Public Transport in your particular part of the region

[cwathen]

SWT probably want / have the rights to the revenue from it.

I think it's likely the reverse. Another of the bizarre historic things that exists on the railway is that the minimum connection time at EXD is listed higher than usual at 6 minutes despite the fact that that it doesn't take 6 minutes to move between two platforms on a station that size, even if you aren't rushing and the station is rammed, or even if you're using the lifts. Thus SWT probably weren't getting the revenue at 8:26 since officially it wasn't a connection off a train booked to arrive at 8:22 despite the fact that it never failed to connect and so they moved it back to deliberately break the connection and not be forced to carry people they're not getting paid for. If this is true, again you have to question why GWR can't just provide an 8:30 shuttle up to Central / St James Park and back when the stock is clearly around, you know being how they're supposed to be all about the passengers and all now?

I've explained that repainting trains is normally driven by requirement rather than marketing desire. Given that a new coat of paint needed to happen, why not vary things up a bit? You could argue Central were wasting their time in the 90s having up to 50 idents at any one time available to use given many were similar. Doesn't harm, does it?

I KNOW!!! It doesn't offend me that SWT are refreshing their 159s, I was just pointing out the irony in them releasing an ad openly mocking FGW>GWR as pointless rebranding and positioning themselves as the TOC that only changes important things at the very same time that they are making pointless tweaks to their branding.

Usual bluster with a very thinly veiled sense of entitlement.

Usual derisory comment based on a situation not understood. I'm not going to enter into another boring round of trading postings with you. If you really want to discuss this I would be glad to meet you on the footbridge at Exeter St Davids at 08:22:20 on any weekday. I would be genuinely interested to see your response after witnessing the spectacle that will unfold before your eyes. When you're done seeing that one, I could keep you occupied for a good few days observing all the trains which almost but don't quite connect in this part of the world.

If you feel strongly about a timing I'd advise you to contact the TOC and ask why it is that way. There is probably a reason, and it is probably the case that changing it to suit your needs would have adverse effects on more people; if not on that train's diagram then another which would have to be repathed to accommodate it. If not, they'll have your feedback and enough of that will make a difference when the timetable is next recast.

It's not just little old me Will, complaints have been made not just by me but by a number of my fellow regular commuters. We of course are given nothing other than stock answers as to why SWT can't move the service back to the old time or why GWR can't provide an alternative service. The railway is run based on a combination of what the government wants, what the TOCs want, and what the staff are prepared to do. The idea that what the passengers want counts for anything despite being the reason the entire system exists is not something the industry is prepared to embrace at any level, they just want to pretend they do. Oh and for the record, SWT's EXD-WAT service is 1TPH in each direction on a line with no other traffic on it and no connections to anywhere else as far as Salisbury. Once at Salisbury there is booked dwell time awaiting another set to be attached for the second half of the journey to Waterloo. Thus between EXD-SAL it is entirely possible to move things by a few minutes without affecting the train's diagram to the detriment of anything else.

Ranting on Metropol will not be on their radar.

Neither will anything else be on their radar, so ranting here is no less fruitless than ranting anywhere else.

[Alexia]

you have to question why GWR can't just provide an 8:30 shuttle up to Central / St James Park and back when the stock is clearly around, you know being how they're supposed to be all about the passengers and all now?

Didn't know you were a train planner. You are an example of the all-knowing passenger, who sees an empty train doing nothing and think it should be used and/or it's being deliberately not used just to piss off the passenger. The stock may be there, but is there staff? A driver and a guard? Is there a path BACK from the destination station for the stock to reverse back to whence it came in time? It's not practical to pay a driver and guard to run one single shuttle on a weekday morning - what would that be, a 3 hour shift?

On a basic level, what is that stock going to do later in the day? A long poke down to Penzance or up to Cardiff? Does it have enough fuel and water to get it there? How long before the toilet gets serviced and topped up with paper towels and handwash? If you used a train for even a small run, you would have to change an entire train's diagram for the day, chopping and changing other unit's diagrams to fit around it. In short, there's a reason why that train is sat in a siding for an hour or two doing nothing. People with much greater knowledge, appreciation of the railway and diagrammatical nous have put it there for a reason. Even replacing a failed train at short notice requires control to authorise it and for an army of TOC and NR personnel sat in front of bank upon bank of computers at Swindon to sort out the kinks that unravel from the ball of wool.

Until stock levels increase, when the Thames Turbos come west, the TOC can only use what it has. There is no redundancy, no slack, no spare sets. TOCs are even starting to cut down on spare crew. The service is at peak capacity. Unless you want to pay for it through higher fares, or want to roll back privitisation and bring in a not-for-profit railway which will never happen under a capitalist money-fetishising government such as ours, increasing capacity and the staffing associated with it won't happen.

[cwathen]

Well this would be a reason why there should have been controls in place that meant SWT were not able to move the 8:26 back to 8:23 and break the connection when it was the only service up to Central which would get commuters off the busiest commuter train from the West into the city centre before 9AM. There was absolutely nothing wrong with things the way they were until the December 2013 timetable change (it had been like that for several years beforehand) and it should have been obvious that this change would cause problems, and certainly should now be obvious after all this time. If that wasn't done, a shuttle from GWR wouldn't be necessary.

As for, could GWR provide a shuttle? Currently you have a situation where there is an 8:09 ex-Barnstaple service which runs through to St James Park, closely followed by the 8:16 to Exmouth which will also stop at the same two stations. The 8:09 is interesting in that it keeps getting booked for that time even though it simply can't achieve it. It is ALWAYS late...as in every day almost without fail...It has only been on time 2 or 3 times in the past year, most of the time it is at least 8:13, and generally once or twice a week it gets so delayed that the later Exmouth train either gets held outside the station and runs late itself waiting for the '8:09', or the signaller brings it on and it overtakes it.

Simple solution then would be to terminate the Barnstaple train at EXD on Platform 2 which is a little used bay and wouldn't affect other traffic, the 8:16 Exmouth then carries any passengers onwards up to EXD (which it would do generally within a minute than staying on the same train would do anyway). Once SWT's 159 comes out of the sidings onto platform 1 for the 8:23 to Waterloo the ex-Barnstaple unit can be run out and back into platform 1 (which is permitted as the platform is signalled to have two services on it at once, a feature they already make use of a few times per day) and this stock forms your 8:30 shuttle.

Where does the 8:09 go once terminating at present? It does run in service forming an 8:32 SJP-EXD shuttle, which generally carries only 1 or 2 people, often runs completely empty, and is often cancelled if the '8:09' up train runs too late. It's real purpose is to get it back to EXD to form a later Exmouth service, which it could still do at the same time. The number of people who would benefit from the 8:30 shuttle would far eclipse the 1 or 2 irregular travellers inconvenienced by lack of an 8:32 SJP-EXD service.

No extra stock or staff needed.

A 'know it all passenger' I may be. But there is an obvious problem at present (and please, don't take my word for it, go and see it for yourself and then tell me that there isn't), that would seem to be a solution which gets around staffing and stock issues, please educate me on what is wrong with it.

[Alexia]

809 arrival for an 8:32 departure?

Sounds like a 15-minute PNB to me.

[cwathen]

809 arrival for an 8:32 departure?

Sounds like a 15-minute PNB to me.

As booked: 07:00 BNP, <stations to Exeter>, 8:09 EXD, 8:12 EXC, arr 8:17 SJP. Just needs to run over the points and back into SJP to form an 8:32 service from SJP back to EXD.

[WillPS]

I guess it turns out you're just a total genius then. Not only do you know what's best for Microsoft products better than Microsoft; and what's happening to them better than people who work for Microsoft, you also know how to solve the timetabling issues that riddle the railway network. Is there no end to your talents?

Perhaps you should do us all a favour, nip your Cornwall commute in the bud and get your arse over to CERN? I'm sure this time next year you'll have a Nobel prize.

[cwathen]

I guess it turns out you're just a total genius then. Not only do you know what's best for Microsoft products better than Microsoft; and what's happening to them better than people who work for Microsoft, you also know how to solve the timetabling issues that riddle the railway network. Is there no end to your talents?

Perhaps you should do us all a favour, nip your Cornwall commute in the bud and get your arse over to CERN? I'm sure this time next year you'll have a Nobel prize.

I'm not taking that shit from you. Half your posts are highly opinionated self righteous comment on how you think things should be or non-qualified explanations of how things are, all presented as irrefutable fact - you know, like the sort of thing you accuse me of doing at every turn, often at the expense of actually responding to what is said. So if you do it that's OK but if I do the same thing I'm the biggest dick in the world?

Am I any better than you? No. I've never claimed to be. This is an internet forum set up for debate and comment with people of different personalities and views whose only thing in common might be a possible interest in TV presentation given Metropol's roots. It was never set up to be a group of like minded people talking about the weather and complaining about undesirables outside of it's fold. So debate away, have heated arguments and spar with people who don't share your view, it's all fine, that's what this is an outlet for. That's why I've posted here for 14 years.

Yet again Will, you need to look closer to home before criticising me, people in glass houses and all that.

[WillPS]

Not really sure what you're on about tbh. Had a quick look over the last 4 pages of posts I've made and I'm quite happy with them.

[thegeek]

First retain the TPE franchise (minus Keolis); Arriva gain Northern. hashtagnorthernpowerhouse

The press release mentions a lot of 'new carriages' - are they actually building new things, or are some D-Trains actually making it into service?

[Alexia]

Cascading of old stuff from rest of country.

[WillPS]

In 2004, the last time these contracts were awarded, the government did not plan for growth – today we’ve put that right.

It was awarded by the SRA, which was run at arms length - and dismantled by the previous government because it failed. In the 6 years after:

• loads of cascaded 158s were funded, contrary to the 'zero growth' plan, initially to replace smaller (Pacer) trains
• the Pacers which were to be withdrawn were brought back in to use (two or three times, actually)
• London Midland had their franchise structured such that Northern (and FGW, and later EMT once their plight became clear) would gain from the 150 cascade
• the only available DMU stock at the time (180s) were drafted in to use in anticipation
• mass-electrification was planned so the Thameslink stock could find a new home and allow more DMUs to be coupled up in service

All that was planned under Labour's government. It has taken 6 more years, all of which with a Tory PM, to get this

Of course, it's much easier to blame the problems on the predecessor when really you've had as much time as they did (more really, since it takes time for a 'problem' like unexpected growth to happen). Is it 2020 yet?