Night Riviera: Why doesn't it call at Taunton on Sunday night/Monday morning?

[Mac2812]

Anybody know why the up and down Night Riveira does not stop at Taunton on a Sunday night / Monday morning? It does every other night.

Granted this week it isn't, due to engineering works at Tiverton, but I mean usually !

 

[cakefiend]

Not from the area, but suspect staffing issues. Do GWR roster a dispatcher there on a Sunday?

 

[cambsy]

It’s for potential engineering work, sending it via Honion and Yeovil, which admittedly is rare, but can happen, don’t think there’s staffing issues at Taunton, which make it not possible to stop, and I’m not aware of any other reasons for it not stopping Taunton on the Sunday night service.

 

[JonathanH]

It means that the train can be diverted via Honiton / Yeovil / Castle Cary without the need to arrange alternative transport for Taunton passengers.

 

[Adam0984]

I seem to remember at one time the Sunday journey was via the route between Reading and Exeter via Basingstoke so didn't go through Taunton

 

[irish_rail]

It always runs via Yeovil on a Sunday night and runs round and reverses at Exeter to continue west. This is for engineering work.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

It always runs via Yeovil on a Sunday night and runs round and reverses at Exeter to continue west. This is for engineering work.

No it doesn’t. It occasionally runs via Yeovil when the main route via Taunton is blocked.

To add - the additional difficulty then is that the stock has been turned, which causes problems with short platforms in Cornwall. The Up train must be re-turned before returning (lol) to Cornwall on Monday night so performs some awkward manoeuvres around the triangle at Reading West and Tilehurst to get into Reading depot. There was a Q path in the timetable for running via Wycombe and Oxford but to my knowledge it’s never been utilised. The Down train is pre-turned around the Reading triangle on Sunday evening prior to going ECS to Padd for the down Sunday night.

 

[irish_rail]

No it doesn’t. It occasionally runs via Yeovil when the main route via Taunton is blocked.

To add - the additional difficulty then is that the stock has been turned, which causes problems with short platforms in Cornwall. The Up train must be re-turned before returning (lol) to Cornwall on Monday night so performs some awkward manoeuvres around the triangle at Reading West and Tilehurst to get into Reading depot. There was a Q path in the timetable for running via Wycombe and Oxford but to my knowledge it’s never been utilised. The Down train is pre-turned around the Reading triangle on Sunday evening prior to going ECS to Padd for the down Sunday night.

I always assumed it was every Sunday but then as I don't work Sundays its hardly surprising I got that wrong!

 

[Mac2812]

Not from the area, but suspect staffing issues. Do GWR roster a dispatcher there on a Sunday?

No they don't. But equally that is more BECAUSE the sleeper doesn't stop there, rather than being a reason it doesn't

I always assumed it was every Sunday but then as I don't work Sundays its hardly surprising I got that wrong!

I always assumed that it was something to do with engineering works. Thank you all

 

[Deafdoggie]

Why does it miss out Hayle & Par towards London too? Always seemed a bit odd to me as calls at both in the other direction and it’s not short of time.

 

[47827]

Why does it miss out Hayle & Par towards London too? Always seemed a bit odd to me as calls at both in the other direction and it’s not short of time.

Those stops are historical on the Cornish bound service into Penzance as it used to form a Cornish commuter train. They just haven't been removed as yet. Other services now perform that task in Cornwall, which is just as well given the rules regarding slam door stock that came in this year that now mean the Night Riviera can no longer carry local passengers on the Plymouth to Penzance legs.

 

[irish_rail]

Those stops are historical on the Cornish bound service into Penzance as it used to form a Cornish commuter train. They just haven't been removed as yet. Other services now perform that task in Cornwall, which is just as well given the rules regarding slam door stock that came in this year that now mean the Night Riviera can no longer carry local passengers on the Plymouth to Penzance legs.

One major downside of not being allowed to carry commuters anymore being that the riviera now leaves plymouth 7 minutes after a stopper, so is signal checked right through Cornwall, even with relaxed driving. Unfortunately this no doubt makes sleep for passengers that bit more difficult.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Always surprises me they didn't find a workaround for that, such as locking the windows with a "break glass" and having the guard manually operate one door on the seated coaches. It's like they didn't want to find one.

 

[irish_rail]

Always surprises me they didn't find a workaround for that, such as locking the windows with a "break glass" and having the guard manually operate one door on the seated coaches. It's like they didn't want to find one.

Or even easier just a bit of retiming of the sleeper , let it run 10 minutes later, and perhaps alter the XC behind it to run a few mins later as well. Job done. No cost, and a good nights sleep! Going to be particularly challenging for drivers on the 57 with leaf fall fast approaching and all those cautionary signals!

 

[co-tr-paul]

Mostly gets in early especially on a Saturday!

 

[irish_rail]

Mostly gets in early especially on a Saturday!

No it doesn't! We have to wait for the 074x departure off PZ to leave and if running on time or early get held at Marazion for it to pass on the single line. To arrive early is now pretty much impossible mon thru Fri, no idea about Saturday mind.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

It’s a difficult train to path on Saturday mornings, there’s a Bow-Burngullow class 6 freight path that overtakes it at Plymouth and then just generally gets in the way from a planning perspective.

 

[47827]

The train was a lot more slackly timed in Cornwall when I used to use it a fair bit up to 2002 and arrival times were typically in the 0805 to 0815 sort of period over that era although early arrivals could occur. Sometimes you would be booked to wait to let eastbound trains pass in 3 possible locations (now only 2 since there's no single section on the Truro to Redruth leg now). It tended to have 15 to 20 mins longer to cross Cornwall and would frequently sit about a few minutes at many of the stations en route with the exception of those between Redruth and St Erth. On Mondays it often had a much later arrival with a post 06xx (sometimes post 7am) start time off Plymouth and could be 09xx into Penzance after taking all manner of routes to Exeter and sitting about there or Plymouth longer than usual (sometimes awaiting the line to come off a block). In all those years I don't ever recall any regular Bristol or Taunton calls on Sunday nights aside from for operational reasons sometimes. The pickup or set down only stop at Bristol the rest of the week was withdrawn completely again a few years after I stopped using them as the operator wanted more flexibility and no responsibility to small groups of passengers who may need replacement transport in the event of short notice diversion or engineering works.

 

[Gloster]

Sometimes you would be booked to wait to let eastbound trains pass in 3 possible locations (now only 2 since there's no single section on the Truro to Redruth leg now).

Wasn’t the single-line Burngullow to Probus, to the east of Truro, not between Truro and Redruth?

EDIT: You could also add the section of single-line between the middle of the Royal Albert Bridge and Saltash.

 

[47827]

Wasn’t the single-line Burngullow to Probus, to the east of Truro, not between Truro and Redruth?

EDIT: You could also add the section of single-line between the middle of the Royal Albert Bridge and Saltash.

Sorry, yes that's the bit I was thinking of. Hadn't included the Royal Albert Bridge as it wasn't somewhere for being stopped regularly on that sleeper due to its early departure from Plymouth and no passenger traffic going east at that point in the morning.

 

[brad465]

Is this now the only timetabled passenger service to run non-stop through Taunton station itself (when it can go that way)? I know the Cornish Riviera and a few other services were non-stop Reading-Exeter/vice versa before the Dec 19 timetable change.

 

[D6975]

Totnes is another uni-directional stop too. The up stops there, the down doesn't.

 

[geoffk]

One major downside of not being allowed to carry commuters anymore being that the riviera now leaves plymouth 7 minutes after a stopper, so is signal checked right through Cornwall, even with relaxed driving. Unfortunately this no doubt makes sleep for passengers that bit more difficult.

I didn't know the sleeper was no longer "allowed" to carry commuters into Cornwall. Is this because there's no longer any seated accommodation or just because there's a local train in front of it?

 

[221129]

I didn't know the sleeper was no longer "allowed" to carry commuters into Cornwall. Is this because there's no longer any seated accommodation or just because there's a local train in front of it?

It's set down only after Newton Abbot.

 

[Clarence Yard]

I didn't know the sleeper was no longer "allowed" to carry commuters into Cornwall. Is this because there's no longer any seated accommodation or just because there's a local train in front of it?

The ORR didn’t like it. Their quest to see the end of slam doors - no mitigation measures were acceptable so it had to end and a local train was introduced to take the commuting punters.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Totnes is another uni-directional stop too. The up stops there, the down doesn't.

Thats more to do with how early the down call would be I think - 0410ish is a bit early to be alighting even from a sleeper train!

 

[irish_rail]

It's set down only after Newton Abbot.

Until the train infront gets cancelled and then they do allow passengers to join, observed just that yesterday when 0518 off plymouth was caped.

 

[47827]

Thats more to do with how early the down call would be I think - 0410ish is a bit early to be alighting even from a sleeper train!

Not the main reason but also handy in autumn as the loco gets a run at the gradients by not having to call there. In olden days hst formed services would skip the westbound stop at Totnes if control had permitted the train to continue with only 1 power car working. Prior to that the pilot loco simply attached at Exeter until that became too difficult and expensive.

 

[Halsebee]

Is this now the only timetabled passenger service to run non-stop through Taunton station itself (when it can go that way)? I know the Cornish Riviera and a few other services were non-stop Reading-Exeter/vice versa before the Dec 19 timetable change.

There is sometimes a XC Plymouth Manchester train on a Sunday PM not timetablled to stop at Taunton. I think this is the only one now (but stand to be corrected). I don't know why this train only runs on certain Sundays.

 

[LordCreed]

I'm unsure it's still the case, but Taunton used to have no night time dispatcher on a Saturday and Sunday night. Although, that in itself isn't a reason to not call, as one could be rostered if required...