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20th Jul (1874)
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20/07/25 22:06 Portsmouth Harbour to Westbury
22:10 Taunton to Bristol Temple Meads
23:05 Reading to Gatwick Airport
20/07/25 23:11 Cardiff Central to Bristol Temple Meads
Short Run
07:36 London Paddington to Great Malvern
08:48 London Paddington to Great Malvern
20/07/25 09:22 Bristol Temple Meads to Portsmouth Harbour
09:50 London Paddington to Hereford
10:36 Bristol Parkway to Taunton
20/07/25 10:38 Weymouth to Swindon
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11:57 Great Malvern to London Paddington
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Great Western Coffee Shop > All across the Great Western territory > Meet the Manager (Data Manager: Bryony) > Question 3 for Ben Rule - 19.24 - Future changes to cope with continued growth
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Author Topic: Question 3 for Ben Rule - 19.24 - Future changes to cope with continued growth  (Read 6126 times)
Chris from Nailsea
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« on: July 13, 2015, 19:24:57 »
Question from BerkshireBugsy

Given the growth of passenger numbers in the FGW▸ (First Great Western) region, but mainly on the route between Reading and London does Ben foresee a time in the next few decades where a radical change in the infrastructure or train design will be needed to provide capacity and if so, using his crystal ball, what changes will be needed ?

Alternatively does he think the answer lies in a change of working practices to help relieve congestion on both the rail and road networks ?
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William Huskisson MP▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
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« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2015, 19:33:44 »
Quote from: Chris from Nailsea on July 13, 2015, 19:24:57
Question from BerkshireBugsy

Given the growth of passenger numbers in the FGW▸ (First Great Western) region, but mainly on the route between Reading and London does Ben foresee a time in the next few decades where a radical change in the infrastructure or train design will be needed to provide capacity and if so, using his crystal ball, what changes will be needed ?

Alternatively does he think the answer lies in a change of working practices to help relieve congestion on both the rail and road networks ?


Clearly if we keep getting growth at the current rates we would need further infrastructure enhancements in the future. There are further plans already on the drawing board. Western access to Heathrow for example will help connectivity to the airport, but also opens other journey opportunities and timetable opportunities that could help.

However, there is much we can do with the existing fixed infrastructure. I see the SETs▸ (Super Express Train (now IET)) as a great opportunity to make our operation slicker. For example the door operation on SETs will be much quicker than an HST▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)). By reducing dwell times and making them more consistent we may be able to tighten the timetable in the Thames Valley. Especially with ETCS▸ (European Train Control System) coming we should be able to see tighter headways on the busiest bit of the network.

Our new EMUs▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) will give a significant increase in capacity in the Thames Valley. I am really looking forward to running our first 12 car EMU. Having previously worked in Liverpool Street I miss 12 car trains.
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BerkshireBugsy
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« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2015, 19:39:58 »
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions Ben.

My suspicion is you may win a prize for the most posts on the forum by  noob in one evening Smiley
« Last Edit: July 14, 2015, 08:04:12 by BerkshireBugsy » Logged
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