Didcot Parkway - station, facilities, services, improvements, events and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Do you live in Didcot and enjoy it there?

If you do , then dont read the link below.
http://firstlatewestern.blogspot.com/2007/11/positively-didcot.html

[Lee]

I thought that the article contained in the link below would make a good follow - up to EK^▸ (Economy Klaus (web log))'s post.
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.1887572.0.critic_set_to_revisit_town.php

When Sam Jordison wrote Crap Towns in 2003 , thousands of people living in places like Middlesbrough , Hull , Croydon , Luton and Wolverhampton told why where they lived was so bad.

The results were collected and published as a series of books.

Didcot came 20th in the rankings.

Mr Jordison , who grew up in Morecambe , is in Abingdon to promote his new book Annus Horribilis - and has agreed to revisit Didcot.

He is to be taken around the town by 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) Ed Vaizey and Alison Adams , the director of Didcot First.

In Crap Towns , Mr Jordison suggested Didcot existed because of "a void - the railway junction between the London-West coast and the Oxford lines."

Ms Adams said: "When we realised the author of the Crap Towns book was coming to Abingdon for a book signing, we saw it as an ideal opportunity to have a dialogue with him."

"We want to show him how much the town has changed since the book was published a few years back."

Mr Vaizey's spokesman Dan Abernethy said: "Ed will meet the author of Crap Towns who has come to pay penance after naming Didcot as one of the 50 worst places to live."

[Jim]

Bloody good read that book was, and still is!

[Lee]

Didcot has won more than ^2m to help secure its future growth (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.1910763.0.growing_town_bags_2m_grant.php

It is part of ^732m which will be shared between councils and communities across the South East which back the development of thousands of new homes.

South Oxfordshire District Council said the money would be used to part-fund small projects which residents highlighted as a priority.

These include increasing the number of green spaces in the town, an underpass beneath the railway line to improve the link between Ladygrove and the town, and the "rebranding" of Didcot.

[willc]

Buried away in timetable alterations on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website is the news that from next Monday, the 07.30 from Oxford to Paddington will no longer call at Didcot Parkway, with Didcot passengers instead advised to join a service originating at Swansea, also due to depart at 07.44. Not quite so many empty seats on that one, I'd guess.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=2128

[smokey]

Pain in the A*** for passengers from Oxford going to Didcot

[Btline]

And will the journey time be decreased?

No! Yet more slack that makes no difference! And increased overcrowding on other services!

[halowithhorns89]

Didcot has it bad points yes, but it has improved much since it was transferred to Oxfordshire. that kick in the balls closed a lot of thigns, 2 cinemas for a start, but if u compare didcot to towns nearby, whilst they have character in the architecture that didcot lacks from being a newborn of a town, they are quite frankly dead. abingdon and wallingford the town centres are dying. and people are coming to didcot instead. its not didcot killing them off, its awful travel planning in abingdon, and competetition in abingdon and  wallingford.

[eightf48544]

Does anyone know anything about a recent  SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger - very bad!) at Didcot North Junction?

It was allegedly less than 20 seconds away from a collision.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Is this it, by any chance?

See http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/current_investigations_register/070822_didcot.cfm

[devon_metro]

Does anyone know anything about a recent  SPAD^▸ (Signal Passed At Danger - very bad!) at Didcot North Junction?

It was allegedly less than 20 seconds away from a collision.

Quite a worrying story whereby an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) spadded off the avoider and if the turbo hadn't accelerated away from the junction having seem the approaching HST, things might have turned out differently!

[eightf48544]

Thanks Chris that's the one.

Agree with devon metro it's worrying.

Hadn't realised it was such a long time ago, I only heard about it last week.

The RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) sems a long time producing their report. Hopefully it will shed some light on why despite the TWPS apparently working on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) it didn't stop more quickly after passing the signal.

Does anyone know if the Didcot avoiding line has ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) as well or is that just fitted to the mainlines to Swindon?

[devon_metro]

It has ARS^▸ (Automatic Route Setting) although all signalling systems were working properly, the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) was simply going to fast (bearing in mind ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) does not work once leaving the mainline)

[Jim]

It has ARS^▸ (Automatic Route Setting) although all signalling systems were working properly, the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) was simply going to fast (bearing in mind ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) does not work once leaving the mainline)

ATP don't work over 70MPH either IIRC^▸ ('if I recall/remember/read correctly').

[devon_metro]

ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) works 100% of the time between Bristol Temple Meads/Parkway and London Paddington