Mainline services
Fast and slow services via Woking, Basingstoke and Southampton
High level narrative
Incremental changes
We’ve heard our customers and stakeholders and we know your top priority is a reliable service. So we’re bringing forward improvements to the timetable as quickly as possible as shown in the table below:
Consultation on our later changes
Service frequency
Would you prefer an additional hourly service throughout the day (risk to performance) vs more targeted additions at key times (more reliable)?
Option A
An additional hourly service throughout the day
More regular services, giving you more choice and flexibility.
Option B
Extra services at key times
Additional trains when demand is highest, which is expected to be more reliable.
Key times
When would you most value additional services on this line of route?
AM Peak
Additional commuter services between 0630 and 0930
Through the day
1000-1600: Off-peak services, primarily serving leisure travel through the day
PM Peak
Additional commuter services between 1630 and 1930
Evening Services
Additional services after the evening peak, supporting travel after 1930
Additional services
Where should additional services stop north of Southampton Central (recognising trade off between journey time and station calls)? (Airport Parkway, Winchester, Basingstoke, Woking, other)
Explore the 6 timetable options
Review our proposed options for the West of England line and tell us which changes matter most to your journey.
Limited opportunity for us to significantly improve performance
How does the current timetable lead to challenges with performance?
Single line sections on this route mean services have to cross in passing loops. If a train in one direction is delayed this will delay services in the opposite direction. There is limited opportunity for delays to be recovered and therefore spiral thoughout the day.
Also interaction with other SWR and other operator services travelling long distances. Delays can spread.
1 or 2 off-peak hour return journey removals
Summary
Removal of 1 or 2 services between Yeovil and Exeter after the AM peak. The service level remains predominantly the same for most of the day, but with a gap in service in the late morning.
Reasoning
Removing the services provides a “firebreak” during the day where services would run over the single line sections on this route. This gives time for any delays that have arisen during the morning peak to be recovered and gives an opportunity for punctuality to be “reset” for the rest of the day.
This is not a total fix – the fundamental issues leading to performance challenges will remain. This just give a bit of a chance to catch up.
Tisbury, Templecombe, Crewkerne, Cranbrook - remove 2 of the 4 in each hour
Summary
Calls at Tisbury, Templecombe, Crewkerne and Cranbrook reduced to 2hrly all day. Essentially running the plan that is operated in Autumn for leaf-fall all year round.
Reasoning
Removing some calls in the schedule each hour gives additional time available in the timetable to help recover when there is late running and try and prevent small late running spiralling into larger delays that can impact throughout the day and knock onto other parts of the network.
Retaining current frequencies/calling patterns but extending JTs and impact on connections – this will be detailed in the materials
Summary
No change in service frequency, but timings of station calls rotated around by 30mins. Including Woking, Overton, Whitchurch and Grateley.
Reasoning
The Exeter service is currently planned very closely to other services between London and Salisbury, which means that delays are passed onto this service group from others, some other operators which have travelled a long distance. The London – Exeter service often arrives late and the passes delay onto the single line where it cannot recover.
The schedule in the other half of the hour (currently terminating at Salisbury) has fewer interactions with other services, and therefore is more reliable. This proposal extends the current Salisbury train to
Exeter and terminates the current Exeter train at Salisbury.
This option seeks to improve the punctuality of the WoE services when travelling between London and Salisbury, helping trains arrive on time for the single line sections. This does not however, remove any of the interaction on the single line sections which is the fundamental problem with the service.
London–Exeter frequency reduced from hourly to every 90 minutes, with longer journey times for added resilience.
Summary
A service will operate between London and Exeter every 90 minutes instead of every hour. No changes to frequency or calling patterns between London and Salisbury.
E.g. Waterloo departures to Exeter: 07:10, 08:50, 10:20, 11:50, 13:20; Waterloo arrivals from Exeter: 11:49, 13:17, 14:49, 16:15, 17:49.
Journey times are longer due to additional time added into the schedules at stations to support resilience.
Potentially (PLANNING TBC) service level could be maintained under SMD. SMD journeys would be slower, but no reduction would be required.
Reasoning
Delivers a timetable that the infrastructure is more capable of delivering. Crossings all planned in the longest loops for flexibility / performance, more time planned between moves onto single line sections
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Current timetable crosses x4 per journey. In this crosses x2.
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Additional time added into station calls to help reduce impact of delays
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2 hourly WAT-EXD through service and 2 hourly WAT-Gillingham with 2 hourly Yeovil-Exeter St Davids and 2 hourly Axminster-Exeter Central
Summary
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1tph London – Salisbury
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2hrly London – Exeter
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2hrly London – Gillingham
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Combined with 2hrly Yeovil Junction – Exeter St Davids
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2hrly Axminster – Exeter Central
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No change in service Salisbury – London
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Stations between Yeovil Junction and Gillingham reduce to 2hrly service
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But 3 services per 2hrs Axminster – Exeter Central
Reasoning
Gap in service between Gillingham and Yeovil Junction leaves a natural “firebreak” allowing the service to better recover delays.
Crossing moves planned at the longest loops / double track sections, time planned between crossings increased and additional time added at stations to allow some delays to be recovered.
1L services don’t cross each other, only shuttle. So delays not passed on to other services travelling to London
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