wimbledonpete
Member
- Joined
- 25 Nov 2011
- Messages
- 222
Hi
SWT have announced tweaks to the two extra trains they put in the timetable last May from Raynes Park - the 07.21 and 09.22. For a month from Monday they will be running fast from Earlsfield to Waterloo - here's the text from SWT:
"We operate one of the busiest networks in Europe, with more than half a million passengers every day and we appreciate that means many passengers are travelling on trains which can be overcrowded, particularly at peak times. Therefore, we are always investigating how we can improve our train service for you. As part of this we have been reviewing our morning peak train services at key London stations.
This four week trial will help us to find out whether these changes to two of our services will improve the punctuality and reliability of our services and reduce overcrowding at busy stations.
We will monitor this continually throughout the 4 week trial and we will keep you fully informed.
We want to provide the fullest possible train service to you, but we also want to make sure that we are reliable and on time. This trial is part of our ongoing work to improve our train service to you."
These trains were slotted (some would say shoehorned) into the service to help reduce congestion - the 07.21 at least has attracted a loyal and grateful regular clientele (yes, including me!) and is noticeably less full than any other trains around that time. If they run fast from Earlsfield they will be a lot emptier and the point of running them will be lessened.
I guess we need to see how the trial goes but I fear the reduced loadings might encourage their removal as the trade-off between punctuality and capacity will be against them.
Whatever happens, a couple of odd trains running fast from Earlsfield to Waterloo is going to need a lot of flagging to regulars used to every train having the same stopping pattern.
SWT have announced tweaks to the two extra trains they put in the timetable last May from Raynes Park - the 07.21 and 09.22. For a month from Monday they will be running fast from Earlsfield to Waterloo - here's the text from SWT:
"We operate one of the busiest networks in Europe, with more than half a million passengers every day and we appreciate that means many passengers are travelling on trains which can be overcrowded, particularly at peak times. Therefore, we are always investigating how we can improve our train service for you. As part of this we have been reviewing our morning peak train services at key London stations.
This four week trial will help us to find out whether these changes to two of our services will improve the punctuality and reliability of our services and reduce overcrowding at busy stations.
We will monitor this continually throughout the 4 week trial and we will keep you fully informed.
We want to provide the fullest possible train service to you, but we also want to make sure that we are reliable and on time. This trial is part of our ongoing work to improve our train service to you."
These trains were slotted (some would say shoehorned) into the service to help reduce congestion - the 07.21 at least has attracted a loyal and grateful regular clientele (yes, including me!) and is noticeably less full than any other trains around that time. If they run fast from Earlsfield they will be a lot emptier and the point of running them will be lessened.
I guess we need to see how the trial goes but I fear the reduced loadings might encourage their removal as the trade-off between punctuality and capacity will be against them.
Whatever happens, a couple of odd trains running fast from Earlsfield to Waterloo is going to need a lot of flagging to regulars used to every train having the same stopping pattern.