I see others have gone back beyond the current era a bit, so here is a selection of the most interesting happenings since 1982, some of which probably seem a bit quirky:
- The introduction of two XC services from my local Portsmouth Direct to the North West in 1986, up from one (sadly only lasted a year, followed by a period of about 10 years with none)
- The "InterCity Cross London" project of 1986 which redirected Brighton XCs up the WCML and brought through services from Kent
- The East Grinstead electrification of 1987; a small project but it was quite a radical change to see the Thumpers replaced by CIGs and VEPs
- The Waterloo lines 1988 timetable, including Weymouth electrification and the restoration of all-day through services from Waterloo to Guildford via Ascot
- The Waterloo lines 1989 timetable, with Greyhounds and the Basingstoke and Alton services running separately
- The Solent area electrification of 1990
- The revised SWT timetable of 1997, with improved frequencies and a timetable that seemed very nicely-designed. I also found the way that the mainline stock (442s, CIGs and VEPs) was allocated at the time a work of art, to maximise usage of express stock off-peak and capacity in the peak. Thus you had 442s on the Portsmouth Direct off-peak, which would come off the Direct in the peak to double up SWML services. These would be replaced by CIGs, which came off Basingstoke/Alton services where they operated off-peak, to be replaced in turn by VEPs.
- The SWT timetable of 1999 with its significant uplift in frequency on some routes
- Operation Princess in a way. I found the timetable exciting, though I preferred the previous stock regime of 47s/86s/MkIIs/HSTs.
- The radically-revised SWT timetable of 2004
@nw1 mentioned the 2019 GWR timetable, and yes I agree it was going to be potentially awesome. I found myself remembering the SuperFasts fondly while at Reading a couple of days ago, an incredible shame they don't run now!
Indeed, I never got to see the "proper" 2019 GWML timetable as Covid kicked in before I went up that way.