Reduced evening service to Wokingham

[lawried123]

I see that the Monday to Friday evening service from Waterloo to Wokingham has been reduced to 1 an hour. I was hoping that this would have been changed on the 5th of February but but I see that it is now becoming a permanent thing. And what is is particularly annoying is that you can't even try travelling via Paddington and Reading as there is also now an hour's gap from Reading to Wokingham from 2212.
It just seems a rather strange thing to terminate trains at Bracknell when they would normally all run through to Reading.
Does anyone in the know have any information as to why this has been done. Just seems annoying when you leave shows and concerts you have to wait till 22:20 for the next train.

Lawrie

 

[swt_passenger]

I see that the Monday to Friday evening service from Waterloo to Wokingham has been reduced to 1 an hour. I was hoping that this would have been changed on the 5th of February but but I see that it is now becoming a permanent thing. And what is is particularly annoying is that you can't even try travelling via Paddington and Reading as there is also now an hour's gap from Reading to Wokingham from 2212.
It just seems a rather strange thing to terminate trains at Bracknell when they would normally all run through to Reading.
Does anyone in the know have any information as to why this has been done. Just seems annoying when you leave shows and concerts you have to wait till 22:20 for the next train.

Lawrie

I think this is answered in the thread in general discussion about the Bracknell MP‘s comments, basically insufficient demand to fill the 2 tph capacity after Bracknell:

Bracknell MP - service to Waterloo unacceptable

Yes there are problems, but not that bad: https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/train-service-london-slammed-unacceptable-26022176 "South Western Railways' own figures for November and December last year are that over 90% of trains ran up to 15 minutes late - it's not...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[davews]

Until it was mentioned in the other thread (which I started!) this is the first thing I had heard of this change. It has not been mentioned in our local press and our famous MP hasn't mentioned it either. Seems a strange change, and it is the service to Bracknell only, it doesn't even reach Wokingham. Yes, the trains are pretty thin on passengers after Ascot but late night Wokingham revellers certainly can't be happy.

 

[Bumpkin]

I see that the Monday to Friday evening service from Waterloo to Wokingham has been reduced to 1 an hour. I was hoping that this would have been changed on the 5th of February but but I see that it is now becoming a permanent thing. And what is is particularly annoying is that you can't even try travelling via Paddington and Reading as there is also now an hour's gap from Reading to Wokingham from 2212.
It just seems a rather strange thing to terminate trains at Bracknell when they would normally all run through to Reading.
Does anyone in the know have any information as to why this has been done. Just seems annoying when you leave shows and concerts you have to wait till 22:20 for the next train.

Lawrie

Looking at RTT it seems that Wokingham still has a roughly half hourly service towards Reading when you take into account GWR services too. Admittedly they are initially close together at 2223 (GWR) then 2228 (SWR) but seem to even out a little bit more after that.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Wokingham between 1800 and 0100 on 20/01/2023

Train information at Wokingham between 1800 and 0100 on 20/01/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[JonathanH]

From Reading, it is only actually two missing trains from what has run historically - a GWR service at 2234 and an SWR service at 2242. Other services that used to run empty to sidings from Reading now terminate at Bracknell.

It is likely that it saves costs, particularly given the half hour turnaround for SWR services at Reading.

 

[43096]

From Reading, it is only actually two missing trains from what has run historically - a GWR service at 2234 and an SWR service at 2242. Other services that used to run empty to sidings from Reading now terminate at Bracknell.

It is likely that it saves costs, particularly given the half hour turnaround for SWR services at Reading.

I would think they probably save one or two crews.

It's almost like they were thinking of a way to justify installing the new turnback signal at Bracknell!

 

[nw1]

Throwing in some historical service patterns through to Reading which I have access to - in 1981 it was half hourly out of Waterloo up to 2228. Then there was a 2258 which diverted after Ascot to Farnham, but there was a 2354 Ascot to Reading connection - it appeared the normal Ascot-Guildford shuttle and Waterloo-Reading swapped.

So it appears that the service between 2030-2300 beyond Bracknell is the worst it's ever been in modern times, as I am fairly sure the half-hourly service has operated continuously since the early 80s.

 

[gazr]

Just coincidence that new signalling at Bracknell means that turning back trains in P2 no longer requires a shunt signal.

 

[30907]

Throwing in some historical service patterns through to Reading which I have access to - in 1981 it was half hourly out of Waterloo up to 2228. Then there was a 2258 which divided after Ascot to Farnham, but there was a 2354 Ascot to Reading connection - it appeared the normal Ascot-Guildford shuttle and Waterloo-Reading swapped.

So it appears that the service between 2030-2300 beyond Bracknell is the worst it's ever been in modern times, as I am fairly sure the half-hourly service has operated continuously since the early 80s.

In fact, since electrification!