"When" doing the heavy lifting there! 

 
Walking in the Shiplake locality this morning, I was delighted to come across the supports of the "lifted" track of the Henley branch where it crosses the Thames near Wargrave. Substantial remains to find on such a short branch.

(And just south of Shiplake Station there are less-impressive brick supports where the Thames Path leaves the river to go under the railway.)

I guess that it was Regatta traffic that justified the doubling of the track - seems quite an investment for just a couple of weeks a year. The line was singled in 1961.

Wikipedia

 
From my own recent travels in Germany, I would say that the two things that really set an example that GBR could learn from are the train information at stations/on trains and (but not in all main stations) the extended hours and variety of catering and retail outlets.

However, signage for getting around stations internally was in my experience (based on experience at Aachen, Osnabruck, Hannover, Hamburg HBF and Lubeck) patchy or poor. In particular, Osnabruck, with its complex two level structure for a station of its size was apparently lacking in simple signage getting you between platforms on different levels and to the retail/main entrance.

It also has to be said that German stations do seem to be a magnet for drunks and down-and-outs, sadly.

What does strike you (and feel familiar) is the considerable difference in the ambience of stations. As in the UK, you have a mixture of tired stations that look like they need investment, grand old ones that either still "cut it" (e.g Lubeck) or look overdue a refresh (e.g Hamburg HBF), some that are just pleasant and adequate (e.g Aachen) or are modern, fresh and pleasant (e.g Hannover). But then, that matches what I've seen in Belgium, Netherlands and France too.

Another aspect I liked was the regional liveries applied to local trains, albeit that some are a little garish. My favourite (as you may gather from an earlier post) is the blue Schleswig-Holstein one, with a slogan proclaiming with regional pride "Schleswig-Holstein - der Echte Nordern" - "Schleswig-Holstein - the northern corner". Can we have something like that for our Thames Valley and South-west local trains, please GBR?

 
150 years ago today - the first through train from Exeter to Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock.

 
I passed through Muenster (Westphalia) this (Sunday) morning ... and it struck me just how joined up and information and facilities rich the public transport is in this city - which (by population) is perhaps 20% larger that Swindon, just over two times the size of Bath.  Readers are welcome to make comparisons to they find in Bath, or Swindon, or Bristol or Salisbury or on the public transport between them. I am going to focus here on good things.

On train displays telling you more that just the next station - following stations, where to change and to which platform for ongoing services, and where the various regional and local buses are to be found.  The displays alternating between German and English.







The railway station has the buses right outside, and as you come off the trains there are directions to the buses. And as you come off the buses, there are directioons to the trains





For the newcomer, there are maps of the city centre, city centre transport, urban area transport, and transport beyond.









Dirctions to the various facilities too



A modern, airy, friendly feel - plenty of light, and automatic doors that keep the wind out and the warm air in.



The selection of cafes is wide and the products copious, attractive and reasonable priced, with smiling staff who are happy so serve with a smile.









There is a wider range of shops / outlets too - a veritable shopping mall where you'll be temped to make far more than just emergency purchase whilst you wince at station prices.



For those who want them, McDonalds and KFC are right there in the station

Boards along the platorms tell you where to stand - where the various parts of the train will be in clearly lettered zones.

The trains are modern, attractive, and in lots of colours and operators.

Most trains electric, and running clock face at the same time in each hour. Freight services also sharing the tracks and also electric hauled.



Plenty of bicycle space and passenger space on a six carrige train, and useable cycle clips



Comfortable seats on longer distance trains





"See it, say it, sorted" with good explanation of what and how to report



Security to make you feel safe



Discreet Artwork



Automated facilites



Departure tables / details applying daily, notifying platform numbers way in advance



Platform sections clearly indicated and on-plaform displays helping you find the right place in the train





Yes - I have seen trains so overcrowded I could not get on.  Cancelled services.  Delayed services where the initial delay creeps upward from a few minutes to quarter of an hour.  Loos, doors, escalators out of action. Trains diverted from the main station so giving a need to make a new, later and more complex connection, and in train displays that are clearly out of sync. I am not suggesting that the German system is perfect - far from it, but there are lessons we could learn.  Passenger friendly lessons that, perhaps, would encourge people to use public transport so much more and replay the investment in providing and maintaining them many times over.

 
1. is another view of Osnabrück Hbf you've not shown us before. Prompted maybe by the new "man on thingumy" conversation piece.

 
Still travelling ....

1.


2.


3.

 

 

It wasn't in the Section 22A application to the (ORR) either for the 2-hourly service from tomorrow, or the hourly service from next May.

The two most likely reasons:

1)  Availability of paths on a Sunday due to engineering works.
2)  Availability of staff on a Sunday due to historic reasons.

Agreed it would be nice, and appropriate, to provide a Sunday service as well.  Perhaps when Sunday's are in the working week?

 
Why is Sunday running not included in these services? Demand to travel between major tourist centres (Oxford, Bath and Bristol) is likely to be at least as high on a Sunday as any other day.

 
Cancellations to services at London Paddington

Due to engineering works not being finished on time at London Paddington all lines are blocked.
Train services running to and from this station may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 08:30 17/05.

Customer Advice
-
What has happened?
-
Network Rail have been carrying out planned engineering work in the London Paddington area. They have informed us that this will not be finished on time.

 
Mailing list from heads of GWR and Network Rail area (signed Mark and Marcus) including reference to the introductory lower cost fares some members have noted

 

Fares are "all over the place" when you head east from Swindon, and adding extra service is a wonderful thing (four cheers!) but does not sort out the quirks, overcharges, occasional bargains, and rule changes.  It's an example of where Network South East meets premium priced high speed long distance fares and the regional fares of the Bristol and Bath (Western Gateway) economic area.

 

I would suspect (no facts to hand - so a guess) that they're as reliable as the other trains if not better, but that does not make them perfect with near-100% availability.  And I have a suspicion that specifications and targets are set which work with optimistic availability without very many spares.  That's fine whilst you accept that you'll get the occasional lack of stock / short form / cancellation, but that very much depends on what you're (as operator / specifier in future too) willing to accept.

I am in Western mainland Europe as  write this, and I am struck by the train yards with substantial numbers of multiple units sitting there. And I contrast that with passing Reading which at times seems like an array of empty sidings with everything in use.  Again, no figures.    And yesterday I was on a train with one of the doors along the unit marked as "this door out of action" and we had to use the one just through to get on/off on the left hand side.  Not seen as an issue here, but perhaps in the UK it would have resulted in a carriage out of use, or even a whole train out, and with no spare?

Much more to write up in due course, or perhaps to confine to memory banks.  But the system here is not perfect either.  Yesterday from Helsingborg to Osnabroeuk showed a number of just the same issues as we have in the UK, and much of the great way that the railway actually works too.

Back on topic - nationalised GWR and what to expect.   I will be following up your ideas in addition to mine (many similar / overlapping - but some of yours are more technical).  I do especially like the "let's have everything coupleable to everything else" ... and I find myself wondering if that allows us to have a common pool such that when there are planned engineering works, or special events, rolling stock is not limited to the TOC / area of normal use but can be moved around - congestion-buster trains that cover Glastonbury one weekend, the Great North run the next, and the Celitic v Rangers match the one after.    I am aware that intercoupleing to some extent may set a standard in stone and be a limiter to improved technology ...

 

You’re not wrong there. 

“Advance single Wednesday coming on the 07:29 from Bath to Oxford, sir?  That’ll be a tenner please!”

“Back home on the 17:04 or 19:00? Yep, you’ve guessed it…another tenner. Or for an extra £15 you can travel back in 1st Class if you like?”

 
And the lack of spare Turbos.

 

Should do, as the destination is within the Network Card area.

 
Indeed, outside the peak, fares drop to levels that to which many more people can relate. Also, for the moment there's ample availability of advance fares and at useful times of day too (the availability granted at the discretion of the rail company of course).

Checking the annual season ticket Swindon - Oxford, that comes out as £4276, or £16.46 per day. I've no idea if the annual season ticket holder from Swindon to Oxford qualifies for any additional benefits: rail commuters outside London have reason to look ruefully at people holding annual season tickets for travel within London, as these unlock unlimited travel on some or all of London's rail network.

Mark

 
Several posts refer to the problems with IET reliability, is this now admitted to be a problem ? I thought that the official view was they are fine, and so much better than the HSTs. A significant number of forum members seem to back the official view.

I thought it was only me, and a few others who held differing views.

 

Yes, 5-car IET’s.  Though no reason why Turbos can’t be used in case of shortages (other than the relative lack of performance).

The anytime ticket prices will be the same as currently (routed ‘Not Reading’), surely?  There will of course be the possibility of more/cheaper advance fares than now.

 

There never was a branch line at Christian Malford.




Oh, I see what you mean. 

 
From the BBC:

 

 
On this day - 16 May

From the BBC:

 
Are the fares any different to now? (Spoiler alert - I don’t think they are).

Those making a day trip, and not travelling out on the first direct train of the day, will presumably pay the (walk-up) Off-Peak Day Return fare of £26.70, which doesn’t seem excessive to me.

 
A large branch is close to the line near Christian Malford.   Trains heading west can pass it at slow speed.

 

 
Bath to Oxford return trip via rail is around 126 miles, so... for the anytime day return, is that ~60 pence per mile? (Or around £1.60 per mile for 1st class return).

Mischievously, we can work out the income from a round trip at peak times with a hypothetical 100% occupancy of the seating by full fare paying adults (not, of course, a calculation that reflects reality). £7272 from First and £22330 from standard, so, the total fare take would be £29.602.

Returning to the real world, yes, if it wasn't for that anytime day return at ~£77, it's actually pricier than Bath Spa to Birmingham which by rail, with its slightly round-the-houses route, is around a 200 mile return trip (and priced for good measure by Crosscountry).

While most people will presumably not be travelling on walk-up tickets it's worth bearing them in mind because if someone *has* to make a short-horizon decision to travel (think 'Family emergency') - does not have their own wheels - and has to use peak time trains, these are the prices to which they'll be exposed.

Mark

 
From the BBC:

 
From the BBC: