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Is it possible GWR will run direct Paddington - Windsor service for royal wedding?

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cactustwirly

cactustwirly

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backontrack said:
Windsor already has direct services - to London Waterloo. So I don't see why these extra services are needed.
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Which are very slow and less frequent than services via Slough. I reckon Paddington - Windsor could be done in around 1/2 hour, however Waterloo to Windsor direct takes an hour.

Via Slough is actually 70p cheaper (£11.70 compared with £12.40 for an Off Peak day return)
 
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backontrack

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cactustwirly said:
Which are very slow and less frequent than services via Slough. I reckon Paddington - Windsor could be done in around 1/2 hour, however Waterloo to Windsor direct takes an hour.
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You could say the same about services from London to Sheffield - they'd be much quicker via Retford.

I don't see how Windsor is any different.
 
cactustwirly

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backontrack said:
You could say the same about services from London to Sheffield - they'd be much quicker via Retford.

I don't see how Windsor is any different.
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You're comparing 2 intercity services with a marginal time difference (both around 2 hours).

But this is different, the Waterloo - Windsor service is a local stopping service, you would only use it from Windsor for Staines, Twickenham, Richmond etc. Whereas the route via Slough takes half the time and is an intercity service (if you connect with an ex Oxford/Cotswold fast)

There is no way to have direct trains via Slough without eating up capacity, however even with the change I would reckon that via Slough would be the main route into Windsor from London.
So it would make sense to stop more intercity services at Slough to provide better connections onto the Windsor shuttle.
 
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cactustwirly said:
So it would make sense to stop more intercity services at Slough to provide better connections onto the Windsor shuttle.
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Yeah, let's stop more long distance services at every blade of grass....
:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
GW43125

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cactustwirly said:
Which are very slow and less frequent than services via Slough. I reckon Paddington - Windsor could be done in around 1/2 hour, however Waterloo to Windsor direct takes an hour.

Via Slough is actually 70p cheaper (£11.70 compared with £12.40 for an Off Peak day return)
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Come December, SWT from Windsor goes up to 4 an hour. Much more capacity.
 
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SWT_USER said:
Not sure what the signalling is like on the Windsor branch from Staines but I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to run some extras from Waterloo. A 10 coach 458/ 707 would provide much more capacity than anything from Central to Slough could provide (branch is a 3 coach turbo as a maximum iirc)
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I think any extras to Windsor Riverside would interesting. Might upset a few road users along the route though with extended level crossing down times to run the extra trains.

randyrippley said:
Prisoner of War???
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Well Charles might think he was a prisoner of Diana :P
 
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Class 170101 said:
I think any extras to Windsor Riverside would interesting. Might upset a few road users along the route though with extended level crossing down times to run the extra trains.
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They’ll have to get used to a 4 tph 10 car service all day from December anyway...
 
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SWTrainspottin said:
No confirmation of a direct service from Paddington, but there was a 5 car Turbo on the Windsor Branch this morning for testing formed of 165124 and 166217. This ran to test what is required for a 5 car to work on the line for various future events, one of them being the royal wedding.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/V42500/2018/02/21/advanced
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AIUI: Platform extensions*, or use of Turbos with selective door opening (as required on the Weymouth line).

*Or partial demolition of Windsor's tourist trap shopping centre that's occupying the platform trackbed! :lol:
 
Trainfan344

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For the royal wedding, could SWR run some special services Waterloo - Clapham Jn - Windsor?
 
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Trainfan344 said:
For the royal wedding, could SWR run some special services Waterloo - Clapham Jn - Windsor?
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They will probably divert the Weybridge service to Windsor and run buses between Virginia Water and Weybridge in their place.
 
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JonathanH said:
They will probably divert the Weybridge service to Windsor and run buses between Virginia Water and Weybridge in their place.
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As its a Saturday couldn't they make sure there was enough stock available to run a shuttle by train, as it is only one weekend?
 
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Class43 said:
What is the final plan for this event? Are GWR running five cars over the weekend to WNC?
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I'm sure I've read elsewhere (possibly on a local newspaper website) that it's 4 car turbos for the day (so 2x 2 car class 165).

I'd suggest that the Windsor branch could benefit from a mid-way passing loop, between Chalvey and Eton Wick Rd, enabling 2 trains to run on on the branch when required. The branch was of course originally double track.
 
cactustwirly

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Bletchleyite said:
Every 20 minutes which is what it normally is, being basically one unit going back and forth with little layover.

As a 3 car unit is the norm in summer that's only 1/3 capacity uplift. I reckon they'll need some buses too.
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It's normally a 2 car unit, so 4 cars is a 100% capacity increase.
 
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The branch, which is probably seen as an insignificant twig by those who don't have experience of it, is probably the busiest "One engine in steam" branch in the country. Often run with a 3-car unit, which nevertheless at peak periods can have substantial standing. It's not just a tourist line, but a substantial commuter route, both for connections and for the local trip. Ever since the old Eton-Windsor bridge over the Thames was closed a generation ago it has formed a far more practical route between the two towns than the bus, which has to go round maybe three times the distance over the main road bridge, and due to traffic congestion can take considerably longer.
 
cactustwirly

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Bletchleyite said:
I've definitely seen 3 in summer, quite regularly, unless they have stopped that.
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It's been 2 cars almost every time I've seen it!

Anyway I believe that 4 cars is the maximum that will fit down there, and 3tph is the maximum that can run.
 
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Bletchleyite said:
Every 20 minutes which is what it normally is, being basically one unit going back and forth with little layover.

As a 3 car unit is the norm in summer that's only 1/3 capacity uplift. I reckon they'll need some buses too.
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The local bus routes through Windsor (and even Eton over the river) are all diverted from the usual routes on the day, anyone going by bus probably has a 10-15 minute walk to the Castle.

https://www.firstgroup.com/berkshir...updates/news/royal-wedding-service-diversions
http://www.reading-buses.co.uk/articles/closure-of-central-windsor-roads-18-20-masy-2018/
http://www.courtneybuses.com/files/Royal-Wedding-Information-2018.pdf

Courtney Buses: If you are intending to use the bus to get to Windsor on the day, please be mindful that we are unable to get close to the town centre and there will be a walk for you to reach your destination.
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STEVIEBOY1

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I wonder how busy the SWR Trains will be, I assume they will be 8 or 10 carriages, I wonder if there will be extra services too, or just the normal two trains per hour.
 
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