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SWR - Further Timetable Reductions from 17/1

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dingdinger

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Having a very quick look at weekends the only change I can see is the withdrawal of all Hounslow loop services as per weekdays. Apart from that the timetables appear to remain as per Dec 2019.

Also the timetables are dated until 13th May.

Are there any other changes I've not noticed?
The current 5th train from Hounslow to Waterloo via Brentford in the morning will become the 1st train on the new timetable. Considering the other 4 trains are busy I think it's a pants service and makes no sense. DfT have a lot to answer for.
 
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30907

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I am due to go to Gillingham (Dorset) next week, and the journey planners of both SWR and National Rail are not even showing the full service from Salisbury westwards as indicated in the pdf timetable.

The 17:20 ex Salisbury, on the timetable as from 17 January, has disappeared, and the journey planners are showing departures to Gillingham only at 15:20 and then 18:10. (It's similarly showing no trains to Honiton between 15:20 and 19:09 from Salisbury - see screenshot.) Presumably this is a mistake?
The 1520 is on RTT to Exeter, 1720 missing altogether as is 1856 Up.
I will be driving a student annual season ticket holder into central Exeter from next week....
Presumably they have a very early start, as the obvious commuter flows appear to be reasonably catered for? I would be contacting SW about that.
 

Goldfish62

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The current 5th train from Hounslow to Waterloo via Brentford in the morning will become the 1st train on the new timetable. Considering the other 4 trains are busy I think it's a pants service and makes no sense. DfT have a lot to answer for.
Personally I'd have thought it would be a priority to protect first and last trains, but what do I know??
 

Xavi

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The 1520 is on RTT to Exeter, 1720 missing altogether as is 1856 Up.

Presumably they have a very early start, as the obvious commuter flows appear to be reasonably catered for? I would be contacting SW about that.
Students have jobs and study with variable start times too. I have contacted SWR and they said apply for season ticket refund, but that’s no good when service returns to normal. The full service has run throughout December and January with very few cancellations, yet from next week there’s not enough staff!
 

WesternBiker

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NR are presumably still working on those schedules as they haven’t been published it seems.
SWR have published it on their website under 'Services from 17 January...' - or is that not what you meant?

Whatever the explanation, it won't help encourage people to travel if the PDF they publish says one thing and the journey planners another...
 

HamworthyGoods

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SWR have published it on their website under 'Services from 17 January...' - or is that not what you meant?

Whatever the explanation, it won't help encourage people to travel if the PDF they publish says one thing and the journey planners another...

I mean NR train planning are the ones who publish schedules to the online system, they won’t do that until the timings are confirmed. A bit like railtour timings don’t always appear till late on.

Theres an 18.35 Exeter SD to Salisbury if that helps in real time trains.
 
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WesternBiker

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I mean NR train planning are the ones who publish schedules to the online system, they won’t do that until the timings are confirmed. A bit like railtour timings don’t always appear till late on.
Thanks for the explanation. That implies SWR is at fault for putting a timetable into the public domain with unconfirmed timings.
 

lawried123

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Quick comparison of late evening service departures from Waterloo to Reading:

Mon-Fri: 21:20, 21:50, 22:50
Sat: 21:20, 21:50, 22:20, 22:50, 23:20, 23:50, 00:20
Sun: 21:08, 21:38, 22:08, 22:38, 23:08, 23:38

So a good night out in London to be had on Sat and Sun. Just don't bother on Fridays!
I've often caught the 2220 on the Reading line and that was full of people coming from shows and concerts. And that's the train they've cancelled. Long wait now at Waterloo !!
 

Goldfish62

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I've often caught the 2220 on the Reading line and that was full of people coming from shows and concerts. And that's the train they've cancelled. Long wait now at Waterloo !!
It's the previous lockdown timetable except we're not in lockdown. The deletion of late evening trains didn't matter so much back then, but it certainly does now.
 

TT-ONR-NRN

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I do feel that if SWR refuse to run more than two trains per hour through Epsom both should be dedicated to Guildfords. SN run twice per hour to Dorking from London already, and whereas the issue of Bookham getting only one train an hour maybe seen as insignificant due to its relatively small status, Guildford to Epsom and more significantly Guildford to Leatherhead journeys are very common.

Then there’s two trains to Dorking and two trains to Guildford, with simple changes. Three trains to Dorking and one to Guildford makes for some long connection times if you don’t get a certain train.
 

HamworthyGoods

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I do feel that if SWR refuse to run more than two trains per hour through Epsom both should be dedicated to Guildfords. SN run twice per hour to Dorking from London already, and whereas the issue of Bookham getting only one train an hour maybe seen as insignificant due to its relatively small status, Guildford to Epsom and more significantly Guildford to Leatherhead journeys are very common.

Then there’s two trains to Dorking and two trains to Guildford, with simple changes. Three trains to Dorking and one to Guildford makes for some long connection times if you don’t get a certain train.

The passenger flows from Dorking to Wimbledon are greater than that from Guildford to Epsom. When 2tph ran Guildford to Epsom it was very lightly loaded.
 

Tramtrain

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Similarly they’ve inserted trains M-F ex WAT (to RDG) at 1735 & 1835. In my experience the 1820 is a busy train. Surely 1735 & 1805 would make more sense, to have a 15-min frequency through the evening peak
 

Goldfish62

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Similarly they’ve inserted trains M-F ex WAT (to RDG) at 1735 & 1835. In my experience the 1820 is a busy train. Surely 1735 & 1805 would make more sense, to have a 15-min frequency through the evening peak
What they've done is divert two of the three through Camberley line services to / from Reading in each peak, as per the lockdown timetable this time last year.

The 1754 to Farnham via Ascot remains, just four minutes after the 1750 to Reading. What would have been helpful is moving this train to 1805.
 
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43096

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What they've done is divert two of the three through Camberley line services to / from Reading in each peak, as per the lockdown timetable this time last year.
I'm not understanding the logic of the change - it gives Reading a much better peak service.
 

Goldfish62

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I'm not understanding the logic of the change - it gives Reading a much better peak service.
Increasing the peak service when in all honestly it's not currently necessary while slashing the late evening service at great inconvenience to many is surely operational convenience at its worst without any consideration given to those who bring in revenue to the railway.
 

Falcon1200

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I fully understand the reasons for Emergency Timetables at a time of extreme staff shortage, and peak hour capacity should be scaled back when commuting is drastically reduced, but cannot understand the logic behind removing early and late services. Scotrail did this during Lockdown #1, cancelling the first two trains on my line meaning the earliest possible arrival in Glasgow was around 0800, while at the same time instructing us to keep off the trains to leave them for key workers - Do key workers not sometimes work shifts ?!!
 

43096

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Increasing the peak service when in all honestly it's not currently necessary while slashing the late evening service at great inconvenience to many is surely operational convenience at its worst without any consideration given to those who bring in revenue to the railway.
Agreed. And then when the WFH restrictions end they’ll axe the peak service. Just shows how SWR do not and never have given a stuff about the punters.
 

WessexRails

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The provision of services from Bournemouth is pitiful, and I hope this really is a short term measure, rather than cost cutting by stealth.
 

hotelmode

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The Woking to Basingstoke line hasn't had more than 33% of its former evening services since the beginning of lockdown 1.

The railway has become irrelevant for leisure travel in these parts as a result. Loadings unsurprisingly reflect this.

Commuting vastly reduced and leisure travelers forced into alternatives. The railway is getting itself into a vicious cycle of decline.
 

[.n]

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The provision of services from Bournemouth is pitiful, and I hope this really is a short term measure, rather than cost cutting by stealth.

They've done their usual pretending the line from Bournemouth to Weymouth doesn't exist - I'm sure its a cut to services by stealth seeing as how pre-covid when they tried to mess with the timetables a huge fuss was made and they had to bask track on some/most of their suggested changes
 

Goldfish62

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Some Sunday papers are reporting that most Plan B restrictions including Working from Home are going to be dropped from 26th January.

At that stage the timetable becomes even more incompatible with people's travel patterns than now.

The railways need to be getting on with the job of attracting passengers back, not putting them off.
 
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I've often caught the 2220 on the Reading line and that was full of people coming from shows and concerts. And that's the train they've cancelled. Long wait now at Waterloo !!

It looks like the 2220 has be reinstated for this Wednesday only and, along with a handful of other Reading trains that evening, diverted via Hounslow. This may well be due to the Brentford vs Manchester United Premier League fixture. If it can be resinstated on this occasion, it may be possible that it can be reinstated on other occasions if passenger demand picks up?
 

lawried123

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It looks like the 2220 has be reinstated for this Wednesday only and, along with a handful of other Reading trains that evening, diverted via Hounslow. This may well be due to the Brentford vs Manchester United Premier League fixture. If it can be resinstated on this occasion, it may be possible that it can be reinstated on other occasions if passenger demand picks up?
If you mean Wed 19th, I've looked at 3 rail sites including National Rail and can't see any sign of the 2220 running.
 

WessexRails

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They've done their usual pretending the line from Bournemouth to Weymouth doesn't exist - I'm sure its a cut to services by stealth seeing as how pre-covid when they tried to mess with the timetables a huge fuss was made and they had to bask track on some/most of their suggested changes
Super disappointing as my local railway station is Branksome! Admittedly I am not using the service much myself at the moment, December loadings seemed very good though whenever I went to Woking or Waterloo
 

WesternBiker

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Super disappointing as my local railway station is Branksome! Admittedly I am not using the service much myself at the moment, December loadings seemed very good though whenever I went to Woking or Waterloo
And I shall be experiencing the joys of the Exeter service spitting at Salisbury tomorrow, on my journey to Gillingham (complete with 28 minute change in Salisbury).
 

geoffk

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And I shall be experiencing the joys of the Exeter service spitting at Salisbury tomorrow, on my journey to Gillingham (complete with 28 minute change in Salisbury).
I've just checked the Waterloo - Exeter service on RTT for the past week (we can't go back more than a week). Of the four part-cancellations, one was stated as a problem with the traction equipment, one a person hit by a train and two a signal failure (which must have been between YVJ and EXC). None involved train crew. This doesn't suggest there's a problem with staff availability so what else is going on? "Connections" at Salisbury are between 15 and 30 minutes.
 
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Goldfish62

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As predicted as of today Reading services have reverted to mainly 458/5s with just one pair of 450s, so with the additional peak services loads of extra capacity which really isn't needed right now.

Conversely, the much reduced services via Hounslow are now principally in the hands of 450s, so a double whammy in respect of reduced capacity.

None of the above makes sense to me, but I'm sure there must be a rational explanation...
 
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