Chiltern September Change

[xerosis]

Chiltern made some timetable changes effective Sept 21st, does anyone know why and if they are likely to remain permanent in December? They changed one of my regular trains so I miss it now so I'm hoping it's just temporary!

 

[Watershed]

Chiltern made some timetable changes effective Sept 21st, does anyone know why and if they are likely to remain permanent in December? They changed one of my regular trains so I miss it now so I'm hoping it's just temporary!

Think they're leaf fall changes. They sent me an email 1 day beforehand and gave no reason whatsoever for the change; hardly very professional!

 

[sammyg901]

I had been meaning to ask about this on here - the leaf fall changes (Aylesbury via Amersham leaving 3 mins early) don't seem to start until the 3rd Oct and Wednesday seems a curious day to start a new timetable!

From what I've heard and seen on Twitter Haddenham and Thame parkway (HDM) overcrowding is a particular problem so I wondered if some of the changes are to try spread the loading so that trains with seats swap to pick up there instead of Beaconsfield (closer to London so standing less of an issue) but it's only off-peak adjustments in the main.

The structure of the timetable since COVID doesn't work so well for HDM in particular as most of the key fast commuter services (0622/0724/0751) are stops on the Birmingham trains, lengthening those to cater to commuter demand much nearer London doesn't seem very efficient. The remaining Oxford services that call have been slowed down a lot which makes them less than desirable and also has the added effect of Bicester passengers switching back to Bicester North onto those same trains.

Ideally there would be some additional services somewhere from Banbury southwards so that more fast services could be run for Bicester/Haddenham/Princes Risborough passengers to keep them off the Birmingham trains (these could be out of Banbury/Bicester/Aylesbury via High Wycombe or High Wycombe terminator platform with the Oxford trains running fast on 100mph stock) - but this requires more stock & drivers and they still seem to have shortages of both at times (though Aylesbury seems to have a few long term residents!)

 

[xerosis]

Unless it's just defaulting back to "normal", it looks like the changes that have just been made are reversed w/c 12th December.

 

[CyrusWuff]

I believe the changes last week are related to revised freight paths for HS2, who've got a new railhead at Quainton Road.

Leaf-fall changes normally start from the first Monday in October, with Southbound Met trains leaving Aylesbury three minutes earlier than normal.

 

[Andy Pacer]

I had been meaning to ask about this on here - the leaf fall changes (Aylesbury via Amersham leaving 3 mins early) don't seem to start until the 3rd Oct and Wednesday seems a curious day to start a new timetable!

3rd Oct is a Monday.

 

[sammyg901]

the 21st Sept timetable change was a Wednesday. The 3rd is the usual Monday leaf fall timetable change

 

[xerosis]

Interestingly, or not, the train that was moved 10 minutes earlier seems to be running 5-10 minutes late 50% of the time, seemingly to let an earlier running train pass it. Very odd.

 

[williamn]

Do Chiltern still run Mark3 sets? They don't seem to be indicated in the latest timetables if so.

 

[CyrusWuff]

The Mk3s remain in service for the time being as there's nothing available to replace them with. (Not replacing them isn't an option as there aren't enough 168s to run the current timetable.)

 

[nw1]

Bit of an aside but I note the Chiltern timetable is no longer even 30-min departure times out of Marylebone, i.e. 10/37 to Birmingham and 40/05 (varies some hours) to Oxford. Any particular reason for this? (Not sure if this is a recent change though).

 

[williamn]

The Mk3s remain in service for the time being as there's nothing available to replace them with. (Not replacing them isn't an option as there aren't enough 168s to run the current timetable.)

Thats good news! Is there any way of knowing what trains they're forming?

 

[CyrusWuff]

Thats good news! Is there any way of knowing what trains they're forming?

Current Mk3 diagrams are as follows:

Monday to Friday

1H12 PRR 0739 - MYB 0830 (1)
1H17 SBJ 0641 - MYB 0908 (2)
1H22 SBJ 0716 - MYB 0941 (3)
1H45 BMO 1255 - MYB 1451 (2)
1H53 BMO 1455 - MYB 1641 (3)
1Y76 OXF 2000 - MYB 2109 (2)

1R91 MYB 1010 - BMO 1154 (2)
1R93 MYB 1210 - BMO 1354 (3)
1K50 MYB 1714 - KID 1938 (3)
1K54 MYB 1815 - KID 2043 (1)
1T54 MYB 1818 - OXF 1921 (2)

Saturday

1H11 KID 0637 - MYB 0910 (1)
1H13 KID 0712 - MYB 0951 (2)
1H37 BMO 1337 - MYB 1547 (2)
1H45 BMO 1537 - MYB 1747 (1)

1R24 MYB 1100 - BMO 1304 (2)
1R32 MYB 1300 - BMO 1510 (1)
1K48 MYB 1700 - KID 1939 (2)
1K58 MYB 1937 - KID 2207 (1)

Sunday

1H25 KID 1000 - MYB 1245 (1)
1H27 KID 1030 - MYB 1310 (2)
1H45 BMO 1537 - MYB 1747 (1)

1R32 MYB 1300 - BMO 1510 (1)
1K48 MYB 1700 - KID 1943 (2)
1K58 MYB 1937 - KID 2208 (1)

Key:

Numbers in brackets refer to the diagram number (four sets since the slam door set was withdrawn).

MYB - London Marylebone
BMO - Birmingham Moor Street
KID - Kidderminster
OXF - Oxford
PRR - Princes Risborough
SBJ - Stourbridge Junction

 

[JonathanH]

The Mk3s remain in service for the time being as there's nothing available to replace them with. (Not replacing them isn't an option as there aren't enough 168s to run the current timetable.)

What is going on such that Chiltern run fewer services now but still need the Mk3s? Is there just less 168 availability than there was prior to March 2020?

This seems to be going on with a number of operators. Fewer services yet still leasing the same number of trains. It doesn’t make sense.

 

[CyrusWuff]

What is going on such that Chiltern run fewer services now but still need the Mk3s? Is there just less 168 availability than there was prior to March 2020?

This seems to be going on with a number of operators. Fewer services yet still leasing the same number of trains. It doesn’t make sense.

Losing the 172s and slam door set accounts for 15 fewer vehicles, and 165004 still hasn't returned from its hybrid conversion, so that's 17.

The 168 fleet comprises 8 two-car (plus the HybridFLEX unit), 9 three-car, and 10 four-car units. The only way to get a 168 on every Birmingham service is to run all of the Oxfords as 165s and have a single unit on each train, neither of which are ideal options.

 

[CR165022]

What doesn't make sense to me is that they still haven't brought back the hourly Banbury/Marylebone services, as they easily took the pressure off Birmingham services, which get very busy now with all the extra stops, with some stopping at Kings Sutton which really doesn't make sense.

 

[DavidGrain]

Does anyone have the Dec diagrams for Class 68s. A post on Facebook seems to suggest that the last ever 68 service to Oxford on Friday was replaced by a 2 x 2 car DMU.

 

[sammyg901]

It was indeed, 165s to boot which lost time as it's a 100mph path

 

[Freightmaster]

Does anyone have the Dec diagrams for Class 68s...?

All trains north of Banbury (loco-hauled or otherwise) are suspended from December 13th to January 8th due to
a chronic shortage of maintenance staff, I'm afraid...




MARK

 

[CyrusWuff]

The (mostly) base weekday timetable ran on Monday, so we can get weekday diagrams at least.

1H12 07:40 Princes Risborough - Marylebone
1H14 06:30 Birmingham Moor Street - Marylebone
1H17 06:41 Stourbridge Junction - Marylebone
1H45 12:55 Birmingham Moor Street - Marylebone
1H53 14:55 Birmingham Moor Street - Marylebone

1R91 10:10 Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street
1R93 12:10 Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street
1K48 16:46 Marylebone - Kidderminster
1K52 17:46 Marylebone - Kidderminster

 

[Andy Pacer]

The (mostly) base weekday timetable ran on Monday, so we can get weekday diagrams at least.

1H12 07:40 Princes Risborough - Marylebone
1H14 06:30 Birmingham Moor Street - Marylebone
1H17 06:41 Stourbridge Junction - Marylebone
1H45 12:55 Birmingham Moor Street - Marylebone
1H53 14:55 Birmingham Moor Street - Marylebone

1R91 10:10 Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street
1R93 12:10 Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street
1K48 16:46 Marylebone - Kidderminster
1K52 17:46 Marylebone - Kidderminster

Is this class 68's?

 

[12LDA28C]

Does anyone have the Dec diagrams for Class 68s. A post on Facebook seems to suggest that the last ever 68 service to Oxford on Friday was replaced by a 2 x 2 car DMU.

If you mean the 1818 from Marylebone, that is now booked to be a 3-car 165 since the December timetable change.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Dec 2022 ==

Is this class 68's?

Yes, they are 68s.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Is this class 68's?

Sorry. Yes. Meant to do it as a quote reply to @Freightmaster's previous post, but it didn't post as such.

 

[Triumph]

These are the new full base class 68 diagrams.

SX

AS801
1H12 0740 PRR-MYB
1R93 1210 MYB-BMO
1H53 1455 BMO-MYB
1K52 1746 MYB-KID

AS802
1H17 0641 SBJ-MYB
1R91 1010 MYB-BMO
1H45 1255 BMO-MYB
1K48 1646 MYB-KID

AS803
1H14 0630 BMO-MYB

SO

AS801
1H13 0712 KID-MYB
1R24 1100 MYB-BMO
1H37 1337 BMO-MYB
1K48 1700 MYB-KID

AS802
1H11 0637 KID-MYB
1R30 1237 MYB-BMO
1H43 1514 BMO-MYB
1K58 1937 MYB-KID

SUN

AS802
1H25 1000 KID-MYB
1K48 1700 MYB-KID

AS803
1H27 1030 KID-MYB
1K58 1937 MYB-KID