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Taplow Rail Service: Proposed Dec 2006 Timetable

Taplow Rail Users Group Feedback on Dec 2006 Timetables

This is the response from Taplow Rail User Group to First’s March 2006 consultation on its 2006 timetable.

Background First issued its draft 2006 timetable in late Feb 2006, with a deadline for feedback of 8th March 2006. (Weekend service proposals were not included in the consultation). Draft Monday-Friday timetables were accessed on the web at: http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/franchise/en/Timetable.php. This response was emailed as requested, to: tt06@firstgroup.com on 8th March 2006.

1. Monday-Friday changes to existing timetable

Overall, the existing half-hourly service is maintained, with some changes to arrival/departure times. There are changes to both Up and Down services. • Improvements include removing service gaps, more even service intervals and more (2) Up services; • Taplow continues to receive fewer services than Burnham; • Reductions in service include longer Taplow<>Paddington journey times for the majority of services and fewer peak morning down trains.

1a. The proposed timetable does away with a variation in late evening services between Monday-Thursday and Fridays, giving a more even interval service to Taplow. This improvement is welcomed.

1b. There is an increase in Up services from 35 to 37 services. The number of Down services remains unchanged (37). The increase in Up services is welcomed. In both cases, the service pattern is more evenly spaced than at present.

1c. Within Up services (depts from Taplow), the main change are additional services and more regular intervals between trains. A late evening service gap remains between the proposed 9:33 pm and 10:36 pm services.

• Although service frequency is poorer in the late evening than during the rest of the day, a gap of 77 minutes between the current 09:39pm and 10:55pm services, is reduced to one of 63 minutes between the proposed replacement services (9.33pm/10.36pm depts). However, the need for a gap at all is not evident. • There are additional late evening services: the previous last pre midnight service was the 10:55pm. There are now services at 10:36pm, 11:03pm and 11:33pm.

1d. Within Down services, improvement is mixed. There is one definite early evening improvement (see 2 below).

• Early and peak morning services are significantly changed, and are less good in certain respects.

i). Instead of a 5.54am, followed by a 6:35am service, the proposal is for a 1:12am, followed by a 6:20am. This change will not affect a substantial number of passengers at Taplow, but could be significant at Burnham. To address this, the 5:28am Paddington>Reading could stop at Burnham and Taplow.

ii). There is a reduction in service frequency in the period between 7:05am and 8:20am. Instead of four services (7:05am, 7:23am, 7:35am and 8:05am), there are now three (7:20am, 7:50am and 8:20am).

TRUG opposes this loss of service during a period when a large number of Desborough School pupils travel from Taplow to Maidenhead, within the morning peak. To address this, TRUG proposes an additional service between the proposed 8:20 am and 8:50 am Taplow departures.

iii). Increased service gap in late evening: instead of a 34 minute gap between the 9:54pm and the 10:28pm services, there is now a 50 minute gap between the replacement 9:50pm and 10:40pm services.

TRUG believes that a 30 min service interval should be maintained up until the final 11:21pm service.

2. Improvements There is one clear and welcome improvement that removes an early evening service gap in Paddington departures between 1835 and 2003. Existing Proposed

• This illustrates the benefit of an even interval service, which TRUG believes is the best way of encouraging passenger growth at Taplow, and in general.

3. Other Changes needed in proposed Dec 2006 Taplow timetable 3a. Services that stop at Burnham should also stop at Taplow. The increase in journey time to other stations is minimal for a sample of services checked by TRUG.

3b. Reduced morning peak Up fast services from Maidenhead will displace passengers to local trains. An extra carriage should be added to Taplow stopping trains to prevent this.

3c. A Sunday service to Taplow is badly needed.

3d. Replacement bus services provided in the event of engineering work should operate from both Maidenhead and Slough, using Taplow as an accessible pick-up/drop-off point.

3e. In the long-term, the main line platforms at Taplow should be brought back into use, (with benefits including more convenient replacement bus service station access, during an envisaged period of several years of engineering works). In the meantime, TRUG supports the plan to bring platform 1 at Maidenhead back into use.

3e. Journey times under the new time-table are increased in many cases. This aggravates the problem for Taplow of presently falling between two stools: it neither benefits from the fast services provided to Maidenhead, nor from slow service frequencies provided at Burnham.

• Of 37 proposed Up services from Taplow, the new timetable offers 5 services that are faster to Paddington than at present, two for which the current time is unchanged and the remainder for which journey times are almost all 3 or 4 minutes slower.

• Of 37 proposed Down services, almost all up until the new 5.17pm. departure from Paddington take 40 minutes, and are 8 mins slower than at present, including during the morning peak period.

• Between the 5:17pm and 7:17pm services, journey times are all 35 mins, and are slightly improved. After 7:17pm, the remaining evening proposed services are slower than at present by between 3 and 8 minutes.

Overall, TRUG is very concerned at the extent of longer journey times under the new timetable.

TRUG considers that the extent of poorer journey times reinforces the need for some faster service Taplow trains to be introduced, especially to meet commuter needs.

4. Changes needed in timetable to deal with overall weaknesses in service pattern 4a. TRUG is concerned that the proposed service pattern appears to lack design resilience in important respects.

• This is clearly evident in the bunched service pattern at Ealing Broadway. During the Up morning peak (specifically between 8:06am and 9:01am), there are 12 arrivals at Ealing, with irregular arrival times across this period. This makes Ealing a “delay bottleneck”, at which one delayed train will inevitably have a cumulative knock-on effect, and lead to subsequent trains being delayed and routinely disrupt peak Up services for commuters from stations west of Ealing Broadway.

4b. TRUG suggests a ‘flight service pattern’ as an alternative timetable design concept. This approach would potentially reduce Ealing Broadway Up morning peak bottleneck delays, and similar Hayes>Slough problems during the Down peak period.

The concept is based on the principle that faster, longer distance trains with relatively fewer stops precede slower, shorter distance trains making more stops.

‘Flights’ should be arranged to repeat at regular intervals. Interval options that would provide 12 trains per hour at Ealing Broadway include: • 3 train group repeated every 15 minutes; • 4 train group repeated every 20 minutes; • 6 train group repeated every 30 minutes.

On the basis of initial analysis, TRUG favours the 20 minute flight option.

4c. Although TRUG’s suggested flight pattern model would mitigate some inherent weaknesses in the December 2006 timetable, basic issues would remain regarding the provision of fast services to Slough on relief lines. TRUG thinks that the use of Dolphin Junction and the running of 90 mph trains with superior acceleration on the main line as far as Dolphin Junction, is less detrimental to overall time-keeping than running these trains on the relief lines.

060307:trug:jf/jw ****

• User feedback to First from neighbouring rail users' group the Maidenhead-Marlow Passengers Association is on the web at http://www.mmpa.org.uk/tt/response.html

-- JonWil - 30 Mar 2006

-- JonWil - 31 Mar 2006

03 Apr 2006 11:16:44 JonWil:

First Press Release: revisions to proposed Dec 2006 as result of initial feedback: April 2006.

The initial revisons do not appear drectly affect services from Taplow, although they may affect Taplow users travelling to the West and South West. Similarly, changes to aspects of the service pattern between Reading and Paddington may affect Taplow depending on their detail, which is still to be announced.

*********

"First Great Western announces changes to draft December timetable

Train operator First Great Western will make significant changes to its draft timetable for December 2006 following extensive consultation with stakeholders and customers.

The company received more than 9,000 responses during a month-long consultation process which closed on 8 March. Senior management from First Great Western also attended numerous meetings with customers and stakeholders to discuss the draft timetable in detail.

Since then, First Great Western timetable experts have analysed the feedback and identified with the Department for Transport where changes can be made.

The framework for the new timetable has now been agreed, including a range of improvements made as a result of the consultation (see below).

Alison Forster, Managing Director of First Great Western, says: “We realise many people have concerns about the draft timetable and that’s why we’ve been open and honest from the start. We gave people a chance to air their views and we’re pleased so many of them decided to respond.

“As a result of this feedback we’re delighted that we are able to make modifications to the draft timetable and address most of the concerns raised during the consultation.

“The changes we’re announcing today are the main improvements to the draft December timetable but we will continue to make additional changes over the next few weeks.”

The company is also looking at better utilisation of its extensive fleet of trains to provide at least the same number and, in many cases, more seats on busy services in the Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth travel to work areas.

For example, 500 seat High Speed Trains will be used on services in Cornwall and Bristol travel to work to provide additional seats.

First Great Western will now work closely with Network Rail to establish detailed timings and finalise the draft timetable in time for implementation in December 2006.

In addition First Great Western will write to everyone who contacted them giving specific responses to the issues raised.

The changes to the draft timetable include…

Bristol, North Somerset and Wiltshire

• An early morning service will operate at around 0500 from Bristol Parkway to London Paddington, serving Swindon, Didcot Parkway and Reading. • The two London Paddington to Exeter St Davids semi-fast services will continue. This will allow the continuation of hourly services at Bedwyn and Kintbury, with one two-hour gap in the early afternoon. • Services on the Severn Beach line will be retimed to better cater for schoolchildren. • High Speed Train services from London Paddington to Weston-super-Mare will be retimed to provide more capacity from Bristol Temple Meads in the evening peak • Services between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth will be retimed to better suit leisure and commuter customers on the line, including the retiming of a morning peak service from Frome to Bristol Temple Meads. Connections at Castle Cary to and from the West of England will be improved as a result.

The West of England and South Coast

• The existing two London Paddington to Exeter St Davids stopping services in each direction will continue. This will allow the continuation of hourly services at Bedwyn and Kintbury, with one two-hour gap in the early afternoon. It is also expected to enable the provision of two three-hour journeys between Plymouth and London Paddington in each direction. • The number of London services calling at Totnes and Tiverton Parkway will be increased to a level similar to the current timetable. • Dawlish Warren and Starcross will benefit from daily through services to and from London Paddington for the first time, which will also provide extra capacity between the two stations and Exeter St Davids. • Additional calls will be made at Saltash and St Germans to provide nine daily services each way, compared with six in the draft timetable. • The early morning stopping service from Penzance to Plymouth will be retimed to connect with a northbound Virgin Trains service • The 1600 Plymouth to Liskeard service will be extended to Penzance to provide an evening peak service for stations in Mid and West Cornwall. • Services between Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple will be extended to/from Exeter Central. • The first service from Barnstaple to Exeter Central will arrive at around 0815, rather than 0745 to better meet the needs of commuters, and trains on this route will have additional intermediate stops. • Options for providing an earlier service on the Gunnislake to Plymouth line are being developed , • Services between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth will be retimed to better suit leisure and commuter customers on the line, including the retiming of a morning peak service from Frome to Bristol Temple Meads. Connections at Castle Cary for the West of England will be improved. • A shuttle service will be introduced between Westbury and Southampton, including calls at Dean and Dunbridge. This will operate until December 2007, when service levels will be reviewed in the light of subject to the new South West Trains franchise. • An additional London Paddington to Penzance service will call at Hayle. • The last train from Paddington to the West of England will depart later, at 20.35 rather than 20.18

The Thames Valley and North Cotswolds

• An additional service with six carriages (around 500 seats) will operate from Twyford to London Paddington arriving at around 0730, calling only at Maidenhead. • The journey time between Slough and London Paddington will be reduced by removing some Ealing Broadway calls, compared with the draft. The number of calls at Ealing Broadway will remain similar to the current timetable. • A High Speed Train from Bristol Temple Meads will call additionally at Slough providing a fast early morning service at around 0655. • Services on the Thames Valley branchlines will be retimed to call at all stations, except the 0556 Maidenhead to Marlow, which will not call at Furze Platt or Bourne End. • Services on the Henley branch will be retimed, including additional calls at Wargrave and Shiplake, to better cater for schoolchildren • An earlier first train to London will be provided from Iver, Langley and West Drayton. • A better spread of fast trains will call at Didcot Parkway in the evening peak. • Services at stations between Oxford and Didcot Parkway will be broadly in line with the current timetable. • An evening service will operate from Oxford to Banbury at around 2050, calling at Tackley, Heyford and Kings Sutton.

Basingstoke and the North Downs

• An earlier service will be provided from Reading to Basingstoke at around 0530, and in the reverse direction, a later service will be provided at around 2350. • Services between Reading and Gatwick Airport will still increase from hourly to half-hourly, but with a revised stopping pattern, in particular to address college traffic.

...Although the principles of the revised draft have been agreed, detailed timings are not yet available. First Great Western will not be undertaking broadcast interviews..."


13 Nov 2008 22:22:54 MarniAppleton:

I know many people who want to encourage train services to and from Taplow on Sundays. What's the general view on the proposal?

13 Nov 2008 22:52:27 MarniAppleton:

Also, something needs to be done about how full the 0752 to Reading is on weekdays. It's simply unbearable and makes train journeys uncomfortable for many people.


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