Royal Wedding Weekend - What's going to happen?

[whole diary]

[YouKnowNothing]

We all know what's happened to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s weekend service lately (cough.... years) with mass cancellations, delays and missed stations. With the Royal Wedding this weekend and the eyes of the world on the service... what do you think will happen? Previous promises of increased services, such as for the rugby and boxing, have been cancelled followed by the cancellation of actual timetables services as well. It would be good to know your thoughts? Have GWR suspended driver training this week to ensure that there are enough crew?

[ChrisB]

I would have expected dire warnings before now, so I think the extra services/longer trains will run.

I still think there'll be too many people and expect horrendous queues though

[Electric train]

I would have expected dire warnings before now, so I think the extra services/longer trains will run.

I still think there'll be too many people and expect horrendous queues though

Looking at the barriers set up in the east side car park at Slough they are expecting lots of people.  A 4 car 165 does not quite have the same capacity as an 8 car 387 of which at least 2 (1 UP and 1DN) will arrive while said 4 car 165 is between Slough and Windsor.


Its going to be bedlam.   

[TaplowGreen]

I'm nearby and things are already "warming up" so to speak...……….the lovely Meghan is spending the night in Taplow - what a lucky girl!

Car parks in Windsor are opening at 0400 - are the trains starting earlier/finishing later than usual?

Worth remembering with all your dire/gleeful warnings of chaos that Slough-Windsor is not the only option, there are those nice, long trains out of Waterloo to Windsor too, and we're pretty used to "too many people/horrendous queues" in the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) area, especially recently, so I am sure all will cope in a good humoured and patient manner as befits the occasion.

Other events may make it lively however - FA Cup Final, Rock the Moor etc........so if there is the usual weekend meltdown, Hopwood may be waiting a little longer than he hoped for his knighthood.

[bobm]

Out of idle curiosity I looked on Booking.com yesterday at hotel prices in Windsor for tonight and there were a few available in the town centre from prices between £330 and £540 for one room.   Looking tonight they have gone, so either someone paid those prices or they were withdrawn.

Next week those same rooms range from £120 to £180 - that's supply and demand for you!

[Adelante_CCT]

Car parks in Windsor are opening at 0400 - are the trains starting earlier/finishing later than usual?

First service is 05:44 from Slough and then every 20 minutes rather than the usual 06:17 and every 30 mins

[broadgage]

I expect that the Windsor services will run reasonably well, with the "eyes of the world upon them" GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) will no doubt provide extra resources, even if that makes the usual weekend chaos elsewhere even worse. I think that fine weather is expected, ideal for barbecues

I do not THINK that incompetent railway directors can be beheaded at the Tower of London, but there might be some ancient statute that permits it.

Any bad c0ck ups would likely prevent the granting of a knighthood to any senior figure who might otherwise have been so honoured.

[IndustryInsider]

I don't think crewing will be a problem - just the one additional driver need to be found per shift to double crew the train and summer holidays have yet to take effect and I'm sure this will be given priority.  And if they can't find another driver it's not absolutely essential to double crew it.

[Sixty3Closure]

I did see press reports that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) was planning on giving away free water and cakes to those queuing at the station.

I'm possibly being unfair but its a pity the positive PR^▸ (Public Relations) doesn't extend to passengers when they're stranded at Paddington or wherever.


bah humbug 

[martyjon]

I don't think crewing will be a problem - just the one additional driver need to be found per shift to double crew the train and summer holidays have yet to take effect and I'm sure this will be given priority.  And if they can't find another driver it's not absolutely essential to double crew it.

They'd have no problem in getting crew to man the special days timetable with a much enhanced hourly rate offer to staff to work their rest day for those whose rest day is this special day.

[IndustryInsider]

What was the enhanced rate on offer?  I don’t recall seeing the details of any such special offer.

[Surrey 455]

From my SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) Alerts email

If you are travelling from London, we recommend that you use South Western Railway services from London Waterloo to get to Windsor, rather than services from London Paddington run by Great Western Railway. This is because we will have more trains running towards Windsor and greater capacity to transport our customers, as we will be running four direct, ten carriage trains per hour from London Waterloo to Windsor.

If you hold a Great Western Railway ticket, we will accept it on our services on Saturday 19 May after the Wedding on your return journey. If you hold a Great Western Railway ticket, you will need to travel on their services to the Wedding. If you are travelling from Reading, please catch a train to Slough, where you will be able to connect with a shuttle train to take you to Windsor and Eton Central.

[IndustryInsider]

Seemed to be going ok at Slough this morning. Long queues but 400 or so people being shifted on each 4-car train so nowhere near horrendous.  Plenty of staff and BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) and free water and most people with smiles on their faces.  Not sure how the Riverside route was coping, but with a combined 52 carriages of people arriving at Windsor per hour it looked a pretty well organised plan to me.

[TaplowGreen]

Seemed to be going ok at Slough this morning. Long queues but 400 or so people being shifted on each 4-car train so nowhere near horrendous.  Plenty of staff and BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) and free water and most people with smiles on their faces.  Not sure how the Riverside route was coping, but with a combined 52 carriages of people arriving at Windsor per hour it looked a pretty well organised plan to me.

Slough Borough council have laid on a load of free buses too which has helped.

Good to see it all working out, any sign of Hopwood or other senior managers?

[grahame]

Seemed to be going ok at Slough this morning. Long queues but 400 or so people being shifted on each 4-car train so nowhere near horrendous.  Plenty of staff and BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) and free water and most people with smiles on their faces.  Not sure how the Riverside route was coping, but with a combined 52 carriages of people arriving at Windsor per hour it looked a pretty well organised plan to me.

Water, tick, knew that would happen.   Was the suggestion I got of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) confetti being handed out a joke?  .   I really wonder at how Windsor will cope with all those people ... or are they all being shunted into the Great Park?