Weird scheduled stop!

[43021HST]

Yesterday I caught the 0817 Bristol Temple meads to Paddington HST from Reading. One thing that suprised me was that it made a scheduled stop at Twyford. Why would a Class 43 need to stop at Twyford? Twyford is only a village. Any answers anyone?

 

[NSEFAN]

Because some influencial person who lives there simply must have a direct train at 0825 in the morning to get to work.

That's usually the reason for strange stops like this one. 0825 is quite convenient for London commuters. Did anyone get on the train at Twyford?

 

[thefab444]

The call is probably a result of it being a Saturday timetable at the moment, so some of the additional Oxford - Paddington services are not running, which usually provide a fast service for Twyford IIRC.

 

[43021HST]

Because some influencial person who lives there simply must have a direct train at 0825 in the morning to get to work.

That's usually the reason for strange stops like this one. 0825 is quite convenient for London commuters. Did anyone get on the train at Twyford?

A few people got on

 

[pemma]

There used to be a call at Hartford on certain Liverpool-London services. If you didn't know the area you'd think Hartford is a small village in central Cheshire, why would the train stop here? But if you know the area then you realised that the train stopping at Hartford meant less people had to drive to Crewe and more drive a much shorter distance to Hartford. Although, since Virgin protisied faster London services over serving more commuties stops at Hartford for London services have ceased.

 

[adc82140]

Twyford is more than just a village- the station is the interchange for the Henley branch, and also serves the eastern parts of Reading like the huge estates at Woodley. Residents of Wokingham also travel there (it's only a 10 minute drive) to get a faster train to London than SWT can provide from Wokingham station.

There are three scheduled HST stops during the evening peak, on the 17:06, 18:06 and 19:33 departures from Paddington. On all these trains, an 8 car service is full and standing at Paddington, but runs virtually empty beyond Twyford- that gives an idea of how many people are using Twyford station.

 

[thefab444]

I wouldn't say that was entirely true. I've done the 18:06 Paddington - Frome from Twyford before, and despite a good number of pax getting off there, it was still pretty full! It took about 3 - 4 minutes to dispatch though, due to a lack of staff and general poor behaviour by the pax (leaving doors open etc.).

 

[ukrob]

There used to be a call at Hartford on certain Liverpool-London services. If you didn't know the area you'd think Hartford is a small village in central Cheshire, why would the train stop here? But if you know the area then you realised that the train stopping at Hartford meant less people had to drive to Crewe and more drive a much shorter distance to Hartford. Although, since Virgin protisied faster London services over serving more commuties stops at Hartford for London services have ceased.

Quite rightly too.

Do you honestly think that Virgin Trains (or East Coast, or East Midlands Trains express services) should stop at every little shack with a population of less than 25k (which Hertford is)?

 

[curly42]

Yesterday I caught the 0817 Bristol Temple meads to Paddington HST from Reading. One thing that suprised me was that it made a scheduled stop at Twyford. Why would a Class 43 need to stop at Twyford? Twyford is only a village. Any answers anyone?

Why would it surprise you that the train made a scheduled stop ?

 

[43021HST]

Twyford is more than just a village- the station is the interchange for the Henley branch, and also serves the eastern parts of Reading like the huge estates at Woodley. Residents of Wokingham also travel there (it's only a 10 minute drive) to get a faster train to London than SWT can provide from Wokingham station.

There are three scheduled HST stops during the evening peak, on the 17:06, 18:06 and 19:33 departures from Paddington. On all these trains, an 8 car service is full and standing at Paddington, but runs virtually empty beyond Twyford- that gives an idea of how many people are using Twyford station.

If its so important why do they only provide very few HST trains for it?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Why would it surprise you that the train made a scheduled stop ?

Cos it was in the schedule but its not usually in the schedule

 

[devon_metro]

Both the 0630 and 0700 Bristol TM - Paddington are scheduled to stop at Twyford, to replace HST calls from commuter HSTs through the Thames Valley which aren't running due to Xmas.

In the evening, the 1733 Padd - Paignton calls Twyford along with the 1815 Padd - Cheltenham

 

[adc82140]

If its so important why do they only provide very few HST trains for it?

Twyford is very much commuter belt. I don't think there is sufficient demand outside these hours. There are already four stoppiing services an hour off peak in each direction, two of which connect with fast services at Slough.

 

[merlodlliw]

There used to be a call at Hartford on certain Liverpool-London services. If you didn't know the area you'd think Hartford is a small village in central Cheshire, why would the train stop here? But if you know the area then you realised that the train stopping at Hartford meant less people had to drive to Crewe and more drive a much shorter distance to Hartford. Although, since Virgin protisied faster London services over serving more commuties stops at Hartford for London services have ceased.

The London services stopped at Hartford due to ICI at Northwich, it was the
nearest station on the main line, ICI Mond was a vast employer in the area.

And yes, like a few areas in Cheshire, it was leafy & Rich, London trains called there
up to a few years ago, it also had a big catchment area, also it avoided car to Crewe.


M

 

[TheWalrus]

Twyford is more than just a village- the station is the interchange for the Henley branch, and also serves the eastern parts of Reading like the huge estates at Woodley. Residents of Wokingham also travel there (it's only a 10 minute drive) to get a faster train to London than SWT can provide from Wokingham station.

There are three scheduled HST stops during the evening peak, on the 17:06, 18:06 and 19:33 departures from Paddington. On all these trains, an 8 car service is full and standing at Paddington, but runs virtually empty beyond Twyford- that gives an idea of how many people are using Twyford station.

Na they are still full after departure from Reading. Can't vouch for the 18:33 (not 19:33 as you stated, think this was a mistake). Have to agree with Celia on this one

 

[mindfeeder]

I remember being on a fast Chiltern Service up to Birmingham once, it stopped at the usual suspects, Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Dorridge, Solihull and for some reason, Tyseley! The fast trains never stop there and the stop wasn't even advertised.

 

[Mojo]

Lots of CH services call at Tyseley to swap drivers, although normally when I see it they only stop as far enough for the cab door to be on the platform.

 

[mindfeeder]

Lots of CH services call at Tyseley to swap drivers, although normally when I see it they only stop as far enough for the cab door to be on the platform.

This didn't happen though, the train doors were actually opened and unlocked on and a few old dears got on on this occasion.

 

[The Planner]

Its a bit cheeky too, its not in the WTT either as a stop. Crew changes en-route should be shown. I think they have got a bit of a slapped wrist about it before.

 

[dk1]

It still doesnt seem right that HSTs call at the likes of Starcross, Saltash & St.Germans since the SW franchise changeover a few years back. Somehow Dawlish Warren seems fine as it was always historical with Summer holiday extras.

 

[pemma]

Quite rightly too.

Do you honestly think that Virgin Trains (or East Coast, or East Midlands Trains express services) should stop at every little shack with a population of less than 25k (which Hartford is)?

The numbers that boarded some London trains at Hartford were similar to the number that currently board some peak trains at Stockport. The combined population of Northwich, Hartford and Weaverham is over 30,000. The catchment area of a station isn't just the closest homes and businesses to the station, otherwise London Euston would have one of the smallest station usages in the country being so close to Kings Cross, St Pancras and Marylebone.

 

[atillathehunn]

I thought I ought to jump in here since the conversation has turned to my home town (Hartford). I live not far from Hartford station (probably all of 1km) and am only 500m away from the railway itself. I use this service a lot, and so does my father who commutes to Warwick almost everyday. You would amazed at the number of people in this "small village" who use the train every day - and the Virgin service to London was very well patronised when it was in use, along with the Cross Country service that used to call there many years ago. The amount of people buying through tickets to London from the ticket office would probably amount to more than from Crewe (where you currently have to change). You will now respond by saying that it is only a short hop from Hartford to Crewe, where you can pick up a London train. However, it is not all that simple. Virgin trains have cut down the number of trains calling at Crewe, with most Glasgow and Liverpool trains running straight through, and they have also altered the timetable which means that they almost all run non-stop to Euston, ruling out any journeys to the Home Counties. Furthermore, the train every hour that stops at Hartford always used to follow a London train, however gradual timetable changes (for the better, I would hasten to add) under London Midland operation of the Liverpool - Birmingham services means that the London train now follows the slower train to Birmingham as far as the quadrupling of the track just south of Winsford, such that the London train would probably not be travelling at its maximum speed and have some padding in the service, so a call at Hartford would not be out of the question in terms of time lost. The catchment area for Hartford station is not inconsiderable, as has already been pointed out. Winsford and Acton Bridge (the other stations on the WCML in this area) do not have a good service, and the trains on the line through Greenbank and Northwich travel to Manchester and Chester, giving a long journey to those wishing to travel to an intercity train in those directions (it's 1hr 3mins to Manchester, and 40mins to Chester). These are the only stations in the area and the lines are limited. Here ends my defence of our small village.

 

[pemma]

Virgin trains have cut down the number of trains calling at Crewe, with most Glasgow and Liverpool trains running straight through, and they have also altered the timetable which means that they almost all run non-stop to Euston, ruling out any journeys to the Home Counties.

I was going to say that the enhanced Wilmslow and Chester services now call at Crewe, but then I realised that when the Glasgow and Liverpool trains called at Crewe there were an additional 5 Wilmslow trains per day and an additional 5 Chester/North Wales trains a day, so it's actually is a loss of 10 trains per day which is quite a lot.

 

[37401]

Back in 2008 I saw a GC HST pull in at Doncaster, My reaction when the rear PC went past cannot be repeated here but it was dreadful!

 

[MCR247]

Back in 2008 I saw a GC HST pull in at Doncaster, My reaction when the rear PC went past cannot be repeated here but it was dreadful!

Wrong thread? :?

 

[37401]

Wrong thread? :?

nope, it was an odd scheduled stop

 

[MCR247]

The last part makes no sense?

 

[atillathehunn]

Unfortunately there has been a continual reduction in the number of trains calling at Crewe, and the station has fallen into disrepair. I particularly welcome the introduction of the London Midland stopping service to London, as a student I appreciate the cheap seats. However, these services are no replacement for express services calling at a station that has a large catchment area (because the express trains don't stop anywhere else particularly in Cheshire) but also because the station is still an important junction. It seems that striving to cut down journey times on the West Coast route has led to some reduction in the number of trains calling at sensible stations. I will excuse Virgin Trains letting the Glasgow Central trains run fast (most of the day) to Warrington, as the train needs to be competitive over air travel. However, the journey times to Manchester and Liverpool will not be considerably increased by allowing a few extra stops - even once per hour - will not detrimentally impact journey times. And is anyone actually in that much of a hurry to get to Manchester??

 

[Andrew]

And is anyone actually in that much of a hurry to get to Manchester??

I am! I'm enjoying my 3tph all taking less than 2h10, thank you.

 

[ukrob]

Unfortunately there has been a continual reduction in the number of trains calling at Crewe, and the station has fallen into disrepair. I particularly welcome the introduction of the London Midland stopping service to London, as a student I appreciate the cheap seats. However, these services are no replacement for express services calling at a station that has a large catchment area (because the express trains don't stop anywhere else particularly in Cheshire) but also because the station is still an important junction. It seems that striving to cut down journey times on the West Coast route has led to some reduction in the number of trains calling at sensible stations. I will excuse Virgin Trains letting the Glasgow Central trains run fast (most of the day) to Warrington, as the train needs to be competitive over air travel. However, the journey times to Manchester and Liverpool will not be considerably increased by allowing a few extra stops - even once per hour - will not detrimentally impact journey times. And is anyone actually in that much of a hurry to get to Manchester??

And I am perfectly happy with the speeded up Liverpool services thanks.

 

[pemma]

I am! I'm enjoying my 3tph all taking less than 2h10, thank you.

But it would be more logical to have 6 trains an hour between Manchester and York than 3 trains an hour in the off-peak between Manchester and London. I've been on Manchester-London off peak trains that haven't carried more than around 60 standard class passengers in total on a Manchester-London journey, not just 60 at a time.