Great Western Coffee Shop

A planning application has just been lodged to extend the length of Charlbury's platforms: http://publicaccess.westoxon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=P5D7KTRKI4L00

The Network Rail PDF (click 'Documents', then the icon on the right by 'Planning Statement') says


This would bring P1 to 185m total (7.1 IEP carriages) and P2 to 177m total (6.8 IEP carriages), if my calculations are right.

Slightly oddly it claims that these are necessary as part of the "West of England DMU Capability Works" to "accommodate DMU’s Class 165 and 166".

It would be good to see a more uncluttered design than was achieved for the new P1, which is a bit of a forest of poles and arguably didn't do much for the setting of the listed station building.

You're right -it is wrong, by NR's own delivery plan. "Charlbury up and down platforms" appears in the list of extensions to "7 car (26 m vehicles)" as part of W013 "North Cotswolds Line Platform Extensions".

Platform extensions? Crikey!

Yep - and others too, before Dec18

Just need some trains to stop now!

The plan (as of December) said this about milestones: GRIP 3 completed, GRIP 6 TBC. So don't bet any money on completion by that (or any?) date.

The full list of stretch platforms is:

     6 car (26m Vehicle)
Kingham up platform
     7 car (26m Vehicle)
Hanborough (Single)
Charlbury up and down platforms
Moreton In Marsh up and down platforms
Honeybourne up and down platforms
Evesham up and down platforms
Pershore (single)

Just need buffet facilities at Kingham again now as very frustrating if trains delayed and worse if station closed so no toilets.

Contract awarded for completion by December: https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/dyer-butler-awarded-cotswolds-platform-extension-programme-by-network-rail/

There is a planned North Cotswolds closure in November I believe for some of the works to take place.

yep, I think a full 9 days

Judging by comments on Twitter this morning it seems the closure and changes were not as well publicised as they could have been:





As far as I could tell, there is no published timetable for services this week. Customers were expected to use the GWR website to plan their journey and see if their service was still running.

The 07.12 from Charlbury seems to have gone entirely; there's some changes in the late afternoon; and the last down train of the evening appears to be bustituted. GWR's only concession to this is saying "trains continue to run, but at slightly different times to normal" on the engineering works page of their website. This is a bit "Beware of the Leopard", frankly.

Up platform extension now in use; down not yet.

...though the IET platform length databases don’t appear to have been updated, so you can’t actually board/alight on the extended platforms yet - unless it’s an HST service with a switched-on conductor!

I would imagine the SDO database will be updated in one big hit when all the platforms are ready and open, rather than on an incremental basis which is confusing to staff and increases the risk of errors.  Hopefully that won't take too long.

Yup - there is a cost in updating the SDO database & uploading to the IETs.

Well, we're well into March and those platform extensions look lovely and pristine. However, as a nine coach IET pulled into Hanborough this morning it reminded me why the opening of these extensions can't come too soon.

The 07:10 Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington was started from Oxford this morning due to a problem under investigation. That meant those who had picked up on this went for the 05:28 Hereford to Paddington instead. As always at Hanborough, passengers were spread out over the whole platform. The train turns up with first class at the front, leaving just three standard class doors available and a rush of passengers down the platform to the first standard class coach. A minor irritation but it does delay the service by a couple more minutes whilst the queue to board slowly progresses.

In the HST days, people piled in via 1st class and walked through. Has that changed with the IETs?

At Hanborough the first class coaches on an HST were never platformed. Some do board via the first class coach on the IETs but most gravitate towards the standard class doors. Once the platform extensions are open it won't be an issue.

Not at Charlbury, but good to see the new modern looking waiting room open at Moreton-In-Marsh, though it does look a bit out of place with the character of the rest of the station!  A new waiting looks to be under construction at Kingham, and an additional shelter is being provided at Hanborough (about time too!), so more is going on than just platform extensions.

THe 'shelter' at Hanborough is going to be a ticket office with waiting area included.....that and Moreton facilities have been financially supported by the CLPG

Oh, right.  That’s good news then. It must be an additional building or a modification of the old shelter though as the new shelter is definitely just a shelter and down towards the London end of the platform.

oh, an additional building - I see what you mean. yes an additional shelter too.

Looks like they’ve just started on the foundations for the combined ticket office and waiting area at Hanborough.

The building is now in situ at Hanborough. Yesterday, as I got off the 15:22 PAD:GMV, there were just foundations but overnight the unit has been put in place.

Hmmm.... tried to upload a picture just then and now I can't see my post at all!

I think that is fixed for you now  ;D

So it looks like an end of April target to get all the platform extensions open on the Cotswold Line, rather than the original end of March target.  Let’s hope it doesn’t slip any further than that.

Well, it didn’t happen in April, but a date of Monday 20th May has now been announced, so not long to wait, and in time for the busy summer season thankfully.

Well, the full platform was certainly in operation at Hanborough this morning. Presumably I was the only Coffee Shop member catching the 0710 MIM:PAD this morning as I felt a little bit of a lemon being the only person standing on the platform extension whilst everyone else was bunched down the other end!