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)

11:10am Thu 13 Sep 12

King Joke says...

Thousands of extra seats - now is there any chance we can have just a few hundreds at weekends? The Sunday service is a joke, it doesn't start til almost 0900, and the first fast train to London has three cars!

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.
Thousands of extra seats - now is there any chance we can have just a few hundreds at weekends? The Sunday service is a joke, it doesn't start til almost 0900, and the first fast train to London has three cars! 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. King Joke

12:22pm Thu 13 Sep 12

WitneyGreen says...

Quite right King Joke - I travel regularly to London from the Cotswold Line on Sundays, and have taken to boarding one stop earlier (at Charlbury rather than Hanborough) so I can have more chance of getting a seat, due to the train being full already with travellers from Worcester. Even though a few people alight at Oxford the three-carriage trains are always packed.
Quite right King Joke - I travel regularly to London from the Cotswold Line on Sundays, and have taken to boarding one stop earlier (at Charlbury rather than Hanborough) so I can have more chance of getting a seat, due to the train being full already with travellers from Worcester. Even though a few people alight at Oxford the three-carriage trains are always packed. WitneyGreen

2:03pm Thu 13 Sep 12

ger elttil OX2 0EJ says...

An even bigger joke is that the last train on a Saturday night leaves at 11:07, so how do people enjoy a night out in Oxford and get home. No wonder people drive, and risk having a drink. What kind of public transport system are our railways providing?
An even bigger joke is that the last train on a Saturday night leaves at 11:07, so how do people enjoy a night out in Oxford and get home. No wonder people drive, and risk having a drink. What kind of public transport system are our railways providing? ger elttil OX2 0EJ

2:38pm Thu 13 Sep 12

King Joke says...

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.
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 [7/8-car] or 2x166 [6-car] all day. King Joke

3:50pm Thu 13 Sep 12

ger elttil OX2 0EJ says...

King Joke wrote:
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.
Why are we unique in the world with all this engineering nonsense, other countries seem to run services at all hours with no problem.
[quote][p][bold]King Joke[/bold] wrote: 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 [7/8-car] or 2x166 [6-car] all day.[/p][/quote]Why are we unique in the world with all this engineering nonsense, other countries seem to run services at all hours with no problem. ger elttil OX2 0EJ

4:40pm Thu 13 Sep 12

King Joke says...

Not quite - you do get engineering work on the continent, I've been on a rail replacement bus in Sweden; not what I was expecting from efficient Scandinavians!

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.
Not quite - you do get engineering work on the continent, I've been on a rail replacement bus in Sweden; not what I was expecting from efficient Scandinavians! 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. King Joke

5:32pm Thu 13 Sep 12

Andrew:Oxford says...

King Joke wrote:
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.
The 2 car 22:20(ish) service from London Paddington. Did it once, never again.

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
[quote][p][bold]King Joke[/bold] wrote: 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 [7/8-car] or 2x166 [6-car] all day.[/p][/quote]The 2 car 22:20(ish) service from London Paddington. Did it once, never again. 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 Andrew:Oxford

6:22pm Thu 13 Sep 12

King Joke says...

I think Chiltern are planning 8-car platforms. The only way this can be accommodated is be knocking down the old parcels office and some of the current building up to where the current ticket windows are.

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.
I think Chiltern are planning 8-car platforms. The only way this can be accommodated is be knocking down the old parcels office and some of the current building up to where the current ticket windows are. 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

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