Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 09:15 29 Mar 2024
- Bus plunges off South Africa bridge, killing 45
- Easter getaway begins with flood alerts in place
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
29th Mar (1913)
Foundation of National Union or Railwaymen (*)

Train RunningCancelled
09:00 Gatwick Airport to Reading
09:08 Newbury to Bedwyn
09:46 Westbury to Swindon
09:54 Bedwyn to Newbury
10:22 Newbury to Bedwyn
10:55 Bedwyn to Newbury
11:05 Swindon to Westbury
11:29 Newbury to Bedwyn
11:57 Bedwyn to Newbury
12:17 Westbury to Swindon
12:52 Bedwyn to Newbury
13:15 Swindon to Westbury
14:19 Westbury to Swindon
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
Short Run
05:33 Plymouth to London Paddington
06:37 Plymouth to London Paddington
07:03 London Paddington to Paignton
08:35 Plymouth to London Paddington
08:41 Westbury to Bristol Temple Meads
09:37 London Paddington to Paignton
09:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Salisbury
10:35 London Paddington to Exeter St Davids
Delayed
05:03 Penzance to London Paddington
06:05 Penzance to London Paddington
07:10 Penzance to London Paddington
08:03 London Paddington to Penzance
08:15 Penzance to London Paddington
09:04 London Paddington to Plymouth
10:04 London Paddington to Penzance
11:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
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 29, 2024, 09:29:57 *
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
[159] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[68] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[63] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[62] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
[56] Return of the BRUTE?
[38] 2024 - Service update and amendment log, Swindon <-> Westbury...
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5
  Print  
Author Topic: Not just GWR...  (Read 13884 times)
Trowres
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 750


View Profile
« Reply #15 on: May 20, 2018, 23:22:16 »

Day 1 of the super-duper Thameslink timetable:

Quote

Amended Great Northern and Thameslink service
Short-term timetable amendments mean fewer trains are able to run. Trains running across Great Northern and Thameslink are running as normal but some services may still be revised.

 

Customer Advice:
The majority of the new timetable services are in operation but services on some routes are being progressively phased into the timetable during the course of the summer.

New carriages need to be introduced to operate the service. Some of these carriages are currently stored off the network. To get them to what will be their home depots; the train operators must also move some of the existing trains off the network and switch over to the new rolling stock.

The majority of this will be done overnight prior to Monday 21 May, but it is not possible to change over the entire fleet in one weekend without risking disruption to services. The remaining new trains will be brought onto the network as the summer progresses.

How will this impact the train service?

Sunday 20 May:
The train operators have introduced the new timetable, with trains operating from Cambridge and Peterborough and other locations in Sussex and Kent directly across central London on an expanded Thameslink route.

As part of the huge logistical challenge of introducing this new timetable, the train operators are working hard to minimise the impact this will have on the busiest trains; some services however, were not initially running and this has ultimately led to some cancellations.

Weekday services:
Whilst the train operators go through this transitional period; the long term impact of all the changes they are making will enable the service to have greater resilience and reliability but also aid in minimising the ripple effect of any incidents that may occur across the network. The full benefits of the timetable change will become apparent in the coming weeks as they progressively expand the services.

Where possible, the gradual introduction will be limited to services that previously didn't run and where other services will still be available. The train operators are doing everything possible to limit the impact such as removing quieter services and providing additional replacement bus services where necessary.

The four main routes that will be gradually phased in are listed below:

    Peterborough to Horsham via London St Pancras International
    Luton to Rainham via London Bridge
    Luton to Orpington via London St Pancras International
    Bedford to Brighton via London St Pancras International


It is anticipated there will be significant gaps in service at Higham station, where a bus replacement service will operate linking Higham and Strood with onward connections provided by Southeastern Highspeed services to and from Gravesend and London St Pancras International.

The train operators are also working with Southeastern to provide alterative trains.

Please plan travel in advance by using journey planners and we will provide further updates as and when they are received.

I want to know more?
The train operators have been painstakingly preparing for this significant alteration to the timetables and every effort has been made to prepare for this. The train operators are currently in the process of introducing one of the biggest changes to the railway timetable since the 1970s by providing more route choices, new trains and better connections.

The train operators have had to redeploy large numbers of trains and drivers for the 3,600 services now due to run every day which is 400 more than before. This is a huge logistical undertaking that they have been working toward with the partners at Rail Delivery Group, Network Rail as well as the Department for Transport and other train operators to deliver this industry changing programme.

As part of the process to get trains to where they need to be and ensure that drivers have full awareness of and are fully trained on their new routes, there will be temporary changes put in place to allow these movements to take place. These could be revisions to the calling patterns of services and in some instances cancellations, however, where possible they aim to minimise the effect this will have by facilitating this during quieter off peak periods and also overnight when services are not as busy.

In addition to this, the national timetable planning process as has happened across the entire national rail network has been significantly delayed. Railway timetables are normally published 12 weeks in advance, however, due to the vast undertaking of rewriting the timetable from start to accommodate the large network; this was not completed for Govia Thameslink Railway until 3.5 weeks ago. Part of this process is defining the scope of engineering work to the track, which affects the deployment of trains and train crew and the access they have to train maintenance depots. This means they have had less time than normal to re-plan the driver allocations as well as the train stabling and maintenance requirements to which work is continuously on-going.

The train operators thank you for your patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused during the upcoming weeks as they work hard to introduce the industry leading timetable, in so, modernising the railway, creating faster journeys across London and creating space for an additional 50,000 passengers daily into London.

Additional Information
For more information on the New Timetable and how this will transform your journey, please visit railplan2020.com

A quick check of RTT» (Real Time Trains - website) at City Thameslink showed over 60 cancellations today (Sunday) with the reason given as "Planning Error".


Logged
Red Squirrel
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5190


There are some who call me... Tim


View Profile
« Reply #16 on: May 21, 2018, 09:35:50 »

An honest question: Is this because every iota of contingency has been value-engineered into thin air?
Logged

Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
eightf48544
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4574


View Profile Email
« Reply #17 on: May 21, 2018, 09:44:14 »

Today programme featured Thameslink today 21st. Lots of cancellations.[

quote author=Red Squirrel link=topic=19771.msg238288#msg238288 date=1526891750]
An honest question: Is this because every iota of contingency has been value-engineered into thin air?
[/quote]

Very probably. It has been in Modern Railways that trains have to arrive at Blackfriars and Kings Cross St Pancras Thameslink in strict timetable sequence to get 20/24 tph through the tunnels.

With trains coming from Brighton and several other South/South East London origins, Bedford, Peterborough and Cambridge that's a big ask.



 
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40691



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #18 on: May 21, 2018, 10:51:30 »

From The BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Quote
Rail disruption is continuing on a day dubbed 'Meltdown Monday' by unions after new timetables were introduced.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) rescheduled every service on its Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern franchise as part of an overhaul billed as the biggest in the UK (United Kingdom).
The operator apologised after it cancelled dozens of trains, hours after its new timetable began on Sunday.
It confirmed disruption was continuing on Monday.
Passengers in the north of England are also reporting delays and cancellations as rail routes covered by Northern, which operates services across the north from Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, saw train times and stopping patterns change from Sunday.
The RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) called today "Meltdown Monday" said it should "spell the end of the privatised chaos on Britain's railways".

[continues]

Our "Meltdown Monday" will be Wednesday Grin 2nd January 2019, I suspect.
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #19 on: May 23, 2018, 19:24:19 »

Northern aren’t having a good time of it at all or should I say their long suffering passengers aren’t with the many delays, cancellations along with the launch of the new timetables this week making the main BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) 6 o’clock news this evening.

Though it’s hard to have sympathy with a private company there to make a profit, they like GWR (Great Western Railway) are having to put up with the failings of Network Rail with delays in electrification and not providing finalised timetables in good time. Where they don’t help themselves is the poor level of customer care, something we often level at GWR in our part of the world.

For more on this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-44226948
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40691



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #20 on: June 03, 2018, 21:36:50 »

An interesting analysis for Southern -

http://delays.me.uk/
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
RichardB
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 958


View Profile
« Reply #21 on: June 04, 2018, 23:50:00 »

Here's Chris Grayling's statement in the Commons this evening and the grilling he got from MPs (Member of Parliament) on all sides

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-06-04/debates/8053C64D-817B-4041-BB61-9C445FDC599E/RailTimetabling
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40691



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #22 on: June 05, 2018, 01:39:07 »

Here's Chris Grayling's statement in the Commons this evening and the grilling he got from MPs (Member of Parliament) on all sides

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-06-04/debates/8053C64D-817B-4041-BB61-9C445FDC599E/RailTimetabling


Thanks for the link, Richard

From the GWR (Great Western Railway) franchise area:

Quote
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)

There could not be a greater contrast between the millions of pounds of new investment in our railways being introduced by the Welsh Labour Government and the shambles over which the Secretary of State presides. Can he explain what on earth is going on at Great Western Railway? There have been repeated cancellations, delays, trains that are understaffed with no catering services, and trains breaking down. I have spoken to Great Western Railway, to Network Rail and to Hitachi. Hitachi tells me that the Department for Transport did not give a long enough period for testing the trains, and Great Western tells me that it sold off a load of its own trains to Scotland before the new ones were ready. Will he get a grip on that situation?

Chris Grayling

The Great Western modernisation is delivering new trains and a faster service, and by the end of this year it will deliver an improved timetable. There have been teething problems with the introduction of the new trains, but anyone who has travelled on the new trains in which this Government are investing on the Great Western route will say that they are a step in the right direction.


Quote
Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and his commitment to investigate what has gone wrong and take appropriate action as soon as possible. Does he believe that part of the answer to ensuring that this situation never happens again is combining the operation of track and train under one operator?

Chris Grayling

Bringing track and train back together is part of the solution for the railways. I am absolutely sure that the railways are going to have to change quite a lot as a result of what has gone on, which has been completely unacceptable. Their ways of working have got to change. We are going to need a reshaped approach for the future.

Quote
Luke Pollard (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Lab/Co-op)

The Secretary of State told the House that sorting out the timetable chaos was his Department’s No. 1 priority. That is a phrase he has used before about Dawlish and the resilience work in the far south-west, which was apparently his No. 1 priority. What is his No. 1 priority, and will Northern and GTR passengers have to wait the years that passengers in the far south-west have had to wait for action on Dawlish?

Chris Grayling

The work on Dawlish has already started, as the hon. Gentleman knows. In terms of the infrastructure period that is about to start, delivering that work is, in my view, the most important capital project in the country. The most important priority on my desk now is self-evidently to get this sorted.

Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #23 on: June 05, 2018, 06:26:37 »

Glad to see someone raised the GW (Great Western) franchise in this debate. Western Region MPs (Member of Parliament) seem awfully quiet about the service being offered by the GW franchise. Could it be because they are mostly Tory MPs?
Logged
Lee
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7519


GBR - The Emperor's New Rail Network


View Profile WWW
« Reply #24 on: June 05, 2018, 10:12:36 »

Here's Chris Grayling's statement in the Commons this evening and the grilling he got from MPs (Member of Parliament) on all sides

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-06-04/debates/8053C64D-817B-4041-BB61-9C445FDC599E/RailTimetabling


Thanks for the link, Richard

From the GWR (Great Western Railway) franchise area:

Quote
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)

There could not be a greater contrast between the millions of pounds of new investment in our railways being introduced by the Welsh Labour Government and the shambles over which the Secretary of State presides. Can he explain what on earth is going on at Great Western Railway? There have been repeated cancellations, delays, trains that are understaffed with no catering services, and trains breaking down. I have spoken to Great Western Railway, to Network Rail and to Hitachi. Hitachi tells me that the Department for Transport did not give a long enough period for testing the trains, and Great Western tells me that it sold off a load of its own trains to Scotland before the new ones were ready. Will he get a grip on that situation?

Chris Grayling

The Great Western modernisation is delivering new trains and a faster service, and by the end of this year it will deliver an improved timetable. There have been teething problems with the introduction of the new trains, but anyone who has travelled on the new trains in which this Government are investing on the Great Western route will say that they are a step in the right direction.

Or "How not to show everyone that you are in touch with the everyday passenger and their concerns"...
Logged

Vous devez être impitoyable, parce que ces gens sont des salauds - https://looka.com/s/78722877
froome
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 901


View Profile Email
« Reply #25 on: June 06, 2018, 07:05:14 »

Is what has happened on the Oxenholme to Windermere line unprecedented? In effect, what has happened there is that due to being unable to cope with planned timetable changes, the entire service has been removed for 2 weeks, and no trains will run at all. While bustitution for a week due to line maintenance isn't unusual, complete closure for a fortnight due to inability to cope with planned changes must be unique.
Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 18895



View Profile
« Reply #26 on: June 06, 2018, 07:22:25 »

Our "Meltdown Monday" will be Wednesday Grin 2nd January 2019, I suspect.

I suspect it'll be later than that. Possibly not until May 2019.
Logged

"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

- Sir Terry Pratchett.
stuving
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 7156


View Profile
« Reply #27 on: June 06, 2018, 08:50:26 »

Is what has happened on the Oxenholme to Windermere line unprecedented? In effect, what has happened there is that due to being unable to cope with planned timetable changes, the entire service has been removed for 2 weeks, and no trains will run at all. While bustitution for a week due to line maintenance isn't unusual, complete closure for a fortnight due to inability to cope with planned changes must be unique.

I thought the striking thing about the removal of that service is that it barely needs a timetable at all. Even if the through trains pose a problem of some kind, once the branch has been given a train for the day it can just chug up and down without even the signallers worrying about where it is. It saves one (small) train and a crew, that's all.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2018, 14:02:52 by stuving » Logged
froome
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 901


View Profile Email
« Reply #28 on: June 06, 2018, 13:58:23 »

Is what has happened on the Oxenholme to Windermere line unprecedented? In effect, what has happened there is that due to being unable to cope with planned timetable changes, the entire service has been removed for 2 weeks, and no trains will run at all. While bustitution for a week due to line maintenance isn't unusual, complete closure for a fortnight due to inability to cope with planned changes must be unique.

I though the striking thing about the removal of that service is that it barely needs a timetable at all. Even if the through trains pose a problem of some kind, once the branch has been given a train for the day it can just chug up and down without even the signallers worrying about where it is. It saves one (small) train and a crew, that's all.

Exactly. And the other striking point is that the roads that the bustitutes will have to use are notoriously congested. I have used the Lakes bus between Kendal and Windermere a few times, and getting in and out of Kendal is a nightmare. It often loses half an hour from the timing it is supposed to be keeping to.
Logged
Timmer
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 6293


View Profile
« Reply #29 on: June 06, 2018, 14:08:19 »

Our "Meltdown Monday" will be Wednesday Grin 2nd January 2019, I suspect.

I suspect it'll be later than that. Possibly not until May 2019.
It’s increasingly looking that way.
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 4 5
  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