Off-peak passengers win with new rail timetable

RAIL user groups have welcomed timetable changes which came into force on Sunday.

Train operator Great Western Railway says it is delivering a five per cent increase in services every day across its network.

About 20 per cent of trains have been retimed, which the company says will better meet passenger needs and improve connectivity with the new Elizabeth Line.

The first off-peak train from Henley is now later at 9.30am but travellers to London Paddington will arrive nearly 10 minutes earlier than before as the connection has been optimised to minimise journey time.

Off-peak tickets are not valid on the GWR fast services from Paddington between 4pm and 6.45pm but off-peak passengers travelling into London will be faster by using the GWR connection at Twyford and changing on to the Elizabeth Line at Paddington.

Neil Gunnell, of Henley Trains, said: “Henley rail travellers are recommended to check times before travel as most train times change by a small amount.

“Rail times for commuters don’t change significantly but there will be major improvements for off-peak travellers travelling to and from London.

“For some time, Henley Trains has worked with GWR to try to maximise the number of its connections. The reason for this is that GWR trains have traditional seating, tables, hat racks, toilets, power points and rubbish bins, none of which are found on Elizabeth Line trains which are designed for mass transit through central London.

“The timetable change will see more Elizabeth Line trains running through London and the ‘slow’ rail line will become very busy between Hayes — for Heathrow — and London.

“As a result, GWR is adjusting its services so that most local trains will run non-stop between Slough and London and vice-versa.

“Thus, GWR trains from Twyford will only stop at Maidenhead and Slough en-route and that will make journey times 10 minutes quicker to and from Paddington.

“This is a major improvement for those of us just to the east of Reading but there are few downsides to the changes.

“For some time now, there has been a bridge ‘out’ near Abingdon, which has restricted our late services home as they used trains due to travel to Oxford or beyond.

“The new timetable will mean a small improvement with a last fast GWR service at 10.36pm.

“While you’ll be home earlier, this may not be great for theatre trips. There is one Elizabeth Line train shortly afterwards but it’s a long journey time. Hopefully, by the end of June, the bridge will be open again we’ll see a 11.14pm Paddington departure running again, changed from 11.18pm.

Philip Meadowcroft, of the Wargrave User Group, welcomed improved connectivity between the Henley branch line and Twyford.

He said: “Five years ago, the last major national timetable change was poorly planned and disastrously executed.

“GWR is claiming a five per cent increase in the number of services it will be running, the largest of any train operator in the UK.

“Let’s hope the enthusiasm for additional services and frequencies is matched with the right quantity of railway carriages and trained drivers which the new timetable will require.

“For the moment, for users of the branch line, there are clear and welcome signs of improved connectivity at Twyford and this is just as important for trains going towards Reading as well as Paddington.

“It remains to be seen whether GWR and the operator of the Elizabeth Line are going to work more collaboratively at Twyford than has been the case since the Elizabeth Line started.

“The prospect of faster GWR services to Paddington, with trains to and from Twyford crossing over to the fast main lines to bypass the stopping Elizabeth Line services, is good news.

“When the main line was being electrified, GWR insisted that ‘crossovers’ from the ‘slow’ lines to the fast lines to and from Paddington would no longer be possible under any circumstances.

“This was one of the reasons why the very popular fast direct morning and evening trains between Henley, Shiplake, Wargrave and Paddington had to be withdrawn.

“Hopes for that service being restored can only be raised if and when the line is electrified because diesel trains are no longer permitted to enter Paddington.

“It is going to take time for the Thames Valley timetable to bed in and it could be a couple of months before it can be judged whether it is resilient and workable day in day out.

“Meanwhile, we are certain to suffer continued and frequent disruption by overhead wire failures, wonky points, signal failures, driver shortages and making room for freight services during peak hours. All this makes a hash of any timetable.”

Mark Hopwood, managing director of GWR, said the timetable changes were made in response to changes in passenger travel patterns.

He said: “I am really excited to say that this new timetable provides the biggest shake-up in service levels since the introduction of Intercity Express trains, providing more trains where they are needed most.

“We will deliver more train services, serving even more stations, and providing greater value for money for taxpayers.”