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Post by greenboy on Jan 16, 2023 17:34:28 GMT
Day from hell on SWR
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Post by gwiwer on Jan 20, 2023 22:28:15 GMT
SWR / NR are hoping to slew the Down Fast at the Hook landslip into the Up Fast to create two useable lines with effect from Monday 23rd January. Success is not guaranteed due to the complexity of the operation and the proximity to a major landslip. It is currently estimated that this will take "many weeks" to fully restore but a two-track railway with temporary signalling will allow at least an hourly service to Weymouth and to Exeter to operate in each direction. Possibly more.
On the class 458 conversion program one unit is almost ready for review by SWR and should indeed be numbered as a 458/4. There are persistent rumours, and at least one company email, suggesting that the project will be caped. Traffic has not returned to pre-Covid levels and is at best around 70 - 80% and steady. This means the class 450 fleet can cope with the (probably permanently) reduced timetable commitments and the expensive 458 conversion and staff training programs may no longer be needed. SWR was badly burned with the 442 return-to-service (not all units ever returned to traffic though most were ready) and surely cannot afford a repeat. It would be a moot point but as it is the 3+2 seating which is objected to on the 450s running Portsmouth expresses perhaps the 2+2 seating recovered from the 442s (which was new) could be fitted to some 450s instead of the 458s.
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Post by greenboy on Jan 24, 2023 13:32:34 GMT
As if SWR haven't got enough problems, not a first at this location either... www.dorset.live/news/dorset-news/live-trains-brockenhurst-cancelled-delay-8066108Commuters travelling on trains through the Brockenhurst area have faced chaos and disruption this morning (January 24) due to a car on the level crossing. A car has been pictured blocking the railway at the level crossing with South Western Railway (SWR) issuing a warning.
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Post by gwiwer on Mar 25, 2023 17:31:20 GMT
SWR continues to come under fire for it lack of service over Christmas and New Year. Several stations and some entire lines had no trains for three weeks despite services passing through but not calling. Local MPs and others are not impressed and are seeking answers from Westminster because SWR has hidden behind the veil of "Industrial Action". Commendably SWR has, along with most TOCs, managed to re-roster staff to provide a full service on Thursday and Saturday coming which were to have been strike days. When a previous strike was called off at short notice they said it wasn't possible to reinstate the service and ran the strike timetable anyway.
A few more 701s are out and about. The usual test trips plus some depot driver training runs occur most days. All ten-car units are accounted for except 701053 - 060; few 701/5s have been reported up to now; 701509/512 are the only pair making test runs.
There have been few words about the 458/4 conversion program. It has gone very quiet on that front. They are intended for use on the Portsmouth Direct line where traffic has been falling dramatically. Two instead of four trains an hour are now more than adequate with a 5-car 444 or even a 4-car 450 still being lightly loaded off-peak on a route which once saw 12-car non-stop trains among many others.
Traffic levels vary but are typically said to be 65- 70% pre-Covid at best. There are localised overloads both with-flow and contra-flow at peak times on the inner suburban lines but otherwise plenty of seats even with shorter formations. The loss of the 456s is only felt on a few trips; when they arived it was often impossible to board the first and sometimes the second train at the likes of Wimbledon, Earlsfield and Clapham between 07.30 and 08.30. There are sometimes seats available at those times today.
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Post by wirewiper on Mar 25, 2023 17:38:34 GMT
SWR continues to come under fire for it lack of service over Christmas and New Year. Several stations and some entire lines had no trains for three weeks despite services passing through but not calling. Local MPs and others are not impressed and are seeking answers from Westminster because SWR has hidden behind the veil of "Industrial Action". Commendably SWR has, along with most TOCs, managed to re-roster staff to provide a full service on Thursday and Saturday coming which were to have been strike days. When a previous strike was called off at short notice they said it wasn't possible to reinstate the service and ran the strike timetable anyway. A few more 701s are out and about. The usual test trips plus some depot driver training runs occur most days. All ten-car units are accounted for except 701053 - 060; few 701/5s have been reported up to now; 701509/512 are the only pair making test runs. There have been few words about the 458/4 conversion program. It has gone very quiet on that front. They are intended for use on the Portsmouth Direct line where traffic has been falling dramatically. Two instead of four trains an hour are now more than adequate with a 5-car 444 or even a 4-car 450 still being lightly loaded off-peak on a route which once saw 12-car non-stop trains among many others. Traffic levels vary but are typically said to be 65- 70% pre-Covid at best. There are localised overloads both with-flow and contra-flow at peak times on the inner suburban lines but otherwise plenty of seats even with shorter formations. The loss of the 456s is only felt on a few trips; when they arived it was often impossible to board the first and sometimes the second train at the likes of Wimbledon, Earlsfield and Clapham between 07.30 and 08.30. There are sometimes seats available at those times today. To give SWR credit where it is due (although it is not due much) SWR has had more notice of next week's strikes being called off than it has had for previous strikes. SWR is a heavily commuter-focused railway so will have suffered more from the increasing trend to Work From Home post-Covid.
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Post by southlondon413 on Mar 25, 2023 19:23:17 GMT
SWR continues to come under fire for it lack of service over Christmas and New Year. Several stations and some entire lines had no trains for three weeks despite services passing through but not calling. Local MPs and others are not impressed and are seeking answers from Westminster because SWR has hidden behind the veil of "Industrial Action". Commendably SWR has, along with most TOCs, managed to re-roster staff to provide a full service on Thursday and Saturday coming which were to have been strike days. When a previous strike was called off at short notice they said it wasn't possible to reinstate the service and ran the strike timetable anyway. A few more 701s are out and about. The usual test trips plus some depot driver training runs occur most days. All ten-car units are accounted for except 701053 - 060; few 701/5s have been reported up to now; 701509/512 are the only pair making test runs. There have been few words about the 458/4 conversion program. It has gone very quiet on that front. They are intended for use on the Portsmouth Direct line where traffic has been falling dramatically. Two instead of four trains an hour are now more than adequate with a 5-car 444 or even a 4-car 450 still being lightly loaded off-peak on a route which once saw 12-car non-stop trains among many others. Traffic levels vary but are typically said to be 65- 70% pre-Covid at best. There are localised overloads both with-flow and contra-flow at peak times on the inner suburban lines but otherwise plenty of seats even with shorter formations. The loss of the 456s is only felt on a few trips; when they arived it was often impossible to board the first and sometimes the second train at the likes of Wimbledon, Earlsfield and Clapham between 07.30 and 08.30. There are sometimes seats available at those times today. To give SWR credit where it is due (although it is not due much) SWR has had more notice of next week's strikes being called off than it has had for previous strikes. SWR is a heavily commuter-focused railway so will have suffered more from the increasing trend to Work From Home post-Covid. Even then, the strike timetables for the Saturday were due to be published the same day the strike was called off and the ones for the Thursday had only been issued the Saturday before. More than enough time to change them back.
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Post by gwiwer on Mar 25, 2023 22:18:51 GMT
To give SWR credit where it is due (although it is not due much) SWR has had more notice of next week's strikes being called off than it has had for previous strikes. SWR is a heavily commuter-focused railway so will have suffered more from the increasing trend to Work From Home post-Covid. Even then, the strike timetables for the Saturday were due to be published the same day the strike was called off and the ones for the Thursday had only been issued the Saturday before. More than enough time to change them back. Enough time to change the advertised timetables, yes. The issue is the notice required to change staff rosters many of which would have already been published. SWR might have been relying upon goodwill to revert to the normal rosters at less than two week's notice. SWR being "heavily commuter-focussed" may be true for the London area but they are the sole provider of rail services as far from London as Weymouth and Honiton. Not exactly major London commuter towns but then also not the biggest sources or traffic for the railway either. However the point being that SWR also carries a very large amount of non-London local and regional traffic some of it linking to other TOCs for longer distance journeys. Of all their routes the one which has probably lost the most traffic is the Portsmouth Direct followed by the Staines to Reading section as commuting to and from Reading and Bracknell has collapsed.
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Post by cardinal on Mar 26, 2023 23:24:38 GMT
Even then, the strike timetables for the Saturday were due to be published the same day the strike was called off and the ones for the Thursday had only been issued the Saturday before. More than enough time to change them back. Enough time to change the advertised timetables, yes. The issue is the notice required to change staff rosters many of which would have already been published. SWR might have been relying upon goodwill to revert to the normal rosters at less than two week's notice. SWR being "heavily commuter-focussed" may be true for the London area but they are the sole provider of rail services as far from London as Weymouth and Honiton. Not exactly major London commuter towns but then also not the biggest sources or traffic for the railway either. However the point being that SWR also carries a very large amount of non-London local and regional traffic some of it linking to other TOCs for longer distance journeys. Of all their routes the one which has probably lost the most traffic is the Portsmouth Direct followed by the Staines to Reading section as commuting to and from Reading and Bracknell has collapsed. Reading & Bracknell are looking seriously run down. Bracknell more so. Presume all the office workers are now 2-3 days a week in offices rest at home.
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Post by gwiwer on Mar 27, 2023 17:22:14 GMT
Reading & Bracknell are looking seriously run down. Bracknell more so. Presume all the office workers are now 2-3 days a week in offices rest at home. That is what is assumed. Four years ago Reading supported four trains an hour at peak times to and from Waterloo, all were 10-car and all were full. There was planning under way to offer a four-an-hour (but not exactly every 15 minutes) all-day service with a couple of additional peak trains between Staines (where they can reverse in the yard without taking up Waterloo capacity) and Reading to deal with the loadings. Most Waterloo - Reading trains are now 8-car 450s and outside of a couple of peak-time trains are barely half-full. The peak extras are long gone. A half-hourly service is more than enough. The workers of Silicon Valley are doing their thing from home whether based in London or Reading. The pandemic has seen off a lot of other traffic on that route. The current timetable has at least given Staines an even 15-minute headway to and from London by slightly re-timing the Windsor services; it used to be at 10-20 minute intervals which caused some overcrowding on the Readings. The down-side of that is the off-peak service between Waterloo and Putney (which remains quite busy) is now at odd 8 - 22 - 8 - 22 minute intervals which places heavy loadings on the Weybridge-via-Hounslow services.
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Post by wirewiper on Mar 27, 2023 17:57:16 GMT
Reading & Bracknell are looking seriously run down. Bracknell more so. Presume all the office workers are now 2-3 days a week in offices rest at home. That is what is assumed. Four years ago Reading supported four trains an hour at peak times to and from Waterloo, all were 10-car and all were full. There was planning under way to offer a four-an-hour (but not exactly every 15 minutes) all-day service with a couple of additional peak trains between Staines (where they can reverse in the yard without taking up Waterloo capacity) and Reading to deal with the loadings. Most Waterloo - Reading trains are now 8-car 450s and outside of a couple of peak-time trains are barely half-full. The peak extras are long gone. A half-hourly service is more than enough. The workers of Silicon Valley are doing their thing from home whether based in London or Reading. The pandemic has seen off a lot of other traffic on that route. The current timetable has at least given Staines an even 15-minute headway to and from London by slightly re-timing the Windsor services; it used to be at 10-20 minute intervals which caused some overcrowding on the Readings. The down-side of that is the off-peak service between Waterloo and Putney (which remains quite busy) is now at odd 8 - 22 - 8 - 22 minute intervals which places heavy loadings on the Weybridge-via-Hounslow services. It has had an effect on Reading's bus services as well. Most are back to their pre-covid frequencies, but it is noticeable that some of the services that used to operate at the highest frequencies have not been restored to their former glory. Emerald routes 5 and 6 only operate around every 12 minutes now during the day, whereas they used to be up to every 8 minutes. Even the mighty 17 now only operates every 10 minutes during the off-peak although it goes up to every 8 minutes at peak times. One glimmer of hope though is the Greenwave 50, which serves a number of offices in Green Park. This was converted to double deck a while back (using gas-powered Scania/Enviro400 City from route 17) and is about to be increased from every 15 to every 10 minutes during peak times to cater for increasing demand. Effective 17th April.
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Post by gwiwer on Apr 10, 2023 20:41:12 GMT
The ongoing national shortage of bus drivers caused more issues last weekend. Between a half and a quarter of the advertised (and booked) buses actually ran between Reading and Bracknell. Service offered varied by shift; in some cases two consecutive trips were able to operate but mostly it was one in two or one in three. Some hours it was just one in four.
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Post by greenboy on Apr 13, 2023 6:05:02 GMT
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Post by buspete on Apr 13, 2023 12:34:19 GMT
Sounds like cable theft again. The BTP need to clamp down on these criminals.
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Post by gwiwer on Apr 13, 2023 20:49:35 GMT
Sounds like cable theft again. The BTP need to clamp down on these criminals. As I understand it the problem was not cable theft. Most of the signalling in that area is on fibre optic cable which has no scrap value. Wimbledon Panel 1 which controls most of Waterloo station reported multiple faults very early in the morning. The Windsor Lines and platforms 19-24 remained available. At around 10.15 all lines were blocked for ten minutes to enable a full reset of the signalling system (what amounted to turning the computer off and back on at the wall only on a bigger scale) which then cleared most of the faults. After which services slowly began to run at close to the normal timetable.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 2, 2023 15:20:16 GMT
Feltham Area Resignalling Work will affect trains in the Staines area from Saturday 19th August until Friday 1st September. The work replaces equipment some of which dates back to 1974, there will also be improvements to some of the numerous road level crossings in the area.
On Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th August the line will be closed between Staines and Virginia Water. Rail replacement buses will operate over this section; through trains between London Waterloo and Reading will be diverted between Clapham Junction and Virginia Water.
From Monday 21st August until Friday 26th August the line will be closed between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside. Rail replacement buses will operate.
From Saturday 27th August until Friday 1st September, all trains will be suspended between Twickenham, Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside/Virginia Water. The Hounslow loop line will also be closed from Barnes. Rail replacement buses will operate over all these routes. The London Waterloo to Reading service will be diverted between Clapham Junction and Virginia Water. A revised train service will operate between London Waterloo and Twickenham.
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