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436
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Named trains
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on: January 16, 2013, 12:49:44
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I am a bit confused about this, most mornings while awaiting the train from Didcot to Oxford I hear the announcement for the 08:29 Didcot to Paddington train (06:48 from Weston Super Mare) and it is always announced as the 'Bristolian', yet in the leaflet the Bristolian is supposed to be the 09:46 from Weston Super Mare.
Having said that I don't really see the point of named trains today. I can understand that in the past it would be used to denote the fastest/ most prestigious service of the day etc. but with today's services I fail to see any difference between the HST▸ used on the Bristolian and any other service. Is it even the fastest train between London and Bristol today, the 06:48 from Weston Super Mare certainly isn't ?
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440
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Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Oxford station gate to be shut to stop fare dodgers
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on: December 20, 2012, 10:16:17
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Noticed tonight that the poster on Oxford platform 2 advising of the forthcoming closure of the gate is no longer there, nor the laminated paper sign on the gate itself. Is this still going ahead?
The gate was wide open with no checking of tickets tonight.
I agree the large signs were gone this morning but they still had some A4 size notices on the actual gate itself stating that it was going to be closed from 1st January.
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442
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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Class 180s return to the Cotswolds
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on: December 17, 2012, 20:54:18
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All four diagrams are covered today. Crisis over?
Don't know about crisis over but I can state that at least 2 of the diagrams were still covered by class 180 tonight namely the diagrams including the 17:06 Oxford - London and 17:15 Didcot to Worcester. Lets see how long it lasts:-)
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443
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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Class 180s return to the Cotswolds
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on: December 10, 2012, 20:45:50
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Thanks for the update, didn't get off too a good start today as the 17:06 was a 165 today and the 17:32 Oxford to Great Malvern (which I assume is the 17:15 off Didcot) was only a 2 car 165;-) There has been an alteration to the diagrams at Oxford at that time. 2Y94, 1522 Great Malvern-Didcot Parkway forms 2E95, 1715 Didcot Parkway-Great Malvern. 1D43, 1450 London Paddington-Oxford after a layover in Oxford Carriage Sidings now forms 2P74, 1706 Oxford-London Paddington. The services have effectively swapped round with inbound services now forming different outbound services, but all are still booked 180s. The diagram for the 1706 Oxford-London Paddington is now one which has been a 180 much more reliably so far.
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444
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Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Oxford station gate to be shut to stop fare dodgers
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on: December 10, 2012, 16:22:55
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I don^t think it^s a good idea to close this gate as the entrance/exit on platform 1 is not very well designed and is already very busy and when this gate is closed then more bicycles/people will need to use it and cause more and longer queues. For those not familiar with Oxford there is a set of sliding doors directly in front of the ticket gates and this causes 2 issues: 1) There is always a long queue of people either waiting to buy tickets or with bicycles/cases/pushchairs waiting to use the wide gate that causes the entrance doors to be blocked meaning that people have to use the exit doors OR 2) As the doors are close to the gates, the gates in the middle don^t get used as people wait to use the gates nearest the doors and again cause the doors to be blocked. This is an obvious flow issue and could be resolved by removing the doors , widening the doors or moving the gates further away from the doors.
I can understand why they would want to close the gate but why can^t they just have someone stood on this gate checking tickets and/or more people selling tickets on platform 1 , if 20% of people don^t currently have tickets then it would soon pay for itself and more. Mind you I don^t actually believe that train companies are serious about fare evasion given the amount of times that the ticket gates are unmanned (evenings and weekends) and the number of times I have had my ticket checked on a train. They seem a bit like HMRC and only interested in tackling the easy cases to make it look like they are doing something.
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445
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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Class 180s return to the Cotswolds
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on: December 10, 2012, 16:03:40
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Has there been a change to the 180 diagrams with the new December timetable? Just that I note that the 15:22 Great Malvern to Oxford that then formed the 17:06 Oxford ^ Paddington, after a layover at Oxford, now continues to Didcot. So assuming that the 15:22 is still operated by an 180 then presumably the 17:06 will go back to a 165/166, which makes a lot of sense, not that 180^s have been seen very often on this service anyway
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446
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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Class 180s return to the Cotswolds
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on: November 28, 2012, 14:52:23
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Going for a new record this week. Two sets out on Monday, one yesterday and none so far today! That could be a deliberate plan based on maximising Train Manager availability (Turbos run DOO▸ between Oxford and Paddington), or it could be that they are all just knackered!
And one of those running on Monday had a problem according to the train manager when I got on it due to it running late, and this was the 06:48 from Paddington to Great Malvern. And I should add that the service I usually catch home from work is diagrammed for a 180 but over the last couple of months I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that has happened. They have not exactly been a success:-)
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447
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Mass disruption due to flooding - December 2012
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on: November 27, 2012, 09:41:44
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The flooding in the Hinksey Yard area between Radley and Oxford is now affecting the running lines. 5mph ESR▸ on the up line but still line speed on the down at the moment.
Services to/from Oxford are starting to be cancelled....
I have just been though there and we certainly weren't at line speed on the down, although that may of course been because of congestion:-)
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449
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Journey by Journey / London to Didcot, Oxford and Banbury / Re: Didcot Parkway - timetable changes, incidents, barriers and forecourt improvements
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on: October 05, 2012, 08:59:11
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Barriers were in place this evening, but not operational yet. (In fact, they might have been installed much earlier, as this evening was my first visit to the station since last Friday).
They have been there since at least Tuesday. Still not clear how they wil stop passengers going straight to P1 via the outside ramp (required for people with bikes, luggage,etc. as no lift), or using the side entrance or going to the Railway Centre.
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450
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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Class 180s return to the Cotswolds
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on: July 26, 2012, 12:19:05
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Probably a case of biting off more than we could chew, though the 'promise' was made for the Olympics and I wouldn't be surprised if it had to be kept at all costs to comply with the agreement with the DfT» for the 180s return. I believe there are four 180s available for use at the moment 103, 106 and 108 were joined this week by 104. No sign of 102 yet.
Well I am sure it was 102 on the service I caught on Tuesday (17:06 ex OXF» ). Another question, are these services being operated as Driver Only, and if so how can they react to a disabled person using the alarm in the toilet particuarly when they are between stations?
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