I thought Combe and Finstock were only long enough for a 2-car unit.
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Cotswold Line improvements debated in the House of Commons
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Yes, only 2 car units can be used for the service that calls at Combe & Finstock.
Given the passenger numbers quoted up thread could not a longer unit call just with local door opening?
I assume you mean only the 2-car variety of Turbo can be used, as opposed to a 3-car.
Trains fitted with selective doors can call at all the Cotswold Line halts, with 180s and IETs stopping on a planned basis (such as the 16.22 Paddington to Great Malvern up until the December timetable change), or making short-notice stops to cover for a previous cancellation, as HSTs did on occasion as well.
This is drifting well away from moderators' stated view on sticking to discussion here of the business case plan for Cotswold Line improvements - which do not envisage any changes at all to the current situation at Combe and Finstock or the train services provided.
Class 170101
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But by the sounds of whats been posted above it may not be able to be restored now without closing or rebuilding a couple of stations as highlighted above as the platfiorms are on the track bed but even if they weren't closed could the line be sufficiently redoubled such that those stations are left as single line sections through them (a bit like Ware is on the Hertford East branch) or are there now further considerations in terms of standards since the line was singled in 1971?
70014IronDuke
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The Finstock/Combe stoppers only run Mo-Fr. So your denominater should be more like 250 (for the days the trains run in any one year) not 363 (no trains in any case Dec 25/26).
This means Combe gets 10.9 entries-exits per day (ie between 5 and 6 regular commuters - assuming that is who make up the bulk of trarrric)
and Finstock gets 6.9, ie between 3 and 4 regulars makeing return journies on the days when services run.
Yes, exactly that. The 2 car Turbo Diagram that contains the Cotswolds Halts service is one which we cannot substitute a 3 car Turbo, same goes with the 2 car diagrams that work the Marlow Donkey & the Greenford Branch respectively.
So those ridiculous stops restrict capacity for lots of other stations?
Will you please stop this nonsense now?
a. Because the moderators made it very clear what they want to be discussed in which thread when it comes to the Cotswold Line, ie (from the first post on page 1 of this thread):
b. There are IETs departing from Oxford to Great Malvern at 16.45 and 17.45 and the current loading on the 17.23 departure just about fits into a two-car Turbo, so it is not restricting capacity for anything - and should passenger numbers on the 17.23 suddenly increase, I expect GWR will look at other rolling stock options.
Doctor Fegg
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That feels about right from my experience.
One interesting quirk is that because Combe is not particularly close to anywhere, and has no parking, the majority of users travel there by bike - last time I counted, there were six passengers and all had bikes. I wonder if there are any other stations for which this is true.
DynamicSpirit
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Interesting. I don't know the area, but as far as I can tell from Google Maps, Finstock also appears to be not very close to anywhere and also has no parking - so do Finstock users also get to the station by bike? I can't see how else they'd do it? And can a 2-car train really fit that many bikes in?
I haven't been reading this thread thoroughly but I can say that Finstock isn't exactly in a town or village centre. It's a fair walk from the town/village (not sure which) of Finstock itself and therefore bikes would probably be needed to cycle there if you don't want to get too tired out. There aren't any footpaths either IIRC. The 2-car trains are Class 165s/166s (again, not sure which). I went on a Turbostar about a year ago and it had plenty of space for luggage in big racks - maybe a bike could be stored in that car? There aren't many seats in that end of the units. But I'm not sure if that's a 2-car unit.
Hope this helps,
-Peter
Doctor Fegg
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It can't, and certainly not that service, which is always busy. But there's a few Sheffield stands at Combe itself (and Finstock), and of course lots of people travel with Bromptons.
Combe station is actually closer to the Millwood Vale end of Long Hanborough than Hanborough station itself is (the word "Long" is a clue!), so I suspect much of its custom comes from there: perhaps a bit from Combe village itself and even Stonesfield. At Finstock, I've known people walk from Fawler, and there is a small layby too: when parking charges were first introduced at Charlbury station, one commuter switched to Finstock for a while on the basis it was free there.
From observation over many years, almost all the passengers getting off at Combe head up to the village, whether by foot, bike or car. Bikes are carried on the Turbo, though not as many as come off it at Oxford when all the people who work at Culham get off on their way home.
And still nothing to do with what this thread is supposed to be about.
GWR is running an invitation-only limited-stop special train on Friday March 20 to promote both the opening of Worcestershire Parkway station and the task force business case for further improvements to the Cotswold Line - leaving Parkway at noon, calling at Moreton-in-Marsh, Hanborough, Oxford and Reading.
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/V22091/2020-03-20/detailed
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/V22091/2020-03-20/detailed
Rather surprisingly, this train is still running today.
Doctor Fegg
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The event was (unsurprisingly) cancelled and is to be rescheduled post-coronavirus.
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