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Author Topic: GWR to Stansted Airport  (Read 4366 times)
ChrisB
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« on: March 09, 2017, 14:10:20 »

seen this?

Since when have GWR (Great Western Railway) run bus services from Paddington to Stansted Airport?
 
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http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P02536/2017/03/08/advanced
 
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grahame
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« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2017, 14:18:39 »

Since when have GWR (Great Western Railway) run bus services from Paddington to Stansted Airport?

From last December ...

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=17741.msg205800#msg205800
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eightf48544
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« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2017, 17:23:32 »

Is that the one that runs from Bishops Bridge?
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stuving
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« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2017, 19:36:37 »

According to National Express, the A6 runs to Bishops Bridge Station. Actually, it doesn't start and stop there, the route goes on to Marble Arch.

So I guess the question is why this PAD» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-XTH link has been put into the rail service dataset, making it appear on RTT» (Real Time Trains - website). I suspect it's labelled TOC (Train Operating Company)=gwr simply because there isn't a code for National Express.
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stuving
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« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2017, 22:42:35 »

So I guess the question is why this PAD» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-XTH link has been put into the rail service dataset, making it appear on RTT» (Real Time Trains - website).

The obvious answer to that would be "journey planners". But why put in that bus, and no others? Or are there other examples of bus-company buses included so that get offered as part of a train journey?

But ... the National Rail journey planner doesn't actually find it. I don't know why - both ends have codes as stations, but maybe it doesn't know about the walking connection from the bus stop at Stansted?
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ChrisB
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« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2017, 22:52:13 »

The Luton Airport Parkway/Airport shuttles are in there
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stuving
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« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2017, 23:02:44 »

The Luton Airport Parkway/Airport shuttles are in there

But that's a necessary part of going to Luton Airport by train (unless you prefer that log a walk). As the airport say:
Quote
Remember to select Luton Airport (LUA) as your departure station to get your Shuttle Bus transfer fare included. If your ticket is from Luton Airport Parkway (LTN (Low Traffic Neighbourhood)), you can always pay the Shuttle Bus fare separately.

And it works.
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grahame
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« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2017, 02:39:24 »

So I guess the question is why this PAD» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-XTH link has been put into the rail service dataset, making it appear on RTT» (Real Time Trains - website).

The obvious answer to that would be "journey planners". But why put in that bus, and no others? Or are there other examples of bus-company buses included so that get offered as part of a train journey?


In the GWR (Great Western Railway) area, journeys by bus to Bude (attachment example)
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stuving
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« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2017, 09:39:52 »

When I wrote "bus-company buses", meaning those promoted rather than run by "normal" bus operators, I knew it was more complicated. So here goes - there's a number of categories:

1. Bude from Exeter is a normal route bus (Stagecoach, as it happens) to a destination with no railway station. It's covered by through ticketing and in ITPS so it gets linked by journey planners and the right ticket offered. It's coded as "GW (Great Western)", but described (in RTT» (Real Time Trains - website)) as a Timetabled Bus service.

2. Railhead links, from the station that was probably built or at least built up because of the airport. Luton is one of those, and again you expect the bus to be in ITPS so you get the journey and ticket offered. (There are also "failed railheads", like Aberdeen Dyce, where there is a not very useful bus and it's easier to get the Jet 727 bus into town. While the shuttle to Dyce is called Jet Connect, it's still not in ITPS nor ticketable.)

3. Longer rail links, that are explicitly for rail users, such as Railair from Reading or Woking. I'm not sure to what extent these are still promoted or sponsored by the rail operators, if they don't actually run them; they are coded GW and SW, both of which are co-owned with bus companies. The bus from Feltham was once branded something similar, though now it's just a London bus route.

4. So what category does the A6 from Paddington to Stansted fall into, to justify its inclusion in ITPS data but not so as to be used by journey planners? Stansted Airport is a railway station, and I guess the bus stop has a code (XTH) so that rail replacement buses can be entered as serving it. Though wouldn't there need to be an explicit coded link - such as by walking - to the airport station (SSD) as well?
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Tim
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« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2017, 10:59:57 »

2 hours to get to Stansted from Paddington is a bit slow compared with tube and train.
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Rhydgaled
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« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2017, 13:03:44 »

In the GWR (Great Western Railway) area, journeys by bus to Bude (attachment example)
Also: Minehead, Padstow, Wadebridge and Helston, all of which appear on both the GWR journey planner and on this map. However, the map also shows bus links that I cannot find on the journey planner; such as St. Austell to Eden Project and Bicester to Milton Keynes. I wonder what the criteria is for deciding which bus services go on the map.
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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).
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