Rail Replacement Services

[whole diary]

[Worcester_Passenger]

Not really sure there's much of comparison to be made. Just look at a map and see what roads have to be used to get between the stations along the line. From Oxford to Moreton-in-Marsh, the routes the coaches are forced to use mean it takes getting on for twice as long as driving along the A44, especially if the coach has to serve Shipton.

Regret to say that "coaches" here means "coach".

If we were talking about "coaches" then there'd be one to the difficult-to-serve places like Shipton and another which ran directly to Moreton and beyond.

3:14 for a journey from Oxford to Worcester can only be described as excruciating. The time involved is designed to ensure that there are no passengers.

[willc]

Thanks, I do know how many vehicles are involved, as someone who has actually used A coach. Which had precisely no-one on board for anywhere west of Moreton-in-Marsh.

And among the most difficult places to serve is Honeybourne - ie, past Moreton-in-Marsh. Which is why, during blockades, it is usually served by a coach of its own, shuttling to either Moreton or Evesham as required, so as not to take passengers travelling to or from Evesham, Pershore and Worcester all the way out there. Honeybourne-Evesham is a nice straight run by train - it is anything but that on the roads. And the most direct road route to and from Moreton is unsuitable for coaches.

Worcester passengers are spared the road journey in mid-evening by changing at Swindon and even when the trains are running, the numbers on the last train west of Moreton-in-Marsh are tiny.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Another comparative timing in today's Worcester News - see http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/beforethe1900s/8966709.April_11_to_April_18__2011/.

Which reports that, in 1751, the stage-coach to London ran twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) and took two days on its journey. We also have an exact departure time (03:00) from "the Crown in Broad Street, Worcester" and "the George and Blue Boar in Holborn, London". Not surprisingly, arrival times are not quoted.