Great Western Coffee Shop

Problems in Cornwall....
Last week
2 x 150 on the StIves
2x 150 on the Falmouth
1 x 150 on the Newquay
1x 150 on the Looe

This week
1x 150 on the St Ives
3 x 153 on the Fal. 2 x 153 + 1 x153 although ones failed on two days so far this week
1 x 153 on the Newquay and the same on the Looe.

Biggest problem is on the Falmouth where passengers, including me once, have been left behind on several occasions on the last two days and now there's a bus being used on am & pm peak periods. Somebody seems to think just that summer's over therefore only a handful of people are travelling..... WRONG!!!!
What's the record for the number of passengers on a single 153? about 120+ on Monday and that's before the schools went back today.
Refund on my season and back to the car I think

thats the booked formations now we're back to the low summer diagrams.

doesn't a double 153 have more capacity than a single 150/2 ?

Don't know the numbers but I would guess that it does in terms of seating capacity alone. However if you're talking about crush loadings then the passenger saloons in the 150 have much more open space and can probably fit more people in.

By the way, since the above few posts aren't directly related to the stock cascade, but rather booked train formations in Cornwall, I've split them off and moved them to the appropriate board.

yes, but on the cornwall branches unless its high peak, the extra seats will probably be enough?

Latest news... Extra carriage/unit for the Falmouth from next Monday, don't know what type though

This kind of arbitrary cutoff of service capacity at the notional end of the Summer season, does nothing to help extend it.

Out of interest what happens to the stock freed up by these shorter formations?

Low summer / winter workings with reduced requirements allow the heavier maintenance to be done to the sets that are required to be sent away to be done. (e.g. Tyseley / Newton Heath/ Doncaster)

Falmouth is still in need of 2 2 car units from my observations on Friday afternoon.
I took the following picture of the 1620 ( a single 153). I initially thought it was stupid that a Falmouth train leaving 5 mins before a Paddington- Penzance arrived, however the photo will show why its a good thing the Falmouth leaving just before the main line train arrived.

(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p94/richardwarwicker/overcrowded/IMAG0077.jpg)

The Falmouth trains run to a half hourly timetable as you know, so to change time to connect with 1 Main Line train could throw the timings out for the rest of the day.    It is not that there is a long wait now with the 2 per hour.   Previously, The Timetable could have been worked rouund connections and could have been more flexible in the planning.

In my experience over the last four years when son was at the Uni, I found that the Pad trains were always running 5+ late (tricky loading/unloading, lack of door-closing etc at Lostwithiel etc). When it was one hour frequency I would wander down to the (now closed) pub on the hill. At 30 min intervals, and 150 or double 153 it no longer matters...to my mind anyway!

Cumbria local press claim 125 pack on to a single 153: http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/125-sellafield-workers-jostle-to-get-on-overcrowded-72-seat-train-1.862307

Second carriage now provided.

http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/extra-carriage-on-sellafield-train-after-users-complain-1.880306?referrerPath=news (http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/extra-carriage-on-sellafield-train-after-users-complain-1.880306?referrerPath=news)

I wonder if all these people who bleat on about 'serious injuries' resulting from overcrowding have ever seen footage of the Japanese metro systems, complete with pushers whose job it is physically to force as many people in as possible before the doors close. As far as I'm aware everyone there just deals with it and I'm assuming there aren't any deaths or serious injuries as a result.

I know, and seeing the number of people waiting for this service, before the london arrival its a good job falmouth leaves first. Most of the falmouth passengers for the 1620 were Truro School students

However, the Sellafield workers are set to get their own class 37 hauled loco service:
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/track%20access/1%20current%20consultations/2011.09.23%20drs%20passenger%20tac%20-%20closing%20date%2020%20october%202011/drs%20model_passenger_contract_200411[1].pdf

I just gave that link as a previous post had asked what's the record for the most number of passengers on a 153.

Hmm ... I would think the limit would be around 115.  We nearly had to try it with over 200 one day in August ... but that's a long story and one that doesn't fit into the "Plymouth and Cornwall" board  ;)