Virgin Blockade-Buster

>
> The Voyagers loaded fairly well, a lot of people joining at Coventry,
> from where they ran [well, sort of] non-stop to Euston.
>

That's the most important thing I don't think many are too worried
about the extra journey time they just want a train and not a horrible
bus ride down the M1 otherwise they would have booked with National
Express.

P.S Does anyone know why Virgin chose the Chiltern route I would have
thought this was much more problematic for crew training.

The alternative, via Oxford, road was always BR's preferred choice
when they used to diivert and with Voyagers you could go 125 mph as
far as Acton and avoid using the Greenford loop.

Of course, in those days Chiltern was single track

"Mike Roebuck" <mike.roebuck@> wrote
>
> A clear run to and over the Chiltern main line (and let's face it,
> nothing is going to out-perform a Voyager over that route) was
> followed by a 26 minute wait for our booked path in the up loop at
> West Ruislip, and another 6 minutes at Willesden Junction. In both
> cases, we were waiting to cross a Northbound pair of Voyagers, but I
> find it difficult to believe there is no immediate path which would
> have let us through without there being a conflict in the first place.
> Platforms and paths into at Euston are obviously no problem, either,
> given the skeleton service.
>
Is there anyone who can quote detailed timings for the Blockbusters? It's
obviously not been easy to path them, as they were very much an afterthought
in the timetable compilation process. There are plenty of constraints, not
least the single track between Coventry and Leamington (also used by AXC)
and again between South Ruislip and Greenford [1], and a railway that is
much busier than it used to be, both on Chiltern and on the GWML between
West Ealing and Acton.

[1] It seems that the up train is held at West Ruislip to allow the down
train through the single track section first. But standing for 26 minutes
suggests to me that it could easily get to Greenford before the down train
gets there.

Peter

>
> Yes, but you have to ask what is in it for the the man in the street.  
>

He gets what he's paid for.

He pays for rail travel and he gets it.

The point about a rail replacement coach is that it's a bloody
expensive way to catch a bus.

A point not lost on those forced to use them. Why book with Virgin
trains and end up on a coach when you could have gone straight to a
bus company and got the same thing for half the fare?

> If you are travelling from International or Coventry the journey times are
> merely pretty poor, it'll be quicker to drive but that may not be an
> option.  
>

It means at least a rail option is available for those that want it
and early loadings suggest many do that would otherwise have been lost
to the railway or equally as bad, from Virgin's perspective, other
TOCs.