Great Western Railway is providing nearly 500 extra seats into London Paddington before 9 am after the train operating company increased the number of 12 carriage trains in operation.
The TOC (short for Train Operating Company) introduced additional 12 carriage trains in the new May timetable. Included in this was the 06:52 Didcot Parkway to London Paddington, which has been increased to 12 carriages, and the new 07:53 Twyford to London Paddington, which calls at Maidenhead only, also has 12 carriages.
The 12 carriage trains are Class 387 ‘Electrostar' trains, the two extra services will provide an additional 446 seats into London Paddington before 9 am.
The timetable change delivers more seats to London and the Thames Valley at key times. The 07:53 Twyford to London Paddington connects with the 07:36 Henley-on-Thames branch line train that arrives at 07:48, providing passengers with a short 5-minute wait for a fast service to London (which arrives at 08:24).
Those returning home after work or visit to London will also be able to take advantage of more seats, with the 18:42 London Paddington to Reading now also being formed of 12 carriages.
The improvements now mean over 4,800 more seats into and out of London Paddington in the morning peak (between 07:00 and 09:59), a 10% increase in capacity when compared to January 2017.
What did the officials say?
GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood said:
“Today marks another significant step as we work to transform the railway, providing more seats and services for our customers from Didcot, Reading and the London Thames Valley.
“With TfL Rail replacing our Hayes-shuttle services, we have been able to deliver more for customers in the Thames Valley, as well as for our Henley and Marlow branch lines, with a new connecting 12 carriage service when it is needed most.”
- Visit the RailAdvent news homepage
For the latest railway news - Visit the RailAdvent Shop
For railway related goodies! - Visit LocoStop – Our New Social Network
Come and share your photo's and video's, join the discussion.
Find out what others are sharing - Visit the Great Western Railway website
For more information
GWR Class 387’s are such amazing trains. Hopefully they will be extended to Newbury once the electrification is completed. And possibly extend the Class 387’s to Swindon and Oxford when the electrification to Oxford is also completed.
GWR is not a TOC. Its re-branded and ‘Operated’ by First Group. GWR is not Trademarked and dose not pay the Gov’ anything. Not even a registered company. Please get your facts right.
Hi
Thanks for the comment.
You are correct that GWR is operated by First Group. The ORR has a link to the list of train operating companies here..
http://orr.gov.uk/about-orr/who-we-work-with/industry-organisations/train-operating-companies
This includes GWR – http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/tocs/GW.aspx
GWR is apparently a trademark owned by First as detailed here, https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003064468
Regards
Michael