Cotswold line - request for it to become clock face

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Rail User Express

Cotswold Line Promotion Group

CLPG^» (Cotswold Line Promotion Group - about) wants all off-peak London trains to call at Worcester Parkway, Pershore and Honeybourne to an hourly clock-face timetable. Early morning service trains and empty stock workings from Worcester Shrub Hill to Great Malvern and Hereford should be brought into passenger service. Finally, the “threadbare and unreliable” Malvern – Worcester – Bristol service should be recast to provide an hourly peak service, a two-hourly service throughout the day on weekdays, and better weekend services.

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) accepted the bid seeking to justify reopening the Stratford-upon-Avon – Long Marston line, with through services via Honeybourne to Oxford and to Worcester. Stantec has been engaged to deliver a Strategic Outline Business Case by 15 June.

Reaching the summit of Worcestershire Beacon, the highest point of the Malvern Hills, is arduous and too tough for some. A Malvern for All proposal for a cable car up to catering and rest facilities at the top met with enthusiasm, but was rejected by the Malvern Hills Conservators.

[Witham Bobby]

I suspect the junction conflicts and single line sections on the route will make a strictly clockface timetable very difficult to attain.  A timetabler's nightmare, in fact.

It's pretty much clockface now, with very few exceptions to the general hourly pattern

[TonyN]

The effort really needs to be concentrated on getting the Reading stops put back into the evening peak trains. Currently dispite the superfasts to Bristol Parkway not running the Cotswold line Evening peak down trains don't call at Reading. So unless you make a reservation and use cross country you have to catch the Paddington Oxford train 30 minutes earlier. A 1 hour 20 minute journey becomes a 1 hour 50 minute journey.

[Reading General]

Agreed. I’m sure those that use the cotswold line station’s priorities are probably services to London but large junction to large junction inter city journeys create far bigger opportunities to travel around by train, rather than just to/from London journeys. The way I see it, a useable railway is one that has interurban journeys where all trains call at key junctions/locations and then regional/local point to point all stations services between these key junctions. Those regional/local services should be an hourly clock face as a bare minimum. If you build a service that’s priority is to connect every train direct to London, you end up with a less useable service overall for journeys in the key areas where we need to reduce car use. Sadly the private railway will only cater for most popular. Newbury is on a mainline to the West Country for example but it’s service is London directed. It is quite difficult to get anywhere else in the south west without changing at Reading, which on some journeys requires you to roll back through Newbury. A world of opportunity can be opened up if services are clock faced timed junction to junction rather than non stop trains from London

[grahame]

... Newbury is on a mainline to the West Country for example but it’s service is London directed. It is quite difficult to get anywhere else in the south west without changing at Reading, which on some journeys requires you to roll back through Newbury. A world of opportunity can be opened up if services are clock faced timed junction to junction rather than non stop trains from London

Thread drift - but you brought in Newbury, and the Berks and Hants.

I was looking to take a train to Bedwyn and cycling back along the Vale of Pewsey - around 30 miles.  Rail route looks easy enough - apparently, single change at Westbury should do it.

Less than 30 miles ... and looking at the timetable prior to Covid, 06:36 from Melksham, change at Westbury from 06:53 to 07:01, arrive Bedwyn 07:29.  53 minute journey - early start, maybe, but I wouldn't have minded in high summer, and after the half past six our next train is not until ten past nine.   So what is being offered this week?



Not the most common of journeys - though people to want to travel within Wiltshire and make this sort of regional journey.   If services are thinner at present, they need to take all the more care with connections, and run junction to junction with care taken to let people get to the junctions at both ends without having to double back.

[Reading General]

Logic says here that the Bedwyn terminators continuing to Westbury creates a lot of local opportunities, even if it takes time, one change is as far as I suspect many would want to go if that one change is available hourly for the whole day. Much like the electric local service from Reading and diesel service beyond to Oxford connecting at didcot. It’s not as ideal as it was but it still provides an hourly option for people from Cholsey for example to visit Oxford, and more than that most time of the day.

The cotswold line is run largely similar to the Cornish service. The trains are intercity to Oxford then local to Worcester. Double the track in a couple more sections, add a bay or extend half the didcot trains beyond Oxford and trains from London and Reading could call at less stations, the rest being served better by an hourly local between the two junctions that can connect easier with trains to the two points. When I lived near Reading West I didn’t expect any of the long distance trains to stop but I did expect to be able to access them somewhere, and I could. In summary, connecting every station on the north cotswold line to London was done in the first place through convenience rather than opportunity. All stations on the line would probably benefit from less London train calls and a timetable organised around local trains between Oxford and Worcester, although I appreciate that the single line running in areas would make this difficult.

[ellendune]

The problem with Reading stops in the evening peak is you end up with a train full of Paddington to Reading Commuters and no room for the passengers going beyond. 

[Reading General]

I could see that being a problem but that in the long run is designing rail travel around a particular type of user. It’s not very encouraging for anything else other than travel to work for specifically to London. It’s probably a big market but it doesn’t make for a useable railway.

I’m sure there were trains in the past that would stop at Reading to pick up but unadvertised from London. Maybe I’m mistaking this with the twyford stopping trains that continue to Reading.

[charles_uk]

I’m sure there were trains in the past that would stop at Reading to pick up but unadvertised from London.

Veering wildly off topic here, wasn't there one such service (to Swansea?) a few years ago that was crush-loaded so the decision was taken to run it non-stop to Swindon leaving the Reading passengers who had boarded at Paddington to double back to their destination?

[Richard Fairhurst]

Newton Abbot was the story I heard!

I agree with TonyN about the Reading stops - and I'd hope that as GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) tries to get passengers back, sensible changes such as this are the first to be considered. Personally I'd be happy to see more stops at Pershore and Honeybourne too, but that would presumably upset the "fast trains to Worcester" crowd...

[PhilWakely]

I’m sure there were trains in the past that would stop at Reading to pick up but unadvertised from London. Maybe I’m mistaking this with the twyford stopping trains that continue to Reading.

Indeed, there were. Unfortunately, Reading folk were all too aware of the stop and there was nothing staff at Paddington could do to stop them boarding.

[rogerw]

Just flood the trains with Revenue protection officers between Paddington and Reading and charge excess fares. Should be able to do that in the 20 Minutes available (Big stick). What is the peak single fare Paddington to Taunton?

[Reading General]

Is the enforcement of no off peak fares and travel card fares enforced on these services? Does the addition of tickets from and via Reading not valid announcement and mention on the departure board not discourage it? Can the gates not be set to let only certain tickets through? Do these upstanding, well paid, London office workers not obey rules?