Oxford to Basingstoke?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

A new route to me for through GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) trains ... though Cross Country do it, of course.

05:19 Oxford to Basingstoke due 06:27
Facilities on the 05:19 Oxford to Basingstoke due 06:27.
This is due to a fault on this train.
Will be formed of 2 coaches instead of 3.

Is this new from last December?

[IndustryInsider]

Yes, new, with a mid-evening return. Purely for operational convenience unlike a Gatwick service that a few might find useful.

[stuving]

Yes, new, with a mid-evening return. Purely for operational convenience unlike a Gatwick service that a few might find useful.

But that operationally-convenient sleepover at Oxford (to avoid the queue for the bathroom at Reading Depot, I guess) used to become a Gatwick train from Reading, didn't it? I wonder if the change is to do with the more or less imminent introduction of 769s.

[GWR 158]

I have seen that every weekday there is one inbound and one outbound service Oxford to Basingstoke and vice versa. https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P69376/2021-02-15/detailed
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P68531/2021-02-15/detailed

These are today's (15/02/21) workings from Realtime trains.

[bobm]

I understand both will run only between Reading and Basingstoke from May.

[GWR 158]

Bobm, why are they changing it?

[bobm]

I don’t know the answer to that.  I do know there will be a train running in the path of the morning service as far as Reading from Oxford but then continuing to Paddington.