The 07:44 service from Henley to Paddington - worst for overcrowding?

[whole diary]

[John R]

A survey carried out on one day found the three-carriage train was carrying 373 passengers, 148 more than it was designed to hold.

Using simple maths, you go from 49 standing per coach (148/3) to 18 (73/4) all other things being equal, which is much more tolerable. Though I suspect it will soon become a bit more overcrowded again as people who have previously avoided the service start to use it again.

[IndustryInsider]

What a difference an extra carriage makes. Was this advertised?

Yes it was - in so much as FGW^▸ (First Great Western) committed to it in the Henley rag that started this thread, though two months earlier than they quoted then.   

[argg]

From the Henley Standard:

Similarly, the 18.12 from Paddington to Henley will be strengthened from three cars to five.^

This is and has been for a long time a 5 car train.  Got their facts straight then?
Although strangely enough it is usually 3 on a Friday (?!?)

[autotank]

The 1812 oftern loads quite lightly (because it actually isn't that fast) and could easily be reduced to 4 or even 3 cars. The service that needs strengthening in the evening is the 1906 to Henley which is currently 3 but is oftern wedged - do you know if there are plans to make it 4 or even 5?

[grahame]

The 1812 oftern loads quite lightly (because it actually isn't that fast) ...

And perhaps because there's an 18:06 (Change at Twyford) which is fast (37 mins v 61 mins!).   The 18:06 from Paddington has been wedged whenever I've used it ... and the wedge of people gets out at Twyford 

[paul7575]

This is and has been for a long time a 5 car train.  Got their facts straight then?
Although strangely enough it is usually 3 on a Friday (?!?)

The quoted article is from April though - is that at all relevant?

Paul

[bobm]

From Journeycheck

07:44 Henley-On-Thames to London Paddington due 08:28
This train will be terminated at Maidenhead.
This train will no longer call at London Paddington.
This is due to a train fault.

Oh dear.  That is likely to mean an awful lot of people waiting at Maidenhead....

[johoare]

I got to Maidenhead at about 8.45.. The 8.04 was still stuck there on the "fast (sorry mainline)" platform.. oops....  any idea when it finally got moved?

[IndustryInsider]

Not sure what time it eventually moved, though apparently the 'Train Control' circuit breaker tripped and wouldn't reset.  A very unusual fault to have on a Turbo, but one which immobilises the unit completely and causes all sorts of bells and claxons to sound 

[Ollie]

They were on the move at about 09:20.

[johoare]

Maidenhead actually had an additional train as a result of this.. A service from Oxford (HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units))) stopped at 8.48 and was then non-stop to London.. Even though the 9.03 (non-stop) wasn't running too late at that point and I don't think there were many more people waiting at Maidenhead by that time than on a usual morning..

Still I was very thankful for the decision as there was lots of free seats on that train (even after everyone got on).. It would be really nice if they could incorporate that stop into the timetable to be honest but I don't think we'll be that lucky..

[Network SouthEast]

Still I was very thankful for the decision as there was lots of free seats on that train (even after everyone got on).. It would be really nice if they could incorporate that stop into the timetable to be honest but I don't think we'll be that lucky..

Do you think the train might have had free seats because it was the last working day before Easter break? Maybe a few folks took a day or two off early to have more time off/beat the holiday rush etc...

[johoare]

I did wonder that.. Since the trains were all being delayed also I guess that it might have left Reading immediately after another one too.. Still.. A nicer journey than I thought might happen once I saw the broken down train...