Cotswold Line redoubling: 2008 - 2011

[whole diary]

[Don]

It's a shame Moreton-Evesham can't be increased to 90mph in places as the track formation would allow it, but I believe it is being ruled out due to the cost of crossing modifications?

Surely the crossings will be replaced as a part of the doubling and re-signaling?  Certainly some will have to change from single to double track and wouldn't crossing speed be mainly dictated by the distance from protecting signals?

[eightf48544]

If they are AHBs then increasing the line speed would mean moving the activating treadles further away from the crossing. With redoubling you can just move the treadle from the single line to the new second line at the same distance at the appropriate end of the crossing.

No new cables etc.

[Class 50]

They are Full Barriers with CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) monitoring, I had also been wondering why the Troughing in 2006 was placed in the formation, when Doubling was on the Horizon. I gather money is very tight.

[willc]

To say redoubling was on the horizon in 2006 isn't true. The SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about) shot down the idea in the last Great Western route utilisation strategy in June 2005 and it was a bit of a bolt from the blue when Network Rail announced in February 2007 that it was going to look at the idea - but the shambles that followed the December 2006 timetable change probably helped to focus minds.

Industry Insider is quite right though that someone ought to have been thinking 'what if?' when planning the troughing work, though in some places finding the edge of the trackbed would probably have needed the kind of major vegetation clearance carried out in recent months

At Ascott-under-Wychwood and Blockley one of the barriers will need to be moved across to the edge of the trackbed, but I haven't been past Chipping Campden or Badsey lately, so can't say for sure if that's the case at those two, though it would seem likely, as most of the barriers went in in the late 1970s, well after the singling was done. I think Campden was the only exception, being done around the time singling happened.

[IndustryInsider]

It's a shame Moreton-Evesham can't be increased to 90mph in places as the track formation would allow it, but I believe it is being ruled out due to the cost of crossing modifications?

Surely the crossings will be replaced as a part of the doubling and re-signaling?  Certainly some will have to change from single to double track and wouldn't crossing speed be mainly dictated by the distance from protecting signals?

Not the major road crossings, more a problem with the numerous unworked farm/foot crossings that proliferate the route from Moreton-Evesham.

On a separate note, happy 75th birthday to Finstock - which was celebrated by morris dancers and locals on the one down train yesterday evening. Just out of interest here's the number of passengers leaving the all-stations peak service the last two evenings:

Combe: 0 and 1
Finstock: 4 and 8 (the second of which is partly due to the anniversary which saw about 30 people on the platform!)
Ascott-U-W: 4 and 3
Shipton: 10 and 5

An average of less than 4 per station stop. Figures from the same train for Hanborough were around 25, Charlbury around 30, Kingham around 25 and Moreton around 20 - though alternative tranins were available to these destinations.

[4101]

On a separate note, happy 75th birthday to Finstock - which was celebrated by morris dancers and locals on the one down train yesterday evening.

Nice to know that the anniversary was celebrated. I was there for the 50th and would have been there yesterday had I known anything was going on, all I had heard was that there definitely would not be any celebration.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, 4101. 

[4101]

Welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, 4101. 

Thanks Chris, nice to discover a Cotswold Line forum!

[Don]

It's a shame Moreton-Evesham can't be increased to 90mph in places as the track formation would allow it, but I believe it is being ruled out due to the cost of crossing modifications?

Surely the crossings will be replaced as a part of the doubling and re-signaling?  Certainly some will have to change from single to double track and wouldn't crossing speed be mainly dictated by the distance from protecting signals?

Not the major road crossings, more a problem with the numerous unworked farm/foot crossings that proliferate the route from Moreton-Evesham.

No the farm crossings are easy - just re-route the phone line to wherever the signal box is. It is the major road crossings, each has some form of treadle-based device to inform the signal box that it is time for the barriers to be lowered and the signals cleared, an increase in train speed must require a movement of this treadle to give the same amount of time.  I gather that there is one south of Kingham that has the treadle north of Kingham station and that as a result, if a train spends too long at the station the barriers can be down for the best part of 10 minutes before the train arrives.

Welcome 4101

Happy birthday to Finstock!  Ha..... Another station with no passengers and limited parking, Close it.

[willc]

Industry Insider is probably right about the farm crossings. There are a great many in the Vale of Evesham and memories are still fresh around here of the accident in July 2003, when three people died and six were injured when an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) crashed into a minibus between Pershore and Evesham.

There were particular issues over language in that case - that the driver didn't understand he needed to call the signalbox - but the area's farms remain heavily dependent on casual labour, from Britain and abroad, who have little or no local knowledge, so something like this could happen again, especially if there are more trains about, never mind what speed they are running at. And fitting indicator lights at each one would cost a packet and probably wouldn't be worth it for the extra 10mph, given that most trains are stopping at all three stations in the area anyway - and redoubling may put Chipping Campden station reopening higher up the priorities list at Gloucestershire County Council.

Treadles are easy enough to move if desired, and the line will be swarming with signalling technicians to do it. But given the proximity of Blockley and Campden crossings - less than two miles apart - you would have to keep the further one of the pair, depending on the direction of the train, closed for a good few minutes ahead of the passage of the train if the speed limit was raised.

And another farm worker - a British agricultural student I seem to recall - destroyed the barriers at Bruern - the crossing near Kingham - in 2001 by trying to race through with a tractor and trailer as they were coming down.

The Finstock celebratons were, I believe, a rather last-minute decision by some of the local CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) people, though they did tell the local media about it. Before reading the story linked below, I should warn btline, stebbo and any others of a nervous disposition from Worcester and Hereford, that the district councillor and CLPG rep Mike Breakell says something likely to upset you - a lot!

 See http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/search/4277859.Party_will_mark_railway_halt_s_birthday/

I trust someone is keeping a count on passenger numbers at times other than a week that is quieter due to school holidays. Around the Easter weekend on the Cotswold Line there always seem to be two different patterns, quiet the week before, then busier the week after, with day trips ahead of the return to school.

[Chris from Nailsea]

... the accident in July 2003, when three people died and six were injured when an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) crashed into a minibus between Pershore and Evesham.

Indeed, willc, that was a sad day: for details, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/news/2003/07/train_crash_gallery.shtml and in particular http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2003/7/8/192632.html 

* * *

However, on a rather lighter note:

... I should warn btline, stebbo and any others of a nervous disposition from Worcester and Hereford, that the district councillor and CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) rep Mike Breakell says something likely to upset you - a lot!

 

[dougiejay]

Hi All,
Im new to this forum as I am about to start commuting to London from Hanborough daily from June onwards. Im not really looking forward to the commute but my employer is willing to pay First class season ticket so i hope this should make it more bearable.

I am likely to take the 6.40ish train from HAN to Paddington and have a few questions please.

1. Are there usually seats in First Class for this time?
2. Does it tend to run quite punctually?
3. With the works being undertaken, will trains still go to/from HAN or will there be some of the times when I have to drive to Oxford and then catch the train from there instead? I was kind of hoping the trains would just terminate at HAN or start from there during all the works...
4. As a first class passenger, do you get any complimentary food/drinks on that train?

Anyway, thanks for any information that anyone can provide, and perhaps I will be seeing some of you on the commute soon!

Doug

[willc]

Doug,

1. Yes, first class on the first couple of trains to London tends to be quieter, at least as far as Oxford, as traffic from stations west of Moreton-in-Marsh on these trains is pretty light at this time of the day.
2. On the whole, as the first two trains start their day's work at Worcester and Hereford, so less scope for picking up delays - unless someone from Network Rail cuts through the signal cables in west London like they did one night last week.
3. The summer closure is in three chunks. From July 18 to August 2 the whole line is closed. From Monday August 3 until August 23, there will be trains from Oxford out to Moreton-in-Marsh, so you will be fine from Hanborough then. Then for the next week the whole line is shut again, with services resuming from Tuesday, September 1. During the August 3 to 23 period, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have told me that the idea is to run at as near-normal times as possible on the section that is open, obviously subject to being able to get trains through the single-track section so they are at Moreton at the right time to start their journeys. Details of the timetable should be available within the next few weeks.
You can keep track at FGW's website at http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/northcotswolds
4. All the early morning services except the halts train to Oxford are advertised as High Speed Trains with the normal service offer, so there should be first class complimentary service.

[4101]

Happy birthday to Finstock!  Ha..... Another station with no passengers and limited parking, Close it.

I would say - provide a decent service, come up with a sensible answer to the door opening issues and provide plenty of space on trains for cycles (in the early 80s a good number of cyclists used to board at Finstock every day). All the above are possible, none are likely!

Look at Handborough, no passengers in the early 70s (locals actually thought the station had closed), now  with a decent service numbers are very healthy.

[willc]

But in all honesty, Finstock is no Hanborough - the station isn't in the village, which is also smaller, and it isn't a handy parkway station for anywhere, whereas Hanborough is ideal for people travelling from Witney and Woodstock.