Great Western Coffee Shop

A comment from Andrew1939 from West Oxon on another thread ("how has the improved timetable improved Hanborough rail services?") reminded me there was a question I wanted to ask here as I have not been able to get a straight answer from GWR.

Is there any reason why the 1749 from Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill does not call at Hanborough? Given Hanborough is now the third busiest intermediate station on the Cotswold Line, it does seem an anomaly in the timetable. Is it simply a hangover from the days when Hanborough was little more than one of the halts or are there timetabling issues that are preventing a stop?

(And totally unrelated, is it just my perception or have the morning peak services along the Cotswold Line been particularly bad this autumn?)

I think there is a train on the UP that means this 1749 needs to reach the doubled section ASAP?

Yes, the CLPG is seeking answers to performance issues.

That was my initial thought but looking at the timetable, it runs after the 1728 Worcester Foregate Street - Paddington has cleared the single track (calls at Hanborough 1844) and the next up train doesn't hit the single section until 1943.


The 0710 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington has been especially poor, either cancelled or started from Oxford seven times in the last 20 days, resulting in the two coach halts train taking quite a hit (though to be fair to GWR the 0528 Hereford to Paddington is often running so late as to pick up a fair chunk of those waiting for the 0710!)

The 1749's a curious one - it effectively replaced the old 1718 Thames service from Paddington (in the days when today's 1722 was the 1712 GWT, and the 1822 Cathedrals Express was the 1827 GWT). I'd always assumed that Hanborough was left out because Shipton had been added in, but that's pure supposition.

Yes, I think it's historical reasons more than anything.  Certainly no problem with the pathing of it, and let's face it a stop there would be far more beneficial than the Shipton stop.  Perhaps an email to suggest it to the CLPG or direct to GWR?  Certainly Hanborough's growth shows no sign of slowing from my observations, despite the opening of Oxford Parkway.

The CLPG want to keep the Shipton stop. And it is that stop that causes conflicts at the Shrub Hill end of the route and access to the up line there if uts late. Hanborough swap would actually extend dwell time by a minute or two longer than Shipton. Also Shipton stops are fewer, and losing one may not get it back on another

Yes it would be difficult to have both stops at Hanborough and Shipton as it needs to be through Norton Junction before it gets in the 19:44 Great Malvern to Paddington, which it quite regularly delays now.  Mind you that train does have a lot of spare time en-route to Oxford.  As usual, the restrictions from Evesham to Norton Juntion and in the general Worcester area itself are the main stumbling block.

And Worcestershire Parkway will add, not reduce, to potential delays with this train (and others)

This wasn't something I'd paid much attention to until my partner started commuting to/from Reading. And I do appreciate the issues with the single track at the other end of the line (in particular the knock on effect if the 1322 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street is running late).

But the reality is Hanborough is now one of the busiest stations on the line (and I'll be interested to see if it overtakes Evesham when the next estimates of station usage figures are released). Accepting the arguments for keeping the Shipton stop, this service does stop at three other stations that are less heavily used than Hanborough...  (and perhaps I should duck at this point!)

I'm not sure that much can be achieved until we know the effexts of W/Parkway on these services. Political pressure to stop every train there is likely, and over & above Hanborough eushes

Latest estimates of station usage confirm Hanborough is now the second busiest intermediate station on the Cotswold Line with 271,496 entries and exits.

You've got figures to be released today there, Charles_uk.  I've not seen them on the ORR site yet - have you a URL?

The figure you've quoted is up from 243,568 - a rise of 11.5%

http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

My ***** browser had cached the old page.   Shift-refresh and I have them, thanks!

Thought I'd just exhume this old thread as I notice from the new January 2018 timetable that this service (now 17:52 from Paddington) will now be stopping at Hanborough.

And no longer at Maidenhead!

Some are extremely happy about that!

And they still have the 17:49 to Didcot, so everyone's happy (ish)

Which I believe, along with the 18:19, are the two peak services formed of 12-cars so no shortage of seats - though if you’re going to Maidenhead or Twyford and in Coach 12, I’d start walking through the train as you go past Ealing Broadway!