Saturday HST to Weymouth

[whole diary]

[John R]

From London there's an hourly service to Weymouth from Waterlooo which would be much more attractive in terms of frequency and journey time. Reading pax can change onto it at Basingstoke and again it would be quicker and more frequent albeit with a change.

[Dark Star]

I was forgetting the Bristol-Westbury line went through Bath.
Still think the Weymouth HST^▸ (High Speed Train) should start at Pad then Reading Swindon Bristol Temple Meads and then on to Weymouth as booked.
I know SWT^▸ (South West Trains) run Waterloo to Weymouth but then Both Virgin and Chiltern  serve London Birmingham markets.
It could be Extra Pounds for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) that's all without much extra layout.

[paul7575]

From London there's an hourly service to Weymouth from Waterlooo which would be much more attractive in terms of frequency and journey time. Reading pax can change onto it at Basingstoke and again it would be quicker and more frequent albeit with a change.

In fact it's actually been half hourly Mon-Sat since December 2007 or so...

Paul

[The Grecian]

Does anyone know how many people are using the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) at the moment?

I caught the 0839 to Dorchester yesterday. I would have preferred to get the HST but I wanted to walk some of the coast path near Lulworth and (lack of) public transport connections mandated an earlier start. The train was a 3 car 158. It was busy by Trowbridge and standing by Westbury. By Yeovil it was virtually wedged with just a small amount of room in the middle of the saloons for extra standees and none in the vestibules. At Yetminster a family of 4 took one look and started wandering off before the guard got out and appeared to shout he'd find room for them, as they started wandering back. He then knocked on our carriage and gestured people to move up. They eventually managed to get on.

At Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome and Castle Cary the guard made an announcement suggesting to people boarding they'd be best off waiting for the HST. I didn't see anyone get off. He didn't bother at Yeovil, presumably realising it was futile, although a few people decided to wait on the platform for the next train.
The train ended up being over 20 minutes late by Dorchester due almost entirely due to the increased boarding time at every station. The air con in the saloons remained working but when I got off the temperature in the vestibules was roasting.

The vast majority of travellers were going to Weymouth for the day. Whilst you can't force people to wait for the later train, it certainly seems once people get on they won't get off. It would seem prudent for station announcers to make it very clear to passengers the sensible option is to wait, although in fairness I don't know whether they were or not. In addition station staff might want to make themselves known on a station platform relaying this. There were large crowds at each of Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome, Castle Cary and Yeovil waiting to board and I believe all are staffed on a Saturday morning.

In addition FGW^▸ (First Great Western) might want to consider increasing publicity about the HST if they can. I did see a poster advertising it at Frome, but haven't seen anything at Temple Meads as yet. I appreciate it's only 1 return train a week, but it can't do FGW any good to have a late running 0839 where it's physically impossible for the guard to check and sell tickets. Given it's not high peak season yet, it seems likely this scenario is likely to be repeated every sunny Saturday until September.

I haven't written the above to moan at the service (and I thought the guard did as well as he could in awkward circumstances) but just to point out people may need more 'encouragement' to do the sensible thing and use the HST. Of course if that was busy as well, then the only option may be to strengthen the 0839 to 5 coaches (which probably isn't practical.

[grahame]

Does anyone know how many people are using the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) at the moment?

On the way down yesterday, front five carriages full (including the 2 x First ones).  A,B,C much quieter

3 x 30 + 2 x 70 + 50 (buffet) + 2 x 45 (First) = (say) 380.

I caught the 0839 to Dorchester yesterday. I would have preferred to get the HST but I wanted to walk some of the coast path near Lulworth and (lack of) public transport connections mandated an earlier start. ...

At Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome and Castle Cary the guard made an announcement suggesting to people boarding they'd be best off waiting for the HST. I didn't see anyone get off.

I don't think people want to loose an hour having come for the earlier train / have reasons such as yours.  However, there were on-platform announcements about waiting for the HST before the 158 arrived, at least at Westbury, and some of us had already decided to wait if it looked really busy, and we did.

In addition FGW^▸ (First Great Western) might want to consider increasing publicity about the HST if they can. I did see a poster advertising it at Frome, but haven't seen anything at Temple Meads as yet. I appreciate it's only 1 return train a week, but it can't do FGW any good to have a late running 0839 where it's physically impossible for the guard to check and sell tickets. Given it's not high peak season yet, it seems likely this scenario is likely to be repeated every sunny Saturday until September.

We have a BIG poster at Melksham telling us about the HST.  Unfortunately, the only train we've got to Westbury connects very conveniently with the 3 car 158, and on the way back the HST wanders into Westbury after the last Melksham service has left.   So I can't in all honesty advise our customers come come back on it either.

[Timmer]

The 0839 used to be a five carriage service in previous years. My guess is that FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s plan is to encourage those going to Weymouth to use the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) and use the 150 that used to attach to the 3 carriage 158 elsewhere to strengthen another busy summer service. But the HST does arrive into Weymouth quite late in the morning so I understand why many still want to use the earlier 0839 service.

[rogerpatenall]

Quite apart from the difficulty of explaining to excited young children that we will spend more of our day out waiting around on the platform, I suspect that a large proportion of the families do not really know the difference in capacity of different classes of train and think that even if a grown up train is coming along in an hour, might it not be just as full, anyway?

[phile]

Serving Bath Spa on the way to Weymouth from Paddington would involve a reversal which is probably impractical in terms of the congestion it would cause.

I suspect the choice of Bristol as the starting point is to utilise an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) set which would otherwise be sitting idle at the nearby St Philips Marsh depot.   

It's always started from Bristol in previous years when DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) (or 67) worked.  The Day Trip market is along the route from Bristol, Bath etc.,     

[Rhydgaled]

At Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome and Castle Cary the guard made an announcement suggesting to people boarding they'd be best off waiting for the HST^▸ (High Speed Train). I didn't see anyone get off. He didn't bother at Yeovil, presumably realising it was futile, although a few people decided to wait on the platform for the next train.
The train ended up being over 20 minutes late by Dorchester due almost entirely due to the increased boarding time at every station. The air con in the saloons remained working but when I got off the temperature in the vestibules was roasting.

The vast majority of travellers were going to Weymouth for the day. Whilst you can't force people to wait for the later train, it certainly seems once people get on they won't get off. It would seem prudent for station announcers to make it very clear to passengers the sensible option is to wait, although in fairness I don't know whether they were or not. In addition station staff might want to make themselves known on a station platform relaying this. There were large crowds at each of Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome, Castle Cary and Yeovil waiting to board and I believe all are staffed on a Saturday morning.

People won't wait for a later train. I believe there still is a similar problem every weekday evening at Cardiff Central. The 17:40 to Milford Haven (providing the last connection of the day to Fishguard/Goodwick) is a class 175, and is often packed with commuters going to Bridgend, Port Talbot, Neath and Swansea despite the fact there is a Great Western IC125 just ten minutes later. Consequentially, it is a bit risky going for the last Fishguard train in case you are unable to board the 17:40 to Milford because it is so full of passengers making shorter journeys.

[LiskeardRich]

People won't wait for a later train. I believe there still is a similar problem every weekday evening at Cardiff Central. The 17:40 to Milford Haven (providing the last connection of the day to Fishguard/Goodwick) is a class 175, and is often packed with commuters going to Bridgend, Port Talbot, Neath and Swansea despite the fact there is a Great Western IC125 just ten minutes later. Consequentially, it is a bit risky going for the last Fishguard train in case you are unable to board the 17:40 to Milford because it is so full of passengers making shorter journeys.

I can only second this. I was at Cardiff Central on Friday 23rd May around 1400, and a train arrived for Milford haven, a 2 coach 175. It had to turn away passengers. I decided not to go for it and to wait for the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) 10 mins later as I was going to Bridgend and seen the scrum going for the 175.
A number of passengers turned away from the 175 then got off at Bridgend as well. I went in coach C of the HST and there were just 6 or so other people in that carriage.
Why go for a scrum on a 175 when you can have a empty HST 10 mins later. The CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) boards were displaying the number of carriages for each service hence my decision to wait before I'd seen the scrum.

[Alan Pettitt]

Would it not therefore be more sensible to run the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) as the earlier train to Weymouth then?

[grahame]

Would it not therefore be more sensible to run the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) as the earlier train to Weymouth then?

I wondered whether that might be possible, but noted that the stock that forms the earlier train turns back as the 11:10 from Weymouth, crossing the incoming HST at Dorchester West.

The HST timing is very frustrating indeed for us on the TransWilts, as the morning TransWilts train feeds into the earlier unit, and the returning passengers for Melksham also have to travel back on a unit, as the HST dawdles into Westbury after the last direct Swindon train has left there for the evening 

There may be an alternative along the lines you suggest, but I'll leave it to the HoW^‡(resolve) experts to comment further as they know their line far better than I do. 

[phile]

Worked by 150921 yesterday due shortage of HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) drivers,   Don't know what loadings were like.

[LiskeardRich]

Worked by 150921 yesterday due shortage of HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) drivers,   Don't know what loadings were like.

150002 made it to Penzance yesterday due to unavailability of drivers as well. I think it worked in place of the loco service.

[thetrout]

Why go for a scrum on a 175 when you can have a empty HST^▸ (High Speed Train) 10 mins later.

I can third this as well... Trust me when I say this is a far from unique problem to the 08:39 and 09:06 summer Saturday service. Personally, Weymouth on an HST is very appealing. But if I mentioned this to some of my friends, then I really doubt they would know the difference between the 2 types of trains. Most of them just want to know if it's the right train for their destination and is it going to turn up?!

At Bath Spa the amount of times I've people cram into a 2 car Class 150 and moan about overcrowding when there is an HST right behind waiting at the signal is ridiculous. Personally if I have the time, I will wait for the bigger train. I can understand why many won't. But I often feel that the ones who complain on the overcrowding aspect are the ones who have put themselves on the smaller train. Of course in the case point there are many reasons why someone has selected the train they did.

Another example of this is in the evening peak at Bristol Temple Meads. There is an 18:20 Service to Taunton (Stopping HST) and the 18:44 CrossCountry service (Next call Taunton). The former takes 68 minutes and the latter 30 minutes. When I used to do that journey alot, I usually took the 18:20 for 3 reasons. It was a much quieter train in terms of loading. The stopping HST was definitely more reliable as it starts in London as opposed to Glasgow. Finally the ability to use my laptop on the train to work.

That and I was guarenteed to be able to get a cup of coffee, which seldom happens on an XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Service Admittedly things have since improved. But I still get coffeeless journeys with XC... ALERT... MUST. NOT. THREAD. DRIFT...!

grahame, Did the Summer HST have a Buffet Service onboard? Or was the buffet just closed? I have a feeling I am going to disapprove of the answer