Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 19:15 28 Mar 2024
* Easter getaways hit by travel disruption
- 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 (1992)
MOD Kineton tour, branch line society (*)

Train RunningCancelled
17:48 Reading to Gatwick Airport
17:54 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street
18:03 London Paddington to Penzance
18:08 London Paddington to Frome
Additional 18:25 Shalford to Reading
18:36 London Paddington to Plymouth
18:37 Westbury to Swindon
18:55 Bedwyn to Newbury
19:23 Reading to Gatwick Airport
19:24 Newbury to Bedwyn
19:33 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
19:55 Bedwyn to Newbury
20:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
20:13 Swindon to Westbury
20:16 Frome to Westbury
20:49 Newbury to Bedwyn
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
21:16 Bedwyn to Newbury
21:53 Newbury to Bedwyn
22:25 Bedwyn to Newbury
22:47 Newbury to Bedwyn
Short Run
15:03 London Paddington to Penzance
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 London Paddington to Plymouth
17:50 Gloucester to Salisbury
17:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
18:19 Reading to Gatwick Airport
18:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
18:54 Reading to Gatwick Airport
18:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
19:04 Paignton to London Paddington
19:06 London Paddington to Bedwyn
19:13 Salisbury to Bristol Temple Meads
19:29 Gatwick Airport to Reading
20:42 Bedwyn to London Paddington
21:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
Delayed
13:59 Cardiff Central to Penzance
14:15 Penzance to London Paddington
16:03 London Paddington to Penzance
16:15 Penzance to London Paddington
Additional 17:17 Exeter St Davids to Penzance
Additional 17:26 Castle Cary to Penzance
An additional train service has been planned to operate as shown 18:25 Shalford to Reading
19:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
19:59 Gatwick Airport to Reading
etc
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, 19:26:18 *
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]
  Print  
Author Topic: Cotswold Line advance tickets  (Read 3371 times)
CobboldCamper
Newbie
*
Posts: 6


View Profile Email
« on: December 09, 2017, 08:06:52 »

Anyone know what's happening on the Cotswold Line in the New Year?  No advanced ticket availability and this message has been on the website for the last few weeks, with the end date getting further away

*Reservations aren’t open yet on the following dates:
from Monday 1 January through to Friday 2 March 2018 for services between London and Oxford/Worcester/Hereford

When I asked GWR (Great Western Railway) they tell me its because Network Rail won't confirm the time table   Buy they're quite happy to sell full peak fares for those dates
« Last Edit: December 09, 2017, 10:13:05 by CobboldCamper » Logged
Richard Fairhurst
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1204


View Profile Email
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2017, 09:39:29 »

That sounds a curious reason given that the timetable is posted on the GWR (Great Western Railway) website.

I wonder if it's because GWR aren't 100% confident what rolling stock they'll be using on the Cotswold Line in the New Year - the Adelantes are leaving at Christmas, but the IETs (Intercity Express Train) have barely run up and down the line yet, let alone been proven in revenue-earning service. We may be in for an uncomfortable few weeks of Turbotisation before the IETs bed in, and Turbos have limited capacity and no reservations.
Logged
didcotdean
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1424


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2017, 10:26:01 »

If they were brave they could sell a few Advances without seat reservations. Unless maybe they think there could be too many 2-coach 165s.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2017, 10:56:48 »

... the Adelantes are leaving at Christmas ...

I've only used the Adalentes very rarely since a handful returned to FGW (First Great Western)/GWR (Great Western Railway) - simply not on my line.  However, this a.m (having chickened out of last night's chaos) I was at Paddington early and caught the 07:15 Malvern service as far as Reading.

Passenger view - noticeably faster "away" than an HST (High Speed Train) / noticeably much noisier that an HST or an IET (Intercity Express Train).   Good table layout in contrast to an HST, much more comfortable / softer seats than an IET.  And the opening doors seem to fly back at a much higher speed on an Adelante than on an IET.   I can understand "standard fleet" and that there have been reliability issues, but on the basis of this morning's run they're AOK for regional work and perhaps would have been preferable to turbos for Cardiff to Portsmouth?
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Richard Fairhurst
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1204


View Profile Email
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2017, 11:24:07 »

They're terrific trains, a good fit for the Cotswold Line, and I'll miss them. Reliability was obviously a issue, and the tables do judder around given that they're not bolted to the wall. (Apparently this was a deliberate design decision with a "floating floor" insulated from the body structure to reduce vibration, but I'm not convinced it works.) But they're wonderfully comfortable, fast, and airy with big windows. They remind me of a modern evolution of the Class 156, their Washwood Heath predecessor.

The 125mph capability would be wasted on Cardiff-Portsmouth, though, I think: better suited for their 100mph cousins, the 175s.
Logged
didcotdean
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1424


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2017, 11:47:46 »

I always quite liked them. Biggest drawback for me was the overhead luggage space, or relative lack of it, not for much more than a thin bag or coats.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2017, 12:27:48 »

They're terrific trains ...

The 125mph capability would be wasted on Cardiff-Portsmouth, though, I think: better suited for their 100mph cousins, the 175s.

You would have a riot from Cardiff - Portsmouth line passenger if you dropped that service to 3 carriages though, and from staff and the revenue protection team if you coupled two none-gangwayed sets together.   You could probably get away with telling the staff and RPI (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) they had to live with the issue of no connection if you went that way but a three  car into the foreseeable future / three car "next generation" would result in awkward questions in high places!

The other solution using 3 car 175s is to run not one but multiple services per hour.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
IanL
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 348


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2017, 15:40:15 »

"Six rail companies also failed to release advanced purchase tickets for the festive period 12 weeks ahead."  from BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42322086

Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2017, 17:00:09 »

"Six rail companies also failed to release advanced purchase tickets for the festive period 12 weeks ahead."  from BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42322086
Surprised it’s taken this long for this story to appear on the forum. It was on the front page of The Daily Telegraph later appearing via other media outlets.

Been away from the Coffeeshop all day so haven’t had chance to post it up.

No point in fining Network Rail as taxpayers own the company! Shame they don’t get a say in how much Network Rail management earn.
Logged
CobboldCamper
Newbie
*
Posts: 6


View Profile Email
« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2017, 09:27:54 »

So - three days (sic.) before the new timetable goes into effect, advance tickets on the Cotswold line have just been released - not that you'd know it from the website -https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/tickets-railcards-and-season-tickets/booking-tickets-in-advance.  Good luck finding any discount from the walk on fares though.  "Book early to get our best deals" it says   - but if you can't cos network rail haven't confirmed the timetable then tough luck!
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #10 on: December 28, 2017, 09:48:51 »

Good luck finding any discount from the walk on fares though.

That's logical.

Advance fares are a marketing tool designed to sell train travel to people who wouldn't otherwise travel by train, and to even out loadings from heavily (over)subscribed trains to later ones.   I would suggest that over the Christmas and New Year period, the vast majority of passengers won't be making go / no go decisions based on price, so there's little incentive for the train operator to discount - all they would be doing is providing a cheaper product that they could be selling at "full price" anyway.

There is a slight wrinkle of complexity here (of course there is - this is rail fares  Grin ) in that income from advance tickets goes to the train operator upon whom your advance ticket is valid, rather than being shared between the various operators on a route.  So logic suggests that from Oxford to London (where Chiltern now compete) there may well be more advance tickets on offer at a small saving than from (say) Newbury, Swindon or Moreton-in-Marsh to London where virtually all of the farebox income is assigned to GWR (Great Western Railway).
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
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]
  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