Could we see an increase in services between Basingstoke & Reading?

[The Planner]

As regards to your EWR point, that is certainly something I have heard of, but I understood that there were not sufficient paths on the GWML for that currently.
The rebuilt DNS offers connections at Newbury (a significant flow between Newbury/Didcot/Oxford on the A34) west on to the Berks and Hants, providing a much faster route to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
It also offers connections at Whitchurch on to the West of England line, providing Salisbury and the rest of the A303 corridor with a reasonable rail link to the business clusters along the A34 and M4 corridor, many not accessible by public transport. It could reconnect villages like Sutton Scotney and East Ilsley to the network as well and act as a railhead for small towns like Kingsclere - there has been a lot of housebuilding in the area and a lot of these areas will exponentially grow over the new few years.
Plus the freight that could be taken off the SWML/GWML/Reading to Basingstoke towards Bham/Cardiff/Bristol/Glasgow/Manchester is a big potential improvement, if a junction in 4 directions was built at Whitchurch to allow container traffic to head north/west via Salisbury, Westbury and Bristol over lesser used lines.

Basingstoke would be accessible via an interchange at Whitchurch, it is currently 14 mins between the 2. Assuming an average of a mile a min between Didcot and Whitchurch, it's roughly 25 miles, plus the 14 mins to Bstoke would meet the current 55mins between Oxford and Basingstoke easily.

I agree it is something to look in the long term, maybe 20 to 30 years, but A34 congestion is only going to get worse, road improvements are not electorally palatable and the growth has to be accommodated somehow.

The DNS is never going to factor into anything. Its not just re-opening a single line branch line, its a whole new railway (which the A34 has subsumed at Litchfield, Whitchurch and Newbury) with grade separation and all sorts needed. You are not going to thread a 775m intermodal over at Didcot without it. Okehampton Tavistock has more chance!

 

[30907]

The rebuilt DNS offers connections at Newbury (a significant flow between Newbury/Didcot/Oxford on the A34) west on to the Berks and Hants, providing a much faster route to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

Faster (from Oxford etc) than via Bristol?

Plus the freight that could be taken off the SWML/GWML/Reading to Basingstoke towards Bham/Cardiff/Bristol/Glasgow/Manchester is a big potential improvement, if a junction in 4 directions was built at Whitchurch to allow container traffic to head north/west via Salisbury, Westbury and Bristol over lesser used lines.

There's a perfectly good route from Southampton via Salisbury.

From a freight point of view, if you are going to build a new railway through the downs, I would suggest going from Newbury via Andover and the Test Valley to Kimbridge, thus giving you direct access to Southampton Docks.

Basingstoke would be accessible via an interchange at Whitchurch, it is currently 14 mins between the 2. Assuming an average of a mile a min between Didcot and Whitchurch, it's roughly 25 miles, plus the 14 mins to Bstoke would meet the current 55mins between Oxford and Basingstoke easily.

With a dedicated connection - better to give XC a good path at Reading, and BTW it's currently 50min not 55.

 

[route101]

Used the service a few times recently. Can be awkward doing Reading - Basingstoke and Southampton at certain times when XC is not running and SWR fasts.

 

[coppercapped]

Ah - thanks. Is the Reading-Newbury electrification fairly new? I don't remember wires from when I was last around there some years back; and I've just seen a pic of Reading West with no wires in sight. Was it an add-on to the GWR electrification of recent years? And if so, why Reading-Newbury specifically when other branches off the main line haven't been?

It was always part of the GW electification programme and was sufficiently far advanced that it didn't get 'paused' when the Didcot-Oxford and Chippenham - Bristol sections were.

 

[tbtc]

I'd be up for a frequency increase - you've got two relatively large places less than fifteen miles apart as the crow flies, both railway junctions too, so lots of markets - a "turn up and go" frequency would be a big help here

I can't see XC extending any Reading terminators to Basingstoke though. The (pre-Covid) bi-hourly Newcastle - Southampton service works because Reading - Southampton is just under an hour, so it takes one unit to provide a bi-hourly extension (of the hourly Newcastle - Reading service) - but extending the Reading terminators to Basingstoke would just mean them sitting for around an hour whilst they wait for the path back to Reading (and Newcastle)

As for HS2, it's not just about the journey times, it's also about the frequency and the range of stations. At the moment there's one train an hour from Bournemouth to Birmingham/ Manchester, plus the bi-hourly Southampton to Birmingham/ Newcastle that we assume will be coming back - whereas the option of going via Waterloo means a bigger choice of places and better frequency to London

Re-opening an old line for the sake of a small number of trains a day... maybe not?

 

[Wychwood93]

117m long in the Wessex sectional appendix. There must be at least 100m usable, only 80m needed.

I was up that way today and there is certainly room for a 387 - my initial perception was wrong. Should have looked at the SA before I commented! Should the 'dangly wires' come to Basingstoke then, somewhat tongue in cheek, an AC/DC 387 could resume the Pompey/Reading service that the 'Thumpers' used to do. Comments please!

 

[pompeyfan]

I’m sure that a sped up Portsmouth - Reading service would be welcome but it’s not a deal breaker.

did the battery 379s ever get off the ground? Just wondering what the prospect of a 387 on battery from Southcote - Basingstoke and then DC from Basingstoke - Portsmouth would look like.

 

[AlastairFraser]

I’m sure that a sped up Portsmouth - Reading service would be welcome but it’s not a deal breaker.

did the battery 379s ever get off the ground? Just wondering what the prospect of a 387 on battery from Southcote - Basingstoke and then DC from Basingstoke - Portsmouth would look like.

Why would they head to Pompey via Basingstoke?
It would take up valuable paths on the SWML while there is a much better route on the North Downs line to Guildford, then the Pompey Direct from there to Portsmouth.
I wonder if XC got the extra Class 221s off Avanti and 222s off EMR, then they would make the 1tpd to Guildford a regular service, and extend them alternating to Gatwick/Pompey?
There's certainly a market for an express Reading to Gatwick if the paths can be found.

 

[JonathanH]

Why would they head to Pompey via Basingstoke?
It would take up valuable paths on the SWML while there is a much better route on the North Downs line to Guildford, then the Pompey Direct from there to Portsmouth.
I wonder if XC got the extra Class 221s off Avanti and 222s off EMR, then they would make the 1tpd to Guildford a regular service, and extend them alternating to Gatwick/Pompey?
There's certainly a market for an express Reading to Gatwick if the paths can be found.

Without resignalling there isn't capacity for any long distance trains between Reading, Guildford and Gatwick, perhaps not even then. The performance risk is too great.

XC's interest would be towards running more trains to Southampton in any case, which brings us back to the choice of services for the possible paths between Reading and Basingstoke.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Without resignalling there isn't capacity for any long distance trains between Reading, Guildford and Gatwick, perhaps not even then. The performance risk is too great.

XC's interest would be towards running more trains to Southampton in any case, which brings us back to the choice of services for the possible paths between Reading and Basingstoke.

They really need to bridge the level crossings around Wokingham, that's the real barrier I feel to improvement.

As I have previously said, there is no capacity for more than the 2tph local stoppers and the 2tph XC long distance, the passengers at intermediate stations will never accept a reduction in frequency.
The only possibility is train lengthening for XC, plus electrification and slight lengthening for GWR. Any more will require new freight loops on the B and H or a whole new line altogether.