First Great Western December 2011 plans

[TheWalrus]

Hi there,

I would like to highlight the plans that are in consideration for FGW services in December. Please note that these are still up in the air, but there is a modern railways issue around which describes the plans in more depth, could someone with this issue give us some quotes?

December 2011 plans are:

- Hourly intercity service between London - Plymouth with some calling at Newbury, Westbury, Castle Cary and NOT Pewsey
- Hourly semi-fast service similar to the current London - Bedwyn, but all will be extended to Westbury and/or Taunton and will be operated by new-build 172s.

This is a vast improvement to the current service, however there are a few things that are missing which I believe if they were fixed, we would have the best service possible. These would be:

- to maintain 1 or 2 services between Pewsey and Plymouth, hopefully to Penzance.
- maintain the morning 0818 London - Exeter service to give Theale to Pewsey stations a direct morning service to Exeter.
- An additional 0618 London - Exeter service arriving Exeter at 0921 to allow for early morning travel from the Kennet Valley to the West, Bath and Bristol; and an early service from London - Exeter. (This is as proposed by BTPG, and the complete document can be found at http://www.bedwyntrains.org.uk/)

Thanks for your time, please feel free to comment; I appreciate your views,

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[43106]

Hello Ryan

I've been planning (in an amateur-ish way) all the InterCity services in the UK for the best part of 25 years, with Table 135 (Paddington - Penzance) being a part. The 2011 plans you are privy to, appear to mirror some ideas I've had for a while.
IF (big if) I had my way, I'd surrender the Taunton - Exeter (& beyond) portion of Paddington - Bristol - Taunton services on Table 125 to Table 135. Similarly, I'd transfer the Plymouth - Penzance services of XC to Table 135, AND re-route XC services to/from Paignton to Plymouth instead.
I'd have an hourly Paddington - Penzance service using HSTs, BUT with one of those trains every 6 hours only running between Paddington - Plymouth. One train every 6 hours calls at Westbury and Castle Cary. All stop at Taunton and half stop at Tiverton PW. All stop at Exeter and Newton Abbott, but NONE stop between them. 5 trains every 6 hours stop at Totnes.
Beyond Plymouth, all trains stop at Liskeard, Bodmin, Par, St. Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne and St. Erth. 1 train every 3 hours stop at Lostwithiel and 1 train every 2 hours stops at Hayle.
In addition to the hourly Plymouth service. I have a Paddington - Paignton service using 180s (or whatever they were replaced with) every 2 hours calling at Reading, Theale, Thatcham, Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton, Tiverton, Exeter, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbott and Torquay. The proposed hourly equivalent to this seems a bit extravagent. With all the stops it'll have to make, the only way a fast service doesn't whack its back end is if it's timed so that it passes Westbury on the avoiding line whilst the slow service has stopped there.
In essence, what I've done is taken the current 135 timetable, averaged it out over the full day (there are a couple of quite big gaps), then rounded them up to a convenient set of frequencies.

 

[thefab444]

- Hourly intercity service between London - Plymouth with some calling at Newbury, Westbury, Castle Cary and NOT Pewsey

Guess we can kiss goodbye to the Reading - Exeter fasts in favour of standardisation?

 

[devon_metro]

Unlikely. Fgw gets publicity for having trains from Plymouth to Lndon n 3 hours. Very interesting plans, thanks to the first poster. Are you somebody high up to know these things?

 

[43106]

Guess we can kiss goodbye to the Reading - Exeter fasts in favour of standardisation?

No, no and thrice no! The Walrus clearly says that SOME trains call at Newbury, Westbury, etc - not ALL. So there wiil be some Reading - Exeter non-stoppers.

 

[devon_metro]

No, no and thrice no! The Walrus clearly says that SOME trains call at Newbury, Westbury, etc - not ALL. So there wiil be some Reading - Exeter non-stoppers.

Following that up, often trains are leaving PLYMOUTH (!!!) full and standing. To have them all call on the b&h would be disasterous.

 

[ukrob]

December 2011 plans are:

- Hourly intercity service between London - Plymouth with some calling at Newbury, Westbury, Castle Cary and NOT Pewsey
- Hourly semi-fast service similar to the current London - Bedwyn, but all will be extended to Westbury and/or Taunton and will be operated by new-build 172s.

The winning bidder has not yet been announced so nobody could know what class the new build will be.

 

[Techniquest]

he he, I like the sound of the Bedwyn stopper lot getting extended to Westbury. Only taken forever so far, and this was proposed to happen years ago, with a proposed start date in 2006!

43106: You say you would divert all AXC services to Plymouth and leave Paignton with a 2-hourly FGW service that takes forever and a day. Queries then:

a) What about passengers from the north of England? Are they going to be left out with no direct trains to the English Riviera? Just as importantly, what about those who live in Paignton and want to travel to the north? Forcing an inconvenient change at Newton Abbot or Exeter St Davids is one sure-fire way to put passengers off travelling. People like direct trains and hate changing, especially when they have a lot of luggage with them.

And before you ask: Yes I've met a good number of 'norms' (for want of a better word) who dislike changing trains. I once met someone on a 150/2 who had changed off the Bristol train (also a 150/2) when the previous train had reported hitting something in the tunnel. So off we are on this 150/2 up to Gloucester. Change 1. Next change at Gloucester is for a 143 to Cheltenham and change 3 then onto a Voyager.

Why am I telling you this? Because this passenger is one who doesn't like changing more than twice. Being the helpful sort, I show her the next train she'd need to be on to reach Paignton in time. This would be change 4 at Exeter St Davids or Newton Abbot. The look on her face could tell a story in its own right. So we all pile off and rush to platform 4 for the 143 to Cheltenham, leaving this lady behind who was going to try and arrange alternative onward transport because of this rule about changing more than twice! In all fairness, I don't blame her because the 143 was late, meaning a mad dash onto the Voyager and at least one doorway crammed full of luggage!

So yeah, there's one example of people not liking to change trains. But a more general example would be when you tell these 'norms' where they need to change to complete thier journies. Because they will always ask if it's a direct train or if they need to change. The groans you get when you tell them the changes is again a story in its own right.

Which is why I do not support the withdrawal of AXC services to Paignton.

b) You also mention moving that one train from Table 125 to Table 135. Are you suggesting you rid Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare their through train to/from Penzance? This would again involve a number of changes for passengers, a longer journey and be inconvenient not just for the towns and cities it currently serves but for the wider sphere of influence these places have. People may drive to say Didcot Parkway to pick up a direct train to stations beyond Plymouth, but force at least one change onto this sort of passenger and they'll simply drive, possibly not going back to rail again. In this day and age, we simply cannot afford to push people back to cars, which is what seems to be the general idea here.

Other opinions then:

Some good ideas in there, such as Paddington to Plymouth non-stop in under 3 hours. This is the sort of train that would carry a named service back in BR or indeed pre-BR, rather than this bizarre notion of having trains like The Master Cutler call seemingly everywhere in sight.

Referring back to the Paignton service you propose, making it such a stopper beyond Reading is going to drastically increase journey times. I'd agree with a calling pattern more along the lines of;

Paddington > Slough > Reading > Theale > Newbury > Bedwyn > Pewsey > Westbury > Castle Cary > Taunton > Tiverton Parkway > Exeter St Davids > Dawlish > (Teignmouth also in the summer) Newton Abbot > Torquay > Paignton;

This being primarily for two reasons:

a) A slow train as you propose would mainly be of benefit to local passengers but I really can't see a need for a long-distance train to call at places like Hungerford and Aldermaston. Maybe the first and last trains of the day, but not every 2 hours as you propose;

b) Adding Slough also allows for journey opportunity growth from west of Greater London as well as the handy avoidance of the confusion at Reading. Passengers from places like Iver and Langley (West Drayton also came to mind) could simply get off the train on platform 4 and remain on the platform until the train came in. It would require the Paignton service to be on the relief lines at Slough, preferably crossing from the fast to the slow lines just east of Slough. I would then route it back to the fast lines where the opportunity to reach 125mph again should be not just attainable but be for a while too.

I note too you are not sure what replaces the 180s. The answer is the HST fleet has recently been boosted enough to cover the work the 180s did, so these services would be operated by HSTs. Which nicely ties in with another point I'd like to add...

Decades after the production sets first came into service, people are still impressed by the HST; it still has the wow factor. I know plenty of people that still look forward to a journey on one and ask if the journey to London will involve a HST. Indeed, you do hear people saying about how it's nice to get on a proper train again when boarding a HST. Especially true with EMT.

That'll do for now, this dissertation-style (in terms of length!) has made me rather tired!

 

[devon_metro]

Some good point made there Julian, Paignton does indeed need XC services more than it needs London services. Me personally, I am more likely to travel to Bristol or Birmingham than London, and even if there was a direct train, I would change at Newton Abbot and catch the fast one that doesnt stop at many hundreds of small stations!

 

[thefab444]

Is it only me who can't get onto this Bedwyn Trains website to read the full document?

Unusually, some good points Julian, but:

People may drive to say Didcot Parkway to pick up a direct train to stations beyond Plymouth

Surely, they could just bomb down the A34 to Newbury (probably cheaper to park there as well!), only adds a further 20 minutes car driving and cuts 60 minutes off the train journey, and probably saves money on fares as well!

 

[TheWalrus]

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The winning bidder has not yet been announced so nobody could know what class the new build will be.

You could be right there, but the finished product won't be dissimilar to the 172.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

he he, I like the sound of the Bedwyn stopper lot getting extended to Westbury. Only taken forever so far, and this was proposed to happen years ago, with a proposed start date in 2006!

Referring back to the Paignton service you propose, making it such a stopper beyond Reading is going to drastically increase journey times. I'd agree with a calling pattern more along the lines of;

Paddington > Slough > Reading > Theale > Newbury > Bedwyn > Pewsey > Westbury > Castle Cary > Taunton > Tiverton Parkway > Exeter St Davids > Dawlish > (Teignmouth also in the summer) Newton Abbot > Torquay > Paignton;

This being primarily for two reasons:

a) A slow train as you propose would mainly be of benefit to local passengers but I really can't see a need for a long-distance train to call at places like Hungerford and Aldermaston. Maybe the first and last trains of the day, but not every 2 hours as you propose;

The London-Bedwyn trains being extended to Westbury in 2006 was strongly opposed due to it only calling at Bedwyn and Kintbury every 2 hrs, reducing the service from 24 to 14 services a day in each direction.

Your Paignton service suits me but I don't understand why Hungerford and Thatcham haven't been included, and Dawlish has been chosen over Teignmouth?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Is it only me who can't get onto this Bedwyn Trains website to read the full document?

Unusually, some good points Julian, but:

People may drive to say Didcot Parkway to pick up a direct train to stations beyond Plymouth

Surely, they could just bomb down the A34 to Newbury (probably cheaper to park there as well!), only adds a further 20 minutes car driving and cuts 60 minutes off the train journey, and probably saves money on fares as well!

Sorry I typed the address wrong I have changed it now

 

[The Planner]

That 3 hour Plymouth Padd train is fiddled beyond belief, it needs a good wind behind it and everything else to be spot on time for it to make time.

 

[devon_metro]

That 3 hour Plymouth Padd train is fiddled beyond belief, it needs a good wind behind it and everything else to be spot on time for it to make time.

You say that, however the
1A74 0600 Plymouth - Paddington has slack between Exeter and Taunton and about 2 minutes of recovery along the Berks & Hants. Although yes, its rarely on time due to congestion from Reading - London.

As for the 1A81 0842 Penzance - Paddington, this could easily do it in less. I've known it to arrive at Reading and sit for 5 minutes before departing right time! Take today for example, it left Exeter a few minutes down and is now right time.

Such a shame the 1006/1206 Paddington - Penzance aren't a bit more adventurous, they could easily manage to arrive at Exeter at 1206/1406 giving 3 hour journey times, and likewise, did they not follow a pacer into Newton Abbot could also do the same for Plymouth at 1306/1506 and sometimes they do.

 

[43021HST]

I dont think Theale and Pewsey espiacially theale dont need a direct link to Exeter they are only villiges. I bet next they will be announcing a direct link from Henley to Plymouth

 

[The Planner]

You say that, however the
1A74 0600 Plymouth - Paddington has slack between Exeter and Taunton and about 2 minutes of recovery along the Berks & Hants. Although yes, its rarely on time due to congestion from Reading - London.

As for the 1A81 0842 Penzance - Paddington, this could easily do it in less. I've known it to arrive at Reading and sit for 5 minutes before departing right time! Take today for example, it left Exeter a few minutes down and is now right time.

The recovery time will be engineering box time, and has to be in the train regardless. Therefore if there are no TSRs along the route, it will be early.

 

[Techniquest]

Some good point made there Julian, Paignton does indeed need XC services more than it needs London services. Me personally, I am more likely to travel to Bristol or Birmingham than London, and even if there was a direct train, I would change at Newton Abbot and catch the fast one that doesnt stop at many hundreds of small stations!

Thank you Liam, nice to see some agreement!

Can't blame you in the slightest for not getting the slow train, I'd actually probably do the same so long as it didn't cost me extra!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Unusually, some good points Julian, but:

People may drive to say Didcot Parkway to pick up a direct train to stations beyond Plymouth

Surely, they could just bomb down the A34 to Newbury (probably cheaper to park there as well!), only adds a further 20 minutes car driving and cuts 60 minutes off the train journey, and probably saves money on fares as well!

Unusually? It's not that rare!

That's a good point, they may well do. When I was typing that bit of the post I had excluded all other places as I was focused on the catchment areas that I mentioned previously. Probably is a fair bit quicker too, although I've not looked it up to find out for sure.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The London-Bedwyn trains being extended to Westbury in 2006 was strongly opposed due to it only calling at Bedwyn and Kintbury every 2 hrs, reducing the service from 24 to 14 services a day in each direction.

Your Paignton service suits me but I don't understand why Hungerford and Thatcham haven't been included, and Dawlish has been chosen over Teignmouth?

Oh, that's why that didn't happen! Thank you for updating me on that one.

If I'm entirely honest, I don't have data referring to the size of the towns of Hungerford and Thatcham, nor their catchment areas, so I could not include them. Aside from that, I preferred not to make it into the world's slowest service, with the current service level at Thatcham, Hungerford, Aldermaston and so on seeming adequate as is. Granted, it would still require passengers from these stations to change at Newbury as they do, however proposals such as the one I laid down yesterday would finally remove the crazy need for passengers to double-back at Newbury on journies from Bedwyn to Westbury, Taunton and the South West. Granted, Kintbury would probably deserve a stop for the same reason, which I believe I had actually forgotten about yesterday (it's been about 2 years since the last time I went down that way and I rarely study that part of the Baker these days).

As for Dawlish over Teignmouth, reasons for this which came to mind are as follows:

a) Again, not wanting to make it the world's slowest service;

b) The accleration and deceleration times involved for moving off from Dawlish and stopping at Teignmouth, then taking off again for the short hop to Newton Abbot and beyond would take longer than the local services (currently formed of 143s primarily) as the HST is designed for accelerating and decelerating to Inter-City standards, not for use as local stopping services. This would bolster the journey time considerably and end up congesting the mainline more than the current services do. It may not be a lot more, but during the peak summer season when more trains run in the region then it would probably make some difference. I'm sure Liam could confirm or deny this, what with his being local to the region.

c) Linked to the above would be the extended loading/unloading times. From a 143 you could probably do this within 30 seconds, but with a HST and its lack of automatic doors, you would need passengers to be kind enough to shut the doors behind them to avoid longer dwell times for closing doors.

d) Finally, if I'm honest I do not have passenger data for Dawlish and Teignmouth so it was a tough decision regarding which to include out of the two. However from memory (funny thing that, sometimes you can remember something vividly when you don't need to and not at all when the occasion calls for it!) now of last April's trip to the South Devon Railway (in which I stopped off in Teignmouth for station and unit scratching purposes, as well as getting some breakfast), Teignmouth looks pretty busy. Dawlish however I did not visit the town itself, I stayed on the station to enjoy the sea breeze. So perhaps in retrospect I should have included the stop at Teignmouth with Dawlish being the summer-only stop to cater for additional traffic to the destination.

I may have missed some important bit, if so I apologise but I've not long got up and haven't had my morning coffee yet! If I haven't replied to/commented on something, let me know and I'll expand upon it later.

Finally, 43106 I have received your PM and I will respond to it later this afternoon once I have had a few minutes more to consider the reply.

 

[thefab444]

Passenger numbers at stations, as well as population sizes of villages, towns and cities can be gleaned in seconds from Wikipedia.

If we go by passenger usage, the figures for Bedwyn are only 81,000, compared to around 250,000 for Hungerford; 455,000 for Thatcham; and slightly less for Theale. Newbury Racecourse yields around 68,000 (although these will mostly be race-goers) and even nearby Kintbury has 59,000 passengers, Aldermaston with slightly less, and Midgham with a pitiful 29,000 pax per annum. Pewsey has in the region of 160,000.

The sservice could be formed thus:

1 train per hour Paddington - Plymouth (departure at xx:06) calling at:
Reading, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot, Totnes, PLYMOUTH.
With many extensions to Penzance, calling at relevant stations. Very few trains would call at Newbury or Pewsey (except in the peaks), one train every other hour would call at Westbury, to allow not only passengers from the B&H to connect into them, but also passengers from Wiltshire. Castle Cary stops would mostly be decimated also. In hours when the service shown below extends to Taunton/Exeter, this service will not call at Taunton or Tiverton Parkway.

1 train per hour Paddington - Westbury (departure at xx:18 ) calling at:
Slough, Reading, Theale, Thatcham, Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, WESTBURY.
With some extensions to Taunton or Exeter (or even Weymouth in the summer months?) as appropriate.

1 train per hour Reading - Bedwyn (departure at xx:15 from Reading - allows connection from the xx:45 from Paddington, also spreads RDW services out a bit more) calling at:
Reading West, Theale, Aldermaston, Midgham, Thatcham, Newbury Racecourse, Newbury, Kintbury, Hungerford, BEDWYN.


Bedwyn passengers wishing to head west would have to change at Hungerford, or Newbury, admittedly, but as there aren't all that many of them, it's still a better scenario than at present. If the Paddington - Westbury service was to be formed of Turbos (or something not capable of 125mph running), the Slough call would be cut, but stops at Kintbury and Bedwyn provided, and the Reading - Bedwyn stopper cut back to Newbury as current.

However, the masterplan yields journey times of Paddington - Bedwyn at

10:45 arrives Reading 11:10
11:15 arrives Bedwyn 12:08 (roughly)

Journey time PAD - BDW is now 1 hour 23 minutes, as opposed to 1 hour 13 minutes currently. The increase of 10 minutes in journey time for Bedwyn passengers is offset massively by the decrease in journey time for passengers from other B&H stations, as well as the provision of an hourly service to Pewsey, the bus link from Marlborough could be transferred to Pewsey to keep passenger numbers up.

I'll conjure up a proposal PDF shortly.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Having worked on the TT for a bit now, I've had to modify my plans and journey times from Paddington - Bedwyn (and Kintbury) have rocketed to... 1 hour and 41 minutes!

I would, of course, provide some peak time fast trains to the village, and I could call every other xx18 service (to Westbury) there if the pax try to revolt, but I'd leave it as it is until they do.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
And here's an inital Saturday afternoon down timetable.

 

[TheWalrus]

I dont think Theale and Pewsey espiacially theale dont need a direct link to Exeter they are only villiges. I bet next they will be announcing a direct link from Henley to Plymouth

Sorry but now I have one train a day from Bedwyn to Exeter and return I'm not giving it up and changing at Taunton, Westbury and certainly not Hungerford/Newbury/Reading!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Passenger numbers at stations, as well as population sizes of villages, towns and cities can be gleaned in seconds from Wikipedia.

If we go by passenger usage, the figures for Bedwyn are only 81,000, compared to around 250,000 for Hungerford; 455,000 for Thatcham; and slightly less for Theale. Newbury Racecourse yields around 68,000 (although these will mostly be race-goers) and even nearby Kintbury has 59,000 passengers, Aldermaston with slightly less, and Midgham with a pitiful 29,000 pax per annum. Pewsey has in the region of 160,000.

The sservice could be formed thus:

1 train per hour Paddington - Plymouth (departure at xx:06) calling at:
Reading, Taunton, Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot, Totnes, PLYMOUTH.
With many extensions to Penzance, calling at relevant stations. Very few trains would call at Newbury or Pewsey (except in the peaks), one train every other hour would call at Westbury, to allow not only passengers from the B&H to connect into them, but also passengers from Wiltshire. Castle Cary stops would mostly be decimated also. In hours when the service shown below extends to Taunton/Exeter, this service will not call at Taunton or Tiverton Parkway.

1 train per hour Paddington - Westbury (departure at xx:18 ) calling at:
Slough, Reading, Theale, Thatcham, Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, WESTBURY.
With some extensions to Taunton or Exeter (or even Weymouth in the summer months?) as appropriate.

1 train per hour Reading - Bedwyn (departure at xx:15 from Reading - allows connection from the xx:45 from Paddington, also spreads RDW services out a bit more) calling at:
Reading West, Theale, Aldermaston, Midgham, Thatcham, Newbury Racecourse, Newbury, Kintbury, Hungerford, BEDWYN.


Bedwyn passengers wishing to head west would have to change at Hungerford, or Newbury, admittedly, but as there aren't all that many of them, it's still a better scenario than at present. If the Paddington - Westbury service was to be formed of Turbos (or something not capable of 125mph running), the Slough call would be cut, but stops at Kintbury and Bedwyn provided, and the Reading - Bedwyn stopper cut back to Newbury as current.

However, the masterplan yields journey times of Paddington - Bedwyn at

10:45 arrives Reading 11:10
11:15 arrives Bedwyn 12:08 (roughly)

Journey time PAD - BDW is now 1 hour 23 minutes, as opposed to 1 hour 13 minutes currently. The increase of 10 minutes in journey time for Bedwyn passengers is offset massively by the decrease in journey time for passengers from other B&H stations, as well as the provision of an hourly service to Pewsey, the bus link from Marlborough could be transferred to Pewsey to keep passenger numbers up.

I'll conjure up a proposal PDF shortly.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Having worked on the TT for a bit now, I've had to modify my plans and journey times from Paddington - Bedwyn (and Kintbury) have rocketed to... 1 hour and 41 minutes!

I would, of course, provide some peak time fast trains to the village, and I could call every other xx18 service (to Westbury) there if the pax try to revolt, but I'd leave it as it is until they do.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
And here's an inital Saturday afternoon down timetable.

No way. I get on at Bedwyn and I'm not changing for a westbound service and I'm not changing at Reading on an all stations train for Paddington. You may as well have the xx:18 calling at Bedwyn and Kintbury and make good use of the capacity, considering after Newbury the train is nearly empty.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Passenger numbers at stations, as well as population sizes of villages, towns and cities can be gleaned in seconds from Wikipedia.

If we go by passenger usage, the figures for Bedwyn are only 81,000, compared to around 250,000 for Hungerford; 455,000 for Thatcham; and slightly less for Theale. Newbury Racecourse yields around 68,000 (although these will mostly be race-goers) and even nearby Kintbury has 59,000 passengers, Aldermaston with slightly less, and Midgham with a pitiful 29,000 pax per annum. Pewsey has in the region of 160,000.

You do realise that Bedwyn, Kintbury, Newbury R/C, Midgham and Aldermaston don't have ticket selling facilities, meaning you obtain your ticket from the ticket collector onboard the train, which there often isn't one so this makes the figures for these stations lower than they should be.

 

[devon_metro]

I dont think Theale and Pewsey espiacially theale dont need a direct link to Exeter they are only villiges. I bet next they will be announcing a direct link from Henley to Plymouth

Pewsey acts a Parkway for a wider part of Wiltshire.

 

[thefab444]

No way. I get on at Bedwyn and I'm not changing for a westbound service and I'm not changing at Reading on an all stations train for Paddington.

That is the major pitfall of my timetable... and the lack of Castle Cary stops. You would have to change at Hungerford for a westbound or eastbound service.

Depending on how much local support you could get, would depend on if I instate a Bedwyn and Kintbury call on the xx:18.

 

[TheWalrus]

That is the major pitfall of my timetable... and the lack of Castle Cary stops. You would have to change at Hungerford for a westbound or eastbound service.

Depending on how much local support you could get, would depend on if I instate a Bedwyn and Kintbury call on the xx:18.

Well I wouldn't use it. At all.

You would get a lot of local support and they wudn't put two trains an hour after Newbury when they can just stop the xx:18.

 

[thefab444]

You are very picky about your service aren't you.

However, I notice Bedwyn has a pay & display car park - I previously planned to force all Bedwyn passengers who get there by car to drive to Hungerford and use the car park there - thus chinging in more revenue. If we could expand this and maintain parking charges (preferably by booting out APCOA and taking the car park into TOC ownership), then I should think Bedwyn stops could become more profitable. Kintbury, however, I'm not so sure on, we may have to slash services from this village. If your stories are true, of pax not travelling with tickets, we shall employ some RPIs on the B&H to ching the lot of em!

 

[TheWalrus]

You are very picky about your service aren't you.

However, I notice Bedwyn has a pay & display car park - I previously planned to force all Bedwyn passengers who get there by car to drive to Hungerford and use the car park there - thus chinging in more revenue. If we could expand this and maintain parking charges (preferably by booting out APCOA and taking the car park into TOC ownership), then I should think Bedwyn stops could become more profitable. Kintbury, however, I'm not so sure on, we may have to slash services from this village. If your stories are true, of pax not travelling with tickets, we shall employ some RPIs on the B&H to ching the lot of em!

Well if you kicked me out of Bedwyn I would go to Pewsey, not Hungerford.

I'm not picky, I just wouldn't travel east to go west - it's ridiculous!

 

[thefab444]

Ah, but most Bedwyn pax go to east don't they? I thought it was a commuterville?

 

[devon_metro]

It serves an affluent area, so i'm sure many of them would love a day trip to Exeter/the seaside.

 

[thefab444]

If you've got money, why on earth would you want to go to a grotty English seaside resort? Especially Paignton, no offence as I know she's your hometown, but I've been there and the town centre is awful.

Anyway, they're probably more likely to drive than use the train like common folk. We shall retain the 1tpd to Exeter, but can confirm not much else serving places west of Taunton will be calling, and any Saturday adexes to Newquay and the like, will not call at Bedwyn.

 

[moonrakerz]

Pewsey acts a Parkway for a wider part of Wiltshire.

I used to live just outside Calne. 10 miles to Chippenham station, 15 to Pewsey.
If I was going to London (at my expense !) I always went from Pewsey.

For some strange reason you can get to Paddington for about one third of the fare from Chippenham !
And the car parking is cheaper !

 

[thefab444]

And the car parking is cheaper !

It won't be if I take over!

 

[TheWalrus]

If you've got money, why on earth would you want to go to a grotty English seaside resort? Especially Paignton, no offence as I know she's your hometown, but I've been there and the town centre is awful.

Anyway, they're probably more likely to drive than use the train like common folk. We shall retain the 1tpd to Exeter, but can confirm not much else serving places west of Taunton will be calling, and any Saturday adexes to Newquay and the like, will not call at Bedwyn.

That's fine with me, but we should get something west on summer saturdays, even if it means it only goes to Westbury where we can change for a connection further west it would be a step forward.

 

[asylumxl]

As a regular user of the Plymouth service, I think it should go.

London Paddington -> Reading -> Westbury -> Exeter St Davids -> Plymouth

But i'm a tad bit unrealistic . It'd be great if it took less time, I get bored and end up spending 2 or 3 hours staring out the window.