Diversionary routes - looking forward

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Line problem: at Swindon. Owing to signalling problems at Swindon all lines are blocked.

Impact:
Train services running through this station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 90 mins or diverted at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.
 
Customer Advice:
Limited road transport has been sourced for Swindon station. No train services between Swindon to Chippenham, Gloucester or Didcot Parkway.
Disruption is likely to be ongoing for some considerable time.
Cross Country services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys
.
First Somerset and Avon services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys. On the following routes: X39, 231/232,234 and 319.

South West Trains services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.

I'm noticing lots of diversions between Reading and Bath / Bristol Parkway, presumably via Pewsey and Freshford.

What will the alternative arrangements be on such a day once the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have been replaced by electric trains?  Will they follow the same diversionary route on their auxiliary / shunting diesel engines?

[broadgage]

My natural cynicism about "improvements" leads me to suspect that most services would be simply cancelled rather than diverted as at present.
Although the new electric trains will be fitted with small diesel engines the performance under diesel power will be very limited.

Although passengers ON the diverted trains would presumably preffer a much delayed journey to being told "get a bus or try again tomorrow" one must consider the delays to the scheduled services on the route also being used by the diverted trains.

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) a speed of 30MPH was sugested in diesel mode, fine for SHORT diversions, or reaching the next station when the wires come down, but not really viable for lengthy diversions on busy routes.

[Electric train]

As an oddity to day at Padd was a 180 on platform 13, I was on the 15:57 Banbury it was I don't know what but was packed like a tin of sardines.

Its the first time I've seen a 180 on the "suburbans'" at Padd

[eightf48544]

Graham you have once again raised a very interesting topic regarding diversions. This is becoming more and more relevant as more main lines are electrified, leaving diversionary routes unwired.

As broadgauge says the last mile diesel engine is just that and not for Newbury to Bath.

The interesting debate becomes what secondary routes do you electrify to provide all wired routes to the existing end of the wires so in the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) case Bristol and Swansea?

So I would suggest Newbury Bath and Swindon Newport via Gloucester.

Gloucester Newport will also provide a diversionary route to Newport when Bristol Birmingham is wired.

Chippenham Melksham Trowbridge (Westbury) Bath should in a rational world be done in the main phase of GWML however, its efficacy is severly reduced by being a single line and the removal of the Bradford North curve.  Electrifying via Melksham also provides a round about route for Reading Chippenham/Swindon and with reversals Bath, Bristol and Gloucester.

This is one of my major criticisms of both Beeching report which looked at lines whose  services were in many cases still using their orginal pregrouping routes rather than what lines should be included a rational network and probably worse still the rationalisations by BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) in the 70s and 80s which singled lines and removed junctions. Ebbw Vale being the classic where around Newprt 6 tracks were reduced to 1 all the way up the valley,requiring the installation of a loop but still hidering the service frequency.

RE^▸ (Religious Education) the 180 on 13 not seen that before it must have been a  fairly tight squeeze.

[IndustryInsider]

As an oddity to day at Padd was a 180 on platform 13, I was on the 15:57 Banbury it was I don't know what but was packed like a tin of sardines.

Its the first time I've seen a 180 on the "suburbans'" at Padd

No doubt that was the 15:51 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains) Friday only summer sardine express.  My advice is to avoid that one like the plague if at all possible.  180s were barred from Platforms 13/14 until fairly recently, but are now cleared to use the platforms which are plenty long enough and able to handle a 6-car Turbo.