First Group win South West franchise

[jjb1970]

I think most of the TOCs do it when necessary. On friday evening there was a problem on the WCML slow line. I was on my customary 17:24 semi-fast train home and to recover time it was put onto the fast line with first stop Berkhamsted (I think, wasn't paying much attention) and a reduced stopping pattern. By MK it had recovered a fair bit of the lost time. Not good for people going to the missed stops but they were re-directed to an alternative train and it helped LM normalise their schedule after the disruption.

[Gwiwer]

New site went live overnight

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/

The former SWT site automatically redirects

Edited August 20, 2017 by Gwiwer

[John M Upton]

Not so much rebranding as reblanding.  Never seen such a dreay logo and livery before, especially after the colourful SWT.

[GreedyHarry]

If the MTR component is at all influential then watch out for an epidemic of stop-skipping to maintain punctuality. That is one technique they have used in their Melbourne franchise where they maximise their profit by punctual running and " reliability" but leave passengers behind all the time. It is so bad there that the renewal (due in November) specifies they may not omit stops as a means of achieving performance targets.

 

And GWR have started on the Severn Beach Branch recently running fast from Temple Meads to Clifton and vice-versa. Personally, I'd rather have a late running train rather than no train at all. Maybe I am odd in that way.

[Gwiwer]

Since the original "Barbie" livery appeared on buses First seems to have taken ownership of the blandest palette, the dreariest shades and at times the least imaginative or sympathetic styles of livery application. GWR trains appear very dull except in bright sunlight. I had hoped a lesson might have been learned but no. Perhaps they can't afford Ray Stenning.

[Southernman46]

Least it confirms the return of the 442's

[Peter Kazmierczak]

The only difference from yesterday is that the automated platform announcements now say "the South Western Railway service to........"

 

Still no leaflets on display, but I managed to acquire this.

 

Can you spot the error?

 

[Gwiwer]

Clapham Junction and Woking have changed places. Oooooops

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Well spotted Rick.

To be honest I didn't notice until the chap in the ticket office pointed it out to me.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

With the new logo, presumably the top arm leads to Reading, the next to Exeter, the main diagonal to Weymouth.

What about the other two?

One must go to Portsmouth, but is the other to Alton or Dorking?

[Gwiwer]

With the new logo, presumably the top arm leads to Reading, the next to Exeter, the main diagonal to Weymouth.What about the other two?One must go to Portsmouth, but is the other to Alton or Dorking?

I read it as Reading, Exeter, Weymouth, Alton, Portsmouth. Where's my Kingston Roundabout? Edited August 20, 2017 by Gwiwer

[Peter Kazmierczak]

I read it as Reading, Exeter, Weymouth, Alton, Portsmouth. Where's my Kingston Roundabout?

Or the Shepperton branch.....

[The Stationmaster]

Quite right too!!

 

In all seriousness this is the sort of attention to detail that seems bonkers to people but it's a characteristic of some Asian countries. When I went to Korean and Japanese ship yards it was like entering a different world. New build projects were scheduled almost to the hour and an anal attention to detail and QA was set up to get things right, on time and avoid rework and warranty issues. I was used to European yards where the attitude was (and still is) that if you build something like a ship then s**t happens and you have to expect things to go wrong, in the Korean and Japanese yards if things don't go to schedule and commissioning trials are not just a confirmation that whatever is being commissioned works then all hell breaks loose and it's like the Spanish inquisition to find out what went wrong and adjust systems to avoid a repeat. That's not to say that things don't go wrong, they do (and quite often as it happens) but compared with yards over here it is night and day and the difference in attitude to dropped balls is striking to say the least. A lot of people laugh at it and think it a bit crazy but it has resulted in their yards building ships a lot more quickly and to much higher standards than yards in most of the rest of the world.

 

Oddly a job I did in Australia was partly down to a similar attitude where they were worried because punctuality on their suburban services had dropped below 95% right time.  Part of the remedy was to increase peak hour dwell time at some stations from 18 seconds to 36 seconds.  Interestingly when I stop-watched dwell times they really could achieve 18 second dwells at certain stations in the peak period. 

Which is why, as I understand it, the rules for measuring punctuality have been/will soon be altered to include intermediate stops, not least so that train operators cannot weight the figures in their favour by achieving on time arrivals as a result of loading all the recovery time into the final stage into the terminus. The Southern routes into the London termini are all very congested and require a high level of timekeeping (and timetabling) discipline if they are to deliver the performance in terms of shifting the passengers.

 

Jim

 

And this of course is the correct answer to the matter of achieving punctual operation.  You get the timetable and trainplan correct in relation to the resources available (including infrastructure) and you then operate it with correct discipline and that is the only way a really busy piece of railway can work.  Trains running before time can be as big a menace to overall performance as trains running late (and they no longer help 'smooth' the punctuality numbers).

Edited August 20, 2017 by The Stationmaster

[PaulRhB]

And this of course is the correct answer to the matter of achieving punctual operation. You get the timetable and trainplan correct in relation to the resources available (including infrastructure) and you then operate it with correct discipline and that is the only way a really busy piece of railway can work. Trains running before time can be as big a menace to overall performance as trains running late (and they no longer help 'smooth' the punctuality numbers).

Yes and when you look at the much vaunted Swiss system you find plenty of longer dwell times

[Southernman46]

The WOE dwell times are the longest of all - 4 minute waits at Woking & Basing are infuriating if you're on the 21:20 EstD trying to get home

 

No wonder SWR reckon they can accelerate the service - yes, put in good old fashioned 30 second SR station stops and you're at your destination far quicker ........................

 

Oh and NR are currently attempting to ###### the reduced service YET again with YET another cracked IBJ at Weybridge - that's the 3rd major piece of infrastructure failure there in 3 weeks - when is someone going to have a serious look at the current issues with the management of PW maintenance in the Woking area ?

Edited August 20, 2017 by Southernman46

[Gwiwer]

Problem with the slack Kingston Roundabout times are that it has to slot into the busier lines at New Malden and Twickenham / Barnes. They can easily knock 6-7 minutes out of the full roundabout but at the cost of losing the even-interval stopping services and having to retime every other train. In other words a new global timetable would be required. As the main lines are being accelerated maybe the task is already in hand. I'll admit the booked 4 or 5-minute stands at Kingston are a pain.

[tetsudofan]

When I look at the new logo it looks to me like an arrow pointing to the North East ....... rather wierd for something going South West......

 

Keith

[Southernman46]

Well technically speaking 1/2 the trains do run towards the NE ...................

[PaulRhB]

The WOE dwell times are the longest of all - 4 minute waits at Woking & Basing are infuriating if you're on the 21:20 EstD trying to get home

 

?

If that extra 4 mins overall was moved and split between Salisbury and Yeovil it would help regulating the single line. Doesn't sound like a lot but it can make a surprising difference as we saw before. Will be interesting to see their solutions.

[Gwiwer]

Speaking with drivers at Strawberry Hill this afternoon they are concerned that the proposed accellerations will be unworkable. Removing dwell time, recovery and pathing allowances is not a way to run a reliable railway. If the slightest thing goes wrong the train is late and potentially misses its path over a critical section of the line. The domino effect then suggests other trains become delayed as is already commonplace on the overcrowded Brighton line.

 

Time recovery also costs. Either skipped stops which annoys and delays customers or shortened turnbacks and crew breaks which can displace staff and lead to more disruption.

 

Noted today also that the gates have been lowered at STW some seven minutes prior to every train movement. Normally two minutes suffices. The road isn't busy but with four trains an hour plus depot shunt moves there have been some frustrated motorists; most pedestrians are able to cope with the footbridge steps as an alternative.

[jjb1970]

Oddly a job I did in Australia was partly down to a similar attitude where they were worried because punctuality on their suburban services had dropped below 95% right time.  Part of the remedy was to increase peak hour dwell time at some stations from 18 seconds to 36 seconds.  Interestingly when I stop-watched dwell times they really could achieve 18 second dwells at certain stations in the peak period. 

 

And this of course is the correct answer to the matter of achieving punctual operation.  You get the timetable and trainplan correct in relation to the resources available (including infrastructure) and you then operate it with correct discipline and that is the only way a really busy piece of railway can work.  Trains running before time can be as big a menace to overall performance as trains running late (and they no longer help 'smooth' the punctuality numbers).

 

For some reason, a lot of organisations are much more willing to spend $$$$$$$$'s replacing perfectly good assets because they're unhappy with their performance rather than making what they've got work. More often than not the problem is not the asset but how it is used which begs the question - if they can't be bothered to make the effort to operate what they've got effectively and efficiently then why do they think they'll make the effort to operate $$$$$$$$$$'s worth of new asset effectively and efficiently?

[D854_Tiger]

Not so much rebranding as reblanding.  Never seen such a dreay logo and livery before, especially after the colourful SWT.

 

Now I quite like that.

 

Getting fed up of all those ice cream liveries.

 

About time we had more subtlety, class and style, after all you wouldn't by a car that looked like a raspberry ripple.

[john new]

And GWR have started on the Severn Beach Branch recently running fast from Temple Meads to Clifton and vice-versa. Personally, I'd rather have a late running train rather than no train at all. Maybe I am odd in that way.

Fully agree, ALWAYS stop where it is supposed to.

[Dunsignalling]

The WOE dwell times are the longest of all - 4 minute waits at Woking & Basing are infuriating if you're on the 21:20 EstD trying to get home

 

No wonder SWR reckon they can accelerate the service - yes, put in good old fashioned 30 second SR station stops and you're at your destination far quicker ........................

 

 

The problem is that, whatever happens east of Salisbury has to marry up with the timings over the single line sections west of Salisbury. Otherwise those "surplus" dwell times will just get  shared out between the various passing loops.  

 

The opportunity for accelerating timings beyond Wilton is limited unless someone is willing to pay for moving signals to facilitate increased line speeds.   

 

John

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

The new blue and white livery for the 450s reminds me of the new Northern Rail livery which is now Arriva Rail North. 

 

Except the 450s have a diagonal line separating the blue and white whereas the Northern Rail passenger units have swirls. 

 

The new livery for the 450s doesn't look as bright and attractive as the SWT livery but the blue and white might look good. Something simple and effective.