• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

GWR Dec 19 timetable

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Wilts Wanderer

Established Member
Joined
21 Nov 2016
Messages
2,462

43055

Established Member
Joined
8 Mar 2018
Messages
2,884
Probably not. 158s as well as the Short HSTs are taking over
Would some services still be 150's to allow them to get on and off Cornish branches for maintenance at Exeter or Plymouth?
 

PHILIPE

Veteran Member
Joined
14 Nov 2011
Messages
13,472
Location
Caerphilly
Would some services still be 150's to allow them to get on and off Cornish branches for maintenance at Exeter or Plymouth?

Just one changeover. 150 runs ECS Newton Abbot to Laira detached off Paignton to Exmouth, stays down and then returns with last Gunnislake which runs to Exeter. Internal moves within Cornwall run as ECS between Laira, Penzance, Par and Truro wherever stabling overnight
 

Rich McLean

Established Member
Joined
6 Feb 2012
Messages
1,684
Just one changeover. 150 runs ECS Newton Abbot to Laira detached off Paignton to Exmouth, stays down and then returns with last Gunnislake which runs to Exeter. Internal moves within Cornwall run as ECS between Laira, Penzance, Par and Truro wherever stabling overnight

To add to that, the 0540 off Penzance to Exeter should be a 6 car 158, along with the 1831 off Plymouth to Penzance should be a 6 car as well.

The rear unit off 2E01 detaches at Exeter, goes onto the depot and another (or the same depending on unit requirements) 158 comes out to work 2C24 as a 2 car to Penzance, then back to Plymouth to attach to 2P22 from Liskeard to make a 6 car to Penzance.
 

jimm

Established Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
5,230
Except the point is the rolling stock used on this route is/was typically the rolling stock also used on the Cardiff/Bristol-South west, Glos-Bristol onwards and Worcester-South route, all which have significant running over 75mph which was the response I made to the earlier comment. Jimm you responded saying there’s plenty of 100mph stock available (implied new or fairly modern) so why was 25-30 year old (90mph) stock cascaded (not all of which have arrived) and 40 year old HST stock put through a rebuild (not all of which have been completed) if is the case? It was money which then goes back to the original point of passengers on these routes being treated shoddily.

Was being the operative word - for the time being, the service to the South West is going to be the domain of short HSTs and 158s, not Turbos.

And the GW 165/1s and 166s are 90-mph capable, so can keep up pretty well with most services where speeds above that are possible (or are you now going to demand the replacement of 110mph 387s on the main lines in the Thames Valley for not being able to do 125mph?).

I did not say that other rolling stock was 'available' - I said the following

100mph-capable multiple-unit trains, old or new, of designs far more suited to Cardiff-Portsmouth operations (or Bristol-Gloucester-Worcester) are not exactly hard to find.

ie there are designs that exist, such as the Class 185 (if it's not too heavy for the route), or if new is your thing, the Class 196, or the 755 if a bi-mode was the preferred option, that could do the job on Cardiff-Portsmouth, rather than coming up with yet another type of train.

Not that anyone is gong to be rushing to spend money on new trains anyway, given that the 16xs still have a few years of life left in them - which is why they were cascaded to Bristol and because they can provide more seating capacity, which is the key issue on the route (and on Bristol area suburban services), not that the type of trains in use might be able to hit 100mph in a few places and shave a minute or two off timings.
 

Rich McLean

Established Member
Joined
6 Feb 2012
Messages
1,684
Both of those trains are booked 4-car 158s.

Oh thanks for the correction. That means only those two are 4 car, workings, with the remaining 158 diagrams all 2 car between Exeter and Penzance, else the workings don't balance out. Of course all other diagrams seem to be 2+4 Castle sets
 

Coolzac

Member
Joined
8 Nov 2014
Messages
307
There is no 1644 Penzance to Exeter in the December 2019 Timetable. In lieu, it is a 1644 Penzance to Cardiff worked by a Castle.

I am travelling Tuesday 10th December, and National Rail Enquires says it is a service to Exeter St. Davids. Is this wrong?
 

swt_passenger

Veteran Member
Joined
7 Apr 2010
Messages
31,263
I am travelling Tuesday 10th December, and National Rail Enquires says it is a service to Exeter St. Davids. Is this wrong?
The confusion is probably because this thread is about the “Dec 2019 timetable”. But that doesn’t start until Sun 15th...
 

Dibbo4025

Member
Joined
21 Mar 2018
Messages
607
I am travelling Tuesday 10th December, and National Rail Enquires says it is a service to Exeter St. Davids. Is this wrong?
No, my reading is it terminates at Exeter, runs ECS to Taunton before forming the 0512 to Cardiff. So it sort of does run PNZ-CDF but not usefully...
 

PHILIPE

Veteran Member
Joined
14 Nov 2011
Messages
13,472
Location
Caerphilly
This thread is in relation to the DECEMBER 2019 TIMETABLE as per the title which starts on 15 December and not the current one. Hope that clears the confusion up and why it happened
 
Last edited:

Coolzac

Member
Joined
8 Nov 2014
Messages
307
This thread is in relation to the DECEMBER 2019 TIMETABLE as per the title which starts on 15 December and not the current one. Hope that clears the confusion up and why it happened

Apologies. In fairness, my original question was relating to before/after the timetable switch, so I was originally on topic....
 

Bikeman78

Established Member
Joined
26 Apr 2018
Messages
4,493
I don’t think they’ll be running the extras this side of the May timetable change.

It seems strange that a good number are routed through the 20mph Platform 1 at Swindon rather than the 85mph Up Main, presumably not to catch up with the up Swansea train in front.
That's sounds like a mistake. Why route a non stop train through a platform line when there is a faster non platform line available?
 

43074

Established Member
Joined
10 Oct 2012
Messages
2,003
That's sounds like a mistake. Why route a non stop train through a platform line when there is a faster non platform line available?

Sometimes they overtake freight trains there, as a general rule if something is planned in a timetable there is usually a reason for it even if at first glance it isn't obvious.
 

Class 33

Established Member
Joined
14 Aug 2009
Messages
2,362
I had booked for the 0853 Bristol Temple Meads-London Paddington(calling enroute at Bristol Parkway only) and 1800 London Paddington-Bristol Temple Meads(calling enroute at Chippenham and Bath Spa only) on Monday 16th. And was REALLY looking forward to it. I am probably more enthusiastic about these new faster Bristol-London services than anyone else on here, or indeed in the entire country. I had been hoping and waiting for services like these to be introduced for about the past 18 years!!! For all these years every time the new Summer and Winter timetables are published online, I would be checking the timetables looking for proper fast services like this, but instead they'd be the same old predictable services with the usual Bristol TM-Bath Spa-Chippenham-Swindon-Reading-(Didcot Parkway, alternate services)-London Paddington stopping patterns. So when it was finally announced that these new services were being introduced on Monday 16th December, I thought "About bloody time!!" and swiftly made bookings to get journeys on them on the very first day they're running. But a case of bad timing for me, as I'm starting a new job that day and so now won't be able to goto London! Absolutely gutted! Sods law. But that's the way it is. I will have to wait a while now before I can travel to London and back on a weekday. A shame the new faster services won't be running on weekends, when it would be easier for me to travel.
 
Last edited:

swt_passenger

Veteran Member
Joined
7 Apr 2010
Messages
31,263
That's sounds like a mistake. Why route a non stop train through a platform line when there is a faster non platform line available?
I also found an instance where an up train passes through P1 at the same time as a down train towards the Kemble line crosses from down main into P3. So running the through train round the P1 loop would allow for it being slightly late, and/or the Cheltenham train being slightly early?
 

HowardGWR

Established Member
Joined
30 Jan 2013
Messages
4,983
I had booked for the 0853 Bristol Temple Meads-London Paddington(calling enroute at Bristol Parkway only) and 1800 London Paddington-Bristol Temple Meads(calling enroute at Chippenham and Bath Spa only) on Monday 16th. And was REALLY looking forward to it. I am probably more enthusiastic about these new faster Bristol-London services than anyone else on here, or indeed in the entire country. I had been hoping and waiting for services like these to be introduced for about the past 18 years!!! For all these years every time the new Summer and Winter timetables are published online, I would be checking the timetables looking for proper fast services like this, but instead they'd be the same old predictable services with the usual Bristol TM-Bath Spa-Chippenham-Swindon-Reading-(Didcot Parkway, alternate services)-London Paddington stopping patterns. So when it was finally announced that these new services were being introduced on Monday 16th December, I thought "About bloody time!!" and swiftly made bookings to get journeys on them on the very first day they're running. But a case of bad timing for me, as I'm starting a new job that day and so now won't be able to goto London! Absolutely gutted! Sods law. But that's the way it is. I will have to wait a while now before I can travel to London and back on a weekday. A shame the new faster services won't be running on weekends, when it would be easier for me to travel.
Sorry to hear of your disappointment but the new timetable will last at least until May! You have oodles of time to have your intended trip. I must admit that I would like to do this one. I have 1950s memories of The Bristolian charging through Lawrence Hill on the up main each weekday taking the same trajectory.
 

Dren Ahmeti

Member
Joined
17 Oct 2017
Messages
550
Location
Bristol
Sometimes they overtake freight trains there, as a general rule if something is planned in a timetable there is usually a reason for it even if at first glance it isn't obvious.
Haven’t looked into it, but it’s possibly a smart way of keeping the headways between the two trains consistent.
 

Mintona

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2006
Messages
3,592
Location
South West
That's sounds like a mistake. Why route a non stop train through a platform line when there is a faster non platform line available?

Because they depart Bristol Parkway only eight minutes behind the up Swansea which has to stop at Swindon and Reading, it ensures a gap is kept. It just feels like it could’ve been done better. I appreciate there are many other constraints.
 

Mitchell Hurd

On Moderation
Joined
28 Oct 2017
Messages
1,648
Does anyone know what the 10:50ish from Penzance to Cardiff service on weekdays will be scheduled for? HST or Class 158 will suit me if I catch this from Bodmin Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads (on route back to Didcot if I do a trip to Bodmin Parkway from Didcot via Reading on the sleeper).

Either way, finally passengers will get more comfortable trains on this line! I like Class 150's but they're better on short / local / branchline routes like the Exmouth and Paignton routes etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if people who suffer overcrowding on CrossCountry's Voyager trains decide to switch to the 10:50
 

PHILIPE

Veteran Member
Joined
14 Nov 2011
Messages
13,472
Location
Caerphilly
Does anyone know what the 10:50ish from Penzance to Cardiff service on weekdays will be scheduled for? HST or Class 158 will suit me if I catch this from Bodmin Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads (on route back to Didcot if I do a trip to Bodmin Parkway from Didcot via Reading on the sleeper).

Either way, finally passengers will get more comfortable trains on this line! I like Class 150's but they're better on short / local / branchline routes like the Exmouth and Paignton routes etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if people who suffer overcrowding on CrossCountry's Voyager trains decide to switch to the 10:50

This should be HST. It seems the 158s will be West of Exeter
 

Bikeman78

Established Member
Joined
26 Apr 2018
Messages
4,493
Because they depart Bristol Parkway only eight minutes behind the up Swansea which has to stop at Swindon and Reading, it ensures a gap is kept. It just feels like it could’ve been done better. I appreciate there are many other constraints.
Having looked at RTT, it looks like swt_passenger has the answer. It's only some of the XX:52 from Temple Meads that run via platform 1.
 

Class 33

Established Member
Joined
14 Aug 2009
Messages
2,362
Sorry to hear of your disappointment but the new timetable will last at least until May! You have oodles of time to have your intended trip. I must admit that I would like to do this one. I have 1950s memories of The Bristolian charging through Lawrence Hill on the up main each weekday taking the same trajectory.

Yep absolutely gutted that I'm going to miss out on these new express services on the first day(and indeed the first week) that they're running. After waiting nearly 20 years for these services to be introduced/re-introduced! Although I'll be able to get a journey on them a little later on, I will feel that I will be missing out whilst all these thousands of people are enjoying these new services in the meantime! Oh well. I can't do anything about it.

Now planning on changing my tickets to get a journey on the 1823 Bristol Temple Meads-London Paddington(calling enroute at Bristol Parkway only) on Friday 3rd January, and return on the Saturday on a "normal" service. To at least be able to get a journey on one of the new express services just 2 and a half weeks later than intended, albeit it will be in the dark which won't quite be the same, but still. But to get a journey on the 1800 London Paddington-Bristol Temple Meads(running non-stop to Chippenham), I will have to wait until February or March to book a day off to be able to do so. So a bit of a wait for that, but I guess it will soon come around.

Still surprised though that there won't at least some of the new express services running at weekends at certain times when services are normally very busy, to relieve some pressure off the normal services.
 
Last edited:

Deepgreen

Established Member
Joined
12 Jun 2013
Messages
6,340
Location
Betchworth, Surrey
I note that in the new timetable there is one train in each direction on the North Downs line per day which is shown as not having first class. Is this an error, and, if not, what on earth is the logic behind this? I also see that the stopping trains on the route now have first class again, having had it until October 2017, then losing it and now having it again - why do they keep changing this?! No-one knows where they are with this yo-yo policy. In any event, the first class is so dire that no-one seems to know whether it's real or not - instead of/as well as the stupid security announcements, why can't we have a genuinely useful recorded message about first class being in operation?
 

II

Member
Joined
28 Dec 2016
Messages
276
I note that in the new timetable there is one train in each direction on the North Downs line per day which is shown as not having first class. Is this an error, and, if not, what on earth is the logic behind this? I also see that the stopping trains on the route now have first class again, having had it until October 2017, then losing it and now having it again - why do they keep changing this?! No-one knows where they are with this yo-yo policy. In any event, the first class is so dire that no-one seems to know whether it's real or not - instead of/as well as the stupid security announcements, why can't we have a genuinely useful recorded message about first class being in operation?

I believe the yo-yo policy was as a result of GWR realising they were not providing enough standard class seats to/from London in the day to meet their franchise/DA requirements. So they had to hastily declassify the sets. If true that's just the sort of nonsense that goes on behind the scenes which might make things look illogical from the passengers perspective
 

barrow trains

Member
Joined
30 Jun 2016
Messages
39
Will the 143s still be running the odd diagram on the Barnstaple branch, or is this fully booked 158 traction from next week?
 

jimm

Established Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
5,230
I note that in the new timetable there is one train in each direction on the North Downs line per day which is shown as not having first class. Is this an error, and, if not, what on earth is the logic behind this? I also see that the stopping trains on the route now have first class again, having had it until October 2017, then losing it and now having it again - why do they keep changing this?! No-one knows where they are with this yo-yo policy. In any event, the first class is so dire that no-one seems to know whether it's real or not - instead of/as well as the stupid security announcements, why can't we have a genuinely useful recorded message about first class being in operation?

Hedging their bets in case they have to use a two-car Turbo - so no first class - on that one Reading to Redhill and return trip, perhaps?

Realtimetrains suggests the set will come straight off the depot at Reading just before departure at 07.27 - the last empty stock to do so each morning peak - and it then appears to go back on to the depot after returning to Reading, so may be a case of whatever type of Turbo is available is going to be sent out for that duty.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top