the demand in all of these proposals?

The demand is from Devon & Cornwall to London, thus few trains stop. Simple.

The only viable option I can think of is extending the turbos to Westbury.

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

Thank you DM, my point precisely.
I'm sure that ticket sales figures would provide more than enough evidence either way to prove that the need was there or not. Which it clearly isn't.

 

[TheWalrus]

Thank you DM, my point precisely.
I'm sure that ticket sales figures would provide more than enough evidence either way to prove that the need was there or not. Which it clearly isn't.

Not necessarily. To generate new revenue you need new services at hourly frequencies at least! However yes you do need a certain amount of passengers to support it.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yes. Too frequently.
(Sorry!)

I wouldn't say too frequently, when it's taken until now to get the point across!

 

[thefab444]

Ashurst (New Forest), nothing there is there? A few houses & a camp-site, but it seems It's quite a way from anywhere, perhaps it should be known by its former name Lyndhurst Road!

Indeed, that's why we only receive an hourly stopping service off peak, with a half hourly service during the morning and evening to cater for commuters to Southampton and London. You get a few tourists using the station in the summer.

But I totally agree with what The Walrus has said, seeing as we are taking Ashurst as an example, usage has rocketed following the introduction of an hourly service, as the previous two hourly service couldn't compete with the bus.

 

[TheWalrus]

...don't we have this idea posted here pretty regularly?

By me by any chance?

 

[thefab444]

No, you usually ask a question about the service on the B&H and several people, one of them is often me, reply with that idea. However, in recent times you seem to have taken up that idea, but still create the threads about the B&H.

You then get angry when I propose increasing London - Bedwyn journey times, and get angry when people don't propose 1tph Bedwyn - Exeter.

 

[TheWalrus]

Indeed, that's why we only receive an hourly stopping service off peak, with a half hourly service during the morning and evening to cater for commuters to Southampton and London. You get a few tourists using the station in the summer.

But I totally agree with what The Walrus has said, seeing as we are taking Ashurst as an example, usage has rocketed following the introduction of an hourly service, as the previous two hourly service couldn't compete with the bus.

Like the reason people don't tend to do journeys like Bedwyn-Exeter is because of the very poor frequency!!!! But Exeter is a popular destination so with a reasonable frequency demand should start to rise. But the point is: if there's no service people won't use it!!!!

 

[thefab444]

Exeter is a very popular destination yes, but what's so special about Bedwyn's 88k pax? Ashurst has 88k pax, can we have a direct train to Exeter?

 

[devon_metro]

From December there will be an 0706 Paddington - Paignton
Calling Reading, Newbury, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Torquay, Paignton

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

Ever thought that FGW may well be fully aware of the number of journeys that are made by the amount of ticket sales between the two aforementioned points?

I for one would & think quite rightly assume that they are fully aware of it, especially with EPOS systems, I expect they even know which trains were used by those concerned too.

 

[TheWalrus]

From December there will be an 0706 Paddington - Paignton
Calling Reading, Newbury, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Torquay, Paignton

Whoa I was told that by FGW in December! How did you find out? And btw it's not calling at Cary, but the 0906 is
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Exeter is a very popular destination yes, but what's so special about Bedwyn's 88k pax? Ashurst has 88k pax, can we have a direct train to Exeter?

How many westbound trains do you have at Ashhurst? With the same pax as Bedwyn, I bet any money you like you have more than 5 westbound services and 3 back? What I'm saying is about westbound services in general - Exeter would be the obvious westbound termination station for the B&H, whereas for Ashurst it would be Bournemouth, Poole or Weymouth.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Ever thought that FGW may well be fully aware of the number of journeys that are made by the amount of ticket sales between the two aforementioned points?

I for one would & think quite rightly assume that they are fully aware of it, especially with EPOS systems, I expect they even know which trains were used by those concerned too.

Yeah they are

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

So yet another fast service is screwed up (again), for a small country halt that has a footfall of approx 200,000 pa, most of whom are drunken & stoned adolescents going to Glastonbury!

God! Beeching has so much to answer for.

[Pedant mode on]
BTW, It's Ashurst (Hants), Ashchurch is in Gloucestershire & has no connection to Bournemouth, Poole or Weymouth.
[Pedant mode off]

 

[TheWalrus]

So yet another fast service is screwed up (again), for a small country halt that has a footfall of approx 200,000 pa, most of whom are drunken & stoned adolescents going to Glastonbury!

God! Beeching has so much to answer for.

[Pedant mode on]
BTW, It's Ashurst (Hants), Ashchurch is in Gloucestershire & has no connection to Bournemouth, Poole or Weymouth.
[Pedant mode off]

Yes sorry, it's Ashurst, I don't know Hampshire well!

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

EH? hock: They're next door to Wiltshire either way!
Hampshire is to the SE and Gloucestershire is NNW of Wiltshire.

The best counties are of course West of you.

 

[devon_metro]

So yet another fast service is screwed up (again), for a small country halt that has a footfall of approx 200,000 pa, most of whom are drunken & stoned adolescents going to Glastonbury!

God! Beeching has so much to answer for.

[Pedant mode on]
BTW, It's Ashurst (Hants), Ashchurch is in Gloucestershire & has no connection to Bournemouth, Poole or Weymouth.
[Pedant mode off]

I'm not sure how true the 0906 thing is, however it would be a retrograde step if it is.

And true, the 0706 PAD PGN won't be calling Castle Cary, my mistake.

 

[TheWalrus]

EH? hock: They're next door to Wiltshire either way!
Hampshire is to the SE and Gloucestershire is NNW of Wiltshire.

The best counties are of course West of you.

Agreed - the best counties are west - the worst are east LOL
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'm not sure how true the 0906 thing is, however it would be a retrograde step if it is.

And true, the 0706 PAD PGN won't be calling Castle Cary, my mistake.

How did you find out about the 0706?

And btw, I pushed for a Bedwyn stop on the 0706, but it just was impossible

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

I think we should stop there just in case we cause another civil war!

It's not what you know that is important, it's WHO you know.

 

[TheWalrus]

BTW, It's Ashurst (Hants), Ashchurch is in Gloucestershire & has no connection to Bournemouth, Poole or Weymouth.

Actually Ashchurch does have a direct link to Weymouth!