Parly Train in West London Reported to be Replaced by a Bus

[tbtc]

It seems crazy that so much attention/ money is being spent on this daft box ticking exercise

It seems crazier that it’s apparently fine for the (government run) Northern to effectively abandon entire lines for several months at a time (Pontefract Monkhill, Brigg, Wakefield to Huddersfield, Doncaster to Scunthorpe… basically a large chunk of a Yorkshire routes as long as they don’t inconvenience Leeds)…

… or for operators like TPE to decide later in the evening which 75% of services to scrap for the following day (to avoid having to honour any delays/ cancellations)…

…but the railway HAS to go to such silly lengths to “maintain” a short section of track in That London - just scrap it, nobody but the occasional crank would notice

Could we not just subcontract the Acton - Northolt service to Northern, fail to actually operate any trains along it for months at a time, simply shrug our shoulders and refuse to refund anybody inconvenienced? Or is that approach to customer service only applicable on certain lines?

(Removes tongue from cheek)

 

[Bertone]

Yes, other operators use the tracks. GWR are still running West Ealing-Greenford and IIRC there's a domestic waste flow from Park Royal to Calvert. Not sure if any freight uses the Greenford-West Ruislip direct curve but it isn't worth closing it. At the very least West Coast and LSL would object as they use the Greenford triangle to turn their locos occassionally.

Don’t think there is a domestic waste flow from Park Royal to Calvert now, as a good few months ago the track beyond Quainton Road station was lifted because of HS2 preparatory works.

 

[Sunil_P]

I must be an occasional crank

 

[800002]

Don’t think there is a domestic waste flow from Park Royal to Calvert now, as a good few months ago the track beyond Quainton Road station was lifted because of HS2 preparatory works.

Correct. It is all now going to Quinton Road railhead to discharge the building materials for HS2.

 

[Bertone]

Correct. It is all now going to Quinton Road railhead to discharge the building materials for HS2.

I presume the HS2 railhead is beyond the station and road bridge?
Can‘t seem find any online information on location except closure of Station Road.

 

[xotGD]

I must be an occasional crank

No, definitely a permanent crank!

 

[12LDA28C]

I did the track Greenford LUL Bay Jn to Greenford West in March 2019.

(not to be confused with the Old Oak Common to Northolt Jn service way back in the 1990s)

Chiltern ran out of Paddington until late 2018 with the line via Park Royal closing for HS2 construction, hence the Chiltern service being diverted to West Ealing

I believe it was once posted that the route was not ever required by Chiltern’s franchise spec. It was also once posted that it didn’t maintain enough route knowledge, and when it was last used by Chiltern into Paddington they needed FOC route pilots anyway.

Incorrect.

A link of 48 drivers at Aylesbury signed Paddington, no route conductors were needed, unlike on the several occasions when GWR ran into Marylebone when Freightliner drivers were used to conduct GW drivers.

Yes, other operators use the tracks. GWR are still running West Ealing-Greenford and IIRC there's a domestic waste flow from Park Royal to Calvert. Not sure if any freight uses the Greenford-West Ruislip direct curve but it isn't worth closing it. At the very least West Coast and LSL would object as they use the Greenford triangle to turn their locos occassionally.

You're rather behind the times there I'm afraid. The line to Calvert was severed and lifted many months ago north of Quainton for HS2 construction to take place.

Another little benefit for the Chiltern point of view is that it frees up a guard, who could be used on more important services.

Rather more of a benefit is it frees up a 2-car unit which can be used to strengthen a service where there is rather more demand!

 

[185143]

I hope no one else went to do it today as it didn't run. Apparently the train ran from Marylebone to West Ruislip then simply returned direct to Marylebone. A friend who went to do it wasted his time.

Yep. The staff at West Ealing said a few of us had turned up to do it as well.

 

[12LDA28C]

Yep. The staff at West Ealing said a few of us had turned up to do it as well.

You've still got four more attempts to get it in if you're that keen. It always make me chuckle how a particular service or type of train can run for years and years with nobody taking any interest then as soon as that loco / unit / service is slated for withdrawal, suddenly the whole world turns up right at the end. It was ever thus.

 

[DanNCL]

What passenger trains use this line on diversion?

Caledonian Sleeper when the Northern WCML is shut but Euston is open. The route is Euston - Wembley, reverse, via Primrose Hill and the NLL-ECML connector then north on the ECML to Edinburgh.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Worth mentioning here I think is that Chiltern Railways have an aspiration to reopen the "Birkenhead Line" between Old Oak Common and South Ruisiip. The plan would be to have a dedicated platform at the new West London meg-hub at Old Oak Common and divert a few trains there away from Marylebone. Old Oak Common will have much better connectivity than relatively-isolated Marylebone and might become the preferred terminus. This would create a range of journey opportunities such as Banbury-Heathrow, Bicester-Slough, High Wycombe-Woolwich, etc.

 

[800002]

I presume the HS2 railhead is beyond the station and road bridge?
Can‘t seem find any online information on location except closure of Station Road.

Believe offload is south of the station as I recall seeing the 'stopblocks' in the station itself.

 

[Bertone]

Believe offload is south of the station as I recall seeing the 'stopblocks' in the station itself.

Thanks for info 800002.
I think I have just found the place on Google maps, albeit not quite up to date possibly.

 

[800002]

Thanks for info 800002.
I think I have just found the place on Google maps, albeit not quite up to date possibly.

You're most welcome.

Update: it is very much south of the station complex.

Three trains per day (planned) (Two on Saturday) of you wish to go take tale pictures.

 

[Bertone]

You're most welcome.

Update: it is very much south of the station complex.

Three trains per day (planned) (Two on Saturday) of you wish to go take tale pictures.

I might do that with the excuse to my wife that it’s only a short detour on the way to the National Trust Waddesdon Manor !

 

[DelW]

You've still got four more attempts to get it in if you're that keen. It always make me chuckle how a particular service or type of train can run for years and years with nobody taking any interest then as soon as that loco / unit / service is slated for withdrawal, suddenly the whole world turns up right at the end. It was ever thus.

It's been a well-known trip for, ahem, "occasional cranks" for quite a few years. I did it each way years ago, back in the days when it still ran to Paddington. There were three passengers on the up service but I was the only one on the down.
Approaching Greenford on the return trip, we were held for a while at signals for a freight train to pass in front of us. The train crew saw me trying to photograph the semaphores at an awkward angle through a window, and invited me up to the cab to take my pictures through the windscreen. The driver kindly let me stay in the cab up to South Ruislip to get some more shots of the line.
IIRC the train terminated in West Ruislip up passenger loop, the guard transferred to another service and the driver took it ECS back into Marylebone.

 

[alf]

Worth mentioning here I think is that Chiltern Railways have an aspiration to reopen the "Birkenhead Line" between Old Oak Common and South Ruisiip. The plan would be to have a dedicated platform at the new West London meg-hub at Old Oak Common and divert a few trains there away from Marylebone. Old Oak Common will have much better connectivity than relatively-isolated Marylebone and might become the preferred terminus. This would create a range of journey opportunities such as Banbury-Heathrow, Bicester-Slough, High Wycombe-Woolwich, etc.

I have heard this aspiration a long time ago on the forum & elsewhere.
It is a very sensible idea. Everyone I mention it to agrees.

But ages ago someone on the forum depressed me by saying no land had been allocated for a Chiltern platform/platforms at OOC

Is anyone pushing it forward apart from Chiltern?
It is a shame, but true, that Tocs don’t have much clout these days.

 

[Basil Jet]

I have heard this aspiration a long time ago on the forum & elsewhere.
It is a very sensible idea. Everyone I mention it to agrees.

But ages ago someone on the forum depressed me by saying no land had been allocated for a Chiltern platform/platforms at OOC

Is anyone pushing it forward apart from Chiltern?
It is a shame, but true, that Tocs don’t have much clout these days.

Since the Overground platforms at OOC seem to be a dead plan, would serving OOC give Chiltern anything they couldn't get by running to West Ealing now? Chiltern to Heathrow would be quicker via West Ealing. Chiltern to HS2 seems pointless for any but a small number of journeys, and helping people from South Ruislip get to Birmingham via HS2 would abstract Chiltern's revenue.

 

[12LDA28C]

Worth mentioning here I think is that Chiltern Railways have an aspiration to reopen the "Birkenhead Line" between Old Oak Common and South Ruisiip. The plan would be to have a dedicated platform at the new West London meg-hub at Old Oak Common and divert a few trains there away from Marylebone. Old Oak Common will have much better connectivity than relatively-isolated Marylebone and might become the preferred terminus. This would create a range of journey opportunities such as Banbury-Heathrow, Bicester-Slough, High Wycombe-Woolwich, etc.

I don't think that was a Chiltern aspiration, more a long-term plan by the DfT in relation to EWR with a proposal to run trains from MK - Bletchley - Aylesbury - High Wycombe - Old Oak Common to connect with Crossrail, the GWML and HS2.

Last time I enquired this proposal was such a long way off / delayed indefinitely that it was considered unnecessary for Chiltern drivers to retain any route knowledge over the Greenford route, hence the withdrawal of the Parliamentary service.

I have heard this aspiration a long time ago on the forum & elsewhere.
It is a very sensible idea. Everyone I mention it to agrees.

But ages ago someone on the forum depressed me by saying no land had been allocated for a Chiltern platform/platforms at OOC

Is anyone pushing it forward apart from Chiltern?
It is a shame, but true, that Tocs don’t have much clout these days.

See my reply above. The deferral of the Aylesbury Spur from EWR at Claydon has not helped the situation, despite local town and county councils being in favour of the link.

 

[DavidGrain]

Never managed to do the Chiltern service to West Ealing but I did do it once on a diverted Virgin train running from Birmingham via the Chiltern Line and then past Acton Mainline to Willesden sidings. Did Chiltern to Paddington twice on diverted trains from Birmingham once intentionally and once by chance as I had not checked the timetable.

 

[Horizon22]

So has anyone been on the bus yet?!

 

[Kite159]

So has anyone been on the bus yet?!

Did the bus run yesterday due to the strike?

 

[NorthernSpirit]

MSN

"One of London's last remaining 'ghost trains' is set to be permanently replaced by a rail replacement bus service from next month. The 11.17am Chiltern Railways non-stop train from West Ealing to West Ruislip runs only on Wednesdays, with no return journey, to provide a bare minimum passenger service over a short section of track known as the Acton to Northolt Line."

So another "parly" train appears to be heading for extinction from the December timetable change, being the last vestige of the service that once ran from Paddington to join the Chiltern Main Line.

How long will it be before its replaced by a ghost taxi?

 

[SargeNpton]

Did the bus run yesterday due to the strike?

Cancelled until 11/1/23 according to the published timetable data.

 

[infobleep]

Cancelled until 11/1/23 according to the published timetable data.

Who drives the bus, Chelten staff or a third-party contractor?

 

[Watershed]

Who drives the bus, Chelten staff or a third-party contractor?

It will be contracted out to their rail replacement bus provider - Arriva, I think? They, in turn, will advertise the work to their sub-contractors, and the job will likely end up being done by a local bus company.

 

[infobleep]

It will be contracted out to their rail replacement bus provider - Arriva, I think? They, in turn, will advertise the work to their sub-contractors, and the job will likely end up being done by a local bus company.

If that is the case, why does it need to be cancelled? They can't say it is due to a lack of staff, unless they are struggling to get a bus company to run the service.

 

[CyrusWuff]

If that is the case, why does it need to be cancelled? They can't say it is due to a lack of staff, unless they are struggling to get a bus company to run the service.

At a guess, it's due to the industrial action, on the grounds that if it was still a train, it wouldn't be running either.

 

[Mainline421]

At a guess, it's due to the industrial action, on the grounds that if it was still a train, it wouldn't be running either.

That doesn't really make any sense...

 

[zwk500]

If that is the case, why does it need to be cancelled? They can't say it is due to a lack of staff, unless they are struggling to get a bus company to run the service.

Lack of staff is certainly plausible, it's not just train drivers that are in short supply at the moment.

At a guess, it's due to the industrial action, on the grounds that if it was still a train, it wouldn't be running either.

That doesn't really make any sense...

Yes, this doesn't make much sense unless the bus drivers are also taking action.