Interesting. I'm presuming hourly was the situation before 331 introduction then or has 333 reliability declined?
RTT is also showing the former 08:03 Mancheste Picc - Paignton has returned.
To be honest I'm not sure - in theory 333s could just about cope with the half hourly timetable but you'd only have one spare unit, so overall resilience would be/was poorer.
Given the 332s scrapping, there should be lots of spares for 333s and they've always been pretty reliable.
Interesting one, there are some freight and both ScotRail and CrossCountry Empty Stock moves that way but it does appear no actual passenger workings now.
Doubt it been 2 hourly for years and nothing reported locally for it to change
There really isn't, especially as the area is trying to get people out of their cars. This is simply going to put more and more people off using the railways, which frankly seems to be the "new normal" for both government and the industry.
It is not an improvement, all lines are currently 2tph throughout the day. If this is the final plan, it dials back to the cuts of May 2022 with a couple of extras in the peaks.
333s have never resourced the Shipley triangle on their own, there have always been either diesel workings, Dusty Bins or 331s. When BDQ to SKI/ILK was hourly from the May 2022 timetable and throughout the reduced Covid timetable there were plenty of 331 workings. Bare in mind that 331s also work the Leeds to Doncaster services.
All North Cotswold (Oxford) services no longer call at Slough from May. Instead, Paddington-Didcot are fast Paddington-Slough
Realtime Trains | 1D22 1123 London Paddington to Oxford | 22/05/2023
Real-time train running information for 1D22 1123 departure from London Paddington to Oxford on 22/05/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.www.realtimetrains.co.uk
I definetly remember a few 321 diagrams, but I can now see the obvious advantage of cutting back the Bradford services to hourly from a cost perspective.
This does not apply to cars, so has no impact on commuter traffic.
I think you mean non-stop Reading to Exeter, omitting Taunton and Tiverton Parkway - saving 11 mins.
Now starts at Great Malvern as 1P18
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Broadly speaking though there are still some gaps.
Has that Thameslink service ever actually ran?
With the exception of the through services to Carlisle/Lancaster, was there not a few years following the withdrawal of the 308s when 333s were the only traction? Prior to the introduction of 322s and 321s.
The services don't just go between Bradford and Shipley though. Just because a service might be empty one day, doesn't mean it won't be busy the next. As I've said it has always been the case in the past that when the sun comes out, there are often lots of people headed out on impromptu days / evenings out because the frequency allowed them to it. But last summer it was noted by businesses on these destinations that noted and complained about the adverse effect the service reductions were having. Knocking back services when demand is highest is simply daft. The Aire and Wharfe lines have been able to maintain 2tph pretty much since the wires went up, and it has as a result attracted increasing use. This move will reverse that.
No problem, easily done.
I meant an improvement WRT May 22, I am sorry that wasn't clear. I make it 7 or 8 extra services (though 5-6 less than currently).
Sorry I had read it as an improvement on the current timetable. Yes it does include a few extras in the peak on the May 22 timetable, but I am still perplexed as to why any such reduction would be made especially in summer when the Aire & Wharfe lines are more popular to destinations such as Saltaire, Skipton & Ilkley for walk-up customers. Last summer was very notable for how much quieter it was than even the previous summer. I worry that a combination of covid restrictions, operational difficulties & industrial action are being used to cut services using the cover of fewer passengers during these periods. As I say these lines have kept a 2tph service for many years, so cutting them back just as local economies are trying to recover from everything is madness.
It is rather strange, given there'll be the same number of crew, working the same days, and thus requiring the same pay. So there's no savings there. The units aren't being utilised on extra Leeds service that I can see, so there's no saving there either. And Northern will still be paying for the paths, in case they want to bring the services back. So no savings there either! Other than maintenance I can't see what money is being saved, and even that will be marginal.
A bit speculative (I'll start a thread later), but: if there are too many services between Shipley and Bradford, why not cut the Leeds-Bradford route instead? People can change at Shipley once - or twice - per hour, while maintaining the longer-distance routes. The way it's done, it's all or nothing once an hour.
The spare units will just probably sit at Forster Square for hours at a time, giving the added bonus to the punters of having to walk to the far ends of P1/2 when they are occupied by these and needed for units actually running a passenger service. So unless this is an incomplete pattern of services, with more to be loaded, its probably time for me to dust off last year's emails to local politicians to get them asking questions, again.
Also a return to hourly Bournemouth to Manchester rather than 2hourly curtailments at Reading. Does mean they shall all be single sets due to interworking at Manchester. Seems mostly a return to precovid times finally. But not quite full half hourly between reading and Birmingham yet
