May 2021 Timetable Change

[dk1]

Without much objection. Social media, particularly Twitter, would partially prove otherwise.

Yes I agree. Tweets have been very vocal to XC from those using Winchester.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

How many international trains would you need to coordinate apart from Eurostar, whose paths are basically set in stone anyway?

On the continent of course, having common timetable changeover dates is essential, whether countries are an EU member or not.

The international trains from Belfast to Dublin I was thinking off. If the UK moves away from the standard December timetable change it’ll cause no end of grief with the international services to RoI south of Newry.

 

[berneyarms]

The international trains from Belfast to Dublin I was thinking off. If the UK moves away from the standard December timetable change it’ll cause no end of grief with the international services to RoI south of Newry.

NI Railways (Translink) and Iarnród Éireann do not in general keep to the European timetable change dates.

They generally change the timetables on an "as required" basis - they are certainly not as rigid as the GB rail network in terms of specified implementation dates each year.

The Enterprise service is co-ordinated as it is a jointly operated service.

 

[DaveHarries]

Just been looking on RealTimeTrains and noticed a couple although I realise that whether these happen will depend on how things go COVID-wise:

- 1V17 (XC) 2130 Birmingham New St - Gloucester extends to start back from Leicester at 2018. This one currently arrives at Gloucester on Platform 2 which is that used by 1M89 (XC, 2145 Cardiff Central - Birmingham New St). However RTT shows that 1M89 will be booked to use P4 at Gloucester, rather than P2, and the next working for the unit that forms 1V17 will be 5C17 (2237 Gloucester - Bristol Barton Hill WRD).

- 1C36 (GW) (2200 London Paddington - Exeter St. Davids, via. Bristol Temple Meads, due 0112) is shown as departing a couple of minutes later from London Paddington. After arriving at Exeter St. Davids (at 0112, as at present) it then shows as continuing to Plymouth where it arrives at 0210. Same stopping pattern for 1C36 between London Paddington and Exeter St. Davids as at present but thereafter calls at Newton Abbot only and not Totnes.

Dave

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Just been looking on RealTimeTrains and noticed a couple although I realise that whether these happen will depend on how things go COVID-wise:

- 1V17 (XC) 2130 Birmingham New St - Gloucester extends to start back from Leicester at 2018. This one currently arrives at Gloucester on Platform 2 which is that used by 1M89 (XC, 2145 Cardiff Central - Birmingham New St). However RTT shows that 1M89 will be booked to use P4 at Gloucester, rather than P2, and the next working for the unit that forms 1V17 will be 5C17 (2237 Gloucester - Bristol Barton Hill WRD).

- 1C36 (GW) (2200 London Paddington - Exeter St. Davids, via. Bristol Temple Meads, due 0112) is shown as departing a couple of minutes later from London Paddington. After arriving at Exeter St. Davids (at 0112, as at present) it then shows as continuing to Plymouth where it arrives at 0210. Same stopping pattern for 1C36 between London Paddington and Exeter St. Davids as at present but thereafter calls at Newton Abbot only and not Totnes.

Dave

Other changes, which appear to be new that didn’t run pre Covid-19 I’ve spotted on the Western are:

04.58 (M-F) Penzance to Paddington starts later at 05.05 and arrives in Paddington earlier at 09.55 restoring a 3 hour journey time from Plymouth to London, currently 3hrs 7min. One for @Irish Rail!

06.59 (M-F) Gloucester to Taunton and 09.25 Exeter to Penzance have been merged into one train (HST)

07.13 (M-F) Paignton to Paddington gains a Frome stop

07.51 (M-F) Penzance to Plymouth carries onto Exeter

10.17 (M-F) Plymouth to Penzance originates at Exeter at 08.55

19.15 (M-F) Penzance to Exeter carries on to Bristol later than the current last train from Exeter to Bristol

20.07 (M-F) Paddington to Bedwyn gains a Maidenhead stop

21.15 (M-F) Paddington to Oxford starts later at 21.20 and looses stops at Maidenhead and Twyford

21.26 (M-F) Paddington to Reading extends to Didcot Parkway with a connection there for Oxford

21.30 (M-F) Basingstoke to Oxford is cut back to Reading

22.25 (M-F) Plymouth to Exeter is new

22.29 (M-F) Reading to Basingstoke and 23.00 back to Reading are new

08.04 (Sat) Exeter to Paddington originates Plymouth with new stops at Ivybridge, Totnes, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Dawlish Warren, Castle Cary and Frome whilst the current 06.52 Plymouth to Paddington is later at 06.55 and no longer calls at Totnes or Castle Cary

On summer Saturday Torbay seems to have a healthy number of direct services from London with Paignton trains at 08.35, 10.35, 12.35 and 16.35 from Paddington and 08.55, 10.56, 12.56, 14.56 and 17.01 from Paignton. All stop at Torquay, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth and Dawlish with some also at Torre and/or Dawlish Warren. The 14.36 Paddington to Plymouth and 16.45 Penzance to Paddington both stat Dawlish and Teignmouth seems to give the Torbay stations a nice 2 hourly London service more akin to ‘the old days’ still only one XC service each way calling at Dawlish and Teignmouth though and that only runs to/from Bristol with the working to arriving early evening with no morning service at all southbound!

On Sundays the current hap-hazard local service from Penzance seems to have been standardised at 50 past the hour from Penzance.

Some positive stuff especially for the West Country it seems.

 

[JonathanH]

21.30 (M-F) Basingstoke to Oxford is cut back to Reading

Not surprising given the need to split up 769 and Turbo operation.

It seems that this service was about getting a 3-car 165 to Oxford to run into Paddington for the 0030 service. Instead, it looks like a 2-car unit will run 1P47 2305 Oxford to London Paddington and come back on the 0030 coupled to the Greenford unit.

 

[irish_rail]

Other changes, which appear to be new that didn’t run pre Covid-19 I’ve spotted on the Western are:

04.58 (M-F) Penzance to Paddington starts later at 05.05 and arrives in Paddington earlier at 09.55 restoring a 3 hour journey time from Plymouth to London, currently 3hrs 7min. One for @Irish Rail!

06.59 (M-F) Gloucester to Taunton and 09.25 Exeter to Penzance have been merged into one train (HST)

07.13 (M-F) Paignton to Paddington gains a Frome stop

07.51 (M-F) Penzance to Plymouth carries onto Exeter

10.17 (M-F) Plymouth to Penzance originates at Exeter at 08.55

19.15 (M-F) Penzance to Exeter carries on to Bristol later than the current last train from Exeter to Bristol

20.07 (M-F) Paddington to Bedwyn gains a Maidenhead stop

21.15 (M-F) Paddington to Oxford starts later at 21.20 and looses stops at Maidenhead and Twyford

21.26 (M-F) Paddington to Reading extends to Didcot Parkway with a connection there for Oxford

21.30 (M-F) Basingstoke to Oxford is cut back to Reading

22.25 (M-F) Plymouth to Exeter is new

22.29 (M-F) Reading to Basingstoke and 23.00 back to Reading are new

08.04 (Sat) Exeter to Paddington originates Plymouth with new stops at Ivybridge, Totnes, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Dawlish Warren, Castle Cary and Frome whilst the current 06.52 Plymouth to Paddington is later at 06.55 and no longer calls at Totnes or Castle Cary

On summer Saturday Torbay seems to have a healthy number of direct services from London with Paignton trains at 08.35, 10.35, 12.35 and 16.35 from Paddington and 08.55, 10.56, 12.56, 14.56 and 17.01 from Paignton. All stop at Torquay, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth and Dawlish with some also at Torre and/or Dawlish Warren. The 14.36 Paddington to Plymouth and 16.45 Penzance to Paddington both stat Dawlish and Teignmouth seems to give the Torbay stations a nice 2 hourly London service more akin to ‘the old days’ still only one XC service each way calling at Dawlish and Teignmouth though and that only runs to/from Bristol with the working to arriving early evening with no morning service at all southbound!

On Sundays the current hap-hazard local service from Penzance seems to have been standardised at 50 past the hour from Penzance.

Some positive stuff especially for the West Country it seems.

Good news indeed that there will he a quick London train again, although i very much doubt it will be driven by Plymouth lol

 

[DannyMich2018]

I cannot easily find any info for EMR May timetable on their website, I'm sure it's there somewhere! looking at National Rail I can see the last train southbound from Leicester to London is much later on weekdays at 22.52 rather than a ridiculously early 21.57 as at present which is much too early for anyone having an evening out or working the 14-22 shift and living at Mkt Harborough or Kettering so well done.

 

[swt_passenger]

I cannot easily find any info for EMR May timetable on their website, I'm sure it's there somewhere! looking at National Rail I can see the last train southbound from Leicester to London is much later on weekdays at 22.52 rather than a ridiculously early 21.57 as at present which is much too early for anyone having an evening out or working the 14-22 shift and living at Mkt Harborough or Kettering so well done.

It won’t be on there yet. Still way too early for TOC publicity about actual timetables. I expect people will generally be using realtimetrains queries. This info will be used by National Rail as well, however it may still not be the final timetable.

 

[PHILIPE]

The wheel lathe at SPM is far more suited to 150s than the one at Laira where sets have to be split to use the lathe.

Just an observation but 150247 ran coupled to 158959 on 2C61 0500 Bristol TM to Taunton this morning having visited the PM Wheel Lathe At Taunton it transferred to another 150 which had worked up ECS from Exeter which was part of some ECS movements between Taunton and Exeter and back and difficult to decipher from RTT

 

[newtownmgr]

Couple of changes for WMT.
08:38 Great Malvern - New St is diverted via Camp Hill no longer calling at University.
20:21 Hereford-Worcs SH replaced by a 20:58 Hereford - New St booked to run non stop from Droitwich Spa via Kidderminster & Galton Jcn to New St & a new 22:57 New St - Worcs Fst via the same route only stopping at Droitwich Spa. The current 23:00 New St - Worcs SH will still run as booked via Bromsgrove. These alterations are too ensure Worcester maintain competence on both diversionary routes (Camp Hill & Galton) out of New St.

 

[berneyarms]

I cannot easily find any info for EMR May timetable on their website, I'm sure it's there somewhere! looking at National Rail I can see the last train southbound from Leicester to London is much later on weekdays at 22.52 rather than a ridiculously early 21.57 as at present which is much too early for anyone having an evening out or working the 14-22 shift and living at Mkt Harborough or Kettering so well done.

The information is coming from looking at Real Time Trains website or the journey planners.
Actual timetables will take a while to appear yet.

 

[dk1]

As may have been mentioned already, the Peterborough-Lincoln via Spalding service has a vastly superior service at last thanks to the infrastructure upgrades over the last few years. A real winner for anyone on on that route.

 

[bunnahabhain]

As may have been mentioned already, the Peterborough-Lincoln via Spalding service has a vastly superior service at last thanks to the infrastructure upgrades over the last few years. A real winner for anyone on on that route.

Unfortunately though one of the primary traffic flows on that line is all but obliterated by the woeful connections at Sleaford for Lincoln to Boston traffic, its less of an issue in the morning in the opposite direction but due to the bizarre pattern of trains there are some 2hr gaps in connections at Sleaford where some Joint Line services run about 40mins apart then nothing for 80mins.

Are the people of Heckington and Boston really going to be interested in a 40-54min connection at Sleaford at the end of their day? If they have another choice I can see that traffic being lost.

 

[dk1]

Unfortunately though one of the primary traffic flows on that line is all but obliterated by the woeful connections at Sleaford for Lincoln to Boston traffic, its less of an issue in the morning in the opposite direction but due to the bizarre pattern of trains there are some 2hr gaps in connections at Sleaford where some Joint Line services run about 40mins apart then nothing for 80mins.

Are the people of Heckington and Boston really going to be interested in a 40-54min connection at Sleaford at the end of their day? If they have another choice I can see that traffic being lost.

I expect traffic will be gained with other flows attracted to the far better timetable. Always winners & losers I suppose.

 

[bunnahabhain]

I expect traffic will be gained with other flows attracted to the far better timetable. Always winners & losers I suppose.

Indeed. One of the issues here is that the improved Skegness line timetable hasn't happened, originally there was to be an early morning Boston to Newark, and I believe a late evening Doncaster (or Newark) to Boston service, but due to issues with the signalbox opening hours this hasn't happened.

 

[A0wen]

Not sure there is any other way of reversing from Letchworth to Peterborough without running all the way to Hertford (or Welwyn) to reverse?

Only place that's possible is Up Fast at Stevenage, which wouldn't be at all practical to path.

Isn't it possible to do something at Hitchin ?

There's an up > down link on the bit of the Cambridge line which then allows access to the down platform at Hitchin and the northbound lines.

Going back many years, the Huntingdon DMU could arrive or depart from either platform at Hitchin.

 

[Dibbo4025]

Isn't it possible to do something at Hitchin ?

There's an up > down link on the bit of the Cambridge line which then allows access to the down platform at Hitchin and the northbound lines.

Going back many years, the Huntingdon DMU could arrive or depart from either platform at Hitchin.

That link is only a groundframe and out of use at the moment so not a practical option

 

[Horizon22]

Other changes, which appear to be new that didn’t run pre Covid-19 I’ve spotted on the Western are:

04.58 (M-F) Penzance to Paddington starts later at 05.05 and arrives in Paddington earlier at 09.55 restoring a 3 hour journey time from Plymouth to London, currently 3hrs 7min. One for @Irish Rail!

06.59 (M-F) Gloucester to Taunton and 09.25 Exeter to Penzance have been merged into one train (HST)

07.13 (M-F) Paignton to Paddington gains a Frome stop

07.51 (M-F) Penzance to Plymouth carries onto Exeter

10.17 (M-F) Plymouth to Penzance originates at Exeter at 08.55

19.15 (M-F) Penzance to Exeter carries on to Bristol later than the current last train from Exeter to Bristol

20.07 (M-F) Paddington to Bedwyn gains a Maidenhead stop

21.15 (M-F) Paddington to Oxford starts later at 21.20 and looses stops at Maidenhead and Twyford

21.26 (M-F) Paddington to Reading extends to Didcot Parkway with a connection there for Oxford

21.30 (M-F) Basingstoke to Oxford is cut back to Reading

22.25 (M-F) Plymouth to Exeter is new

22.29 (M-F) Reading to Basingstoke and 23.00 back to Reading are new

08.04 (Sat) Exeter to Paddington originates Plymouth with new stops at Ivybridge, Totnes, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Dawlish Warren, Castle Cary and Frome whilst the current 06.52 Plymouth to Paddington is later at 06.55 and no longer calls at Totnes or Castle Cary

On summer Saturday Torbay seems to have a healthy number of direct services from London with Paignton trains at 08.35, 10.35, 12.35 and 16.35 from Paddington and 08.55, 10.56, 12.56, 14.56 and 17.01 from Paignton. All stop at Torquay, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth and Dawlish with some also at Torre and/or Dawlish Warren. The 14.36 Paddington to Plymouth and 16.45 Penzance to Paddington both stat Dawlish and Teignmouth seems to give the Torbay stations a nice 2 hourly London service more akin to ‘the old days’ still only one XC service each way calling at Dawlish and Teignmouth though and that only runs to/from Bristol with the working to arriving early evening with no morning service at all southbound!

On Sundays the current hap-hazard local service from Penzance seems to have been standardised at 50 past the hour from Penzance.

Some positive stuff especially for the West Country it seems.

Both the W. Country local and long-distance demand has been noticed and is expected to continue. Even during Covid and lockdown 1, there were concerns of overcrowding. I've always thought that Bedwyn services could have a Maidenhead stop as it's now fairly poorly served by GWR relative to Slough, although only doing one on the 2007 seems to be an interesting experiment.

Not surprising given the need to split up 769 and Turbo operation.

It seems that this service was about getting a 3-car 165 to Oxford to run into Paddington for the 0030 service. Instead, it looks like a 2-car unit will run 1P47 2305 Oxford to London Paddington and come back on the 0030 coupled to the Greenford unit.

Yeah getting the Greenford back is a convenient early morning / late night service to and from Paddington, so this sounds like a practical attachment considering in attaches to an empty set from Maidenhead at the moment.

Couple of changes for WMT.
08:38 Great Malvern - New St is diverted via Camp Hill no longer calling at University.

That won't be popular - my experience of trains around that time has a considerable amount of people disembarking (0930ish) at University.

 

[TheBigD]

Unfortunately though one of the primary traffic flows on that line is all but obliterated by the woeful connections at Sleaford for Lincoln to Boston traffic, its less of an issue in the morning in the opposite direction but due to the bizarre pattern of trains there are some 2hr gaps in connections at Sleaford where some Joint Line services run about 40mins apart then nothing for 80mins.

Are the people of Heckington and Boston really going to be interested in a 40-54min connection at Sleaford at the end of their day? If they have another choice I can see that traffic being lost.

I suspect that the new services have been pathed around the existing freight services. It will need a fresh look at everything for a cockface service to operate.

Also worth noting is that the morning service from Lincoln to Sleaford isn't friendly for the considerable school traffic with arrivals at either 0739 (too early) or 0852 (about 20 minutes too late) compared to the current 0830. Returning in the afternoon it's also probably a bit too early at 1553 compared to the current 1614.

One to sort out in December 2021 or May 2022?

 

[bramling]

Isn't it possible to do something at Hitchin ?

There's an up > down link on the bit of the Cambridge line which then allows access to the down platform at Hitchin and the northbound lines.

Going back many years, the Huntingdon DMU could arrive or depart from either platform at Hitchin.

It’s possible to reverse Peterborough to Cambridge or Cambridge to Cambridge via Hitchin platform 1, but to do Cambridge to Peterborough requires a double shunt.

 

[bunnahabhain]

I suspect that the new services have been pathed around the existing freight services. It will need a fresh look at everything for a cockface service to operate.

Also worth noting is that the morning service from Lincoln to Sleaford isn't friendly for the considerable school traffic with arrivals at either 0739 (too early) or 0852 (about 20 minutes too late) compared to the current 0830. Returning in the afternoon it's also probably a bit too early at 1553 compared to the current 1614.

One to sort out in December 2021 or May 2022?

I hope so, there are also issues ahead on the Robin Hood Line, the removal of a pre 9am arrival into Nottingham in favour of an 0755 Mansfield (which is long overdue) will result in a net loss of vehicles unless every train is at least 3 coaches. I don't anticipate much room on that 0840ish arrival.

 

[DaveHarries]

Other changes, which appear to be new that didn’t run pre Covid-19 I’ve spotted on the Western are:

04.58 (M-F) Penzance to Paddington starts later at 05.05 and arrives in Paddington earlier at 09.55 restoring a 3 hour journey time from Plymouth to London, currently 3hrs 7min. One for @Irish Rail!

06.59 (M-F) Gloucester to Taunton and 09.25 Exeter to Penzance have been merged into one train (HST)

07.13 (M-F) Paignton to Paddington gains a Frome stop

07.51 (M-F) Penzance to Plymouth carries onto Exeter

10.17 (M-F) Plymouth to Penzance originates at Exeter at 08.55

19.15 (M-F) Penzance to Exeter carries on to Bristol later than the current last train from Exeter to Bristol

20.07 (M-F) Paddington to Bedwyn gains a Maidenhead stop

21.15 (M-F) Paddington to Oxford starts later at 21.20 and looses stops at Maidenhead and Twyford

21.26 (M-F) Paddington to Reading extends to Didcot Parkway with a connection there for Oxford

21.30 (M-F) Basingstoke to Oxford is cut back to Reading

22.25 (M-F) Plymouth to Exeter is new

22.29 (M-F) Reading to Basingstoke and 23.00 back to Reading are new

08.04 (Sat) Exeter to Paddington originates Plymouth with new stops at Ivybridge, Totnes, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Dawlish Warren, Castle Cary and Frome whilst the current 06.52 Plymouth to Paddington is later at 06.55 and no longer calls at Totnes or Castle Cary

On summer Saturday Torbay seems to have a healthy number of direct services from London with Paignton trains at 08.35, 10.35, 12.35 and 16.35 from Paddington and 08.55, 10.56, 12.56, 14.56 and 17.01 from Paignton. All stop at Torquay, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth and Dawlish with some also at Torre and/or Dawlish Warren. The 14.36 Paddington to Plymouth and 16.45 Penzance to Paddington both stat Dawlish and Teignmouth seems to give the Torbay stations a nice 2 hourly London service more akin to ‘the old days’ still only one XC service each way calling at Dawlish and Teignmouth though and that only runs to/from Bristol with the working to arriving early evening with no morning service at all southbound!

On Sundays the current hap-hazard local service from Penzance seems to have been standardised at 50 past the hour from Penzance.

Some positive stuff especially for the West Country it seems.

Thanks for that list. Others I have just noticed:

Additional train: 0753 (M-F) Paignton - London Paddington (train 1H22). This will call at Torquay, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Exeter St. Davids, Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Worle, Yatton and Nailsea & Backwell before arriving into Bristol Temple Meads at 0951. After leaving Bristol Temple Meads (0954) this train will call at Bristol Parkway and then operate non-stop to London Paddington, scheduled to arrive at 1114.

Reinstated train: 1308 (M-F) Exeter St. Davids - London Paddington (train 1H40). Calls Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Bristol Temple Meads (arr. 1419, dep. 1422), Bristol Parkway and then operates non-stop to London Paddington, scheduled to arrive at 1544.

Reinstated train: 1915 (M-F) London Paddington - Exeter St. Davids (train 1H49). Non-stop to Bristol Parkway, then calls Bristol Temple Meads (arr. 2036, dep. 2044) and Taunton only before arriving into Exeter St. Davids at 2140. Good going to do London - Exeter in not much over 2hrs.

I have marked 1H40 and 1H49 as reinstated trains: these used to run before the second lockdown. It seems that the 1Hxx trains from Bristol Temple Meads may be set for a full-on return: RealTimeTrains has 38 trains with 1Hxx headcodes in its schedules for Bristol Temple Meads for 28th May but the only 1Hxx at present is the 0453 (M-F) Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington.

Lastly it seems that, starting with the new timetable, Exeter - Barnstaple trains will now all terminate from / start at Exeter Central instead of St. James Park with the exception of a few morning and evening journeys which will not operate between Exeter St. Davids and Exeter Central.

Dave

 

[Mintona]

I don’t think the full ‘superfast’ timetable will be running from May with the 1HXX trains every 30 minutes from Paddington to Bristol. However I think a few of them that ran before will return. All are currently showing on realtimetrains however.

Getting Cardiff back to half hourly is probably a bigger priority than Bristol 4x an hour at the moment.

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Thanks for that list. Others I have just noticed:

Additional train: 0753 (M-F) Paignton - London Paddington (train 1H22). This will call at Torquay, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Exeter St. Davids, Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Worle, Yatton and Nailsea & Backwell before arriving into Bristol Temple Meads at 0951. After leaving Bristol Temple Meads (0954) this train will call at Bristol Parkway and then operate non-stop to London Paddington, scheduled to arrive at 1114.

Reinstated train: 1308 (M-F) Exeter St. Davids - London Paddington (train 1H40). Calls Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Bristol Temple Meads (arr. 1419, dep. 1422), Bristol Parkway and then operates non-stop to London Paddington, scheduled to arrive at 1544.

Reinstated train: 1915 (M-F) London Paddington - Exeter St. Davids (train 1H49). Non-stop to Bristol Parkway, then calls Bristol Temple Meads (arr. 2036, dep. 2044) and Taunton only before arriving into Exeter St. Davids at 2140. Good going to do London - Exeter in not much over 2hrs.

I have marked 1H40 and 1H49 as reinstated trains: these used to run before the second lockdown. It seems that the 1Hxx trains from Bristol Temple Meads may be set for a full-on return: RealTimeTrains has 38 trains with 1Hxx headcodes in its schedules for Bristol Temple Meads for 28th May but the only 1Hxx at present is the 0453 (M-F) Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington.

Lastly it seems that, starting with the new timetable, Exeter - Barnstaple trains will now all terminate from / start at Exeter Central instead of St. James Park with the exception of a few morning and evening journeys which will not operate between Exeter St. Davids and Exeter Central.

Dave

This trains are not showing as running in Real Time Trains if you do a Public Time search at a station - they feature as now as unadvertised services which imply they are suppressed until further notice.

Thanks for that list. Others I have just noticed:

Additional train: 0753 (M-F) Paignton - London Paddington (train 1H22). This will call at Torquay, Newton Abbot, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Exeter St. Davids, Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Worle, Yatton and Nailsea & Backwell before arriving into Bristol Temple Meads at 0951. After leaving Bristol Temple Meads (0954) this train will call at Bristol Parkway and then operate non-stop to London Paddington, scheduled to arrive at 1114.

Reinstated train: 1308 (M-F) Exeter St. Davids - London Paddington (train 1H40). Calls Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Bristol Temple Meads (arr. 1419, dep. 1422), Bristol Parkway and then operates non-stop to London Paddington, scheduled to arrive at 1544.

Reinstated train: 1915 (M-F) London Paddington - Exeter St. Davids (train 1H49). Non-stop to Bristol Parkway, then calls Bristol Temple Meads (arr. 2036, dep. 2044) and Taunton only before arriving into Exeter St. Davids at 2140. Good going to do London - Exeter in not much over 2hrs.

I have marked 1H40 and 1H49 as reinstated trains: these used to run before the second lockdown. It seems that the 1Hxx trains from Bristol Temple Meads may be set for a full-on return: RealTimeTrains has 38 trains with 1Hxx headcodes in its schedules for Bristol Temple Meads for 28th May but the only 1Hxx at present is the 0453 (M-F) Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington.

Lastly it seems that, starting with the new timetable, Exeter - Barnstaple trains will now all terminate from / start at Exeter Central instead of St. James Park with the exception of a few morning and evening journeys which will not operate between Exeter St. Davids and Exeter Central.

Dave

These 1Hxx are not showing as running in Real Time Trains if you do a Public Time search at a station - they feature as now as unadvertised services which imply they are suppressed until further notice.

 

[whoosh]

Isn't it possible to do something at Hitchin ?

There's an up > down link on the bit of the Cambridge line which then allows access to the down platform at Hitchin and the northbound lines.

Going back many years, the Huntingdon DMU could arrive or depart from either platform at Hitchin.

The Up platform has a signal at the north end for down departures, but you can only go towards Cambridge (via the old route - not the flyover!) in the down direction.

To go towards Peterborough from the up platform, you have to take that signal towards Cambridge as Empty Stock, go around the corner behind a ground shunt signal, change ends, then take that ground shunt signal to cross all the tracks to go into the Down platform and change ends again there before being able to be signalled to Peterborough.
This happens during engineering works (it took place a few weeks ago) but it isn't really suitable for a regular move.

 

[Bikeman78]

I don’t think the full ‘superfast’ timetable will be running from May with the 1HXX trains every 30 minutes from Paddington to Bristol. However I think a few of them that ran before will return. All are currently showing on realtimetrains however.

Getting Cardiff back to half hourly is probably a bigger priority than Bristol 4x an hour at the moment.

Did the half hourly fast Bristol service ever get going fully? I had two runs in the up direction. Both times I got off the up Swansea at Bristol Parkway and waited for the fast which followed about 10 minutes later. On one occasion the Swansea was delayed around Didcot so the fast overtook it at Reading. Result!

 

[70014IronDuke]

It always used to be mid-May & late-September but changed to mid-December so as to come in line with Europe.

Depends on what you mean by 'always' I suppose, but in the early 60s IIRC it used to be around Sept 10.

 

[dk1]

Depends on what you mean by 'always' I suppose, but in the early 60s IIRC it used to be around Sept 10.

Fair enough. From the 70s as a kid I recall some holiday extras ran the length of the summer timetable until late in the month whereas the peak extras ran more or less in line with English school holidays ending in the first week of September.

 

[DelW]

One thing I have noticed is there are a lot of day time Victoria - Portsmouth services than now terminate at Portsmouth & Southsea vice Portsmouth Harbour, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern to it.

AIUI all Wightlink services between PMH and Ryde are currently suspended, with tickets being accepted on Hovertravel instead. Since that's more easily reached from Portsmouth and Southsea, and Gunwharf Quays is presumably largely closed, demand to PMH is probably much reduced.