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Worcester Shrub Hill saturday services

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Harbornite

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Got a few questions. Am I right in saying that no Class 180's are used on saturdays on the Cotswold line services, and do you know which services are booked for Class 158's? I was under the impression that the Brighton services are worked by 158's even though they are booked for other sprinters. I'm aware that services to Weymouth are 150s while the majority of cotswold trains are turbos.

Cheers.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/sea...2/0600-2000?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt&toc=GW
 
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PHILIPE

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Got a few questions. Am I right in saying that no Class 180's are used on saturdays on the Cotswold line services, and do you know which services are booked for Class 158's? I was under the impression that the Brighton services are worked by 158's even though they are booked for other sprinters. I'm aware that services to Weymouth are 150s while the majority of cotswold trains are turbos.

Cheers.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/sea...2/0600-2000?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt&toc=GW

There are no 180s booked out over the weekend but, in practice, they do appear on occasions. The Brightons are booked only for 158/9s although, again. 150s may appear but not booked. There is a booked 158/9 to Weymouth, but other 158s may appear. Cotswold trains mainly HSTs.
 

Harbornite

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There are no 180s booked out over the weekend but, in practice, they do appear on occasions. The Brightons are booked only for 158/9s although, again. 150s may appear but not booked. There is a booked 158/9 to Weymouth, but other 158s may appear. Cotswold trains mainly HSTs.

Cheers, I have seen 150's and 158's there before on weekends so I'll see what happens. My main target is 70013 Oliver Cromwell btw.
 

Harbornite

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No, the Cotswold Line service on Saturdays is not mainly HSTs. The majority in both directions are Turbos.

Indeed, there are only a handful of HST workings. I'm guessing that there's an equal chance of a 166 or a 165 turning up for the turbo workings?
 

jimm

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Indeed, there are only a handful of HST workings. I'm guessing that there's an equal chance of a 166 or a 165 turning up for the turbo workings?

Should be 166s but a 165 may appear on occasion.
 

Taunton

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Having gone up and down the line a few times recently, the main issue seems to be that loads between Paddington and Reading/Oxford significantly outnumber passenger numbers down to Worcester or Hereford. Therefore it's either overcrowding at the eastern end of the line or a lot of wasted empty stock running for hours on the rest. The Turbos should be capable of dropping half the train at Oxford, but for the 180s and HSTs there seems no easy solution.
 

jimm

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Having gone up and down the line a few times recently, the main issue seems to be that loads between Paddington and Reading/Oxford significantly outnumber passenger numbers down to Worcester or Hereford. Therefore it's either overcrowding at the eastern end of the line or a lot of wasted empty stock running for hours on the rest. The Turbos should be capable of dropping half the train at Oxford, but for the 180s and HSTs there seems no easy solution.

Depends entirely what times of the day and week you mean - you can't generalise about there being a precise split at Oxford.

Peak HSTs from the west on weekday mornings arrive at Oxford near-full, albeit many passengers have joined from Moreton-in-Marsh onwards and the reverse applies in the late afternoon and early evening.

Many Turbo-worked services at the weekend do add and drop another set at Oxford, with weekend Cotswold Line HSTs targeted either at the busiest trains or the ones that run to and from Hereford (except one Turbo round trip on Sundays) on the grounds of passenger comfort and journey time.

On weekdays, the picture is a little more complicated. In future, peak services will require a nine-car or 2x5 formation but for most other jobs the increase in capacity that a five-car 800/AT300 will offer over a 180 should meet demand - even east of Oxford - and if the persistent suggestions that GWR is talking to DfT about more AT300s for Oxford services become reality, then there may well be more options for splitting/joining sets at Oxford at times of the day when that is needed such as one or two peak shoulder trains - and 2x5 formations also offer the possibility of splitting and joining at Worcester.

That the two current weekday off-peak Hereford services are HSTs is simply a reflection of what rolling stock is to hand. If GWR had two or three more 180s on their books, then they would be covering those duties as well - a 280-seat train is clearly far better suited to that sort of service than one with getting on for 600 seats.
 

TEW

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The two current weekday Off Peak Hereford trains aren't both HSTs any more. The first one (0821 from Paddington) has been a Turbo for over a year now.
 

jimm

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The two current weekday Off Peak Hereford trains aren't both HSTs any more. The first one (0821 from Paddington) has been a Turbo for over a year now.

Forgot that, just so used to near-empty HSTs doing those jobs. Not that I would wish three hours plus on a Turbo on anyone, which is where more 180s, or a five-car Class 800, would be far more sensible. Having the 800s will allow GWR to continue towing an extra set to Worcester to drop off there, like one of the 166s drops off the 08.21 from Paddington to go back to London.
 

Taunton

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Peak HSTs from the west on weekday mornings arrive at Oxford near-full, albeit many passengers have joined from Moreton-in-Marsh onwards and the reverse applies in the late afternoon and early evening.
On the evening I took the "Cathedrals Express" HST, fairly full from Paddington at 1822, we had lost more than half by Oxford. Handborough, 10 minutes later, was surprisingly busy, more got out at this onetime halt than at Shrub Hill, by which time there were just a couple of us in the coach, and staff (and taxis) had finished for the evening. The conductor had his work cut out making continual announcements about short platforms, which the "Express" stops at every 10 minutes or so, in fact it's only "Express" aspect compared to the rest of the service is that it doesn't stop at Slough.

A 180 on the return similarly had me in splendid isolation in one coach leaving Shrub Hill and into the Cotswolds in the mid-afternoon, yet we were full and standing from Reading, and well overloaded from Slough.

When I was in the 0821 from Paddington, 2 x 166, I was only going to Oxford. So was the rear set, and so were almost all the passengers it seemed.
 
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jimm

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On the evening I took the "Cathedrals Express" HST, fairly full from Paddington at 1822, we had lost more than half by Oxford. Handborough, 10 minutes later, was surprisingly busy, more got out at this onetime halt than at Shrub Hill, by which time there were just a couple of us in the coach, and staff (and taxis) had finished for the evening. The conductor had his work cut out making continual announcements about short platforms, which the "Express" stops at every 10 minutes or so, in fact it's only "Express" aspect compared to the rest of the service is that it doesn't stop at Slough.

A 180 on the return similarly had me in splendid isolation in one coach leaving Shrub Hill and into the Cotswolds in the mid-afternoon, yet we were full and standing from Reading, and well overloaded from Slough.

When I was in the 0821 from Paddington, 2 x 166, I was only going to Oxford. So was the rear set, and so were almost all the passengers it seemed.

Like I said, it depends on the time of day, also which day it is - get the 16.22 or 17.22 from Paddington most days or the 18.22 on a Friday and you wouldn't have felt lonely until a lot nearer to Worcester.

The rear Turbo set on the 08.21 is locked out of service at Oxford, due to the short platforms on the way to Worcester, where it is dropped off to form the 11.22 back to London. The front set continues through to Hereford.
 

Rich McLean

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For the Cotswolds, its planned for the 9 car sets to be used for the peaks due to the short platforms (some only accommodating 3 coaches).

Running 2 x 5 cars would mean either re-positioning where the set stops (can't be done at stations with starter signals) so that both sets have at least 1 coach plat-formed, or one portion (front or rear depending on station) missing out those station calls altogether.
 

jimm

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For the Cotswolds, its planned for the 9 car sets to be used for the peaks due to the short platforms (some only accommodating 3 coaches).

Running 2 x 5 cars would mean either re-positioning where the set stops (can't be done at stations with starter signals) so that both sets have at least 1 coach plat-formed, or one portion (front or rear depending on station) missing out those station calls altogether.

GWR and Network Rail are now looking at platform extensions along the line, which would be of sufficient length to allow 2x5 to be used as well, but I've no idea on what sort of timescale they are looking at to do this work. The offending signals are at Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh.
 
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