Thousands of extra seats for FGW train users (From Banbury Cake)
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Thousands of extra seats for FGW train users
10:30am Thursday 13th September 2012 in News
First Great Western has increased the number of seats available on its trains in the Thames Valley following a £29m investment in 48 additional carriages.
The 4,500 extra seats have been provided for customers heading to London Paddington from Oxford, Didcot and other stations to the west.
The additional seats arrived last Monday after 15 old buffet cars and three high-speed train carriages were converted.
All high-speed trains heading to the capital now have eight carriages instead of seven, providing about 85 extra seats per train.
First Great Western managing director Mark Hopwood said: “From the beginning of September all peak-time services have been strengthened, ensuring increased capacity for our passengers.
“This Department for Transport deal has helped provide the extra carriages that our customers have been asking for,” he added.
Comments(8)
WitneyGreen
says...
12:22pm Thu 13 Sep 12
ger elttil OX2 0EJ
says...
2:03pm Thu 13 Sep 12
King Joke
says...
2:38pm Thu 13 Sep 12
The early finish Sat/late start Sun are due to engineering requirements. It's a pain but I appreciate the need for it, and it's preferable to total closure every other Sunday like you used to get in the noughties. What is appalling is the lack of mitigation by FGW. The hourly Sunday service should be entirely operated by HSTs or 2x166 all day.
ger elttil OX2 0EJ
says...
3:50pm Thu 13 Sep 12
King Joke wrote:Why are we unique in the world with all this engineering nonsense, other countries seem to run services at all hours with no problem.
We're lucky to have the X90 and the Ox Tube. TBH if I'm planning to leave London after 2148, when the last fast train leaves, I'll get the bus in the first place.
The early finish Sat/late start Sun are due to engineering requirements. It's a pain but I appreciate the need for it, and it's preferable to total closure every other Sunday like you used to get in the noughties. What is appalling is the lack of mitigation by FGW. The hourly Sunday service should be entirely operated by HSTs or 2x166 all day.
King Joke
says...
4:40pm Thu 13 Sep 12
I think the problem is our network is much more intensively worked than elsewhere, so there is opportunity for single line working and diversionary routes. Network Rail are getting better at doing work overnight though.
Andrew:Oxford
says...
5:32pm Thu 13 Sep 12
King Joke wrote:The 2 car 22:20(ish) service from London Paddington. Did it once, never again.
We're lucky to have the X90 and the Ox Tube. TBH if I'm planning to leave London after 2148, when the last fast train leaves, I'll get the bus in the first place.
The early finish Sat/late start Sun are due to engineering requirements. It's a pain but I appreciate the need for it, and it's preferable to total closure every other Sunday like you used to get in the noughties. What is appalling is the lack of mitigation by FGW. The hourly Sunday service should be entirely operated by HSTs or 2x166 all day.
Hopefully it'll improve to 10 cars when electrification arrives in Oxford, but then with the potential of a full 10 car service arriving from Paddington, full 5 car service arriving from Birmingham and full 6 car service arriving from Marylebone all at the same time - something serious needs to be done with Oxford Station and the pedestrian flows at Frideswide Square and beyond
King Joke
says...
6:22pm Thu 13 Sep 12
When East-West arrives there will be a need for a significantly larger overall building. There is not much scope where the current booking hall is, but the new up platform offers the opportunity for a second booking hall on the Becket St car park, and I think they should do more with the down platform as well, to handle people who are able to walk from Osney and New Osney.
If you look at NR figures for station usage it is mind-boggling. Entries, Exits and Interchanges comes to a staggering seven million pax annually, more than Preston, Coventry, Plymouth and other much larger stations.
King Joke says...
11:10am Thu 13 Sep 12
You'd think on a day when there is a half service they'd at least run full-length trains, but not this bunch of mucking fuppets - let's see what a blolocks they make of running West Coast.