Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 17:35 28 Mar 2024
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Passengers pleaded with knifeman during attack
* Family anger at sentence on fatal crash driver, 19
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1917)
Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore closed (link)

Train RunningCancelled
16:54 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
17:54 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street
18:37 Westbury to Swindon
19:33 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
20:13 Swindon to Westbury
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
Short Run
14:49 Plymouth to Cardiff Central
15:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
15:15 Plymouth to London Paddington
15:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
15:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
15:42 Exeter St Davids to London Paddington
16:19 Carmarthen to London Paddington
16:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
16:35 London Paddington to Plymouth
16:50 Plymouth to London Paddington
17:03 London Paddington to Penzance
17:30 London Paddington to Taunton
17:36 Swindon to Westbury
Delayed
12:15 Penzance to London Paddington
13:59 Cardiff Central to Penzance
14:15 Penzance to London Paddington
14:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
14:36 London Paddington to Paignton
15:03 London Paddington to Penzance
16:03 London Paddington to Penzance
Additional 17:17 Exeter St Davids to Penzance
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 17:50:26 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[133] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[132] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[53] Return of the BRUTE?
[44] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[41] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[32] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 13
  Print  
Author Topic: Rugby World Cup - underestimated number of fans  (Read 85460 times)
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 12334


View Profile Email
« on: September 19, 2015, 12:46:00 »

Tweets this morning (may now be on BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news feed) concerning severe overcrowding & failure to board trains towards Cardiff for the Irish game this afternoon.

FGW (First Great Western) twitter apologising for underestimating the number of fans....not a presigious start
Logged
John R
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 4416


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2015, 13:27:27 »

The FGW (First Great Western) website says that "Due to overcrowding because of a sporting event between London Paddington and Cardiff Central trains have to run at reduced speed on the line."

Now apart from the somewhat (if not very) pedantic point that the sporting event is in Cardiff and not between London and Cardiff, why do trains have to run at reduced speed because of the overcrowding?
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 12334


View Profile Email
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2015, 14:38:55 »

Some pics on social media do show trains absolutely rammed to the doors.
Logged
Adelante_CCT
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1314



View Profile
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2015, 15:10:54 »

3 extra hsts from Pad on top of the hourly Swanseas and 3 extra loco hauled services from Pad, and an extra hourly service from Bristol. Also I see the 10:15 from Pad to Cheltenham was diverted to Cardiff as well. So there certainly was a lot more running to Cardiff than normal.
Logged
LiskeardRich
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 3457

richardwarwicker@hotmail.co.uk
View Profile
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2015, 15:11:25 »

Sell out crowds for a world cup match, what were they expecting?

Even Tonga against Georgia (two lesser teams) at Gloucester in the lunch time game was sell out.

There are 3 games at Exeter, all of which are sell out crowds- Sandy Park has had its capacity increased for the world cup, so will be numbers that wont have been experienced in Exeter previously.
Logged

All posts are my own personal believes, opinions and understandings!
bobm
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 9809



View Profile
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2015, 16:08:07 »

The 10:15 from London Paddington to Cheltenham was terminated at Swindon to form an additional service to Cardiff Central.
Logged
hoover50
Full Member
***
Posts: 87


Class 50 at Swindon


View Profile Email
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2015, 16:08:39 »

3 extra hsts from Pad on top of the hourly Swanseas and 3 extra loco hauled services from Pad, and an extra hourly service from Bristol. Also I see the 10:15 from Pad to Cheltenham was diverted to Cardiff as well. So there certainly was a lot more running to Cardiff than normal.

I wonder how well utilised the relief services were, given they were not advertised to the general public?
Logged
didcotdean
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1424


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2015, 17:53:39 »

I suspect the travel pattern of the spectators for this match has been rather different from the Wales v England ones that they are used to. Seems people travelled later in a more compressed time period, and then more didn't want to hang around a bit in Cardiff afterwards. Signalling won't have helped though.
Logged
phile
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1382

Language spoken Welsh as well as English


View Profile Email
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2015, 18:28:29 »

3 extra hsts from Pad on top of the hourly Swanseas and 3 extra loco hauled services from Pad, and an extra hourly service from Bristol. Also I see the 10:15 from Pad to Cheltenham was diverted to Cardiff as well. So there certainly was a lot more running to Cardiff than normal.

I wonder how well utilised the relief services were, given they were not advertised to the general public?

Full and standing
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 12334


View Profile Email
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2015, 20:01:27 »

Ooooh, another subtle change with the new branding....

Journeycheck currently referring to "overcrowding", rather than simply 'crowding'! Admission at last
Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2015, 20:21:40 »

Ooooh, another subtle change with the new branding....

Journeycheck currently referring to "overcrowding", rather than simply 'crowding'! Admission at last
Good, just call it for what it is.

Not been a good start for Rugby fans travelling by rail these past two days. To be fair to FGW (First Great Western), I don't think that there was much more they could have done without seriously affecting other routes by pulling stock to run even more services or strengthening others to Cardiff.

Of course the public think a train company has a magic cupboard that they can pull lots of trains from at times of major events.
Logged
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 12334


View Profile Email
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2015, 20:54:08 »

Agreed, so why not try & educate these World Cup-only fans that they might want to travel outside the hour either side of the game for comfort? I saw no advertising....
Logged
LiskeardRich
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 3457

richardwarwicker@hotmail.co.uk
View Profile
« Reply #12 on: September 19, 2015, 21:03:25 »

Agreed, so why not try & educate these World Cup-only fans that they might want to travel outside the hour either side of the game for comfort? I saw no advertising....

Fans were being unable to board at Bristol parkway as early as 0930. The game didn't kick off until 1430.

With Cardiff from my experience of match days is that a lot of fans go into Cardiff early, the main benefit of the stadium being in the city centre is it draws fans. Atmosphere in the city centre pre match is always fantastic in Cardiff.

Stadiums such as twickenham where there isn't a lot in the surrounding area people turn up closer to the game.
Logged

All posts are my own personal believes, opinions and understandings!
Rhydgaled
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1500


View Profile WWW
« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2015, 22:52:28 »

Of course the public think a train company has a magic cupboard that they can pull lots of trains from at times of major events.
3 extra hsts from Pad on top of the hourly Swanseas and 3 extra loco hauled services from Pad, and an extra hourly service from Bristol. Also I see the 10:15 from Pad to Cheltenham was diverted to Cardiff as well. So there certainly was a lot more running to Cardiff than normal.
Looks like FirstGW really did have a magic cupboard today. 3 extra IC125 services I can understand since the weekend timetable doesn't have the 2tph to Cardiff (one of which continues to Swansea) suggesting some sets are available at weekends (and it isn't summer so those sets aren't working summer Saturday extras) but where did they find extra 'west fleet' units for extra Bristol-Cardiff services?

Where was the LHCS (Locomotive Hauled Coaching Stock) sourced from and what 'flavour' was it?
Logged

----------------------------
Don't DOO (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) it, keep the guard (but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea if the driver unlocked the doors on arrival at calling points).
The Tall Controller
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 353


View Profile
« Reply #14 on: September 19, 2015, 23:22:10 »

I believe fans buying tickets from the RWC Official were advised to travel outside 'peak demand' hours when purchasing and were also invited/required to enter in their travel plans. The Fanfests are open to anyone which can alter numbers travelling.
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 13
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page