Farnborough North

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I made my first trip for many years (the age of the tadpole Reading - Tonbridge service) on the North Downs line this afternoon.  Good to see a busy line ... a few pictures of Farnborough North







I was a little surprised at no fewer than 6 cycles being taken onto the train at Farnborough North alone; 3 car 166.   What are the limits on that line?  One cycling asking others to move up so that he could get on.   Also note all those people not crossing the line ...

[inspector_blakey]

I've never tried the walk but there are some quite good connections onto the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) network if you amble the half-mile or so to Farnborough Main. Every trip I've taken on the North Downs Line recently has been on a fairly busy train, all of them three-car Turbos. There is an issue with revenue protection on these as the stops are fairly close together (especially on the slower trains that don't run all the way to Gatwick) and the conductors are only able to access a buzzer for the door opening/closing/despatching process in the read cab, although the barriers at Reading, Guildford and other bigger stations en route tend to mitigate this at least partially.

[IndustryInsider]

I was a little surprised at no fewer than 6 cycles being taken onto the train at Farnborough North alone; 3 car 166.

Usually the maximum is two bikes per set of doors, so on a Class 166 that would be 12.  On a 2-car Turbo it's 8.  That compares with the 6 of a Class 180, and the 6 of a HST^▸ (High Speed Train) (which can, in theory be increased to 12 if the power cars are used - but that's rare).  I think in all cases staff discretion can allow more depending on the circumstances.

[Fourbee]

When the station usage stats were posted, I noticed Farnborough North compared well with other stations on the line.

I think it gets a lot of use from people attending local educational establishments.

[adc82140]

Welcome to my corner of the world- I live only 10 mins walk from Farnborough North. however I never use the station!! The evening shoulder peak service is a bit odd from the Guildford direction- there are trains from Guildford at 17:44, 18:04 and 18:26, then nothing until 19:36. I can't run the risk of finishing work a little bit late and missing the 18:26. Like many people, I drive the 5 minutes to North Camp (free parking if you know where to look) where there's an additional train from Guildford at 18:47, and one every half hour off peak.

I always wondered why, historically, there was never a single Farnborough station on two levels serving the North Downs and the SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line)- obviously due to the way the town has developed it could never happen now though.

[stuving]

I always wondered why, historically, there was never a single Farnborough station on two levels serving the North Downs and the SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line)

The Reading, Guildford, and Reigate Railway did try to get a link to the LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway) main line, so they could run trains from Reading into Farnborough - and a station at the junction was also discussed. However, the LSWR were not keen, as they already had an agreed link with the RGRR at Guildford, and soon after they built their own line from London via Ascot to Reading. Of course they then built a line from Ascot very close to the RGRR (North Downs) line, which did link both ways to the Woking-Farnborough line. Later still there was a chord from the RGRR too, only towards Woking - all these chords have since gone.

[Fourbee]

Welcome to my corner of the world- I live only 10 mins walk from Farnborough North. however I never use the station!! The evening shoulder peak service is a bit odd from the Guildford direction- there are trains from Guildford at 17:44, 18:04 and 18:26, then nothing until 19:36.

The National Rail site comes up with doubling-back at Blackwater with the 18.47 which would get you into Farnborough North 24 minutes earlier than the 19.36. However, multiple tickets would be required and it is obviously far more practical to drive to North Camp as you say.

Re: the multiple tickets - AFAIK^▸ (as far as I know) Blackwater is part of Farnborough Group, hence you cannot double back on a Farnborough North ticket as doubling back for interchange purposs is only allowed when the destination station is not part of the group.

[Fourbee]

I suppose the mucking about could be quite useful if someone misses the last up service to Reading at 23.34, the last down train at 23.59 could be used to North Camp to connect with the 00.14 from there.