TfL rail west poor service from minor stations

matt_world2004 · 11 Jun 2018

Hello.

Has anyone noticed that the minor tfl rail stations get really poor service. During service disruption Hanwell and Acton Mainline can go hours without train

MTR/TfL also seem quite quick to skip stops even when there is only minor disruption. One example today.My TfL rail heathrow connect came into paddington five minutes late and as a result ran fast on the return trip to heathrow 2,3 (Skipping every stop) When they do skip stations they only serve the major stations Hayes,Southall & Ealing Broadway, which are served by frequent GwR services already and skip west ealing,Acton and hanwell (Which can sometimes leave these stations with nothing)

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700007 · 11 Jun 2018

matt_world2004 said:
Hello.

Has anyone noticed that the minor tfl rail stations get really poor service. During service disruption Hanwell and Acton Mainline can go hours without train

MTR/TfL also seem quite quick to skip stops even when there is only minor disruption. One example today.My TfL rail heathrow connect came into paddington five minutes late and as a result ran fast on the return trip to heathrow 2,3 (Skipping every stop) When they do skip stations they only serve the major stations Hayes,Southall & Ealing Broadway, which are served by frequent GwR services already and skip west ealing,Acton and hanwell (Which can sometimes leave these stations with nothing)

Hey,

This is something I have noticed as well and it has left a lot of people unhappy. It's something I would like to raise with TfL Rail themselves as well because quite often these smaller stations go without services for at least an hour, if not more. Obviously sometimes they're routed onto the fast line during disruption so it is not possible to stop but in circumstances like you said, it shouldn't really be happening.

Something I would also like to see change is when the Hayes & Harlington shuttle has been cancelled for whatever reason, if the 360s are still using the slow line for them to please make an additional call at Acton Main Line on behalf of passengers that have lost their only service for some few hours.

Joe Paxton · 11 Jun 2018

matt_world2004 said:
Hello.

Has anyone noticed that the minor tfl rail stations get really poor service. During service disruption Hanwell and Acton Mainline can go hours without train

MTR/TfL also seem quite quick to skip stops even when there is only minor disruption. One example today.My TfL rail heathrow connect came into paddington five minutes late and as a result ran fast on the return trip to heathrow 2,3 (Skipping every stop) When they do skip stations they only serve the major stations Hayes,Southall & Ealing Broadway, which are served by frequent GwR services already and skip west ealing,Acton and hanwell (Which can sometimes leave these stations with nothing)

Did Heathrow Connect not do much the same?

If they didn't, then I wonder whether the issue is TfL Rail having to hit the paths into the Heathrow tunnels on time or otherwise get penalised - something that HAL-owned Heathrow Connect might not have had to worry so much about? That said, I'd think that any favourable treatment for HC compared to TfL Rail would likely be seen as discriminatory.

Which brings me back to my original point... my recollection of Heathrow Connect was of a somewhat apathetic attitude to providing a local service (in times of problems, HEx took priority, and GWR's attitude seemed to be one of washing their hands of the problem).

That's not to say it's OK though.

matt_world2004 · 11 Jun 2018

Joe Paxton said:
Did Heathrow Connect not do much the same?

If they didn't, then I wonder whether the issue is TfL Rail having to hit the paths into the Heathrow tunnels on time or otherwise get penalised - something that HAL-owned Heathrow Connect might not have had to worry so much about? That said, I'd think that any favourable treatment for HC compared to TfL Rail would likely be seen as discriminatory.

Which brings me back to my original point... my recollection of Heathrow Connect was of a somewhat apathetic attitude to providing a local service (in times of problems, HEx took priority, and GWR's attitude seemed to be one of washing their hands of the problem).

That's not to say it's OK though.

They did but that was often because the heathrow connect was used as cannon fodder for the express. There is absolutely no reason except for fragmentation that tfl rail is running the same calling pattern as the express during disruption from a customer service perspective. If they need to make up lost time instead of skip stopping to heathrow. Negotiate a mutual ticket acceptance agreement with hex for during periods of disruption and turn the trains at hayes if need be.

samuelmorris · 11 Jun 2018

matt_world2004 said:
Hello.

Has anyone noticed that the minor tfl rail stations get really poor service. During service disruption Hanwell and Acton Mainline can go hours without train

MTR/TfL also seem quite quick to skip stops even when there is only minor disruption. One example today.My TfL rail heathrow connect came into paddington five minutes late and as a result ran fast on the return trip to heathrow 2,3 (Skipping every stop) When they do skip stations they only serve the major stations Hayes,Southall & Ealing Broadway, which are served by frequent GwR services already and skip west ealing,Acton and hanwell (Which can sometimes leave these stations with nothing)

It isn't likely to change - the same has happened on the eastern side since the TfL takeover, it's how TfL deal with delays, and they're far from the only operator that do it.

matt_world2004 · 11 Jun 2018

700007 said:
Hey,

This is something I have noticed as well and it has left a lot of people unhappy. It's something I would like to raise with TfL Rail themselves as well because quite often these smaller stations go without services for at least an hour, if not more. Obviously sometimes they're routed onto the fast line during disruption so it is not possible to stop but in circumstances like you said, it shouldn't really be happening.

Something I would also like to see change is when the Hayes & Harlington shuttle has been cancelled for whatever reason, if the 360s are still using the slow line for them to please make an additional call at Acton Main Line on behalf of passengers that have lost their only service for some few hours.

I think problems with freight operators prevent the trains being all station stoppers, However the problem could be mitigated from a customer service perspective by having trains stop at each station one direction only to allow passengers from both Acton Mainline or Hanwell reach a interchange point for their journey for example assuming the majority of journeys with their origin of Acton main line are heading for stations westbound. If that is the case when they have to drop to 2tph for any reason their calling pattern should be trains going to Hayes stop at Acton Mainline and Trains going to Paddington stop at Hanwell. Even if people are going the other direction, someone going from stations west of Ealing Broadway to Acton mainline can change at Ealing Broadway for the central to North Acton to reach Acton Main Line. and people going to Hanwell from Paddington can double back at Southall or get a Bus from West Ealing.

Joe Paxton · 11 Jun 2018

It's a different railway, but when TfL took over the North London Line (in the shape of London Overground) there were a ot of problems with broken down freight trains messing up the passenger service. The impression I get is that TfL whipped Network Rail into shape on this issue, presumably meaning Network Rail applied some heat to the FOCs to ensure their freight trains were 'trackworthy' (is that a word?) and less prone to failures. Reliability didn't improve overnight though.

I haven't followed developments particularly closely but on a broader point, I think there's some exasperation evident in various TfL Board papers over Network Rail's approach to certain projects - in particular the GOBLIN electrification, but also on other issues like upgrades for Crossrail western side stations. Of course it hasn't exactly covered itself in glory recently...

adrock1976 · 12 Jun 2018

700007 said:
Hey,

This is something I have noticed as well and it has left a lot of people unhappy. It's something I would like to raise with TfL Rail themselves as well because quite often these smaller stations go without services for at least an hour, if not more. Obviously sometimes they're routed onto the fast line during disruption so it is not possible to stop but in circumstances like you said, it shouldn't really be happening.

Something I would also like to see change is when the Hayes & Harlington shuttle has been cancelled for whatever reason, if the 360s are still using the slow line for them to please make an additional call at Acton Main Line on behalf of passengers that have lost their only service for some few hours.

On Great Western Railway metals, there is no such thing as "fast lines" or "slow lines". They are "main lines" and "relief lines" instead.

Meanwhile, it would be good to have either the preceding train or the next departing train that runs along the relief lines to slot an extra stop in somewhere, with the caveat that it would also not muck up the freight trains that also use the relief lines to and from Acton Yard.

700007 · 12 Jun 2018

If a Heathrow train is running late ideally have the stops at Hayes & Harlington, Southall and West Ealing taken out in favour of continuing to call at Hanwell and Acton Main Line. Having it stop at Ealing Broadway would still be handy for most passengers I imagine.

RDWRER · 12 Jun 2018

The Connect did it regularly which was always assumed to be because HAL were cannibalizing it for the Express but interesting to hear TfL are doing it to. I've been lucky so far with TfL touch wood.

Silly question, but I always just assumed it was to do with the paths on the GWML being busy and trains having to hit stations at certain times? I'm a layman when it comes to railways but maybe someone can shed some light...

matt_world2004 · 12 Jun 2018

The ex heathrow connect didn't stop at hayes again despite going through the station one minute late . According to rtt it stopped at hanwell but I am betting it didn't.
It was on the relief platforms so there is no real reason why it didn't stop at hayes

700007 · 12 Jun 2018

matt_world2004 said:
The ex heathrow connect didn't stop at hayes again despite going through the station one minute late . According to rtt it stopped at hanwell but I am betting it didn't.
It was on the relief platforms so there is no real reason why it didn't stop at hayes

Can you provide me with what service this is ?

I was on the 1233 London Paddington to Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 today which was 5L and had to run non stop from Ealing Broadway to Heathrow Airport Central. The good thing was GWR was kind enough to get their train to stop at West Ealing when it wasn't scheduled to.

matt_world2004 · 12 Jun 2018

700007 said:
Can you provide me with what service this is ?

I was on the 1233 London Paddington to Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 today which was 5L and had to run non stop from Ealing Broadway to Heathrow Airport Central. The good thing was GWR was kind enough to get their train to stop at West Ealing when it wasn't scheduled to.

I think it was that train it would have been the one that arrived at hayes at 1254.

700007 · 12 Jun 2018

matt_world2004 said:
I think it was that train it would have been the one that arrived at hayes at 1254.

I see what you are talking about. It isn't good and people at the smaller stations such as Hanwell and Acton Main Line need to be put first, as much as it is to the dismay of people traveling from larger stations.
.

TfL rail west poor service from minor stations

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