You are, but it needs saying again as certain posters seem unable to grasp the concept!

It does look nicer in reality in my opinion, especially at night when it's illuminated.


Presumably the march of the uninspiring, but necessary, chain outlets that have been let?

In connection with the reinstatement of the former Langley Oil Terminal sidings as they will be used during the Crossrail electrification works.

It has to come via Reading station as there is no western access currently.    That may change in the future though when the western depot connection is installed, but the timings are very slack - it's booked 40 minutes from Reading station to Oxford with a (staff only) call at Didcot for 7 minutes, so I don't think that would get in the way of it starting at Reading.  Of course, there's no guarantee that it will continue to come ECS/Staff from Reading, but it would be useful as a passenger service, and arguably more useful than extending the Moreton start back to Oxford.

The early Banbury service allows passengers to arrive at Birmingham (Moor Street) 50 minutes earlier than the first direct train to New Street, which partly makes up for the loss of the very early morning Liverpool train which called at Oxford around 5:20am back in the pre-Operation Princess days.

Indeed so.  These couple of minor tweaks are welcome though.  I doubt they'll be standing room only on the 05:14 OXF^» (Oxford - next trains)-WOF, but it's a train that has run ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) for many years to Moreton-In-marsh, so why not run it is service just in case anyone needs to head out to the east really early in the morning - in fact, as the ECS comes from Reading, why not start it there and provide an early passenger service from Reading and Didcot to Oxford?  It would also have been useful in providing an early service from Oxford to Birmingham, but that base has been mostly covered by converting another ECS train from Oxford to Banbury a couple of timetable changes ago.

I can understand the reasoning, but it does make buying a ticket for a train journey even more of a lottery.

Thanks, Paul.  I spotted that massive 'P' this morning myself.  Shame it took over a year to cover up the old door, but a pretty good job has been finally done.

To echo Bob and Patch, great photos - thanks!

Which can be a right b**ch of a thing to do on a HST^▸ (High Speed Train).  Two little toggles by the wheels that have to be turned for an eternity.

Good news, and not before time!

That would be a GPS innacuracy!  Swindon to Kemble is a maximum of 100mph and I doubt that will raise, though journey times might reduce slightly if trains don't need to slow for crossovers at the end of the single line sections.

Yes, I did consider the braking curve and acceleration curve and based it on a two minute station stop - which I would say is about average for a HST at Maidenhead/Slough in the peaks if there is no 'silly' additional time.  So that gives three minutes in my calculation lost by acceleration/braking.  I think that's probably about right, certainly if it is more it would only be a little more - once a HST gets towards three figures in speed it is only a matter of seconds lost if it's heading for 125mph than a train already at that speed.  Certainly, I think eight minutes, under normal running conditions, is very excessive, unless you're taking into account the time that a following non-stop train would need to be behind not to have to slow down.

Dwell times are reduced because of power operated doors saving as you say 15-20 seconds.  It will be a lot more than that at the unstaffed stations, but as Maidenhead and Slough have despatch staff we'll take that as a good average.  However, that doesn't include the numerous occasions when upwards of a minute can be lost, such as a bike passenger needing to get from bike store to board at the end of Coach 'A', or a passenger pulls on the door after the CDL^▸ (Central Door Locking) has been locked, but the door handle stays down and a staff member needs to push it properly shut (if not it will clock open to the secondary catch at the next station which might not be spotted).  And of course there's the old favourite of passengers leaving a door wide open right at the other end of the platform to where the staff are.  Then there's the delay any time a train is despatched with a door on the catch!  All in all, power operated doors (provided they are reliable) make a huge difference.

Acceleration wise, I'd have thought the lower speed ranges will be greatly improved when compared with a HST as well?  After all, a Class 180 will leave a HST for dust at up to around 80mph when they are fairly similar up to 125mph.

The new bridge spanning the relief lines which will allow up Crossrail trains access to the Up Relief without conflicts is being slowly slid into place over several nights near Airport Junction.

Eight minutes is a slight exaggeration, probably nearer five minutes if it's a stop on a 125mph stretch of line like Maidenhead and Slough.  There's little point tinkering with anything until the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.)'s arrive and the line upgrades are complete in a few years time.  IEP's will reduce station dwell times and improve acceleration which in itself will create extra capacity without all the other improvements being made.