So the big GWR relaunch is now upon us, we have wires to Didcot, new EMUs have been delivered and the GWR marketing machine is primed and ready to go. Trouble is, I can't see this relaunch having any significant impact on GWR's number one problem, which is lack of capacity.
I accept that most passengers will see additional services in the new timetable, however as we saw many years ago, you don't 'add capacity' if you achieve this by reducing seats on existing (busy) services.
Take the old 1P16 service as an example. For those of you unfamiliar with 1P16, it was operated by a 7/8 coach HST, one of only three trains each day that ran non-stop through RDG, and when it departed MAI the aisles were completely full and often left passengers on the platform.
GWR have chosen to replace this with 1P11, which is an 8 coach 387 that now stops at RDG. Not only is this a significant <b>reduction</b> in seating capacity, but by stopping at RDG it completely defeats the purpose of this service which was to keep hundreds of passengers from changing to a 'fast' train at RDG, so now services starting further west will now be <b>busier</b> than before during the morning peak.
Also, with a 4-car 387 having around 35% fewer seats than a 3-car 165, if we start seeing 4-car 387s diagrammed then someone might need to speak to GWR's marketing dept regarding their 'more seats' mantra (to be fair, they stopped using the 'faster trains' line a while back).
Does anyone else fear that the big GWR relaunch will fail to address their core problem of capacity?
I accept that most passengers will see additional services in the new timetable, however as we saw many years ago, you don't 'add capacity' if you achieve this by reducing seats on existing (busy) services.
Take the old 1P16 service as an example. For those of you unfamiliar with 1P16, it was operated by a 7/8 coach HST, one of only three trains each day that ran non-stop through RDG, and when it departed MAI the aisles were completely full and often left passengers on the platform.
GWR have chosen to replace this with 1P11, which is an 8 coach 387 that now stops at RDG. Not only is this a significant <b>reduction</b> in seating capacity, but by stopping at RDG it completely defeats the purpose of this service which was to keep hundreds of passengers from changing to a 'fast' train at RDG, so now services starting further west will now be <b>busier</b> than before during the morning peak.
Also, with a 4-car 387 having around 35% fewer seats than a 3-car 165, if we start seeing 4-car 387s diagrammed then someone might need to speak to GWR's marketing dept regarding their 'more seats' mantra (to be fair, they stopped using the 'faster trains' line a while back).
Does anyone else fear that the big GWR relaunch will fail to address their core problem of capacity?