Great Western Coffee Shop

On my way home yesterday, I arrive at Paddington mid-morning and realise that I could do a complicated route home starting with the 11:36 to Gerrards Cross (Chiltern's "parliamentary" service) and continuing by way of Bicester and Oxford.

So I buy a single to Bicester and find the train hiding  (understandably) in the least-frequented part of the station (platform 14).

I'm the only passenger. A few minutes before departure, the conductor comes along and checks my ticket. "We need to do this so as to ensure there's nobody for Ealing Broadway" he says.

A few minutes later, he's back - the train has been cancelled. A freight train full of West London's refuse has failed somewhere out beyond Aylesbury. The next one of these trains has come out of the sidings in West London but is not being allowed to go any further until it knows that it can get to said wilds beyond Aylesbury. And this second one is now blocking the way for our train. "I'm terribly sorry - this is the first time I've known this to happen in 20 years". I fear that I may be a bad influence.

Anyway, he endorses my ticket "train cancelled". So I go back to the ticket office, where my refund is processed by a most helpful young man, by the name of Ollie. For which, many thanks.

Then it's back to the 12:20 for the conventional route by way of Reading and Oxford. The unusual will have to wait for another day...

Great to hear a happy ending, just what I needed! And well done Ollie in particular :)

To most of us that use the local TV service to Reading 13 and 14 are the most frequented part of the station.

It really is missed opportunity for adding addition service especially if stations could be added at North Acton and Perival etc

Agree with electric train that a station at North Acton by the Central Line station would be very useful.

I have  thought that to get over the problem of having to teminate 14 Crossrail tph at Westbourn Park that if the Greenford loop was electrified Both ways from West Ealing and OOC then some Crossrail could go both ways round the loop. Not sure what to do about Greenford whether as the trains will be 4/8 cars they terminate in Greenford GWR or a platform is built on the East curve at Greenford.

This also has the advantage that Heathrow sets could be turned to save onesided wheel wear at airport Junction.

The Crossrail plans have always required the Greenford shuttle to be cut back to a reopened bay platform at West Ealing though, because the conflicting crossing moves at the junction cannot be pathed.  Now you are proposing two flat junctions...

Paul

The trains terminating at Paddington have already been taken for WCML slow services to ease the pressure on Euston when it is re-built. This isn't official, but like the Reading extension, it's bound to happen.

I don't think the platforms on the Greenford loop could take 10 cars (and Xrail is being built 12 car ready).

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-hunt-for-britains-ghost-trains-6279103.html

Was nice to say hello to you, iirc the 1136 left about 25mins late in the end.

I just don't understand the routeing guide at all!!!!

Supposing I wanted to be a ghost hunter....

Could a ^19.50 CDR from Farnborough Stns to Gerrards Cross allow me to me to go:


Farnborough North (Or Blackwater which falls in Farnborough Stns Group) --> Reading --> Paddington --> Gerrards Cross --> Marylebone --> Underground --> Waterloo --> Farnborough Main??

To find out the permitted routes for Farnborough North/Blackwater to Gerrard's Cross we first look at the routeing validity of the ticket type; in this case you are interested in an Off Peak Day Day Return (CDR). There is only one CDR on this flow (Farnborough Stns - Gerrard's Cross), which is routed: +Any Permitted. The + allows for transfer by Underground between London Termini.

First, the shortest route (or any route that is no more than 3 miles longer than the shortest route) is always valid. I'm having some trouble finding the shortest route, so I'll fall back on what the Routeing Guide allows.

Next we need to find out whether the origin and destination stations are routeing points in their own right or instead associated with one or more routeing points.

Farnborough North and Blackwater are both in the Farnborough Group (along with Farnborough Main) for routeing purposes, so can thus be regarded as a routeing point. Gerrard's Cross is not a routeing point in it's own right nor is it in a station group. Instead it is associated with Banbury Group, Greenford, London Group and Oxford. 

Now because Gerrard's Cross is associated with four routeing points we have to use the fares check rule (http://www.atoc.org/clientfiles/File/RSPDocuments/nrg_detail.pdf) to find out which of those routeing points is valid. The fares check rule says that an associated routeing point is valid for routeing purposes if the fare for the whole journey (ie Farnborough Stns - Gerrard's Cross) is not less than the fare to the associated routeing point. Fares from Farnborough Stns - Banbury, Greenford, London or Oxford are all less than the fare from Farnborough Stns - Gerrard's Cross, therefore all four routeing points are valid with an 'Any Permitted' ticket.

Now you need to consult ATOC's (fiendish, esoteric and byzantine) Routeing Guide to find the map or map combinations (http://www.atoc.org/clientfiles/File/Maps.pdf) that show the permitted route(s) to each of those four routeing points. A route is permitted by tracing the route on the map or maps from origin station/routeing point to destination station/routeing point. Where origin or destination is not a routeing point you must take the shortest route between origin and routeing point or routeing point and destination. You may not double back through any station, except within a station group or unless an easement permits doubling back. The valid map combinations for Farnborough Stns - Gerrard's Cross are:

For Farnborough Group - Banbury Group: Map BB
For Farnborough Group - Greenford: LONDON*, MW+WR
For Farnborough Group - London Group: CS+WR, WX
For Farnborough Group - Oxford: MW, WW+MW

Then the shortest route between the routeing point and Gerrard's Cross.

(*LONDON means any permitted route to London from the origin station, and any permitted route from London to the destination station.)

From all this I conclude that your chosen route, Farnborough North/Blackwater  --> Reading --> Paddington --> Gerrards Cross --> Marylebone --> Underground --> Waterloo --> Farnborough Main, is permitted with a CDR from Farnborough Stns - Gerrard's Cross. You can use the routeing permission via Greenford on your outward journey to get that bash on the Chiltern 'Ghost Train' and the permission via London Group to Marylebone <Underground> Waterloo to Farnborough Main on your return.

Easy isn't it!!  :P :-\ ;)

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ATOC's Routeing Guide in all its complexity can be found here:

http://www.atoc.org/about-atoc/rail-settlement-plan/routeing-guide

The definitive website for ghost trains is PSUL (Passenger Services over Unusual Lines)

http://www.psul4all.free-online.co.uk/intro.htm (http://www.psul4all.free-online.co.uk/intro.htm) 

It goes back to Winter 200/1, plus Summer 92, it is fasicinating for those us that are really secret track bashers.

Also shows how lines come into and out of use like Beckham Junction New Beckenham now only has a few trains at one stage there was a regular service over this line.

One for Grahame from Summer 92

Thingley Jn - Bradford Jn
Trains between Westbury and Chippenham (see Table 123)
  SUNDAYS:
1635 SUN, 1835 SUN, 2035 SUN Paddington - Plymouth
1244 SUN, 1715 SUN Penzance - Paddington
1655 SUN Plymouth - Paddington

Thanks for giving the link to the ATOC easements section E.

I regularly travel to Penzance and return via St.Ives and purchase an extra ticket. I notice that easement 61 allows you to travel to St.Ives from the east and go via Penzance in either direction.

That is a very useful little gem I shall use. I have even printed it out to be sure.

How on earth is the normal 'passenger' supposed to know this? The easement list is a giant jumble and difficult to find a specific area easily!!

The best way to find out if any easement applies to your journey is to use the search option on the .pdf. Search your origin and destination stations and then see if any easements are relevant to your journey.

The Routeing Guide is bad enough to try and master, and I agree that to have further easements (some of which are negative) is hardly passenger friendly.

Another sad fact is that once easements start getting publicised and used regularly to save money, ATOC and individual TOCs get all sniffy and often remove and rewrite. Their argument being that routeing easements are there to offer improved journey options rather than to offer savings.

I suppose it's not a surprise.....


....was hoping to bash the 11:36 Pad - Ger on the Thurs or Fri between Xmas and New Year.... however, Chiltern have decided it's a service they can cut during this period.