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GWR Dec 19 timetable

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Melancholia

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It appears that what GWR give with one hand, they take away with the other. There's a much faster service to the Marlow branch because the GWR Didcot/Reading service has fewer stops following the TFL takeover of much of the stopping service. The downside is that the previously unrestricted use of off peak tickets in the evening peak is no longer available on services non-stop to Maidenhead.

Essentially just a matter of "you can't please everybody".
 
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Mitchell Hurd

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I've just looked at realtime trains for the 16/12/19 to give me an idea on the layover times of trains arriving at Bristol Temple Meads, terminating there, from London Paddington and it looks like its roughly 20-25 minutes.

If that's the case then that's gonna add a bit more pressure - personally I'd prefer the layover of my thoughts of 50-55 minutes as if it's cold you can board the train in loads of time, you can get to your seat earlier and it means more time for the IET's to be cleaned too. In this case it's less time if the layover time is now 20-25 minutes. Not particularly sensible in my view.

I DM'd GWR this morning and I was right basically - the turn around time at Bristol Temple Meads (trains from London Paddington that terminate here) is now 20-25 minutes in the December 2019 timetable change. This means less likely to make up the time on its return London trip and less time to clean the train on arrival. Currently most have a layover of 45-50 minutes.

GWR have been honest though and are basically going to see if this works - if there's frequent delays on those services, there'll work quickly to identify where improvements can be made to turn trains round more efficiently should problems arise with trains running late.
 

Ianno87

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I DM'd GWR this morning and I was right basically - the turn around time at Bristol Temple Meads (trains from London Paddington that terminate here) is now 20-25 minutes in the December 2019 timetable change. This means less likely to make up the time on its return London trip and less time to clean the train on arrival. Currently most have a layover of 45-50 minutes.

.

Can be solved by cleaning the train on the move. And unlike HSTs no need to place reservations etc any more.
 

Wychwood93

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Can be solved by cleaning the train on the move. And unlike HSTs no need to place reservations etc any more.
Indeed - the sort of simple thing that is done quite a lot anyway - certainly by XC on the Bournemouth services. Goes through and collects papers and general rubbish.
 

jimm

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While I haven't seen any of the travelling cleaners (employed by a contractor, not GWR directly) who covered various Thames Valley, Oxford and Cotswold services recently (it may just be that the times of day I travel now don't coincide with their shifts), FGW/GWR has long been collecting litter on board during the course of journeys. I have seen both customer hosts and train managers pass through with a sack on various occasions as well, including recent weeks.
 
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freetoview33

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So am I right in thinking when Crossrail goes to Paddington Low Level, there will be an extra two off peak GWR trains to reading?

Also there is XX:13 and XX:43 off peak Crossrail to Reading (Which are the current GWR services)

And A peak XX:58 Crossrail to Reading, I thought there was also meant to be a XX:28 Peak Crossrail to Reading, or is there not enough capacity yet until Crossrail goes to Low Level?
 

swt_passenger

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So am I right in thinking when Crossrail goes to Paddington Low Level, there will be an extra two off peak GWR trains to reading?

Also there is XX:13 and XX:43 off peak Crossrail to Reading (Which are the current GWR services)

And A peak XX:58 Crossrail to Reading, I thought there was also meant to be a XX:28 Peak Crossrail to Reading, or is there not enough capacity yet until Crossrail goes to Low Level?
I don’t think GWR provide extra trains in the offpeak period, just the 2 tph that will be running in the peaks will pick up more calls and run on the reliefs all the way.
 

freetoview33

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I don’t think GWR provide extra trains in the offpeak period, just the 2 tph that will be running in the peaks will pick up more calls and run on the reliefs all the way.
I thought the ultimate plan was:

Off Peak:

Pad - Reading X2 GWR
Pad - Reading X2 XR

Peak:

Pad - Reading X4 XR
 

swt_passenger

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I thought the ultimate plan was:

Off Peak:

Pad - Reading X2 GWR
Pad - Reading X2 XR

Peak:

Pad - Reading X4 XR
There will be 2tph peak GWR Didcot to Paddington trains that transfer to the mains after Maidenhead. They are stoppers west of Reading, and limited stop to Paddington, and vice versa in the evening.
 

kevin_roche

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I guess there will be more changes next year when Pad Low level opens then.
For trains to Reading and Maidenhead, the through services for Abbey Wood via Paddington Low level are last on the list. They are expected 1 year after the opening of the central section.
 

Tw99

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After the timetable change, what are the options for getting back to stations beyond Reading between 1600 and 1930 if you hold an off peak ticket ?
 

JonathanH

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After the timetable change, what are the options for getting back to stations beyond Reading between 1600 and 1930 if you hold an off peak ticket ?

Looks like:
Buy a ticket not priced by GWR (e.g. Newbury to Potters Bar)
Use Waterloo (although that isn't clear and doesn't deal with connections West of Reading)
Use TfL Rail (although that isn't clear and doesn't deal with connections West of Reading)
Wait

I don't quite understand what is implied by the way the ticket restrictions are set out in BRFares - it isn't a blanket restriction but at the same time the gaps aren't quite right for TfL Rail services.

GWR booking engine shows off peak tickets from / to Reading valid on 1613, 1628, 1713, 1813, 1913 TfL Rail services but not others. However, that doesn't really make sense with the gaps in the times in the BRFares information. They can't really restrict the TfL Rail services because there is no restriction for travelling from stations further West from Paddington within the travelcard zones.

Not sure how it will work further West because not only are the trains restricted from Paddington they are also restricted from Reading. Strikes me that this is effectively intended as a full blanket restriction.

The GWR booking engine also suggests that the 1742 and 1842 services will be available for off-peak tickets. These appear to be 387s running Reading and Didcot only.

I would assume that a blanket peak fare will apply from 1600 to 1900 on TfL Rail using Contactless (determined by where you first tap in).

Hopefully they publicise widely what is intended and whether it applies just to tickets to London or whether also to local destinations - e.g. Newbury to Reading or Newbury to Maidenhead. Two months out they should really have publicity available about this change.
 

MarlowDonkey

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Hopefully they publicise widely what is intended and whether it applies just to tickets to London or whether also to local destinations - e.g. Newbury to Reading or Newbury to Maidenhead. Two months out they should really have publicity available about this change.

Travelcards to the Thames Valley branches as well.
 

JonathanH

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Travelcards to the Thames Valley branches as well.

Publicity yes

However, I don't think the actual fare situation is as unclear as it is for stations West of Reading which have the added restrictions applicable from Reading on top of them applying at Paddington.

Seems like use TfL Rail and change for the Thames Valley branches which is relatively easy to communicate.
 

Tw99

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Publicity yes

However, I don't think the actual fare situation is as unclear as it is for stations West of Reading which have the added restrictions applicable from Reading on top of them applying at Paddington.

Seems like use TfL Rail and change for the Thames Valley branches which is relatively easy to communicate.

Yes, it's Tilehurst, Pangbourne etc I was thinking of. It sounds like we need to wait for the situation to become clearer. If they do restrict all travel from Paddington and Reading during peak hours, that will be a big cost increase for quite a number of people.
 

Mitchell Hurd

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I've noticed that Didcot Parkway loses most direct trains to and from Cardiff Central on weekdays but not Saturdays.

I know GWR can't please everyone, and I appreciate how difficult it is for them in getting here, but why would direct services to and from Didcot and Wales on weekdays be withdrawn when they've existed probably as long as the GWR has existed itself?

I know that the new hourly Cheltenham service calls at Didcot but I thought that meant extra seats at Didcot?

Having said this though, at least Swindon is very easy to change at - for instance arriving from Didcot on platform 4 and the Wales services leaving from platform 4. Plus on weekdays, Didcot does now have most if not all a 2tph service to and from Bristol Temple Meads.

In the August 2019 Modern Railways magazine, it said, regarding the popular 2tph frequency on the Cardiff to London corridor, that one of which omits Didcot. In the early morning and late evening there are altogether a few that call at Didcot on the Cardiff to London route.

I'm guessing this is to reduce overcrowding?
 

Clarence Yard

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It's not to reduce overcrowding - it's to get all the trains to fit on the graph. With the Didcot stops in, there are clashes with other services.
 

Mitchell Hurd

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It's not to reduce overcrowding - it's to get all the trains to fit on the graph. With the Didcot stops in, there are clashes with other services.

Right, thanks :). It's quite easy to forget that the 2tph frequency of trains on the slow lines to and from Didcot and Reading have plenty of seats too - even a 4-coach Class 387 isn't that bad.

That's one reason why if I fancy a short notice quick trip to Reading I go from Didcot - 2bph ('b' for buses) frequency to and from my end of Abingdon in Oxfordshire to Didcot on the X2 for most of the day then frequent trains to and from Reading - Didcot.

If there's disruption on the IET services (for example, problems in Wales, the Bristol area or Swindon etc) then there's the 387's).
 

Bikeman78

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I've noticed that Didcot Parkway loses most direct trains to and from Cardiff Central on weekdays but not Saturdays.

I know GWR can't please everyone, and I appreciate how difficult it is for them in getting here, but why would direct services to and from Didcot and Wales on weekdays be withdrawn when they've existed probably as long as the GWR has existed itself?

20 years ago it was only hourly from Paddington to Swansea off peak; there were no Cardiff terminators. Not many of them stopped in Didcot.

John
 

didcotdean

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The lack of regular stops at Didcot for South Wales services through the day Monday-Friday was mentioned before. This was not foreseen in any of the concept service diagrams that were circulated over the years for the new timetable, where the Cardiffs were all shown as stopping (off peak at least). Indeed the earliest showed a Didcot stop rather than a Reading one for these.

I note that GWR are advising in their 2019 'Timetable Change' microsite for Didcot Parkway that: "there will be no significant timetable changes at this station". This is really quite misleading in a number of respects but maybe this one most of all.
 

father_jack

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It's not to reduce overcrowding - it's to get all the trains to fit on the graph. With the Didcot stops in, there are clashes with other services.
And it knocks out the convenient "split ticketing" point at Didcot. Or is that just the cynic in me....
 

VT 390

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And it knocks out the convenient "split ticketing" point at Didcot. Or is that just the cynic in me....
Would you still not be able to split your ticket at Didcot Parkway but just change at Swindon.
 

JonathanH

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Would you still not be able to split your ticket at Didcot Parkway but just change at Swindon.

You won't be able to get to Didcot in the evening peak on off-peak fares between 1600 and 1930 from the timetable change in any case.
 

father_jack

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You won't be able to get to Didcot in the evening peak on off-peak fares between 1600 and 1930 from the timetable change in any case.
Correct. And who will be willing to get off an on time train on the up and risk the one that stops at Didcot will be on time.... £109.00 Single Bristol TM/PW to Paddington, current split is £56.40 !!! The market can't stand £218 return despite the time saving.
 
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