Windsor trains

[brianusa]

In view of the crowds at the recent wedding, was there, would it have been possible even for extra trains to be run for this event. In view of the pathing and lack of rolling stock these days, it seems a lost cause but it would have certainly eased congestion on the roads in the area though!

 

Brian.

[HillsideDepot]

 

Advice issued to those travelling to Windsor by train at the weekend is to travel light and travel early.

Thames Valley Police and British Transport Police will conduct security checks and 2,300m of fencing will be used for queues across key stations on the route.

Large queues are expected to form at both Windsor and Eton Central train stations as people flock to Windsor to enjoy the big day.

Great Western Railway will operate to its maximum capacity with four carriages running every 20 minutes and over 200 additional GWR staff will be on hand to keep people moving.

The train operator will provide over 1,000 boxes of confetti for Windsor wedding-goers, 100 metres of bunting, 60,000 chocolates and over 10,000 bottles of water to keep the party atmosphere going.

GWR managing director Mark Hopwood said: “This will be one of the largest ever one-day events that has taken place on our network and our aim is to ensure our customers have a great day out and enjoy what will be an international spectacle.”

 

Is what the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald had to say about the arrangements. I presume it is basically GWR's Press Release, carefully altered by a journalist who thinks Windsor and Eton Central are two stations not one! 

[brianusa]

Thanks.  At least they tried!

 

Brian.

[phil-b259]

In view of the crowds at the recent wedding, was there, would it have been possible even for extra trains to be run for this event. In view of the pathing and lack of rolling stock these days, it seems a lost cause but it would have certainly eased congestion on the roads in the area though!

 

Brian.

 

In a word, No.

 

(1) The GWR branch to Slough comes off the main (fast) lines at Slough and there are not the spare paths to put in through services (particularly as the need to slow down / speed up when coming on or off the branch will take several 125mph paths).

(2) The branch itself has no signalling and must be operated on a 'one train in steam basis'

(3) The bay platform at Slough can only take 4 car trains - and IIRC the platform at Windsor can only take 6.

[caradoc]

Didn't South Western Railway double their service to Riverside to 4 trains per hour, formed of 10 cars ?

[DY444]

Didn't South Western Railway double their service to Riverside to 4 trains per hour, formed of 10 cars ?

 

Yes. 

[Metr0Land]

Didn't South Western Railway double their service to Riverside to 4 trains per hour, formed of 10 cars ?

Also they positioned a hired-in GBRf Class 66 'Thunderbird' at Staines (I think) in case of things getting clogged up on the Windsor branch

[Steadfast]

Also they positioned a hired-in GBRf Class 66 'Thunderbird' at Staines (I think) in case of things getting clogged up on the Windsor branch

I heard about this from a GB driver. Good idea apart from it could be interesting to couple a 66 to a failed unit. Quicker just to send the train behind it in to pull it out

 

Jo

[Joseph_Pestell]

I heard about this from a GB driver. Good idea apart from it could be interesting to couple a 66 to a failed unit. Quicker just to send the train behind it in to pull it out

 

Jo

 

2 x 10 car trains might overload the electricity supply.

[Nearholmer]

40 carriages-worth of people an hour, so maybe c2400 people per hour, into what is a quite a tight town centre sounds plenty to me.

 

Any ‘crowd’ event like this has to be planned on the basis of the capacity of every part of the ‘pipeline’, and if they’d squirted more people in by train, there would doubtless have been a ‘clog-up’ further downstream.

[dibber25]

Effectively both lines in to Windsor had their service 'doubled'. The branch to Central can't accommodate any more trains, so the length was doubled from 2 cars to 4. The line to Riverside had its service doubled from 30minutes to every 15 minutes. It's hard to see how the railway could have done any more. Having lived in or around Windsor for 20 years it was always very crowded during the summer tourist season and routine shopping etc was best done elsewhere. It was simply a no go area if there was an event on. If you could get to a parking space, the charges went up in summer so it was pretty much prohibitive to local people. (CJL)

[Wickham Green]

Didn't South Western Railway double their service to Riverside to 4 trains per hour, formed of 10 cars ?

My train to Bracknell went via Hounslow - which it hasn't done in previous years and probably isn't normal - so would have freed up a little capacity for 707s flying towards Windsor.

[HillsideDepot]

The Channel5 Paddington 24/7 programme had quite a lot of "Royal Wedding Trains" coverage last night, although I suspect BrianUSA won't be able to view it across the Pond. So a few snippets.

• A 4 car (2x2) Turbo was rostered for the service which was accompanied by a travelling fitter.
• A spare train was also available (we didn't see it, but I assume another 4 cars)
• It appeared that there was a driver at each end (although playing footage backwards isn't unusual for the programme) to speed reversals
• Windsor & Eaton Central was renamed Harry & Megan Central on the station name boards (and on screens at Slough) This touch rather backfired as people wanted selfies with the name boards while platform staff wanted a clear platform to despatch the shuttle back to Slough
• A "Just Married" vinyl was applied to one unit during the "quiet spell" 
• There was a queueing system at Slough, outside the front of the station to control access to the train and avoid crowds being too close to the Down Main platform face 
• There was a large screen erected at Slough for those who were either too late to get to Windsor or who simply couldn't get on the shuttle trains (and there were lots)
• GWR had bunting, confetti and special chocolates for passengers. 

There were problems at Paddington with connecting services, not least that InterCity Express trains need the driver on board to release the doors. The second train booked to stop at Slough was late off the depot, which was itself a problem, but a bigger problem was that the driver for the first Slough calling train was riding in passenger on it!

 

Having been involved in similar special event movements on the buses the excitement and adrenaline takes over and its all great fun. But you don't half feel it once you stop and the adrenaline fades!

[Wickham Green]

The Channel5 Paddington 24/7 programme had quite a lot of "Royal Wedding Trains" coverage last night, although I suspect BrianUSA won't be able to view it across the Pond. So a few snippets.

• A 4 car (2x2) Turbo was rostered for the service which was accompanied by a travelling fitter.
• A spare train was also available (we didn't see it, but I assume another 4 cars)
• It appeared that there was a driver at each end (although playing footage backwards isn't unusual for the programme) to speed reversals
• Windsor & Eaton Central was renamed Harry & Megan Central on the station name boards (and on screens at Slough) This touch rather backfired as people wanted selfies with the name boards while platform staff wanted a clear platform to despatch the shuttle back to Slough
• A "Just Married" vinyl was applied to one unit during the "quiet spell" 
• There was a queueing system at Slough, outside the front of the station to control access to the train and avoid crowds being too close to the Down Main platform face 
• There was a large screen erected at Slough for those who were either too late to get to Windsor or who simply couldn't get on the shuttle trains (and there were lots)
• GWR had bunting, confetti and special chocolates for passengers. 

There were problems at Paddington with connecting services, not least that InterCity Express trains need the driver on board to release the doors. The second train booked to stop at Slough was late off the depot, which was itself a problem, but a bigger problem was that the driver for the first Slough calling train was riding in passenger on it!

 

Having been involved in similar special event movements on the buses the excitement and adrenaline takes over and its all great fun. But you don't half feel it once you stop and the adrenaline fades!

Shame that programme clashed with TWO other things I wanted to watch .............. and NONE of them seem due for imminent repeats !

[Banger Blue]

The Channel5 Paddington 24/7 programme had quite a lot of "Royal Wedding Trains" coverage last night, although I suspect BrianUSA won't be able to view it across the Pond. So a few snippets.

 

• A 4 car (2x2) Turbo was rostered for the service which was accompanied by a travelling fitter.
• A spare train was also available (we didn't see it, but I assume another 4 cars)
• It appeared that there was a driver at each end (although playing footage backwards isn't unusual for the programme) to speed reversals
• Windsor & Eaton Central was renamed Harry & Megan Central on the station name boards (and on screens at Slough) This touch rather backfired as people wanted selfies with the name boards while platform staff wanted a clear platform to despatch the shuttle back to Slough
• A "Just Married" vinyl was applied to one unit during the "quiet spell" 
• There was a queueing system at Slough, outside the front of the station to control access to the train and avoid crowds being too close to the Down Main platform face 
• There was a large screen erected at Slough for those who were either too late to get to Windsor or who simply couldn't get on the shuttle trains (and there were lots)
• GWR had bunting, confetti and special chocolates for passengers. 

There were problems at Paddington with connecting services, not least that InterCity Express trains need the driver on board to release the doors. The second train booked to stop at Slough was late off the depot, which was itself a problem, but a bigger problem was that the driver for the first Slough calling train was riding in passenger on it!

 

Having been involved in similar special event movements on the buses the excitement and adrenaline takes over and its all great fun. But you don't half feel it once you stop and the adrenaline fades!

A spare 4 car (2x 2car) was held on Standby at Reading Depot.

There were 2 drivers rostered for the shuttle to negate the need to change ends.

[Kris]

Shame that programme clashed with TWO other things I wanted to watch .............. and NONE of them seem due for imminent repeats !

 

You can get it on catch up via the web. 

[petethemole]

Shame that programme clashed with TWO other things I wanted to watch .............. and NONE of them seem due for imminent repeats !

 

Repeated on Friday 1st June on 5 Select at 22.00.

[rob D2]

It was a good programme.

I think GWR did a good job, although scoring an own goal with the special station signs and “ just married “ decal on the train as they clearly had problems with the selfie posse taking snaps, blocking the platform and stopping trains going.

[Wickham Green]

Repeated on Friday 1st June on 5 Select at 22.00.

Cheers ....... I'd much prefer to watch it on a 'proper' telly rather than a computer screen !