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Newsletter 303: 17/04/2024
Hello All,
As previously advised, since May 2022 we have (by suggesting switching the all-electric Class 387 EMUs serving Paddington to Newbury with Class 800 bi-modes (diesel and electric) serving Paddington to Cardiff) put forward a series of proposals to reinstate our three Class 800 bi-modes. As the Class 800 bi-modes can run to Bedwyn this would end the need for the shuttle and restore direct services to Paddington.
On each occasion, despite requiring no additional trains or staff, the ideas have been rejected by GWR and the DfT. Undeterred, Bill and I have produced a new document, “Reinstating Two Class 800 bi-modes on the off-peak Paddington to Bedwyn Service”.
This report shows how a modified proposal can be implemented by replacing just the following Cardiff / Paddington services with Class 387 EMUs:
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The 0818 and 1315 Paddington to Cardiff departures
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The 1041 and 1554 Cardiff to Paddington departures
This represents only 6.25% of the Paddington to Cardiff service and will free up two 5-car Class 800 bi-mode trains which can run, off-peak, between Paddington and Bedwyn on a two out of every three-hour cycle. The third hour will be catered for by the existing shuttle, with some extension to Reading. In total, this proposal will return ten direct services between Paddington and Bedwyn.
We have sent printed copies to GWR’s senior management team and MPs Laura Farris and Danny Kruger. To have any hope of success it will require the MPs putting pressure on the DfT. We have therefore requested a meeting with the MPs.
The document is available at https://tinyurl.com/ReinstatingTwoClass800bi-modes If you’d like a printed version please email me with your address.
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 302: 28/03/2024
Hello All,
Please find some updates, below.
More Strikes (more misery)
ASLEF members will strike on Saturday 6th April. On this day many parts of the GWR network will have no service whatsoever. Where GWR can run services these will start late and finish much earlier than usual. For Bedwyn, Hungerford and Bedwyn this will probably mean no service.
Any customers intending to travel should check before doing so at www.gwr.com/check. There may also be alterations to services on the evening of Friday 5th April and on Sunday 7th April.
GWR are working on getting journey planners updated as soon as possible. Anybody who has already bought a ticket for travel on Saturday 6th April will be able to claim a full refund. For full information please visit www.gwr.com/strike.
ASLEF has also announced action short of a strike for Thursday 4th, Friday 5th, Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th of April. While GWR plans to run as full a service as possible, there will be short-notice alterations and cancellations due to a very limited number of spare drivers.
Getting around the Evening off-peak
We are often asked about the evening off-peak rules. The weekday evening peak, for trains departing Paddington, is from 1600 to 1900. This does not apply between Reading and Bedwyn, nor does it apply on the Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Reading. Therefore, if you are returning with an off-peak ticket between 1600 and 1900 there are options, it'll just be a longer journey. Here are some examples:
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Catch the 1548 Carmarthen train from Paddington, arriving Reading at 1611. You can then catch the 1636 Reading to Newbury, arriving 1700. You can then catch the 1724 for Bedwyn, arriving 1744.
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Catch the 1648 Elizabeth Line train from Paddington, arriving Reading at 1741. You can then catch the 1803 Reading to Newbury, arriving 1817. You can then catch the 1826 for Bedwyn, arriving 1846.
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Catch the 1745 Elizabeth Line train from Paddington, arriving Reading at 1834. You can then catch the 1901 from Reading for Bedwyn, arriving 1930.
A more detailed evening off-peak timetable (with peak trains omitted) is in the original email (see the 'All Newsletters' menu option).
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 301: 11/03/2024
Hello All,
Please find some updates, below:
Thames Valley Route Meeting with GWR
On March 7th Bill Wells and I attended an online meeting with GWR focusing on the Thames Valley route. The points of interest to us were:
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The state of the line between Reading and Paddington. Network Rail acknowledged this is now the UK's most critical section of track requiring improvement. Since electrification, and the introduction of the Elizabeth Line, there are: 17% more trains running, 14% additional station stops and a 38% increase in weight. This is contributing to the infrastructure failures we have been experiencing. This has not been helped by industrial action causing delays in repairs. Also, as mainline trains, due to the introduction of the Elizabeth Line, are now unable to run on the relief lines, we experience more cancellations. Network Rail have now committed to a three phase improvement programme. The first six months will be stabilisation, the following year will be improvement and from then on the project will enter a sustainability phase. We shall have to wait and see how this pans out. Over the past decade we were promised that the Reading Station redevelopment and the electrification will improve services. It's been anything but.
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The 1204 Paddington to Penzance is being retimed to 1202 and will be non-stop to Exeter. The 1204 will now be a Paddington to Plymouth calling additionally at Reading, Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot. Given we've consistently been told there aren't the IETs available to give us our direct Paddington off-peak service back, this begs the question of how they've sourced the additional 9-car IET to operate this. In the Q&A session our written question on this point was overlooked. Fortunately we got a chance to take the 'microphone' and asked it. The answer was that during the off-peak there are spare IETs. They also conceded that there are spare IETs on a Saturday. Needless to say, we will be taking this further. And of course this will add to the weight and capacity issues raised in point 1.
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To help with demand, on the Paddington to Cardiff trains, there will be two additional 8-car Class 387 services (at 1612 and 1912) added between Paddington and Bristol Parkway. We have previously asked for some of the Class 387s (all electric) running Paddington to Newbury to be reassigned to Paddington to Cardiff to allow the IETs (bi-modes) running Paddington to Cardiff to run between Paddington and Bedwyn. We have been told that the Class 387s aren't suitable for the Bristol mainline. But here is another instance of GWR using Class 387s for the Bristol mainline. Needless to say, we will be taking this further. And of course this will add to the weight and capacity issues raised in point 1.
In the Media
Thanks to all of you who contacted us after my 'moment of fame' in the media. This was in relation to interviews with the BBC and Rail Magazine following the announcement by Network Rail of the three phased plan (as mentioned in point 1, above) to improve the infrastructure between Paddington and Reading. If you want to see it, please see the links below:
BBC South Today TV 27/02/2024: https://youtu.be/bJ1326JWkbM
BBC Online 27/02/2024: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-68402089
Rail Magazine 06/03/2024: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f53900_f99cb5d4872c43ddbf53cbadd33c92a9~mv2.jpg
Recent Incidents
We are always grateful when you send us your experiences of poor service. We talk to GWR senior managers about each issue. The aim being to give the passenger a proper explanation and to try and prevent things from happening again. Given the state of the service, we get quite a few. It's a crucial part of the work of the passenger group, without it we'd not know what needs improving. So, please do let us know when things go wrong.
We don't normally use a newsletter to pass these on to our circulation list. However, we feel it's worth doing now and again. So, here follows a selection of recent incidents and their outcomes:
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0651 off Bedwyn cancelled on the 26/02. This was due to the train being stabled at Bristol Temple Meads instead of the Stoke Gifford Depot. It was then found not to be fit for service. GWR added, "This has been reviewed internally and revised arrangements put in place for future occasions."
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On the 27/02 the 1808 and 1906 off Paddington were both cancelled. GWR responded: "The 1906 was cancelled (late) due to the failure of a class 802 on its way up to London and had to be taken out of service and sent to North Pole leaving us short of sets. The 1808 was also cancelled due to a lack of available sets. I can only apologise. On the day failures do leave us vulnerable to providing sufficient sets for service out of Paddington in the evening."
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The 1906 off Paddington has been being substituted for a 3-car Turbo. GWR responded: "Apologies for the lack of capacity on the 1906 and for the cancellations. Our Control team do what they can to provide a replacement when we have insufficient IETs available – the North Downs block meant that we had some spare Turbos at Reading we could use. Appreciate that 3 carriages are not enough (compared to a 5 car IET) but it was a pro-active measure to run the train."
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On 29/02 the 1906 off Paddington was cancelled and used to form the 1953 to Hereford. GWR responded: "This was a very late change due to set failures resulting in a shortage of IETs. The Bedwyn set was commandeered to work 1W05 to Hereford. This was to provide a set for an evening train up the North Cots through to Hereford and to have a set in place to return on the following morning. I’ve checked the log and there were no other options available to the team. I do apologise and appreciate the 1906 has been cancelled far more often than we would wish. IET availability has improved of late but I will review options with TSD colleagues to see if we can reduce the cancellations but also have a more robust contingency plan in place." We responded with the additional point: " I guess an option would have been to run the 1906 to Bedwyn, then after it had returned to Paddington, ran it empty rolling stock to position it for the following day. That would have felt fairer. We’ve already been heavily sacrificed by having our three dedicated IETs removed, to then be disfavoured in these situations does feel a hard pill to swallow."
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Complaint about poor quality of service when things go wrong. This includes the helpline and passengers being left stranded, with no GWR staff, late in the evening at Newbury. GWR responded: "Bringing in replacement coaches (and taxis) at short notice remains a challenge due to a shortage of available vehicles and drivers. Extending staff hours at short notice has many (safety) implications and requires agreement with Unions. We do manage to bring in on-call and other willing managers on occasions but it does depend on availability, incident type, etc. I am happy to review with our Newbury Stations Team to see what is viable. I will also review with our comms team how we can improve quality and timeliness of information." This is something we regularly protest to GWR about. Passenger 'abandonment' is all too frequent.
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On 06/03 the 2104 Paddington to Newbury arrived 17 minutes late at 2200. This missed the replacement bus service which left at 2153. We complained about the lack of co-ordinator (or any staff for that matter) at Newbury to request the bus to wait. GWR responded with: "I’ve now spoken to all parties involved and it seems there were some assumptions made about GWR staff coverage this week but the shift wasn’t actually able to be fulfilled. Assuming station staff had it covered meant we didn’t order a co-ordinator, so we were left with no staff again. The driver departed right time in the absence of anyone available to tell him any different. Having now established that providing our own staff isn’t always going to be possible I’ll make sure my team order a co-ordinator every time we have this type of operation. Please accept my apologies for the failure again this week. By taking the above step this will hopefully be the last time."
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 300: 18/02/2024
Hello All,
Please find some updates, below.
300th Newsletter
This is our 300th newsletter. The first was in June 2006. The last eighteen years have been quite a journey. We formed to fight off cuts to our off-peak services. Having won that battle we then, after electrification was announced only as far as Newbury, had a ten year battle to retain our direct Paddington services. This we achieved with the introduction of three dedicated IETs to serve us plus stops on some peak-time through services. With the post pandemic financial crisis we lost these three IETs. We continue to fight to get them back. If you want to learn more about our eighteen year history then please see the various sub-menus under ‘More…’ at http://www.bedwyntrains.org.uk/
Engineering Works on Weekend of 24th and 25th
All weekend, long-distance services between London Paddington / Reading and the West of England will be diverted and will not call at Newbury or Pewsey. Some trains will also not call at Westbury or Castle Cary. Most trains from London Paddington and Reading will depart earlier than usual. Trains between London Paddington, Reading and Newbury / Bedwyn will be replaced by buses between Reading and Newbury. Trains between Newbury and Bedwyn will be retimed. Pewsey will be served by replacement buses to / from Swindon. Please check before travelling.
Turbos Replacing IETs
You may have noticed that there are some short notice replacements of IETs with Turbos. Although far from ideal, this is preferable to cancellations. GWR have informed us that they have a larger than normal number of IETs out of action. This is due to damage (e.g. from flooding or hitting things on the line). Hitachi (who maintain the IETs under contract) have put a dedicated team in place to try and get damaged IETs back in service as quickly as possible. Additionally, there are three sets out at any one time for repairs to cracks. On top of that there are always sets unavailable due to routine maintenance.
Getting Savvy
Please remember that there is a local stopping service between Reading and Newbury. When things are going wrong at Paddington, do consider getting on the first fast train to Reading then look for something to get you to Newbury. When I commuted I lived by the adage of ‘keep moving down the line’. For example, if the 1906 is cancelled, or you arrive at Paddington before 1930, don’t wait for the 2003 with the change at Newbury. Instead get the next fast to Reading then get the 2010 off Reading for Newbury. Although this will meet the same connection as the 2003 from Paddington (being the 2049 Newbury shuttle to Bedwyn) it gives you a better chance - the 2003 might be cancelled or delayed and miss the connection.
Holds at Newbury
You’re probably aware that, after campaigning by us, GWR now have a holds policy for connecting services at Newbury. This, for each service, specifies the maximum number of minutes each connecting service can be held for. The limiting factors are (i) not to make the connection so late it then delays the next service it forms (ii) not getting in the way of through trains. We note that some of the holds are restricted by passing freight trains. As freight trains don’t always run (i.e. the operator may not have a load to send), we have asked for this to be taken into account with alternative hold times.
Exploring the Area
The Visit Hungerford website have added an interesting page https://www.visithungerford.com/things-to-do/explore-the-railway/ describing a walk you can do to take in some of the sights and history of the line between Hungerford and a few miles west of Bedwyn.
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 299: 17/01/2024
Hello All,
Please find updates below.
More Strikes (and more misery)
ASLEF members (train drivers) will be on strike at GWR (as well CrossCountry and Chiltern Railways) on Monday 5th February. On this day many parts of the network will have no service whatsoever and, where GWR are able to run, services will start late and finish much earlier than usual. Any customers that do travel should check before doing so at www.gwr.com/check There may also be alterations to GWR services on the evening of Sunday 4th February and the morning of Tuesday 6th February.
Anybody who has already bought a ticket for travel on Monday 5th February will be able to claim a full refund. For full information please visit www.gwr.com/strike
ASLEF have also announced action short of a strike effective from Monday 29th January to Tuesday 6th February. While GWR plan to run as full a service as possible (Monday 5th February excepted), there will be short notice alterations due to a very limited number of spare drivers.
Recent Poor Service
You’re sure to be aware of the continued poor service. The usual problems have been made worse by the recent bad weather. We have been in frequent touch with GWR. Please do keep sending us your experiences, we send them all on to GWR. The more we complain the better.
Evening Bus Replacements
During the recent bus replacements (to allow for later evening and overnight engineering works), at our request, GWR put in a co-ordinator at Newbury. This certainly helped, with the co-ordinator ensuring the buses and passengers were all on the correct side of Newbury station. The co-ordinator reported back instances of buses/passengers being on the wrong sides – proving our continued pressing that a co-ordinator is required. GWR have reported back, “in the short to medium term we are definitely tightening things up and hope that there’ll be a drastic reduction in the amount of feedback we receive about these evening rail replacement jobs.”
New Evening Return Service from the West
With the new westbound morning weekday departure (departing Kintbury 0932, Hungerford 0937, Bedwyn 0943) we asked for a return evening service, allowing one to have a trip out in the west country. We are pleased to report that GWR have agreed to this and, from June, we will get a stop on the 1904 from Paignton to Paddington (calling at Bedwyn around 2130). The Hungerford stop will be removed but the shuttle from Bedwyn will be retimed from a departure of 2116 to approximately 2136. Therefore passengers for Hungerford and Kintbury can, without having to change platforms, make a connection at Bedwyn. This will mean that instead of only Hungerford being served by the 1904 from Paignton, Bedwyn and Kintbury will now also be served. So, please have a think how you might use this for day trips or returning from holidays.
Respecting GWR Staff
GWR have asked us to pass on that passengers must respect GWR staff. There was a particular incident at Newbury on December 14th where two members of the dispatch team were verbally abused with one person filming a female member of staff as she was trying to reverse out of the car park. A male stood in front of the car as she pulled forward, to make it look like she was driving towards him. If you happened to witness this please get in touch.
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 298: 01/12/2023
Hello All,
Please find updates below.
Travelling This Sunday?
We wrote to you last week about ASLEF (train drivers union) industrial action starting today and running until Sunday 10th December, with a strike at GWR on Thursday 7th December and action short of a strike (i.e. a work to rule) for the other affected days.
GWR have informed us they can only run a very limited service this Sunday 3rd December, as they have fewer drivers available. As such, some parts of the GWR network will have no service at all, including all long distance trains out of London Paddington to Bristol, South Wales, and the South West. There will be no replacement bus services in operation either.
GWR are advising you travel before the weekend or after Sunday. Where they can run services (and they expect to this include most of their local services), only a limited number of trains will run, and they will be much busier than usual, and services will be subject to short notice alteration or cancellations.
Customers with tickets to travel from Saturday 2nd December to Friday 8th December can use these the day before they are valid or up to and including Tuesday 12th December.
For full information please visit GWR’s dedicated strike page www.gwr.com/strike and be sure to check the journey planners prior to travelling.
December Timetable Change
The new timetable starts on December 10th. Please check any trains you regularly rely on for timing changes. The holding trains policy at Newbury has been updated. Please find a copy attached. It’s probably worth keeping a printed copy with you when travelling. Something to show GWR staff should the need arise.
We are the only service on the GWR network which has a holds policy. At one level we could congratulate ourselves on attaining such a concession, but reality tells us that the need is indicative of the problems with shuttles running back and forth to Newbury. Bill and I won’t rest until we get our service restored.
Restoring our Service
We’ve mentioned before our request to GWR to consider switching some IETs on the Paddington to Cardiff route with 387s on the Newbury route. As the IETs can run to Bedwyn this would restore our direct services to Paddington. One issue, against this suggestion, has always been that the 387s have a max speed of 110mph, whereas the IETs can do 125mph. This, we have been told, would mean the timings to Cardiff will not have been met.
Recently, due to lack of IETs, GWR have been forced to temporarily replace some IETs from the Paddington to Cardiff route with 387s. Bill and I noted that the 387s from Paddington to Cardiff got there in the same times as the IETs. The only difference being that the IETs can do Paddington to Reading one minute quicker. We have written to GWR pointing this out and also raised it with GWR’s MD (Mark Hopwood) at a recent Q&A session.
Minimum Service During a Strike
At the same Q&A session, mentioned above, we raised: “We note that in the legislation for minimum service during strikes, there is no mention of Westbury to Reading. Can this be addressed?” Mark Hopwood informed us that the government are requesting that 40% of services run on strike days and that “40% is 40%”. We have subsequently written to Mark asking that all we’d need on strike days is one all stops Westbury to Reading before 0900 and one back after 1800.
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 297: 23/11/2023
Hi All,
Please find updates below.
Survey
My passenger group colleague, Bill Wells is putting together a report, collating alternative timetables for the return of some or all of our IETs. This is aimed to keep the pressure up regarding the return of our IET trains. We’d like to add in a section about the impact on rail users caused by the shuttles replacing the direct Reading/Paddington services. Therefore, please can you email me with how the shuttles are affecting you. Please keep in mind the following:
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We have over 660 people on our email list, so I won’t have time to do editing – it’ll be a copy and paste job.
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As succinct as possible please.
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Please only comment on the impact of the shuttles. We won’t be able to include other issues. If you have other issues please email separately and we can feedback to GWR.
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As tempting as things may feel, please only send words that we can print! It’s okay to sound annoyed, but please keep it professional.
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We’ll use your name and your words, but won’t print any contact details.
No services to London Paddington this Sunday 26th Nov or 24th-27th December
As part of HS2’s ongoing construction of a new station at Old Oak Common, just to the west of London Paddington, there are some days when there will be no train services into or out of London Paddington. The dates are: this Sunday 26th November, Sunday 24th and Wednesday 27th December.
On these days, long-distance and most local GWR services will start/terminate at Reading instead of London Paddington. Limited GWR services and Elizabeth line services will run between Reading and Ealing Broadway. Customers can transfer at Ealing Broadway between national rail and London Underground services (Central and District lines) to/from central London.
On Sunday 26th November only, engineering work will also close the lines between Ealing Broadway and Slough until 1240. A limited replacement bus service will be in operation between these stations during this time.
Also, as usual, there will be no services across the GWR network on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
More information is available at www.GWR.com/HS2 and www.HS2.org.uk
Strikes
You’ll have probably seen in the press that, while members decide on the latest proposals, there are no further RMT (on-board and station staff) strikes in the pipeline.
However, ASLEF (train drivers) have announced a strike at on Thursday 7th December. On this day many parts of the network will have no service whatsoever, and where GWR are able to run services, these will start late and finish much earlier than usual. Any customers that do travel should check before doing so at www.gwr.com/check . There may also be alterations to services on the evening of Wednesday 6th December and the morning of Friday 8th December.
Anybody who has already bought a ticket for travel on the 7th December will be able to claim a full refund. For full information please visit www.gwr.com/strike .
ASLEF have also announced action short of a strike effective from Friday 1st to Saturday 9th December. While GWR plan to run as full a service as possible (7th December excepted), there may be short notice alterations and cancellations, This is because this industrial action will mean GWR will only have a very limited number of spare drivers.
You may have noticed that the government have recently published the consultation outcome for the minimum service levels for passenger rail. This will dictate how far a strike can go and what services must run. Details are at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/minimum-service-levels-for-passenger-rail-during-strike-action/outcome/minimum-service-levels-for-passenger-rail-government-response-and-policy-approach
Unfortunately services between Westbury and Reading have been completely omitted. We have written to the MPs (Laura Farris and Danny Kruger) regarding this. We have suggested that, during strikes, an all stops Westbury to Reading, via Newbury, then on to Paddington, peak morning train and a similar leaving Paddington around 1800.
Recent Lack of IETs
You may have noticed problems recently with lack of IETs (cancellations, some replaced by class 387s or Turbos). This is due to damage sustained to IETs during recent floods and storms. This is particularly annoying as even on a good day there is a shortage of IETs.
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 296: 31/10/2023
Hello All,
Please find some updates below.
Storm Ciaran - GWR travel update
Storm Ciaran is due to hit the UK tomorrow (Weds 1 Nov) evening and is likely to cause disruption to rail services.
GWR are encouraging all passengers to check before they travel at www.gwr.com/check or with their operator as alterations and cancellations are expected Wednesday (1 Nov) evening and throughout Thursday (2 Nov) due to high winds, heavy rain and high tides.
Customers are advised to travel earlier in the day tomorrow (Wednesday 1 Nov) and delay their journeys on Thursday 2 Nov. Delay Repay compensation will apply for delays over 15 minutes, and customers who choose not travel can claim a refund – more information is available at www.gwr.com/delayrepay. Passengers with tickets for travel on GWR services tomorrow (Weds 1 Nov) evening will be able to use their ticket earlier in the day, and tickets for travel on Thursday 2 Nov will be valid tomorrow and Friday 3 November.
People who live or work near the railway are asked to be aware of items that could find their way onto the tracks at any time, but particularly during high winds, when trampolines, gazebos and tarpaulin can be blown away.
Ticket Office Closures
You’ve probably already seen the news today that ticket office closures have been cancelled.
Our Working Relationship with Network Rail
GWR are now including us in discussions with Network Rail where infrastructure failures have caused disruption to services. It’s always good to expand our contacts and we are now also able to talk and engage with Network Rail directly on these issues. Regarding the poor service, Network Rail have written saying:
There is no hiding from the fact that train performance has not been good enough recently, and passengers deserve better.
Last week, we discovered an issue with our signalling system and our teams conducted extensive testing and implemented precautionary measures. Since last Wednesday, the signalling system has been functioning normally but we are continuing to monitor the situation.
More generally, we have had a maintenance backlog as a result of the industrial action last year. We have been working to improve this backlog now the industrial dispute has been resolved from a Network Rail perspective. By working closely with GWR and other train operators we are seeing some positive improvements, even with the fact we’re now running 19% more trains than we did in 2019. Some examples of this work include:
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Points, where trains change tracks, have caused delays to passengers. We focused on the top 25 most critical points in the Thames Valley where trains can be delayed when there
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are issues. As a consequence, we’ve managed to reduced delay minutes by 81% with 61% fewer incidents.
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We’re installing track monitoring equipment that tells us when tracks are giving off more vibrations, which is a good early indication that it is wearing out, at 25 critical locations in the Thames Valley. This means we catch more incidents before they take place. So far this has led to a 63% reduction in delay minutes and 50% fewer incidents.
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We’ve been recruiting and employing more signallers – increasing from 75 to 106 at our signalling centre in the last year – which has seen a 40% reduction in delay minutes and 19% fewer incidents.
These are just some of the improvements that we have implemented, but we know there is still much more to do to improve our services for passengers.
Hitachi (IET Train) Door Issues
In our meeting with GWR on September 27th GWR reported that quite a few delays / cancellations have been due to faulty doors on the IET fleet. We’ve since asked what action Hitachi have been taking and GWR have reported back with:
Most of the problems are a result of passenger interactions or rubbish stuck in the door runners but these are decreasing. The incident at Twyford last week was a result of a sensitive door close switch. There is a programme underway to recalibrate these as the view is that are too sensitive. Those that have been recalibrated have shown an improvement. Once all doors have been recalibrated we should see a further decrease in door issues.
Getting our IET Trains back
We still working on this. Today we put a more detailed proposal to GWR to swap 387s (electric only) from the Paddington to Newbury with the IET bi-modes running on the wholly electrified Paddington to Cardiff route. The IETs can then run to Bedwyn without the need to change trains at Newbury.
What we’ve found is that a 387 takes only two minutes longer to get to Cardiff than an IET. So the real stumbling blocks appear to be:
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Lack of first class on the 387s.
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Lack of buffet facilities on the 387s.
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Seating capacity.
If GWR are can confirm the switch is technically possible then it’ll be an issue of politics. As Cardiff get a half hourly service from Paddington, what we are asking for will only affect half their trains.
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group
Newsletter 295: 06/10/2023
Hello All,
Weekday Travel After 1900
Thank you to all those who contacted us, following our request in our August 4th newsletter. You gave us great feedback on your use of the post 1900 Paddington trains. Based on this, GWR have decided not to make any alterations as they appreciate our need for the direct 1906 off-peak.
Penalty Fares
We are following up an issue with GWR where a passenger was fined £91 at Paddington when:
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The ticket machine at Bedwyn was broken.
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There were cancellations and short formations making his short formed direct Paddington train packed, thus unable to purchase a ticket on-board.
The GWR rules are clear: “Where a station isn’t staffed, or the ticket machines aren’t working, you must pay for your journey at your earliest opportunity; either on-board or at the first available station.” The passenger in question had followed this to the letter, including trying to pay online (rejected because the train had already departed).
Our advice is (i) if the ticket machine is broken, photograph it (ii) if the train is packed photograph that too (iii) if you do get fined we’ll take it up on your behalf.
Fortunately such incidents are very rare, but very unsettling.
Meeting with GWR
On September 27th, Bill Wells and I met with senior GWR managers. Here follows the main topics, and outcomes, of discussion:
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Poor Performance: We discussed this at great length. There are some particularly poor performing trains (both directs and connections). Factors causing this are strikes, working to rule, infrastructure failures, trains failing, human error and lack of available IET trains. Lack of staff is not a significant issue, they do have reserve staff on standby (apart from on work to rule days), but sometimes, due to knock on effects of disruption staff, are in the wrong places. The IETs are 'cut to the bone' with Hitachi (who maintain them over night) not releasing enough on a day by day basis. GWR are improving their working practises with Hitachi so they are aware of what trains are needed where and when of a morning. Human error is a factor – e.g. releasing the shuttle from Newbury before the Paddington train arrives. Bill and I were shown around the Control Centre. It's an impressive setup with staff clearly dedicated to their jobs. But the systems are prone to human error. E.g. when Control request the shuttle to be held they have to (i) contact platform staff to tell the driver to hold and (ii) contact the signaller to keep the shuttle held on red. There's no automated method for Control to force a hold. It must be stressed that the signalling system is more robust, so when we say 'human error' we are not referring to safety issues. One of the major problems with IETs (especially when in service) is door failures. Hitachi are working on this and installing upgrades.
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Wrong information given the passengers. Like point 1, the staff in the Control Centre know what's happening. However, getting it to the ground is an issue. For example, they can contact Paddington to put a message out, but it's then down to the staff at the station to implement that. This again is prone to human error. Personally, I was rather surprised at how unintegrated the systems are. The bodies of people and IT are: Drivers, signallers, platform staff, Customer Information System (CIS), Control Centre and train staff. These are all loosely coupled so it does explain a lot of the problems we see.
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Poor CIS information. The CIS is automated, working out messages to display based on electronic information. Control Centre staff have limited opportunities to override this. They don't have access to station PA systems, instead all they can do is instigate pre-recorded messages or put short text messages on the CIS screens. Also they don't have access to the PA systems on trains, instead they can only contact the train manager. For driver only, they can only contact the driver if the train is stationary and, even then, it's just a message to ask the driver to contact Control (this is to not distract the driver).
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Getting our three IETs back. This is the tough one. GWRs relationship with the DfT is very good. However, behind the DfT sits the Treasury pulling the strings. The Treasury keep pressing for more cost savings. So, even though our three IETs have been taken away, the Treasury are pressing for even more cost savings. This means we are way down the pecking order. GWR described the situation as 'A nationalised industry with shareholders'. GWR were more responsive to the possibility of getting one IET back to give us a three hourly direct off-peak Paddington service (supplemented on the other hours by the shuttle). GWR also said that we, as a passenger group, have had quite a few 'wins' in the past year. Aware of that as we are, this has come on the back of our off-peak direct trains (and some of our evening peak direct trains) being taken away. It is clear, however, that we do have quite an impact and GWR clearly do read and act upon all the customer complaints that we send in – so keep them coming. We also asked again whether we could have some of the IETs used on the Paddington/Cardiff route in exchange for class 387s used on the Paddington/Newbury route. This would mean the IETs could come to Bedwyn, removing the need for the off-peak shuttle. GWR have promised to look at this again.
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A series of complaints from passengers which are currently unanswered. We went through these and have emailed the passengers individually.
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Reduction in availability of the £12 pre-booked fares. The number of discounted tickets and their price is based on a dynamic flow algorithm. There has been no deliberate reduction in the price and availability. Instead the services are being used more so the algorithm will not offer so many at the low fares you have previously been used to. i.e. a less frequented service will have more discounted fares than a not so popular one.
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The 0954 off Bedwyn does not allow the use of a Network Railcard. GWR have now resolved this.
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Request for an electronic train information board at the foot of the bridge on the Newbury downside platform. GWR have asked for this to be done.
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Request to have Newbury station staffed until the last connection is made (including bus replacements). There's no money to do this. We protested, saying that the shuttle has caused passengers to be left stranded late at night. We asked if more could be done, lighting, police patrols, CCTV etc. GWR have pointed out that Newbury has Secure Station Status. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-the-secure-stations-scheme/secure-stations-scheme-guidance-notes
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The poor quality of the rail replacement (buses) service. We discussed this at great length with the manager in charge of rail replacements (i.e. buses). It was explained to us that the rail replacements are expected to work. GWR contract to First Transport who then get independent bus operators to bid. Unfortunately, given it is late at night, only one operator ever bids for Newbury. And they aren't very good. A big factor is the lack of money to fund it, thus you pay for what you get. We stressed all the complaints you have sent us (some of which are almost beyond belief). The drivers are poorly briefed, sometimes don’t turn up, don't wait for connections, don't know where they are going and the customer helpline isn't able to actively resolve issues. We said it needs somebody on the ground from First Transport to make it work and to be a point of contact for passengers on the ground. After a very lengthy conversation GWR have agreed to get a co-ordinator for the next rail replacement, but subsequently have said only where there are a large number of buses involved. We have said a co-ordinator is needed to all rail replacements, but we would accept having a telephone number of a First Group duty manager made available to passengers. GWR said having co-ordinators might set a precedent for other rail replacements on the network. One of the reasons we are getting priority is that we complain so much. So it shows the passenger group (Bill, me and all of you who complain via us) is effective.
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We asked for the hold times of the shuttles. GWR supplied us with the following. The left hand column is the normal train departure time, the right hand column the number of minutes the departure time can be delayed by. We hope it helps you to have it.
Best wishes
Steve Smith
Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group