Great Western Coffee Shop

I've replaced the images at the top of "The Coffee Shop" with a new series, which I have entitled "looking forward to the next ten years".  Train services specified this year will the ones that see us into the start of that decade, and here's hoping that it's a positive one.  For starters, lets fix the scandal of the TransWilts, where there's currently an abysmal service that is totally inappropriate to the needs of the wannabe passengers.  Let's develop public rail transport to serve the half dozen or so places in the South West where the are cases crying out to be taken forward, and for which there is active support. And lets look to strengthening the current network too - redoubling of The Cotswold line is coming, as is redevelopment of Reading ... looking further ahead, there's schemes such as the Bicester curve and Kemble, electrification and extra rolling stock too. From the small such as an extra platform face at Chippenham, to the large such as the East West link and Crossrail.

In some areas, First have done an excellent job of improving services in the last year or two, and they deserve full credit for that.  And their operations staff are second to none.  But in just a few cases, they have not really carried through to delivery.  It's all very well talking (and talking for years!) about a decent TransWilts service or replacing information points, but people in these parts haven't yet learned the trick of travelling on words - they need real trains!

There are a number of groups who are active behind the scenes - you'll see a couple of them cropping up in the images - who are looking forward and saying "where should we be in a few years time", and I'm meaning both the campaiging groups and the official too; there was a notable announcement from the Secratary of State for Transport recently that improvements made over the next few years will be built into the next generation of franchises - a green light to put in real improvements which will be both made and maintained.

There will be general elections - at least two of them, and one within the next 18 months. And as I write this , it seems probable that there will be a change of government (not so sure about a change in direction!) Also in the next ten years, all the existing franchises in the area (except Chiltern? on our fringes) are going to be re-let, and indeed there's an opportunity prior to that point for some services to be run under Open Access agreements, and for elements of transfer on lines where there are already several operators - you'll find representative pictures of these on the top of the pages too.

Running a railway is hideously complex, and probably needs to be so. But at times I feel that we have needless extra layers of complexity on top of it. Do we really need to have quite so many people who must talk to each other?   Do we really need to have as many different fares as we do?  It feels like a pantomime!  You'll find there are some pantomime pictures mixed into our header set, with a number of colourful characters - some goodies and some baddies ... and an audience of customers, sitting there watching the show and invited to contribute, but only where the producer and player want that contribution.

Mr Hopwood (Managing Director, First Great Western) - please help us, the travellers in the South West, to travel as we aspire in the next few years.  Deliver, starting with the TransWilts where the current service is nothing short of criminally inadequate, and you'll here a strong, positive shout of they're behind you ... and that will be from the travelling public, no less.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/behindyou.jpg)

Thanks for an interesting analysis, Grahame. :)

I think Crossrail will have a HUGE effect on the FGW/Thames Valley area - as XR trains will take up the slow lines.

Everything must be done to ensure other services between Maidenhead and Paddington are not axed, slowed down or made less reliable. If this means installing another track or two (/loops) for part of the route, they need to start planning now.

I thought the whole point about Crossrail was that there is no planned change to longer distance LTV services to/from west of Maidenhead. The main reason 14 tph terminate at Paddington, 4 go to Heathrow, and only 6 run beyond, is that there is no capacity for more Crossrail trains on the slow lines...

Paul

Yes, but from my understanding, only XR trains will operate on the slow lines, meaning FGW's slower services to Oxford, Banbury etc. will have to take the fast lines east of Maidenhead - thus eating up capacity.

Another problem is the termination of services at Maidenhead. If this goes ahead, there may be service cuts at Bedwyn and longer distance trains may be slowed down as they make more calls at Bedwyn/Maidenhead as a result.

How on earth will the go on the fast lines? This will be chaos for more important long distance services. Besides, past Airport Junction, there aren't any paths as it is!

Whatever operational decisions are taken for CrossRail, perhaps it is worth considering that it is a London-centric project.  As such, the system will be geared up to deliver passengers from/to the dormitory suburbs and the big city.  Any improvements outside that ambit, experienced by outlying stations will IMO, be coincidental, or at best somewhat grudgingly provided, though nevertheless welcome.  And...despite all the hoo haa; even if CrossRail does reach Reading, it will still be quicker for a passenger from there to say... Liverpool St., to catch a fast service to Pad and change to the Underground.

That's exactly my point! Unless something is done, expresses WILL be slowed down.

And of course all the freight will also be on the Main's during the day.

Reopen the Oxford-Thame-Princes Risborough line and redouble Ruislip to Old Oak Junction; reinstate the through lines at Princes Risborough, Beaconsfield, Denham, Ruislip. Should take the heat off the Thames Valley line.

Pity about the Gerrards Cross through lines. Don't suppose Tesco could be told to "go away" as I gather many residents would have liked.

I forgot about freight!

Something needs to be done. Otherwise, HSS will have to be AXED to release paths. I suppose the HX could be axed/reduced...

The only other possibility is to terminate Oxford slows at Reading/Maidenhead. Or extend XR to Banbury.

The 'Tesco tunnel' allows for four tracking. It is in their Q&A somewhere...

Paul

All this is covered by Crossrail evidence, as you'd expect, and I think you have got it wrong. There is a summary here:

http://billdocuments.crossrail.co.uk/files/Home/Home3/06.Information%20Papers/File_Downloads/A3%20Capacity%20on%20the%20Great%20Western%20Main%20Line.pdf (http://billdocuments.crossrail.co.uk/files/Home/Home3/06.Information%20Papers/File_Downloads/A3%20Capacity%20on%20the%20Great%20Western%20Main%20Line.pdf)

Their words: "During normal operation it is not anticipated that any trains at present using the relief lines will be displaced to the fast lines as a result of Crossrail."

Paul

I believe Hex will still be operating

The Oxford slows will be, I think not sure on this, at Slough which is the thing that annoys Twyford passengers as they will have to change to get to London also any Reading passengers who want to got intermediate stops between Maidenhead and London will need to change

Well, they have changed their minds, because I read a document once which clearly stated that XR would "take over" the slow lines.

At a recent meeting of the the RCTS where we had a Crossrail presentation the poor presenter who had only been in the job three months was told in no uncertain terms that Crossrail does not work West of London and causes massive disruption to the current pattern of commuting and leisure travel on the GMWL main and relief lines. In particular  to well used trains from West of Maidenhead to station to Ealing Broadway and vice versa.

If there are no stopping services from the West of Maidenhead to Paddington then even humble Taplow loses out. Currently either by changing in London (a hassle) or Reading I can get  to most stations in GB with only 1 or two changes. Are people going to get on at Taplow change at Maidenhead then Reading?

G.uard sums it up admirably.


Even better than the underground for passengers to Liverpool Street is to cross to Eastbourne Terrace to catch the next one of the 14 tph Crossrail turnround trains which they have just passed in the sidings at Westbourne Park this will be empty, so they don't have to travel with the hoi poli from Maidenhead eastwards.

You mean the "Tescos value" tunnel  :)

What a ridiculous comment to make. The last thing to be axed will be high speed trains. They make far larger profits than local services. If I am travelling in that direction I don't want to travel to Reading, I want to go to London as do most people on trains bound for London.

No need to be nasty - I don't want it anymore than you! >:( 

I'm just worried about the implications of XR west of London. Sorry.

Although I hope the presenter was not scalded too much, I am glad people are waking up to this problem.

I don't know who came up with the XR route, but I would like to ask them why they missed off Reading and Ebbesfleet Int!

Clearly passengers should be having more of an imput.

Reading was missed out of the Bill because the XR project did not want the cost of rebuilding Reading Station, the rebuild of Reading has subsequently happened, my guess is that XR to Reading will follow soon after XR is commissioned.

Particularly if the line is being electrified anyway, which appears increasingly likely.

It's not a case of being nasty, more so a case of thinking laterally.

I'm not suggesting they do axe HSTs, but I was making the point that paths would have to be freed somehow!

Anyway, it looks like FGW will be able to use the slow lines after all, so no point in discussing it further.

But XR needs to be re-done.

Part of the XR project is to resignal the Slough Panel Box and Slough IECC with the new ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) which if the theory is right will crate more paths

ERTMS the Cambrian seems to have gone very quite!

Aren't the Dutch and Belgians still having trouble on the HSL from Brussells to Amsterdamm, still no high speed services due to software incompatibilities and the inability of one manufactures transponders on the loco to talk to another's balise on the track, although they should both work to the same common standard.

There is still a lot of work to be done on ERTMS for it to be made viable for the GWML.

The other point electric train makes that if the theory is right there will be more paths.  I'm not sure the theories behind ERTMS are right for very busy lines with lots of stations and junctions. There was an article in a recent Modern Railways about how much extra capacity ERTMS could provide through London Bridge which was not much due to the limitations of turning trains round at Charing Cross and Canon Street. Although it might help sorting out the junctions East of London Bridge.

Thus ERTMS may allows trains to run fster and closer together you are still limited by the number of station stops and terminal capacity. Thus it will probably work between Brussells and Amsterdamm on the HSL, but London to Reading is different kettle of fish.

TVM 430 although French seems to work well as does LZB in Germany which has an added advantage it can be overlaid on existing signalling so not all trains using the line  have to be equiped.

And now we have new high speed trains to look forward to...  :)